The drudgeries of life
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Grievance Letter to Ministry of Environment & Forests
To
Mr. Jairam Ramesh
Minister of State (Independent Charge)
Ministry of Environment and Forests
Dear sir,
This grievance is with respect to the untimely and tragic death of my dear friend, the late Mr. Naresh Kodithala on the 24th of April, 2011, at Lion's Point, Lonavala (for your reference: http://tinyurl.com/3u7j8cb).
I'm sure, sir, that this particular case might have been brought to your kind attention earlier, but kindly bear with me. I would not delve into how close I was to Naresh, one of my best friends, but I'd focus on the subtle negligence on the authorities' part that has led to the loss of not just one, but many young lives. And probably many more to come...
When I first heard this sad news of Naresh's demise on the morning of April 24th (Easter Sunday), I was taken aback and I convinced myself that it was a late April Fool joke. Naresh isn't an adventurous sort of person at all, not the type who'd walk over to the cliff's edge just to show off or to get clicked in a cool pose. Googling a bit, I felt temporarily relieved when the related news I got to read were of persons falling off Lion's Point much earlier (f.y.i. an example: http://tinyurl.com/3metgmc).
My relief was short-lived indeed. Within the hour, it was confirmed that Lion's Peak had claimed yet another victim. And sad though it is, only when the victim is someone close to you does the gravity of the situation hit you. Murderous rage coupled with helplessness and despair take over when you think of how young the victim was and what a promising life lay ahead of him, which he involuntarily gave up for no fault of his. You think of his family and what they'd be going through, no consolation for losing a young son, a wonderful brother. Your heart reaches out to the innocent bystanders who witnessed his fall first-hand, and have involuntarily become lifelong slaves to this horrifying nightmare of a memory. The list of stakeholders is huge, sir.
A person doesn't simply die - one death leaves behind lots of dead bodies.
Conversations with friends at the incident spot, and later on reading his sister's blog post (please read: http://sangeethakodithala.blogspot.com/2011/05/conservation-at-what-cost.html) revealed a shocking fact - the absence of railings at such a dangerous point, despite the toll it has taken till date and the huge footfall.
I might tend to be biased at this juncture, sir, but with all due respect I would tag this death (and many more of its kind) as Murder, and I'd justifiably label the Forest Department as Murderers. What kind of tradeoff is it between installing a measly fencing and the loss of umpteen number of lives?!
Even the most hardered murder convicts worldwide would be shocked at the little value we seem to bestow upon life. It's appalling. The worst part is that no one seems to be doing anything about it. Right as I type this out, another disaster in the waiting... it's just a matter of who's next.
I implore you, Mr. Jairam Ramesh, and your ministry to take this matter and many more of its kind into consideration, and to take measures to ensure that no more innocent people fall prey to such freak incidents and to inconsistencies in the system.
Thanks and best regards,
Steve Nipps
Labels: Death, Environment and Forests, Grievance, Jairam Ramesh, Letters, Life, Ministry, Naresh Kodithala
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