Tome And Plume: Faustian Bargain, Not Nature, Causes Floods In Places Like Chitrakoot

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Unplanned development, poor maintenance, and choked drains have turned roads in Bhopal into Sundarbans Delta, where riding a bike or car gives the feel of a boat journey, and when it does not rain, they remain dusty

Nature is partial to Madhya Pradesh, as it remains free from natural calamities, like Nepal-like floods and earthquakes, because of its tectonically quiet landmasses and silent rivers.

Yet floods occur, destroying properties and sometimes human lives, which happen because of men’s greed for more money. It happens because of poor maintenance of roads and water bodies.

Through Jal Ganga Samvardhan Abhiyan, the state government tried to restore ancient water resources, but it did precious little to maintain the major rivers across the state.

The illegal miners have riddled the riverbeds with deep craters. As a result, the rainfed rivers lose their course and flood their banks. It happened to the Mandakini River in Chitrakoot.

On August 29, when life rolled on in Chitrakoot as usual and the Mandakini River flowed silently, the firmament began to darken. It began to drizzle. Residents mistook it for usual monsoonal rain, but the drizzle began to pelt down. The otherwise silent Mandakini turned furious, and soon it swelled eight to 13 metres above the danger mark, breaking the 23-year-old record, flooding houses, shops, and temples on its banks.

Within a few hours, nothing but water surfaced.

After inundating its banks, the river water entered low-lying areas in the city, and potholed roads soon turned into pools, posing danger to the lives of road users. The administration rarely uses dredger machines to upkeep the rivers.

A second wave of heavy rain again flooded the Chitrakoot and Satna regions on September 1. The Ramghat area remained most affected in Chitrakoot.

The waters of the Mandakini entered many shops along the ghat. The area has been completely submerged. Why should there be shops on the river banks? Why should there be houses near a river that turns dangerous during the rainy season? Why should roads remain ill-maintained? Authorities keep mum on these questions.

Set aside the Chitrakoot flood. The residents of Bhopal, capital of Madhya Pradesh, find themselves in trouble after 48 hours of rainfall. Most of the roads have turned unusable.

Bikers and four-wheeler drivers feel as if they are boating on a wavy river without knowing where they will reach – hospitals or homes.

Every road in the city poses challenges to bikers, car drivers, and pedestrians. Most of the roads in the city remain ill-maintained, ill-lit, and full of ditches throughout the year.

As soon as rain stops and the weather becomes dry, the roads turn dusty. The other day someone jokingly said roads in the city turned into the Sundarbans Delta without mangroves, where riding a bike or a car gives the feel of a boat journey.

The government’s clarion call to keep every city clean also seems to have fallen on deaf ears. Most of the drains on both sides of roads in the state capital remain choked. When it rains, drains overflow, and their dirty water spreads on roads.

But when the situation goes out of control, the authorities put the blame on global warming. But most of the floods in MP result from men’s greed for money and properties.

Unplanned development, construction of buildings and shops everywhere, and poor maintenance of roads remain the main reasons for such tragedies like Chitrakoot and Satna.

Humans failed to learn any lessons from the devastating floods and earthquakes frequently occurring in different parts across the country.

Yet, they have built hotels, roads, and houses in the high-altitude Himalayas and destroyed MP's forested Pachmarhi, hills, and rivers to make additional bucks. Nobody can prevent natural calamities. But such Faustian bargains cost human lives and properties.