Maharashtra was in dire straits till a few days ago with a drought-like situation was looming large. Then came in Monday’s heavy downpour throwing the entire city out of gear. Speaking on the current monsoon and drought scenario in the state and how India has grappled with other natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis in the past, was professor of economic history at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Dr Tirthankar Roy at the Oxford University Press.
Dr Roy, whose recently published book is an analysis on India’s socio-economic history of natural disasters, said, “The situation in the state could have been handled in a better way. In most drought-prone areas, people’s living conditions changed very slowly over the years. A lot of these vulnerable groups have remained vulnerable.”
Till Monday’s heavy rains lashed city, the BMC was mulling over cloud seeding. However, Dr Roy said the idea doesn’t necessarily produce the desired results. “It is a very strange weather pattern. We often tend to go the extreme and a method like cloud seeding becomes the last resort. It is very cost and resource intensive.”
He added that urban planning in Mumbai has always been neglected and given the current scenario, the disaster management system has to be significantly improved along with prioritising the issue.
“Given the geographical location of the state, the susceptibility to disasters is considerably high. If we have the technology, we can predict droughts and rainfall fairly well. Mumbai needs better infrastructural planning and awareness among people to prepare for disasters,” said Dr Roy.