Year after year, in India, the monsoon season wreaks havoc on cities, with an increasing trend of urban flooding (“India: Monsoon fury lashes Mumbai; Konkan, many areas inundated”, Gulf News, July 5). In India, urban flooding has been attributed mainly to the old drainage system, which was designed decades back and poorly maintained.

Unfortunately, the monsoon brings misery and disruption to our lives. Roads are flooded, leading to traffic disruption for hours. Several houses collapse, while floods bring along with them a fear of electrocution, infections, and loss of livelihood.

Climate change has also contributed to the rain pattern. Heavy rains have been disrupting everyday life in almost all metro cities in India, with Mumbai bearing the maximum brunt. Even small towns in the state of Rajasthan like Jaisalmer, Barmer, and Jodhpur have seen heavy downpours.

The fury of nature has been further compounded by human avarice. In most rural and semi-urban parts of India, ponds and other water bodies, which are used to store considerable amounts of water and replenish the underground aquifers, disappear. Therefore, we need a modern engineering solution to urban flooding.

The Indian government should appoint a reputed engineering consultant to audit the present draining system and design a proper system. It may incur huge expenditure to upgrade and overhaul the present drainage system, but in the long run, the investment will be worth it. Even other Indian cities like Bangalore and Chennai need similar measures to save the flurry of urban flooding. It’s high time to take steps to minimise the havoc.

Ramesh G jethwani is a Veteran writer, Voracious reader, Historian and commentator who has been writing in 21 newspapers in India and GCC countries for several decades on various subjects of importance.
His website.www: rameshjethwani.com.

Sir, India is one of the first few countries to promptly respond to extend all possible humanitarian assistance to Turkey during their monumental tragedy that struck Turkey with 7.8-magnitude devastating earthquakes in the early hours of morning when people were sleeping, thousands of people have died and several have become homeless.

During such a monumental tragedy in the Turkey-Syria border, India's gesture of s ending humanitarian aid to Turkey reinforces India's undisputed moral record of rising to the occasion and helping those countries in times of their emergency needs and its ability to deliver aid to a wider area of operation far away from India.

India on several occasions has extended such humanitarian help to various parts of the world even 15,806 Afghan have got refuge in India those include Afghan Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims and Christians.

India dispatched humanitarian aid in its huge C-17 Globemasters aircrafts of IAF consisting of a rescue team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel a highly experienced and specialized force which has conducted several such missions successfully,Indian team also consists of a field hospital consisting of highly experienced 99-member medical team of paramedical and doctors with essential medicines. with trained retriever dogs, utility vehicles,and other excavating equipment requirements.

The NDRF teams are rendering assistance in rescue operations at Gaziantep while the medical team is setting up the field hospital in Iskenderun.

This humanitarian action of India in helping Turkey during their devastating earthquake has displayed its policy of its humanitarian aspect first and keeping aside political differences with Turkey, as Turkey has been siding with Pakistan and raising the issue of abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir on various international forums and supporting Pakistan's position on the Kashmir issue that it must be resolved under the UN Security Council resolution of the 1950s.

This spontaneous response from India in sending aid to Turkey shows India as a mature nation and its responsibility towards global community, even The Turkish Ambassador in India has appreciated this India's gesture and called India as its Dost (Freind).

Ramesh G jethwani is a Veteran writer, Voracious reader, Historian and commentator who has been writing in 21 newspapers in India and GCC countries for several decades on various subjects of importance.
His website.www: rameshjethwani.com.

Kerala's flood fury has resulted in unprecedented devastation and havoc. There is huge loss of human life and material and it will take a long time for the state to limp back to normalcy. Almost all roads have either been washed away or are badly damaged,houses have submerged and power lines have been uprooted leading to a power break down.

Though Kerala's civic conscious people and officials are doing yeoman service round the clock, what is praiseworthy is that temples, churches and madrassas have opened doors to provide shelter to the flood affected people.

This is a great human tragedy. The central government should intensify its efforts to provide further logistic and material help to our Kerala brethren.

(2) NATIONAL TRAGEDY,
 THE PIONEER, 20 August 2018,L.E.

Sir — This refers to the editorial, “Deluge lessons” (August 18). Kerala’s flood fury has caused unprecedented devastation and havoc. It will take time for the State to limp back to normalcy.

Though Kerala’s civic conscious people and officials are doing a yeoman service round the clock in providing relief to victims, it is noteworthy that even temples, churches and madrassas have turned into relief camps.

This is a national tragedy and the Union Government should further intensify its efforts in providing further logistic and material help and put all its resources at its command to help our Kerala brethren..

