Breaking
down the Dam
The
Prelude
“I
sign this with the blood of my heart” said a king in 1886. The
event kick started construction of a dam across one of the biggest
rivers in a princely state of British India. It is still unclear if
the concept of blood was a way he used to represent the brotherhood
of sharing water between the states; or if it was a way to vent his
frustration of signing a 999 year treaty for a dam that would have an
estimated life time of hardly around 50 years. Thinking of the wisdom
and foresightedness of the earlier Kings, it would be more
appropriate to believe in the later. It is ironical that 84 years
down the line the very same treaty was tuned up by a political party
that finds respect in symbolizing the colour of blood. The tuning up
led to further bonding the brotherhood between the states where one
agreed to pay more to the other for a consent to produce power with
the water that was already irrigating 68558 ha of land. A win-win
situation for sure.
The
Loss in Winning
There
are quite a few things that would surely question the intellect of
one who has the time and capability to see beyond the media
extravaganza and think for his own. In the first place how could
someone sign a treaty of 999 years for something that would have an estimated life of just around 50 years? Some might point towards the
peculiarities of the era in which the pact was signed and might find
comfort in putting the blame on the British. It is funny that we
always find some kind of comfort in repeating this at every chance.
Even over 60 years post independence!
Even
if you were to agree to the British angle of things, what really went
through the minds of those who reworked the treaty in the early
1970's? Why did they fail to foresee the events in the near future
and modify the pact accordingly? More importantly what was the logic
in one state being given the control of a dam built in another!
These
are questions that would disturb the common man's thoughts. There
might surely be answers. But they would surely be complicated and not
in lines with the common man's simple logic.
Managing
a Catastrophe
Kerala
is the only State to have constituted something like a Dam Safety
Authority. Higher up we have the Central Water Commission. There is
an empowered committee appointed as per directions from the Supreme
Court. We have numerous agencies and systems both judicial and
bureaucratic. There are various national and international level
agencies. There is more than required experience and capability
available in the areas of safety evaluation and crisis management. We
have technologies available to scan the terrain, run simulations and
implement effective and efficient emergency management plans.
In
the present era where India is planning to put a man on the moon, it
seems quite odd that such a situation is promoted through clippings
of ministers scraping off portions of the Dam and crying out about
its safety. Should we not be dealing with such situations using more
authoritative technological capabilities? Should we not be seeing
concrete and authoritative evidence of safety concerns (if there are
any!). Shouldn’t the media
find some more entertainment value in reassuring the common man with
fool proof emergency response systems being implemented by the
Government (if there are any!). The fact that they have decided to
fill the entertainment space with clippings of rage, protests, hunger
strikes and all sorts of gimmicks is really a fact of concern.
Back
in Future
It
is certain that either the Government or Time would eventually bring
down the dam. How both states would manage the future is uncertain.
But that might not really be an issue. How future ready have they
been in history is questionable to a certain extent.
Another
certainty is that the common man would anyhow continue to keep to
himself the commonness in his future days. Who ever brings down the
dam in future, there would surely be certain questions left
unanswered. There would still be some cries of distress, sorrow,
anger and there would also be more gimmicks to come. We can only wish
that this time, 'blood' does not get a role to play!
And
then, the last laugh should be by those who encapsulate all these
into the 'entertainment' space!
The
Present
The
way in which such socially, politically and humanely sensitive
situations are handled is distressing. Its concerning. And its real.
The
fact that India is still 'shining' is even more surprising! And that
rekindles the one thing that leads life ahead – Hope!
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