I wish, in my lifetime, I see a paradigm shift in the functioning of backward states. Recently a devastating high intensity cyclone has struck the states of Odisha and costal Andhra damaging 264,000 houses and killing 23 people. The aftermath of the cyclone is followed by flash floods inundating many costal districts in Odisha. The worst hit is Ganjam district where the damage is estimated to be over 3000 crores. The casualty is restricted to below thirty which is commendable. The disaster management of the state and centre is well appreciated. A lot has been learnt from the 1999 experience. Throughout history Odisha has always been prone to cyclones and floods due to its geographical location and is considered to be the poorest state in the country. With these kinds of devastations which occur at least once in a decade, the state moves backwards in development and recovery takes a long hit. Isn’t it centre's responsibility to support weaker states and have a plan in place to address such issues? The state and the centre will apportion certain amount of fund for relief and rehabilitation and does it mean it’s enough. Is a sum Rs 400 and 25Kg rice per family enough? Does it end here? The entire backbone has been rippled and there is a need of greater support to get back the affected people to normalcy. Is there any concrete measure to withstand such calamity in the future with the objective of zero collateral damage? I know, it’s a long order, but the issue is that most of the villages in Odisha are made of hay and straw. Due to this, around 900,000 people have been displaced. Shouldn’t the government ban floating structures in the costal belt which is prone to cyclones? Can’t the gram panchayat in these belts follow strict rules to ensure such structure doesn’t mushroom in villages? I sincerely feel, if we and the government stretch a little, we can provide homes to the poor and needy which can withstand nature's fury. This will help us to reduce collateral damage and rehabilitation cost considerably. And being a 21st century nation, we can’t afford to discriminate between our own states. Unfortunately, over the years, we have observed a lot of disparity on the state economies. The rich states have always topped the developmental index in all basic parameters, whereas the poor have always been in the bottom of pyramid. It is centre's responsibility to balance this socio-economic imbalance within states. Regions like Vidharba, north Karnataka, Deccan plateau have always faced acute droughts and states like Odisha, Costal Andhra, Assam, Bihar Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh have always suffered the fury of flash floods. Can these states be left to sulk or can there be any hope of change. The centre and states collectively need to find ways to implement plans to tackle such destructive natural forces with massive aforestation, river linking programs and subsidizing concrete homes to the poor in low lying areas. We need to focus on economic development on backward regions to make our people of the weaker class to sustain such fury. The point is we can’t succumb to calamites after calamites. Our country even in the 21st century is not well equipped to fight any calamity. We lack technology, logistics, resources and political will. We have vast floating population, which is vulnerable and needs aid to survive in such terrible condition. We seriously need to alleviate the standard of living of our poor and empower them to fight such hardship independently. We need to put them under the ambit of insurance, so that their life and property can be indemnified efficiently and effectively without much government interference. Let the private public partnership bolster such economic developmental activities to face future challenges.
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