Declare Uttrakhand Tragedy a National Disaster - Akhilendra Pratap Singh

Declare Uttrakhand Tragedy a National Disaster - Akhilendra Pratap Singh

  Lucknow: 21 June, 2013

All India Peoples Front grieves the unprecedented tragedy that has hit the residents as well as the tourists visiting Uttrakhand and extends its heart-felt sympathies to them in this hour of trial.

The tragedy is heart- rending because of the terrifying fury of the Nature. It is infuriating because it has been aggravated hugely by the rapacious, mindless, myopic pursuit of “growth” which has become the religion of the ruling classes. The inherent and deadly contradiction between such a pursuit and the survival of people in their natural environment is surfacing as never before in a state where ecology is rich but fragile, people are poor and vulnerable and the rulers of different political hues are unanimously pursuing the disastrous path of unbridled capitalist “development”. The ruling nexus of land speculators, builders, contractors, big corporate interests, corrupt politicians and bureaucrats is literally following  “ after me the deluge” policy. River courses are being dammed, hotels and luxury resorts are multiplying without regard to safety or environment, tourism of the rich is growing fast and the pilgrimages are promoted in unsustainable numbers.

What has compounded the disaster is the total unpreparedness of the government as disclosed in the CAG report released only two months ago on 23. 04.2013. It is nothing short of criminal negligence that the State Disaster Management Authority which was formed in December 2007 has not met even once till date.

Akhilendra Pratap Singh, National Convener, AIPF has demanded that in view of the huge dimensions of the tragedy, it must be declared national calamity and all resources at our command must be pooled to meet the challenge of rescuing thousands upon thousands of our countrymen still stranded in the state and then rehabilitating the families of all the victims. He also demanded to fix the accountability for this great human tragedy and punish all those responsible. He said that in absence of environmental clearance, not a single construction or mining  be allowed.  It is high time that an enlightened debate must start on the immense human cost of the mindless, profit-oriented, environment- destroying capitalist development path and a powerful mass political movement must be built for pro-people, eco-friendly and sustainable development path.