But last week's Uttarakhand floods, killing more than 5,000 people and rendering thousands stuck in the hilly region has shown we are not yet ready to meet this kind of disaster. Uttarakhand, carved out of Uttar Pradesh still lacks not only in development but also in governance. The Congress and the BJP had ruled the state alternatively but both had failed the people of the state by allowing indiscriminate felling of the trees and damaging the ecology in connivance with the builders lobby. This catastrophe was an amplified version of past landslides and flash floods in the fragile Himalayan region. Inadequate geological consideration and faulty engineering are responsible for the frequency of such landslides.

Even as the authorities are struggling with the tragedy, the development lobby and the environmentalists continue to blame each other for the state of affairs. The pro development lobby is pleading for more dams and hydro-power generation and development. The environmentalists are opposed to the dams sanctioned, pointing out that the frequent dynamites used for the dams have further weakened the already fragile Himalayan mountains.

Amidst all these, what is surprising is the callous attitude of the political class, which is making use of this human tragedy for their own vote bank politics. One could deal with the natural calamities, but how do you deal with the politicians who are indulging in petty politics and worried about who will walk away with the credit? This is the election year and that justifies everything for the political class.

It is clear that the relief and rehabilitation activities in the flood-damaged areas could be much better if the VIPs do not descend there. The competition between NaMo (Narendra Modi) and RaGa (Rajiv Gandhi) has become a sideshow in the tragedy struck state. Modi is a showman and a ruthless politician. There is no doubt that he is playing politics as he had not visited any other tragedy-struck state in these ten years as the chief minister. Can anyone believe Modi’s claim that he has brought back 15,000 stranded Gujaratis from Uttarakhand, playing politics even on rescue and relief work? Is he not playing the Hindutva card by offering to rebuild Kedarnath temple? The Congress has rightly described Modi as ‘Rambo.’

The irony is that the Congress, too, has its Rambo in Rahul Gandhi. The other Congress leaders — Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, chief ministers like Ashok Ghelot, Hooda and Prithviraj Chavan – visited the flood-hit state. Rahul Gandhi, who was absent from the scene for eight days, had come from abroad and marched off to Uttarakhand with relief materials. Despite the Home Minister Shinde’s ban on VIP visits, it was Rahul Gandhi who defied it. These visits certainly hinder the relief and rescue operations when the armed forces are at odds to bring people to safety at the risk of their own lives. To add to this drama, smaller parties too have their role to play. Telugu Desam supremo Chandrababu Naidu has arrived in Delhi to take back the Telugu pilgrims affected by the floods. Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa has swung into action to transport Tamil pilgrims stranded. Other chief ministers are also getting ready. Shiv Sena is claiming credit for doing rescue work.

How do you deal with this political class? There is no problem if these leaders go to the flood-hit areas but they should contribute some thing and should not come in the way of rescue and relief work. They should take lead in mitigating the sufferings of the people. If they were sincere, they should help quietly like the missionaries do. Why should they look for photo ops and publicity? It is the army Jawan, the Air Force pilot and committed soldiers who are the real heroes.

There are certain things the political parties could do. They should resolve not to play politics in dealing with natural calamities and tragedies of this kind. It would go a long way if the centre and the state worked together and gear up the government machinery to meet any eventuality. Setting up of advance warning system, stopping the indiscriminate sanctions of dams, ending the disturbance to ecology and balancing development and environment are needed as long term solution. The proposal to declare certain parts of Uttarakhand as eco-sensitive needs to be seriously considered, in view of the calamity in that state. The builders’ mafia and politicians should not be allowed to form a nexus to prevent or delay this. Construction of ropeways in future would be a solution. The norms for riverbank strengthening must be developed and constructions too close to the development mustn’t be allowed. The National Disaster Management Authority needs a complete restructuring and more functional authority as well as accountability to deal with floods of this magnitude.

The people of the state are currently fighting for their survival and the whole country is with them. Politicians should know people are not fools and would see though their games and teach them a lesson in the coming elections. It is time the political class stops shedding crocodile tears and does some meaningful relief and rehabilitation work. (IPA Service)