Before the flood

Hindustan Times

August 07, 2007

First Published: 00:19 IST(7/8/2007)

Last Updated: 00:21 IST(7/8/2007)

Alarm bells have started ringing in the corridors of power but it is probably a little too late for the millions facing this year’s monsoon fury in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Assam. Orissa may soon join the three states with incessant rains hitting its coastal areas for the last few days. Described by the United Nations as the “worst flooding in living memory”, the floods have killed more than 200 people and have left more than 16 million displaced. VIPs including UPA president Sonia Gandhi and Home Minister Shivraj Patil have been making their mandatory visits to the flood-hit states to take stock of the situation and to show their concern. The governments have opened shelters and have been airdropping food and medicine. However, these measures are hardly enough to implement the kind of remedial measures that are desperately required. Much more needs to be done, and more importantly, much more was needed to be done before the calamity.

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