Mother Nature’s Revenge

Monsoon, which has been the life line of India for ages, suddenly turned hostile wreaking havoc in many places in the northern part of India. Such was the magnitude of nature’s fury that Uttarakhand which received the butt of the ire was completely devastated. Even god’s own abode, the famous shrine of Lord Shiva and one of the twelve Jyotirlingas of the Lord was not spared. Although the Lingum remained intact. What do we call this?It is time to be honest and admit that this catastrophe was mother nature’s revenge for our acts of omission and commission of tampering with nature, our indiscriminate ravaging of the nature’s treasure, our rapacious tendencies to take mother nature too casually. Interestingly, this calamity struck barely a few days after we had gone through the annual ritual of celebrating World Environment Day.

The message has been loud and clear – do not try to fool mother nature. Paying lip service will not do any good and it is time mother nature is taken seriously. In fact, the recent spate of cataclysmic events which devastated large stretches of Uttarakhand usually strike once in a hundred years. But if a study of the World Bank is to be believed, the inconvenient truth about the climate change can no longer be dismissed as scare mongering. The report which has taken into account the climate change and its region wise impact, sends gloomy forebodings suggesting that India might have to pay a heavy price for callous disregard of nature and face such disasters every ten years. Our grain production which largely depends on the monsoon rains may witness a heavy decline, and if the mean temperature increases by even two percent the water level of rivers like Bhramaputra and Ganga may fall drastically, affecting food security of a large section of our population. What is needed is serious concern and not popular rhetoric while celebrating events like World Environment Day or World Greenery Day.

Environment activism here is more of a fashion. It needs to become a passion. And the solution lies in strict laws, serious activism and popular participation. One of the villains of the piece has been the unplanned urbanization replacing natural forests by Jungles of concrete. Unscrupulous realtors have contributed significantly to the rise in mean temperature, not only by the high rise buildings that drain ground water forcing water table to fall, but also by absorbing heat of the sun and raising the atmospheric temperature. Further, the emissions of CFCs through air conditioners and refrigerators have also added to carbon emissions. The reality sector has to be regulated with a heavy hand, particularly in smaller cities where the mushroom growth of apartments without even caring for minimum regulations has resulted in chaotic urbanization. The carbon emissions must be cut if the mean temperature is to be brought down. It is to be understood that mother nature’s carrying capacity is being challenged to unbearable limits. The problem is not with human needs. The problem lies with human greed which has brought us to such a pass. The answer then can be found in Mahatma Gandhi’s famous quote- Earth can provide enough to satisfy everybody’s need, but not enough for even one person’s greed. The situation has become alarming because human beings are looking for commerce everywhere. But remember mother nature has already started sending warning signals. Humanity beware because if the mother turns hostile who will save you. And one final thing – nature and God are one. The unscathed Shivlingum that remains at Kedarnath bears testimony to this. So respect mother nature, or else pay the price.