We Are Like That Only

The HUDHUD has gone leaving devastation behind in coastal Andhra and Odisha. Vishakhapatnam has been worst affected with telephone , internet connectivity and electricity all cut off, nearly all trees uprooted, buildings blown over, crops and cattle dead and thousands rendered homeless. The authorities are doing their best in relief and rescue operations and to restore all utilities and services affected and bring normalcy as early as possible. Thanks to our improved forewarning system of typhoons and cyclones and the government’s preparedness for evacuating thousands of people to safe buildings and the role of agencies like Disaster Management groups, the casualty has been only 29 persons, tragic still as it is. Let us wish the people of Vishakhapatnam God- speed rehabilitation .But have they responded to this calamity with a sense of endurance and virtuous behaviour? Read what a TV Channel has to say about the situation in Vishakhapatnam two days after the Hudhud.

“As Visakhapatnam tries to limp back to normalcy after the destruction caused by Cyclone Hudhud, there is a mad scramble for food, water and fuel in the affected areas. The situation is tense with people stopping trucks, mobbing relief officers and looting supplies.

The police have been resorting to lathi charge to disperse the mob. The city is facing acute shortage of water, food, fuel and other essentials.

Shortage of supplies have caused the prices of essential commodities to skyrocket with essentials like a bottle of water being sold for Rs 250 and a packet of milk for Rs 100. Power and communication networks are also down in many places.

"The prices are so high that common people can't afford things. The government is not providing all facilities," a Visakhapatnam resident said.

"The current supply has been given to dairy farms and the essentials. The government is trying hard to help. But it will take time to recover," another resident said.

Long lines are being seen at petrol pumps in Visakhapatnam. "So many petrol pumps are closed. They are covered in the black market actually," a resident claimed.

Much of the work of the NDRF teams is focused on trying to clear the roads so that essential supplies can come in. Long queues are also being seen at ATM booths and milk booths.
Amidst the chaotic scenes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Visakhapatnam to take stock of the situation on Tuesday afternoon. The Vizag airport has been reopened for relief operations but the city and 12 districts in Andhra Pradesh remain in darkness. 26 people have lost their lives in Andhra Pradesh and three have been reported dead in Odisha.”

What a low level has mankind sunk to in this hour of great challenge to its sense of forbearance, tolerance, sharing, mutual help and compassion. People are looting the relief materials meant for equitable distribution. Police is controlling unruly mobs instead of guarding the property whatever the cyclone has left behind. Our great retailers are missing no opportunity to profiteer instead of showing normal trade “dharma” of selling at normal prices till stocks last. And the public, starving and roofless, is beating their breasts and crying that authorities are not doing enough and soon.

As Indians we will never learn to calm and compose ourselves whether it is a natural calamity or a man –made event like the arrest of a leader. For, we cannot then get away with it saying that “we are like that only”