What a fellow Indian observed from America :
Hope, they are preparing well
for this monster storm because it is half the size of India, even
stronger than Hurricane Katrina (Category 5 Hurricane) with winds of 315
km/hour and storm surge expected to rise more than 30 feet, just like
1999 Odisha Super Cyclone........
You probably won't know these details
because Indian newspapers and news channels were still busy discussing
the possible after-effects of Sachin's retirement on World Test Cricket
till now and have just woken up......
My relatives were calling me from
India when Hurricane Sandy (Category 2) hit US because the Indian news
channels and papers went crazy, disproportionately covering it 24x7, in
contrast to this Super Cyclone which will hit India in 24-36 hours and
is far stronger and severe, but still unfortunately has got minimal news
coverage in India!!!!! That's typical Indian Media for you. They always
get their priorities wrong.
Also, the IMD is underestimating the strength of this massive storm system. Government is asking people not to panic and stay indoors. But riding out this storm is not an option. You can't really ride out a Category 5 storm. You just have to get out of its way and evacuate. Unfortunately, many people will be caught off-guard and I fear a high number of casualties.
Now, all you will see is the news anchors debating who should be blamed for the loss of thousands of lives once the storm is over, on those prime time debates (shouting competitions). But I haven't seen a single debate or interview on news channels or in newspapers asking the IMD (Indian Meteorological Department) officials or the State Government officials or the officials from National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) which is headed by none other than Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Vice Chaired by Marri Shashidhar Reddy who is an MLA from Andhra Pradesh, about what kind of preparations they have done, what kind of steps they have taken for mitigation and recovery, what have they done to prevent significant damage, what would be their response and what are their plans for recovery? Absolutely nothing, zero, none (except a small mention in Wall Street Journal about 28 Disaster Response Teams deployed by Marri Shashidhar Reddy, but again it was an American newspaper and not Indian who published it) !!!!! However, these channels will be the first one to jump in to find out who should be blamed once the storm is over, instead of trying to find out the persons responsible for the disaster management beforehand so people can also know that they can be held accountable if they don't do their job properly. No wonder people don't respect the Indian media!!!!!
PS: I am amazed that there are only 3 comments on this article even
after few hours and very few have commented on the article. Probably
because the article does not have the magic word "Modi". But I am glad
that at least they have not blamed Modi for this cyclone just to get
more comments. Just saying!!!!!! Anyways, if you don't want to write the
comment than at least give a Thumbs Up and pray for people of Odisha
and Northern Andhra Pradesh. Would be much appreciated.
.
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