This has been a month of tragic accidents and man-made calamities. From the Naxal attacks in Dantewada (twice now), massive oil spill near the gulf of mexico to the recent Air India plane crash in Mangalore there has been no let up of bad news.

The Dantewada attacks first on the Paramilitary forces and then the targeting of SPO's (Special Police Officers) atop a civilian bus by the naxals exposed the government's flawed strategy. From my childhood I had imagined Naxals to be an avatar of Robinhood fighting the injustice meted out by the state and the Zamindars. They used to confiscate the excess land and distribute it among the poor and the landless. Also the people especially the tribal population were made aware of their rights.

The recent attack where they targeted a civilian vehicle goes against the grain of naxalite movement. The State has to take a major part of the blame. It forces the people to vacate their lands for building industries, constructing dams, giving mining rights to private parties. Development is essential but at what cost? Resettlement of people, providing them adequate compensation is all mired in red tape. People are frustrated with the corruption and apathy of the bureaucrats right from the village level to the highest decision making body in the state.

Naxals get it wrong when they target schools, post offices, police stations, police, paramilitary forces, hospitals, roads, bridges etc and now even civilians. What do they gain by destroying infrastructure? Do they want to keep the people backward and illiterate instead of joining the national mainstream.

The State cannot keep pumping the forces without first trying to alleviate the sufferings and bringing development to the door step of the villagers. To quote Mahatma Gandhi "Real India lives in its villages" The major task before the State would be to eliminate or at least minimize corruption so that the people reap the benefits. When people realize that the state really cares about them they will be more than willing to lend a helping hand to fight the naxal violence. Use of force is required when the naxals resort to wanton destruction and mindless violence but bear in mind that you need to well equip the forces with arms, ammunition and human intelligence else they will be sitting ducks and there is no better example than Dantewada to prove it.

Accidents like the Gulf oil spill and the recent Air India plane crash in Mangalore fit the bill of man made disasters perfectly. The oil spill will destroy the gentle fabric of the coastline and the marine life, not to mention the birds and their nesting grounds. It may take years to recover or worse damaged beyond repair.
Mangalore is my hometown and I have travelled by air only on a couple of occasions. When I did travel, the view from the plane was scary. The runway which would jut out of the mountain would give me goose bumps. The "What If" factor starts circling my mind.

Air traffic is growing in India and airline operators with a view to cutting costs are becoming lax in ensuring safety requirements. The Government cannot escape the blame either. Without a proper infrastructure in place, it(Government) is constructing airports hastily without doing any feasibility/environmental impact and safety study. A combination of all these is a recipe for disaster waiting to happen.

First and foremost there must be an independent air safety board on the lines of United States NTSB(National Transportation Safety Board). Also the crew and the pilots need to be given adequate rest between their flight rosters. All these would definitely cost money but then dead people don't live to tell a tale.


(Image courtesy: http://www.mynews.in/News/dailyimage/news/naxals--big-1.jpg)
(Image courtesy: http://www.foxnews.com/slideshow/scitech/2010/04/28/oil-rig-explosion-seen-space/#slide=5)
(Image courtesy: http://buzzytimes.com/mangalore-plane-crash-latest-pictures-air-india-express-crash-mangalore-photos/)