Summer of discontent and diseases
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: May 09, 2012 -

A summer time sunset in Imphal City :: Pix - Jinendra Maibam

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" The Bard of Avon (William Shakespeare), thus, wondered in one of his famous sonnets in trying to find an appropriate comparison between his beloved and the beauty of summer.

Though the poet concludes that his beloved is 'more lovely and more temperate' than the summer's day, it (summer season) is something everyone looks forward to after the chilling winter in England.

However, in this part of the globe, onset of summer is becoming synonym with wide spread discontentment and diseases.

Apart from scorching sun overhead that perhaps helps in rising the temper of the people to the dust on the roads that makes the people to mask their faces in moving around, from the drying up ponds and rivers that leave the people high and dry (literally) with access to tap water remaining a distant dream to the frequent reports of outbreak of epidemics in different parts of the state, summer season is something whose arrival is dreaded by the people.

Summer is also that time of year in Manipur when the temper of the people remains high and the state embroils in some sort of agitation or the other.

So, had he known the summer of Manipur, The Bard of Avon would have definitely think over a thousand times before comparing his beloved to a summer's day regardless of the rough winds that do shake 'the darling buds of May'.

Around two decades back, the summer of Manipur was not so hostile and unfriendly as it is today.

But a steady decline in the ecological balance has brought about a drastic change in the climate condition of Manipur, which used to be normally described as temperate, not so hot as the sub-tropical climate and milder than the polar climate.

Along with the change in climatic condition mainly from mindless destruction of forests and unplanned urbanization, many unforeseen events including natural calamities have taken place subjecting the people to untold miseries.

Rise in temperature and erratic rainfall have also affected the day-to-day struggle for survival of the people, not to speak of the larger implication on the economy of the state.

Painting a gloomy picture of the days to come, Climatologists have also predicted that the average annual temperature (baseline) of Manipur, which is currently 19.46degree Celsius, would rise by 3.70 degree Celsius by 2085.

During the corresponding period, average annual rainfall would decline by 22.03 mm from the current rate of 1134.75 mm.

Now, the moot point is, are we ready to face the challenges from onslaught of climate change?

Keeping aside other considerations, we are raising this question from the simple fact that every year newspapers in Manipur are always flooded with reports of outbreak of epidemic with onset of summer.

The first report of such outbreak of an unknown disease has come in from Tamenglong district with many afflicted people showing symptoms dizziness, fever and swollen chin.

Though the symptoms described may point to a common disease like Mumps, it takes the proportion of an epidemic as access to even the basic health care is abysmally dismal in places little further from the periphery of Imphal.