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Voting for man-made disasters:
Context
The root cause of man-made disasters in August is the conscious errors of omission and commission by the state
Tragic month of this year
- The month of August was a disaster-filled month for India.
- Dozens of infant deaths in a government-run hospital in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh,
- frenzied rioting after a godman was convicted in the rape of two followers,
- Untold deaths and millions displaced in massive floods in Bihar,
- A night of horrendous commutes in Mumbai following torrential rains,
- The aftermath of significant flooding in the North-East— these marked only the most notable disasters during the month.
Water, waterlogging, and waterborne disease
- What is common to the disasters above is that they are all about water, related disease.
- And that they are man-made with a collapse in administration and a sharp political failure
The Gorakhpur deaths
- The Gorakhpur deaths that took place early in August were allegedly due to the lack of oxygen supply in the hospital.
- The tragedy exposed the weakness of the entire public health system
- The incident exposed a severe shortage of trained nurses, doctors and an absolutely failed political and administrative system with dysfunctional incentives and accountability.
- Japanese encephalitis overwhelms the region due to rampant mosquito breeding consequent to annual floods in the low-lying region.
- The impact, particularly on the rural poor, continues year after year.
- The Kosi flooded again this year and 500 people are dead and nearly 17million have been rendered homeless in Mithila.
Way ahead
- State complicity in illegal construction is the primary reason for the repeated collapse.
- The sycophancy of the political establishment simply to align with vote banks is reaching a new high.
- Rioting by lawless goons was an issue because the political and administrative machinery has been totally captured by such godmen