Mumbai Vs New Orleans

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Mumbai aani New Orleans… donhi shaharani javalpaas eka mahinyaachyaa antarane nisargaache roudra roop pahile. Both the cities almost submerged….karane thodi vegali kaa asenaat pan tulana kelyaashivaay rahavat nahi.
Donhi mothi shahare... aapapalyaa deshaatil pramukh bandaranpaiki ek... donhivar sankat panyaamule aalele....
Pan he samyaa avadhyaapuratech.... The very fact that New Orleans is situated below sea level increases the severity of the situation many fold. Mumbai on the other hand is full of hills.
Since past few days I m reading news as well as mails making a mockery of US govt. For not handling the situation properly and the sentences like “doctor... heal first yourself”. All I will say that all those who said like this did not understand the scenario well. Yes, the govt. response was slow but still it was much faster than our government’s response to Mumbai scene. I will rather say that this incident shows how a mightiest and most prosperous nation too can feel helpless against nature.

The trouble in Mumbai was much manmade than it was due to nature. The rainfall was excessive but still the area’s near eastern exp. Highway that has sea on the east did not face much problem. All the areas that faced problem were the ones where the drainage system constituted by “Nala’s” And the Mithi river was heavily encroached. So water could not flow out. This highlights one more fact that the Drainage infrastructure (Natural as well as the one built by the British) was never improved but always eroded off its capacity to carry water.

I simply can not imagine Mumbai in place of New Orleans. That city even though below sea level, was well guarded by a network of levees and canals against the sea, the Mississippi river and the Lake Pontchartrain. And the height of water raised upto 20 feet (2 floors??? :-( ) also the news that it might take as long as 80 days just to pump the water out indicate the severity of the scene. In Mumbai max water level seen was up to the first floor...

But in spite of all this, full points to people of Mumbai for the fighting spirit and a splendid display of social integrity. The society faced the calamity much more cohesively. On the other hand New Orleans had a complete collapse of law and order.
People started ransacking shops and numerous incidents of rape occurred.
In Mumbai not a single incident of looting or rape occurred. People were stranded on platforms, some marooned in cars, some walking down but everyone helped each other.
Even the news channels, instead of simply shooting and broadcasting, were seen doing some social service too by relaying the messages from stranded people to their family etc.

This makes me wonder about the reasons behind the behavior of people in New Orleans.

Is it an indicator of a weak foundation of a society that appears so advanced? Nisagrachyaa eka praharane aadhunikatecha mukhavata galoon padava aani ek kroor amanavi American chehara samor yava asa prakaar vatato sara...
Mage tsunami chyaa veli pan lokani asale kahi kele navhate.... (pan mhanoon aapan kahi dhutalyaa tandalache nahi aahot.... Killari aani Gujarat chyaa bhukampachyaa veli asale prakaar aapalyaa kade pan zale hote... aani tsunami chyaa veli asale kahi karaayla velach milala nahi... shen chamacha bhar khalle kaay kinvaa vaati bhar.. shen te shen...)
Or is it the downside of a secured society that people fumbled and lost their conscience in the wake of calamity.... isn’t it weird to see people looting TV sets when they have lost food, shelter and clothes?
Or was it an “Organized” activity like the one we see during riots?
Whatever it was..... It definitely put up an ugly show of very primitive instincts and inhuman behavior totally unacceptable in today’s social order.

I wonder how people from Mumbai would have behaved if they had an escape route?
Would they have done same thing on deserted streets as people of New Orleans? Mazyaa mate mumbai chyaa lokaanchi avastha SinhaGadavar Shelaar Mamane dor kapoon takalyaavar mavalyaanchi ji avastha zali hoti tashi hoti. They had to fight back... or in this case people had to co operate after the “ropes” of railway were cut off....
Aso.... “Zakali Mooth Savva Lakhachi”

One more thing I can not stop wondering about is the design of drainage system for coastal city New Orleans that is below sea level. It may have some useful hints for improving the Drainage system in Mumbai since our drainage system generally fails whenever there is a combination of high tide and heavy rain.