It takes a cataclysmic weather phenomenon to reveal the underbelly of a governance system that has all but failed to implement the basic building laws that take into account the hilly terrain; the need for proper drainage systems and to allow rivers to flow their course without obstruction. Instead, all the streams and rivers have today been reduced to massive drains clogged with garbage until a cyclonic storm with extremely heavy rains enables the rivers to belch out everything from inside out and lo and behold we have a flood in a hill station – an oddity if there is one. Everything that is wrong with Meghalaya today is not just human-induced but politically engendered as well. The legislature makes policies, the government makes the rules and politicians enable all these rules to be broken with impunity. In fact, politicians themselves violate rules by encroaching on rivers to set up their enterprises. Political acolytes are given the license to reduce the size of rivers so they can erect their pompous buildings. Nature is bound to take its annual toll. But human memory is short and after Cyclone Rewal recedes as every cyclone is bound to do, its back to business as usual until another one hits the state.
A cyclone wherever and whenever it hits has always impacted the poorest. In Odisha, West Bengal etc. governments have built cyclone shelters to ensure that those evacuated from places likely to be most affected by flood water find temporary shelter. Meghalaya has not arrived at that point since it is located at a plateau and away from the sea. But the manner in which hills are being brought down one after another to allow for unregulated quarrying and mining is a recipe for future disasters. Already landslides have created havoc and rapidly flowing rivers in rural Meghalaya have carried away bridges thereby causing long term disruptions to human movement and economic activities.
Much has been said about storm drains that were funded by some external agency but what’s the point of a drain if it is choked by garbage, mainly plastic bags that are ubiquitous. While single use and other plastic bags have been banned in many cities of India, in Meghalaya this has met with some political and bureaucratic lethargy. The reasons are not far to seek. Will the plastic lobby in Meghalaya come out and clean the rivers and drains? Are all the packaged goods companies extending their corporate social responsibility (CSR) wing considering this state and others are invaded by their products? The recent weather phenomenon calls for a citizens’ platform that has to engage in a substantive manner with the Government. Citizens can no longer leave everything to the Government. They need to come out with a list of action plans and engage proactively with the Government.
