The fury of Remal
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: June 03, 2024 -

CHRONICLING experiences of her own and other family members while in hiding for two years to avoid Nazi persecution; Annelies Marie Frank, a German-born Jewish girl, who is more popularly known the world over as Anne Frank, wrote in her diary on Thursday, April 1, 1943, "Misfortunes never come singly".

With misfortune after misfortune befallen upon them, this appears to be the exact predicament of the people living in Manipur today.

Even before they could come to terms with the loss of hundreds of precious human lives and displacement of thousands of families on account of the ethnic violence between two communities that has been going on since May 3, 2023 with no sign of any solution in sight, the tiny hilly state was hit by one of the severest hailstorms in decades on May 5 this year, leaving behind a trail of destruction.

According to the government assessment report, a total of 15,425 houses, private and public properties, and many vehicles have been severely damaged by the hailstorm, apart from causing destruction to more than 500 hectares of standing crops, thus, putting many poor farmers in dire straits.

Even as the hailstorm-affected people are still crying for compensation which the government had announced and assured, people of the strife-torn and hailstorm ravaged state have been now left to face the fury of heavy downpour unleased since the landfall of 'Remal', a cyclonic storm formed over the north Bay of Bengal with wind speed gusting up to 135 kmph.

While the vital roads have been buried under landslides and bridges swept away in the hill areas, several parts of the valley have been inundated either due to overflowing of water from the rivers or breaching of the river banks.

In the aftermath of the severe cyclonic storm, everyone in the state, regardless of their social standing and position, have been left affected.

Of course, Manipur may be better off in comparison to other Remal-affected states in the northeastern region when we look at the number of casualties caused. Apart from the incident of a man dying after he came in contact with a live electric pole, there has been no official report of such unfortunate incidents in Manipur till the time, of writing this commentary.

But loss of 27 lives in Mizoram, four in Nagaland, three in Assam and two in Meghalaya, in addition to injuries caused to over 500 people in incidents related to the cyclonic storm, have already been confirmed by the respective government authorities of these states.

Nonetheless, this is not something to go around thumping our chest as every additional misfortune in a resource-starved state like Manipur, which is reeling under the impact of not just an over one year long ethnic conflict but also the recent hailstorm, is not good for its people.

The situation in Manipur today is such that people are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet and keep the hearth burning. So, the impact of cyclonic storm Remal is going to add more burden to the people, especially in the light of tardy response of the government towards managing the crisis despite the alert sounded by India Meteorological Department (IMD) well in advance.

In such a scenario, it would be convenient for many people to put the blame on the government as well for the present misfortune. But one should think over twice before doing that.

In most instances, it is we, the people, who are to be blamed, for the situation we are in today.

Regardless of the heavy downpour triggered by cyclonic storm Remal, the problem of landslides in the hills and waterlogging in the valley could have been largely reduced if the people have been conscious about the inevitable repercussions of deforestation and encroachment over the natural drainage system.