Indians around the globe have set their eyes on Chennai. ‘The Chennai Floods’ is a trending topic now. Prayers and condolences have been flowing to Chennai. People with good hearts are trying to help in every way possible. Many people lost their lives. Many are suffering. The hospitals are flooded with patients like Chennai is flooded with water. People who led a luxurious life until the previous day is now waiting for a food packet. It will take some time and huge amount of money for Chennai to recover from this disaster.
There are two parts for my article. Firstly, I would like talk about how we Indians should help Chennai. Many of us just update our status on Facebook saying ‘#PrayForChennai’ and that’s it. Kerala (My homeland) and Tamil Nadu does not always have a good relationship. Mullaperiyar Dam alone has created a lot of dispute between the two states. Last week, Tamil Nadu opened the shutters of the dam without any warning to the Kerala government and this created more problems. Now, many Keralites don’t want to help the people who are struggling due to flood in Chennai. They say, “why should we help them, when they do all these to us?”. This is not the right attitude. Yes, what the Tamil Nadu government did was wrong, but why should those poor people, who are struggling, pay for what the government did. This is not the time for hatred. It’s the time to show love toward our neighbours. We are their neighbours and we should be the first to help. For example, your own neighbour’s house catches fire and you are expected to reach there before the Fire Force. In the same way we have to give our full support and help. We may not be experts like the Fire Force Officers, but we can help in one way or other. And this does not mean that only neighbours should help. People all over India can contribute in their own way. Now, if you think that you are completely helpless because you are not in Chennai, just open your eyes. If you have the will to help, opportunity is right in front of you. Different groups from different states are collecting stuff and distributing it in Chennai. For most of us going to Chennai is not possible, so we have to atleast help these groups to collect stuff. It could be money, blankets, water bottles, food packets, etc. Anything counts. Instead of doing all these, if we just say ‘#PrayForChennai’ on Facebook, we are nothing but cowards. There are people in India who are still debating whether Aamir Khan was right to say that intolerance was growing in India. Shut up! Something more serious is happening here.
Now to the second part of the article. The Tamil Nadu government is being criticized for poor urban planning and policies. People say that not just heavy rain, but also poor urban planning led to the floods in Chennai. We humans have a habit. We ourselves destroy or damage things and we ourselves cry over it. If we had been cautious or aware or smart, we could have avoided many disasters that had taken place throughout the world. For example, we dig out mountains and completely take it out along with its roots. It is a scientific fact that mountains stabilize the Earth, but we still do these types of activities and call this development. And later what happens? Earthquake happens! And it kills hundreds of people. And we cry over it. The developed countries and developing countries blame each other for causing global warming, but they don’t accept their own responsibility for its cause. It’s already time that we recognize what ‘Development’ means.
The worst part of the Chennai floods is the epidemics that is going to spread throughout the city. Diseases could spread to Tamil Nadu and also surrounding states and this could cause more deaths than what the floods caused. The monetary loss is high and it will be very difficult. Chennai will need the support of whole of India to recover. Let us all do something more than #PrayForChennai
ZakWriter 