Tuesday, July 9, 2013

It's rains all the way.

The south-west monsoon has been going strong and from all accounts, this year it's gonna be on the surplus side, at least in Kerala. When viewed from the extreme heat and the subsequent drought conditions prior to its onset, the downpour was essential.

It must have taken the first fortnight's rainfall to thaw the parched land and consequently, build up on the water table's reserves. The huge playground-like river beds have once again become things of the past and all the rivers are overflowing. In fact, quite a few of them have devastated the dwelling units on their banks and are continuing to wreak havoc.

The children are having a whale of a time. Their schools are shut, from time to time, to keep the tiny tots away from the nature's fury and at times, for their schools to be used for sheltering the unfortunate people affected by the incessant rains - displaced from their homes due to extensive water logging and the collapse of shanties and low cost constructions!

The essential services like electricity, water, telephones - and you can add the internet too - have survived the initial erratic existence and are functioning to acceptable standards. But the condition of the roads, including the main thoroughfares, is simply pathetic. Everyday sees the birth of new potholes with the existing ones transforming themselves to huge, unmanageable craters thanks to the mad rush of traffic which keeps on unabated. Harried motorists, in turn, take out their frustration rising out of the chaos on their fellow motorists - I'm sure that the number of cases of hypertension is gonna hit the roof by the time this monsoon comes to an end!

Illnesses, connected with the season, are on the rampage and the outpatient departments of most of the hospitals are bursting at the seams thanks to the ever increasing swell of patients. The waste management system has been in limbo, long since and has been a contributing factor in the spread of the diseases.


Tailpiece.

The people were eagerly looking forward to the monsoons when they're reeling under the unprecedented drought conditions of the summer and once the rains have begun to fall, the very same people desperately hope for it to come to an early end. A real paradox, indeed!    

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