1. Bengaluru inundation
In the first seven days of September 2022,
Bangalore Urban District of Karnataka received 171mm of rain, which is 388%
more than the long term average (35mm) of the rains it receives during this
period. Obviously, the city infrastructure is not prepared to manage so much
water; hence some areas of the city have been inundated with rain water. The
spectacle of houses, vehicles and roads under deluge has been enthusiastically
celebrated in the media – mainstream, social, local, national and global. The
residents also marked the occasion by riding on tractors, excavators, and boats
etc.
Prima facie, there is nothing unusual in this.
Almost every city in the country gets inundated at every instance of excess
rain. From large metropolises like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad,
to major cities like Lucknow, Bhopal, Ahmedabad, Jodhpur, Gurgaon, Patna,
Varanasi, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar etc. have all experienced similar situations in
the past few years.
We all discuss the inadequate infrastructure;
poor planning; corrupt administration; blatant encroachments on public land;
and sustainability issues for a couple of weeks and automatically shift to the
other topics enjoying higher TRP on media as soon as the dark clouds wither
away and flood waters recede. In recent times, people have also found issues of
nationalism, regional pride, and immigrants’ apathy to local issues, in the
flood waters. For example, people of Bengaluru have been told to tolerate the
inconvenience in the interest of nation building and weaken the government on
such trivial issues; and immigrants have been told to leave the city if they do
not like it rather than demeaning the city by highlighting their problems.
Perhaps the Almighty has made us human like
that only. It is our natural tendency to keep moving on – from the good and
from the bad. Those who stop to fight the wrong or get attached to the good are
usually demeaned and sidelined.
PS: One issue that never becomes part of the
popular narrative is the accountability and responsibility of “We the people of
India”. The people who bought houses built on the lands stolen from lakes; the
people who ignored the conduct of their neighbors in encroachment of the public
lands; the people who were indifferent to the potholes and blocked drains when
it was not raining and people who got away with bribing the civic
administration.
2. Rishi
Sunak loses UK PM bid
The ‘Son of India’ Rishi Sunak lost the bid for
prime ministership of the United Kingdom. While in the United Kingdom the
contest was mostly between policies and personal reputation; in India it was
mostly between Imperialist Britain and its former Indian subjects. Millions of
eulogies were prepared to celebrate Sunak’s elevation to 10 Downing Street. The
patriots were already celebrating it as the revenge of India by conquering the
throne of England. The public debate in India has ended with lamenting of
Sunak’s loss as victory of racist whites over a colored suitable boy. Some of
the staunch supporters have preserved a glimmer of hope safely for the next
general election in the UK.
Incidentally, the popular narrative in India
missed a small point that Sunak was born and brought up in England, by African
Hindu (Kenyan Father and Tanzanian Mother) parents. His grandfather migrated to
Africa from Gujranwala (now in Pakistan) before independence. There is no
pertinent evidence available to show that he has favored India or Indians in
his capacity as British parliamentarian or senior cabinet minister.
Unfortunately, a large proportion of people desperately
wanting to see Sunak as UK prime minister and calling the UK politics racist,
are those who found the idea of Sonia Gandhi becoming India’ prime minister
devastating and nauseating.
Some of these may have even castigated the
young brilliant cricketer Arshdeep Singh as anti-national and secessionists
(Khalistani) for just dropping a catch in a recent India Pakistan match.
3. Cyrus
Mistry dies in a car crash
A renowned businessman and former chairman of
Tata Sons, Cyrus Mistry, died in a car accident last Sunday. The car was being
driven by a highly reputable gynecologist and also had two of her close family
members travelling in it. Two passengers, including Mistry, died immediately,
and the other two are seriously injured.
The shocking event has been mourned by the top
politicians and business people of the country. However, Ratan Tata, the
Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons and Tata group was rather conspicuous in not
making any public obituary. It is pertinent to note here that Tata and Mistry
were engaged in a bitter battle of control over Tata Sons a few years ago,
which Mistry lost in the Supreme Court.
As Chairman of the group, Mistry had questioned
many decisions of his predecessor Ratan Tata that destroyed significant
shareholders’ value over the past decade. He argued that flamboyant management
style and a spate of errors of judgment were seriously prejudicial to the
interest of companies in which non-Tata shareholding was material. Only a
handful of industry people and politicians supported Mistry at that time. It is
also interesting to note that Mistry was not the first Tata Sons heavyweight to
be ousted unceremoniously. Same was the case when the likes of Russi Modi,
Darbari Seth and Ajit Kerker had spoken against Ratan Tata and were ousted from
the group.
Post the accident, the highways minister has
announced that wearing of seatbelts will be made compulsory for the back seat
passengers also. Non-compliance shall be subject to a fine of Rs1000.
Without any doubts whatsoever, the accident is
unfortunate and loss is tremendous. But it does need a few straight questions
to be answered.
About 1.55 lac people died in road accidents in
India in 2021. The number is rising almost every year. Why did the government
wait for so many years and so many deaths to announce this basic safety
measure?
The site of the accident is apparently a death
trap. Many accidents have taken place at that point and many lives have been
lost. Still there is no proper signage there. Who is taking responsibility for
that? The government and the Supreme Court need to fix the accountability for
all poor roads, especially the roads where toll is being charged. The
concessionaire, contractor, NHAI, the municipal/PWD engineers, local
representatives (corporator, panchayat member etc.) – someone needs to be held
accountable for all accidents caused due to poor road maintenance.
