Hey folks,

More than 130,000 homes destroyed. At least 1,428 people dead, and over 20 million affected. Seven Indian states partially paralysed. Losses incurred: Rs 16,000 crores, probably more.
Mind-numbing figures, aren’t they? This is the scale of devastation that the recent floods have wreaked across India. But you know what scares me more? Media reports that say there are not enough choppers to drop food in the flood ravaged zones. That the terrible condition of roads in the interiors of Bihar, Maharashtra, Assam is slowing down relief operations. That rural homes made of mud and thatch are just not equipped to face these freakish floods. That in most areas people lost lives because badly maintained dams on rivers and sea could not withstand the onslaught of heavy flooding, and gave way.
Most terrifying are the predictions made by international experts that the exceptionally heavy monsoon downpours that triggered the floods, may well become a regular feature in our seasonal cycle! Yes, India stands to bear the brunt of some of the worst effects of climate change. And we are so pathetically ill-prepared to counter these!
Let the global community keep arguing over what causes climate change. Can we, in India, please concentrate on paying heed to the desperate woman in Assam’s disaster zone, who pleaded with a visiting VIP, ‘Moke ghar lage’ (I need a home)?