Survival. Why do we live, where we live?
November 20th, 2011 → 11:52 am @ Shanti
For many years I have observed communities, who have settled along rivers, some others on earthquake prone zones and again others right on beach fronts, which are all prone to nature’s fury at some time or another.
In the days of river transport, a lot of cities and towns were settled along rivers and these waterways were very valuable to these communities. Nowadays all this has changed to road transport or rail, there is no sense to have this infrastructure still in place. These cities, which flood every year or two years and have to cope with the trauma of evacuating the shops and houses at a moment ‘s notice, have to foot a hefty bill each time to re-settle after the event.
My thoughts were for years and are still today, that these cities should gradually be moved to higher ground and restarted again, with all modern infrastructures to go with it and benefit from the new positions. I discussed these thoughts with a parliamentarian one day and he agreed with me, that once a building was declared unfit to be re-occupied, this site should go back to the city and made into a park and the occupiers should be given a block of land to resume their business out of flood reach. These new cities could be planned ahead and the plans made available to the businesses and private home owners alike.
This will take quite a few years to complete, but eventually, the flood problem would be solved completely.
I could not imagine living in a house, that would get under water each time the floods came around and in some cases these events are very frequent. I have lived on the North Coast of NSW for years and the area around Lismore copped it so often, that it almost made me cry, to see people having to move again and again.
Earthquake prone regions around the world are in a similar situation. Just take the case of Christchurch in New Zealand. That city gets shaken about on a regular basis and the last big one, early 2011, plus all its follow-up shocks since, must make people think. Is it all worthwhile re-building a city in exactly the same place or would it be better to move away from the worst earthquake area and build a new city, stronger and better than the old one. You can still maintain the traditional architectural style of the `now` Christchurch and the feel of this beautiful city. I have been there and it is just so lovely that when I saw the devastation after the quake, I really felt so sorry and became emotional to see the destruction of buildings but more specifically the people.
No one should have to endure such pain. We saw the same problem in Japan, where the quake(s) seem to be so much more destructive, especially having a tsunami follow the quake.
There is a big problem looming in Japan, as the nuclear problem will be with them for decades.
I could not understand, why the authorities built these power plants on earthquake prone areas.
Everybody knows, that those areas are on a fault or on the edge of two tectonic plates and the same is the case in Christchurch. These problems are everywhere and what are we doing about them?
Now the time has come with the awareness of global warming and the water levels around the world rising quite quickly, places like the Pacific islands, low lying areas in Bangladesh, the city of Venice in Italy and many more, are having problems to keep above the water level. Some islands are only fractions above the seawater level and already they have inundation of water. These people are scared and don’t know what to do. The authorities are scratching their heads and are trying to find solutions, but unless we can stop the water from rising, there is only one way to solve the problem and that is to repatriate these people to other countries, like Australia, which will be very difficult for them, as they have a very different lifestyle, but at least they will be saved from doom.
Areas in western Queensland, which went under water badly this year, are difficult to fix, because the country is so flat and it takes ages for the water level to fall after a flood. The floods were so massive, that more than half of Queensland was under water at the one time. That is a big area! The wall of water was so high, that nothing could have stopped it from ruining many, many properties. Total devastation for many and some property owners have decided to move to higher grounds and start again, but this time it will be the last for them. I am saying, we must do something positive and final and the latter seems to be the answer.
Shanti
