Two incidents making the news in the US give some food for thought for India-baiters and the pessimists who believe nothing is right in this country...
Boulder, Colorado is reeling under flash floods triggered by heavy rains. Over 300 people are missing or unaccounted for, while around 3000 have been evacuated by air or ground, primarily from the cities and suburbs. It's been a week now. Initial fund pledged for relief: 5M USD. The authorities are talking about weeks and months to clean up, and rebuild.
In Uttarakhand, which received 375% of the normal rain accompanied by melting snow and erupting rivers, more than 6000 people were feared dead, while the armed forces evacuated over 110,000 persons from the hilly, inaccessible and heavily forested areas, while rain and bad weather still battered the region. The Army deployed 10,000 soldiers and 11 helicopters, the Navy had sent 45 naval divers, and the Air force deployed 43 aircraft including 36 helicopters. From 17 June to 30 June 2013, the IAF airlifted a total of 18,424 people - flying a total of 2,137 sorties and dropping/landing a total of 3,36,930 kg of relief material and equipment.
The question is - did we really do so bad? If the US struggles so much, is our government really that bad, considering how much of a bigger problem it had to tackle? If the US couldn't predict the rain and take steps to prevent the disaster, are we really justified in castigating our government for not predicting Uttarakhand?
In another shocking incident in the Washington capital region, at least 12 people were feared dead when a deranged ex-Navy man working as a contractor, walked into a naval compound and opened indiscriminate fire.
Question is - for all the profiling, the billions of dollars spent on policing and law enforcement, if this is the level of security afforded to citizens in a high security naval establishment in the national capital region, can we really expect too much more in a poor, developing country surrounded by unfriendly neighbours?
Think about it...
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