India is struggling for air, Is COVID -19 Second Wave a result of Ignoring the Crisis Warning?
Very recently, the DM of Maharashtra’s Tribal District, Dr Rajendra Bharud remained in news for making his district, Oxygen sufficient before the crisis hit. The district has had enough resources arranged that now it is helping patients from Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat to seek admission in Nandurbar. To prevent any emergency situation, the administration sorted the oxygen supplies before the extreme crisis, by mobilizing funds to set up two oxygen plants in the district, increasing the oxygen capacity, etc, way before the situation got worse. And his action plan can be seen as acting before the crisis hits. But what about the others. Is COVID -19 Second Wave a result of Ignoring the Crisis Warning?
“In early March, a government-created forum of scientific advisors warned Indian officials of a new and more infectious form of the coronavirus taking hold in the country”, five scientists who are members of the forum told Reuters and said that despite the alert, the government did not attempt to enforce significant restrictions to stop the virus’s spread.
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Didn’t the government and the public know that this could happen?
And while this was a warning that was ignored, the government and the people certainly forgot the fact that the pandemic is still on. Ever since the unlocks started happening, we found people gradually getting back to their normal lives. The government, in the first place, announced the elections in Bihar. Festivals and religious ceremonies also started taking place at the same time. The public places, restaurants, cafes, shopping centres, and religious places started being flooded at their normal capacity. The travels resumed, the metros, trains started at their maximum capacity, not officially but certainly. But for a fact, there were still some precautions, people were taking.
But gradually, we witnessed super spreader events, with Diwali Celebrations, farmer’s protest, Holi celebrations, Kumbh Mela, and not to forget, the huge rallies lead by different political parties during the West Bengal Elections. And sadly, the Kumbh and election rallies happened just when the virus mutation started gaining pace. And if we say that the government didn’t know about the mutation, the crisis at hand, the repercussions it can lead to, it would be an absolute lie.
The pandemic was never over. It is just that the government and the people started forgetting the idea of ‘essential services. The fact that the government allowed the superspreader events, and the public participated in said events is the biggest answer to how COVID -19 Second Wave was a result of Ignoring the Crisis Warning.
And while COVID-19 is one major incident where the crisis warnings have been visibly ignored, what about the other major crisis situations, that are likely to occur in the future but have been ignored.
Are we acting upon the other crisis that is certain to show up?
We have long been ignoring the ecological crisis that may come due to global warming, pollution, overuse of resources, climate change, etc. We have been ignoring what can be done to save the planet despite the fact that we know what should be done. Lack of awareness can be a reason for not being able to act upon the situation, but what excuse will we give when we will meet the crisis we already know will occur, and we know the solution to prevent that too, but aren’t doing much to prevent it. What will the government say then? What will the people say then? What will we say to the next generation, who will know that we knew about the disaster, we knew about the fall, and we didn’t do anything to stop it.
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