Highways cut off, paddy fields inundated : Staring at shortage !
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 11 2017 -

Highways cut off, supply lines snapped :: Pix - TSE

Highways cut off. Paddy fields inundated.

Shelter camps, medical camps opened at different places. Houses destroyed or severely damaged.

Not that this could have been avoided, for this is nature at work but the question is, could the impact have been less harmful if the people had accorded due respect to Mother Nature and not toyed around with the environment ?

Is the BJP led Government responding well to the situation and should the response of the Government be seen only through the prism of the medical camps being opened and the aid extended to the affected people or should it cover more such as taking up steps to ensure that such heavy rainfall in the future has a lesser impact on the lives of the people ?

To any observer, it should be more than obvious that the BJP led Government is doing something, but is this enough ?

Should the Government be expected to only open medical camps, provide flood fighting material to the people or should the people expect the Government to take up some steps so that in future such a rain does not cause so much havoc with the lives of the people ?

How about taking up some campaigns in association with like minded organisations and drill sense into the heads of the people that clogging natural water ways with plastic carry bags is a big NO NO.

No doubt the rain in the past many days has been heavy.

The rain may continue and it is at times like this that the people need to walk with the Government in its endeavour to protect the environment and stop clogging the water ways with plastics and filth.

The people too need to understand the harm caused by large scale deforestation.

At the moment, the highways stand cut off and Manipur can expect to see shortage of essential commodities anytime now.

The first to be hit will obviously be fuel and the price of a litre of petrol in the black market will obviously shoot up.

Prices of other essential commodities too will escalate.

It is this which the Government should think of how to control, check food hoarding and sincerely study how fuel is available in the black market while the pumps are closed.

It is also at times like this that all political parties need to join hands and see what should be done for the people.

So far the Congress, which ruled the State for three consecutive terms just before the Assembly election this year, has not uttered a single word and while silence may be the better part of valour, it is exactly not prudent to remain silent at this juncture.

Save for one or two Congress MLA, not much is heard of the other Congress MLAs rising to the occasion and rushing to help the people of their respective Assembly Constituencies.

The situation demands that the different political parties rise above party politics and jointly address the issue for this is about the people and the land.

On the other hand, the BJP led Government need to think if it has been reaching out to the other political parties to jointly face the situation.