As vote count day approaches Floods, floods everywhere

Just a few days left for the vote count but these are extraordinary times and the focus of the people is not on June 4, but on the landslides, the floods and the devastating impact it has had on the people. The focus is not on June 4, but on the sky literally and any sound that signals the coming of the rain, after a brief lull, is met with anxious look up on the sky. The final details of the losses suffered so far are yet to be worked out but as Water Resources Minister Awangbow Newmai put it in a Facebook post, about 1.88 lakh people have been affected. At least four people have been killed in incidents related to the heavy rain that lashed Manipur for at least four days and no one knows whether the rain will continue or not. But what can be stated with a degree of certainty is the fact that the rain that pummelled Manipur non-stop for at least four days on the trot has taken a heavy toll. Even as the rain flooded roads and affected homesteads and vegetable farms including kitchen gardens, it has also submerged a number of vehicles, especially those at the localities which are in line with the water gushing out from the over-flooded rivers. Many roads have been cut off and many vehicles have been left immobile with many more needing the treatment of trained mechanics. May month has certainly not been good for Manipur and recall May 3, 2023 and one can remember how the first match stick was struck and which set the place literally on fire. A fire which is yet to be extinguished even after more than 365 days. The devastating flood in the valley or the twin districts of Imphal, the landslides and mudslides in the hill districts will be remembered for days and to many, especially those who are in their 40s and 50s and who had to physically experience the impact of the flood, May 2024 can be added as yet another chapter that may be passed down to the younger lot. To those who are still in their impressionable age, especially those who are in their early teens, the flood of May 2024 will be one chapter in life that can be told to their juniors when they become adults of society. This is looking at the catastrophe in a lighter vein, but which can be a distinct possibility, but the matter of greater import is for the Government to study if the severe impact of the flood could have been avoided or lessened if only practical steps had been taken up in good time. As a young man, a doctor to boot, put it in his Facebook status, the dry months-November, December and January-should be taken as the right time to clean all the rivers and streams of Manipur. This can go on to help in the smooth flow of the water when the sky opens up during Monsoon.
No one knows when the Government will be able to work out the details of the loss suffered by the people in the flood, the like of which Manipur has not seen as far as memory can take one back. Those who experienced or saw the devastating flood of 1987/88 say that the flood this time is more severe but what makes the heavy rain and the accompanying flood and the landslides and mudslides in the hill districts all that more devastating is the fact that it has come at that point of time when Manipur is still caught up in the ethnic clash that has claimed over 200 lives, with many still missing and displaced over 60,000 people forcing them to survive in the different relief centres set up across the length and breadth of Manipur. A double tragedy, this is what would sum up the reality in Manipur today. Even as the rain continued to pummel different parts of Manipur and numerous localities had to experience black outs, it did not take long for the business sharks or the petty leikai shopkeepers to jack up the price of candle sticks, with one packet costing at least Rs 10 more than it was before. One can expect prices of other commodities to shoot up in the coming days with reports already coming in that Manipur is staring at the distinct possibility of facing scarcity of grocery items. The possibility of this grim prognosis should be seen in the backdrop of the reports of many godowns going under water. These are the immediate issues which will occupy the minds of the people, but come June 4 and one can expect the focus of the people to shift to the vote count for that will decide who get to represent the people of Manipur on the floor of the Lok Sabha. Which party gets to form the next Government is another point of interest which will grab the attention of the people.