Facing flood fury

In his famous book Essay on the Principle of Population, the British scholar Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834) articulated his views regarding human population saying, “An increase in a nation’s food production improved the well-being of the populace, but the improvement was temporary because it led to population growth which in turn restored the original per capita production level.” The central message of his view, referred to as Malthusian catastrophe is “The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for all in the population.” Further, taking India’s own case, populations had a tendency to grow until the economically deprived sections suffer hardship and want result in greater susceptibility to famine and diseases. The decades preceding the dawn of this century witnessed a virtual flood of more than 20 million human beings being added every year to the mass already hosted by the land. That number currently being estimated as about 10 million is no small mercy. The country is facing a multiplicity of flood fury, both natural and otherwise. First of all, the flood of annual addition of 10 million or so mouths joining the mass in the land without access to even skimpy quantities of food, forget about nutrition so expertly prescribed by practicing consultants, is more talked about than addressed by all concerned. Next follow (a) Outbreak of many life-threatening diseases, dengue and chikungunya joining the set of afflictions already on the familiar list, (b) Mishaps on the road-and-railway network across the country claiming lives of people in growing astronomical proportions, (c) Fatalities in stampedes during popular festivals such as Kumbh Mela and Pushkar, (d) Fallout of unpreparedness to manage the rivers and lakes that go dry in years of monsoon failure and overflow causing devastating floods resulting in loss of life, crops and property in years of excessive rains as in the current season. Lastly, the capabilities to both check the various natural disasters and also address related challenges are well within the grasp of administration, with the notable exception of the flood of youth largely left to fend for themselves. The task is overdue to be tackled on a war-footing, even as this flood doesn’t recede unlike the furious floods of rivers and lakes