Sir, Orissa super cyclone has caused unprecedented devastation and havoc. The toll is likely to cross 10,000 and it will take a long time for the State to limp back to normalcy. In fact, the cyclone has hit the State’s the cyclone has hit the State’s economy; several villages have been washed away; agricultural fields are still under 5 feet water in several villages; roads and communication networks are in a shambles; and people have lost their homes. There is a grim battle for survival. People have drink. Worse still is the news that the affected areas area in the grip of gastro-enteritis and cholera.

Ironically, the State was caught unawares and the administration has failed to respond to the situation. The Government could not provide relief to the affected villages in the first 72 hours of the super cyclone. Surprisingly, despite developing space technology as in the West, we failed to warn the people of South Orissa beforehand of the super cyclone.

The following measures need to be considered right earnest. These would go a long way in reducing the loss of life and property in crises like cyclone, floods, accidents and the like.

First, there is need for a comprehensive national Disaster managementprogramme with task force in each State. These task forces could be under DGP(Fire Services) with units in all district headquarters. Co- ordination with the respective Sub Area Commanders is a must.

Secondly, the task forces should be in constant touch with the Meteorological Department to warn the people well in advance , expedite evacuation of those living in low-lying areas and provide relief to the victims. Collect orates and hospitals should conduct eventualities.

Thirdly, all cyclone-prone areas should have shelters to accommodate the evacuees with sufficient stock of food and water.

Though we cannot check natural calamities, we can certainly reduce the loss of life and property through prompt rescue and relief operations with the help of these task forces in each state.

Sir, This refers to the editorial, "Rain exposes TN govt, civic bodies" (DH, Nov 19). The havoc caused by unprecedented, incessant rains in Chennai and nearby places is indeed sad. It has caused massive devastation leading to chaos, huge loss of lives and property This has yet again exposed the lack of preparedness on the part of our state governments to meet such eventualities.

There is hardly any dedicated agency to handle such natural calamities. in fact, our government wakes up only after tragedies has occured.

A tsunami also followed the massive earthquake of 2004 in which thousands of people lost their lives . Following this catastrophe that hit us very hard. India set up to a Rs 25crore hitech tsunami system to issue warnings and placed sensors at different location along India's coast with headquarters at India's National Center for Ocean Information (Incois). This tsunami warning system has worked reasonably well and has assessed about 30 major earthquakes and we must continue to incorporate new technology into this sys-tem. In the wake of the Japanese disaster, India must prep up its system to prevent large-scale devastation .

Sir - It is shocking to see the pollution and destruction caused by an oil spill along the coast of Ennore after the collision of two ships. This will have a long-term impact on marine life. Volunteers have been trying to remove the oil manually.

The incident highlights the need to implement the existing disaster management system properly. With the help of advanced technology, Western countries handle such disasters more effectively. India should reach out to the international community for assistance.

The unprecedented floods in many parts of India, from east to south in Karnataka and Kerala, and in some parts of the north of the country have caused immense human misery to people, animals and property (“Dubai resident on holiday dies while rescuing kids in Kerala floods”, Gulf News, August 14).

The monsoons take place every year and cause misery, yet timely relief is not given to those suffering. But this time, the difficult yet timely continuous operation, carried out in tough and undulating terrain involving infants, pregnant women, the sick and elderly, by teams from the police and defence forces speaks volumes about dedication of our agencies, which deserve to be applauded.

Television visuals speak about their heroic efforts. Chief Minister B. Siddalingappa Yediyurappa and his team should also be wholeheartedly commended for their effort in providing relief for people. These remarkable and difficult rescue operations displayed the triumph of the human will of our people. The collective effort proves that a lot can be achieved if there is timely coordination efforts.

Congratulations to those people on their exemplary efforts.

I would like to congratulate those who helped in the stranded passenger train rescue operation in India (“Mumbai braces for more rain: Flights disrupted, hundreds stuck on train”, gulf News, July 28). The operation was carried out by multiple agencies, together, to rescue more than 600 passengers on board the Mahalaxmi Express passenger train. The people involved deserve to be applauded for their success. The train was stranded near Vanganai in the Thane district, due to the flooding of the railway track following heavy trains.

Thus rescue of the stranded train passengers finally ended the agonising wait of their families and friends. It was a timely and difficult rescue operation carried out by teams of National Disaster Response force (NDRF), fire brigade, Railways, the Maharashtra Police, and other officials that worked together. It was tough and undulating terrain. The train was surrounded by water and there were many passengers, young and old, who were in the train at that time.

Congratulations to all the people involved for their exemplary efforts. This remarkable operation displayed the triumph of the human will and has proved that a lot can be achieved if people unite and work for the greater good.