Witoubou Newmai
As the impacts of Climate Change are becoming quite a herculean issue to be handled, and the world struggles with the issue without perceiving any definite predetermined end; it is an opportune juncture to explore how best we can affirm the adage ‘turning problems into opportunities’.
Amidst the reports of droughts and floods, depletion of ground water, dying of streams and rivulets and other sources of drinking water, and also even as the world continues to harp on the replenishment approach, it is prudent to search the ‘opportunities’ at varied local levels.
The current drinking water crisis or droughts in many areas in India, amid floods in other, necessitate the views of experts about these two extremes, to be dilated on the wider table.
Even as the single-pronged approach of ‘reversing of environmental health’ continues, exploring to channel in ‘opportunities’ from the ‘ruins’ needs to be seriously considered. This view is considered so, because the mitigation measures with regard to environmental breakdown may be too long a time to see the yielding.
Echoing the above mentioned adage, Dr S Janakarajan, former professor of the Madras Institute of Development Studies, advises that, floods and droughts are opportunities, not disasters. According to him, since human beings have no control over weather conditions and monsoons “we should be prepared to face both (drought and floods) the situations”.
What according to him is “preparation” about is to do with the integrated view of the calamities. Dr S Janakarajan, who specialises in the areas of water, environment and Climate Change, says that saving water during floods will save the people from droughts. Going a bit deeper, the expert stresses the need to have comprehensive database about calamities, saying that “there were many floods and droughts in the past”. There is a lack of such comprehensive database on the calamities, and Dr S Janakarajan stressed the importance of acknowledging this fact.
He then criticises the concerned authorities as to how they solely depend on newspaper reports and that, “no state agency seems to be willing to take responsibility for this”.
The views of Dr S Janakarajan can be extrapolated to any other calamity. One important theme of his views is to look for ‘opportunities’ to meet ends when situations are no longer within the controlling ambit.
In this, even as the collective efforts on the mitigation measures continue, explorations at varied local levels for the ‘manifestation’ of ‘opportunities’ in times of calamities have become a compelling approach.
