One must have heard about governments constructing embankments, undertaking repair works to prevent breaches and other similar measures to prevent floods and mitigate the sufferings of the people in the event of flooding.
But an Uttar Pradesh minister, who, ironically, was the water minister, has come out with an altogether different measure to prevent the threat of floods.
He has directed officials to 'worship' the rivers to please them so that they did not overflow their banks.
''Pujas should be held on the banks of the rivers....flowers should be offered to them (rivers).....it will prevent floods,'' minister Mahendra Singh said in a direction to the officials of the flood control department.
The minister said that worshipping the rivers had been a tradition in the Hindu culture. ''It is not a new thing...people living near the rivers have been worshipping the rivers for a long time..Hindus consider the rivers as goddesses and worship them,'' he added.
Singh's remarks came at a time when almost all the major rivers in the state had been rising following heavy monsoon rains in the past few days and flood threat loomed large in several eastern and central districts in the state.
Ghaghra river has already crossed the danger mark at several places displacing people in Barabanki, Faizabad and some other districts.
Incidentally Singh is not the only UP lawmaker to have come out with such bizarre suggestions to ward off natural and other kinds of threats. Earlier also some BJP lawmakers had suggested to set up cow shelters to tackle the coronavirus pandemic saying that the coronavirus did not affect those who reared cows.
It remains to be seen if the officials do follow the directive of their boss.
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