Early estimates indicate that over 373 people died in a massive earthquake and Tsunami which hit Indonesia on 24 December and the death toll is expected to rise. The businesses on beach side and plantations which support the city have suffered the most extensive damage. There is no electricity or water.
Tens of hundreds of people who were on a beach festival have been badly affected. This disaster is in addition to the 500 people who were killed by similar disaster in Lombock earlier. We are only talking about the disasters which happened in Indonesia. But other parts of the world too have not escaped these natural calamities.
The havoc caused by the heavy rains in the wake of, and in accompaniment of, the two hurricanes a couple of months ago had brought America, the world’s most powerful nation, to its knees.
The incredible sight of America’s cities submerged in deep waters makes you wonder how helpless man is against the wrath of nature. But it has to be said, the culprit is man himself. These tsunamis, mudslides and floods are Mother Nature’s cry for help in retaliation to the flogging we humans subject her to.
It is time for governments to do more to protect the environment. So what could be done to prevent such disasters from happening again? This could be achieved by reducing the global warming and conserving an ecological balance by avoiding the depletion of natural resources – by creating sustainability.
Dinesh Sheth
Newbury Park, Ilford
