Category: Environment

Stray Dogs Menace

‘Mission Rabies’ might well become part of ‘Swach Bharath’ mission?

As per one statistics, In India, there are annually 84 lakh dog bites leading to the death of around 20,000 people from rabies. It is a disgusting fact that India accounts for around 30% of these death occurring worldwide, even with under reporting. One solution to contain this menace could be to emulate the experience of Goa: Through ‘Mission Rabies’, a project to eradicate rabies from India, this tourist haven might as well become the first Indian city free from rabies by 2020, primarily through dogs’ vaccination.

In many metropolitan cities, the stray dog menace is becoming an extremely unmanageable annoyance and unsafe misery to the pedestrians.while negotiating the stray dogs, one gets trampled by the speeding vehicles, by jumping onto the road. Ironically, though the number would not get added unfavourably to ‘dog bites’!

The problem is compounded by the opposition by ‘the animal lovers’ to any measure conceived to contain the menace either by relocation or by sterilisation of these monsters! It is yet to descend in their mind a concern to show a part of this empathy to their fellow human beings as well? Whether human life is inferior to ‘stray dogs’?

Even though the elephant is in the drawing room, no one wants to address it?

Costly Lessons

Lessons – how costly they can be?

It has now become a routine to blame the dam management for any havoc downstream! Is it not painful to those who suffer loss of properties and invaluable human lives? It has earlier happened in the infamous chennai floods and now Idukki. While in chennai, the PWD was blamed for not resorting to timely openings, in Idukki also similar complaints are heard and even put forward in SC! Is it that, those filing affidavits  wantonly whip up the brewing animosities between the neighbours without any resort to accept the ‘nature’s fury’?

While one can accept the mismanagement of Chembarambakkam lake for the 2015 floods, the same may not be true in MP dam. prima facie it appears, there is an avoidable lack of coordination between the authorities of Kerala and Tamil Nadu during the crisis period: when the Damocles sword is hanging, the state authorities of Kerala seems to be writing letters to their counterparts in TN to regulate Mullai  Periyar water release! With copious rainfalls both in the catchments of Idukki and Mullai  Periyar, is it not a do or die situation? there should have been regular emergency meetings between all the concerned! With SC orders on the state petition to limit the max permissible water level in the MP dam in place, the discretionary regulation to limit the release of water would be a double edged weapon! Writing letters is merely to pass the buck!

With chaotic  dense habitation in the downstream restricting the unhindered drainage coupled with ‘occasional’ heavy rainfalls, such incidents would not be infrequent in the coming years. Unfortunately, The sufferer is always the ‘voiceless’ poor who would be given crumps by the rulers at the end of the day.

It is high time, that Appropriate technological strategies must be spelt out by preparing an ‘Emergency Operating Procedures’ manual that would be a ready guiding reckoner for those managing the dam; this would  limit the damages; actions would be Prompt, adequate and appropriate; responsibilities could also be fixed! 

Would we ever learn lessons after calamities at least?