Impact of Floods Due to Lack of Indian Environmental Planning

Once again, recent floods have shown that India has no long-term plans for the devastating impact of global climate change. In addition to loss of life, floods cause massive damage to infrastructure and property. Crops are destroyed, livestock lost, travel is affected and floods cause disease. The economic cost at national level is huge.

With the floods, starts the blame-game, with politicians, official planners and senior bureaucrats pointing fingers at each other. Massive scale agro-industrial pollution, poor planning of water flows and dams, cleaning of river beds to keep water flowing, de-forestation, short-term policies by an inefficient bureaucracy and polluting habits of an increasing population are linked to climate change.

Colonial style administrators to the highest positions have hardly any work ethic or personal conviction that honest and hard work is a reward in itself. There are no performance measure and they seem to have no moral compass to do their duty as public servants. Often, their excuse for taking direct or indirect bribes is that this is how things are done here.

Otherwise, there is no shortage of well-qualified people and there is no shortage of expert advice. Economically, Indian skills, private sector enterprise, a large home-market, and a very large cheap and young labour force have pushed India to a respectable global position. However, the success of India hides the longer-term consequences of short-term gains.

According to one estimate, northern parts of the Indian subcontinent are the worst areas affected by annual floods accounting for over one-fifth of all flood-related deaths globally. Heavy rainfall starts landslides and flash floods. Roads are broken and blocked and much property, structures like bridges and agricultural land are submerged in water. In addition to human suffering, the economic cost is enormous and will keep on increasing due to climate change for which India is ill-prepared.

Quite interestingly, public debates about the floods have linked many aspects of Indian way of life and negative consequences for the environment. For example, the environmental and food-chain consequences of rubbish carelessly thrown on the roads and public places is discussed. It is sadly amusing for diaspora Indians to receive impressive photos of lavish-style houses from wealthy Indian relatives and friends, knowing fully well what lies outside! Rubbish heaps and broken roads are accepted as part of the environment. The domestic servants they boast about, have hardly anywhere to live a life with dignity. Essential toilet facilities for all, proper drainage and disposal of rubbish are often missing.

The average Indian, especially travellers and tourists, believe it is their right to throw rubbish anywhere. The most attractive tourist sites and sacred shrines in the beautiful hills and mountains are littered with rubbish. Yet, the same people change their habits when they come abroad (or maybe not when I look at own town, Southall, the UK Panjabi Town!)

The floods have also brought out the best and the worst in the people. For example, the Panjabi farmers are distributing food while elsewhere the Indian shop-keepers are exploiting by raising prices of goods in affected areas.

The inefficiency of the Indian system becomes obvious annually through floods and crumbling structures. The economic, employment and social consequences for an ever-increasing population will continue to be even more disastrous. As we have seen in recent decades, migrations from Panjab and India will continue to increase.

Environmental and climate change issues are complex and require long term policies and systematic planning and implementation over decades.

Gurmukh Singh OBE

E-mail: sewauk2005@yahoo.co.uk

https://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Gurmukh_Singh_OBE