On July 19, Dimapur witnessed one of its worst flood situations in the recent times, with many localities in the district becoming inundated after a spell of heavy downpour, displacing more than 500 families. The areas severely affected included Dhobinalla, 4th Mile (Chathe river bank), Burma Camp, Supermarket area, East Police colony, Bank colony, Unity colony, Airport area, Khopanullah, Midland and Eros Lane, while those moderately affected were Ura Villa colony, Imkonglenden colony, Marwari Patti, Holy Cross School, Naga United village, Chumukedima and Showuba.
Relief and rescue operations promptly swung into action, fortunately, no casualty was reported, although many thatch houses, farmland and livestock were said to have been swept away by the flash flood.
Here, the sad thing is, even authorities could not deny that the flooding was partly a man-made disaster. The State Disaster Response Force stated to have admitted that Dimapur requires special flood control enforcement given the lack of proper drainage system and haphazard dumping of garbage coupled with land encroachment issues. The few existing drainages have little or no space for water to pass through, thereby, forcing a flood like situation during heavy cloudburst, in most of the localities.
In a positive response to the flood situation in the district, the district disaster management authority and several village/locality authorities including some benevolent public have arranged for makeshift shelter and immediate relief for the affected families; and even the medical department under the chief medical officer has also restructured the medical coverage to be given by its health units in the district.
However, the challenges are only beginning for those whose property has been flooded. Eventually, the help brigades will soon be moving on – leaving those at the centre of the tragedy to struggle through relocation, renovations, replacement of lost property and the grief of loss of irreplaceable keepsakes. Leave alone being fully reimbursing the material loss of the affected people, no one can compensate them for the stress and trauma.
Are our law makers who are busy tussling for power capable of pausing to consider visiting the victims even to offer a simple shake of hands and to say ‘be strong’ to the affected families? Ten days have gone past, we are still waiting. On the part of the society too, it would be a huge mistake to just go blithely back to business.
As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD) reports, heavy rainfall across the northeast states including Nagaland, is expected for the next couple of days. Are we ready to see more families being evacuated from their homes?
Time has come for all of us to take whatever preventive measures are possible so that flooding of homes is avoided. To the government, we say, perk up on flood alert mechanism, create awareness to those living in vulnerable areas and avoid permitting further constructions in high-risk zones.
A ‘next time’ is unavoidable.
