Property Plus
Coimbatore
When disaster strikes
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The Myanmar cyclone tragedy should be taken as another warning to us, writes K. Sukumaran
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The tsunami episode of 2005 was perhaps a wake-up call. We should be wide awake now after the Myanmar cyclone.Hardly a week after the release of the Cyclone Management Guidelines on April 24 in New Delhi, calamity struck Myanmar and thousands were killed/rendered homeless.
The full page ad from the National Disaster Management Authority of India on the occasion of the release of the guidelines may not stand us in good stead to either prevent or manage a cyclone of such intensity as the one which ravaged Myanmar, unless effective follow-up measures are taken in right earnest.
The NDMA has none other than the country’s Prime Minister as its chairman. State-level authorities are headed by the respective Chief Ministers. District authorities are chaired by the District Magistrates and co-chaired by the Zilla Parishad Chairpersons. The National Disaster Response Force’s eight battalions are supposed to be located in identified disaster-prone locations in the country. Civil Defence and Fire Services are activated to do field duties. But, what is in it all to the aam aadmi who will be going to be the worst hit in the event of an emergency? What have we done to involve the citizens in such mammoth programmes?
There are programmes galore in the country. But, we have very few citizens’ programmes! How do we go about the “citizenisation” of our programmes as, without the active participation of each and every one in our land and his or her awareness of the benefits to him or her, no ‘plan from the top’ will percolate down and achieve the desired and laudable objectives.
Action plan
Here is the general action plan for citizens’ involvement.
*Gist of all programmes should be printed in the local language and distributed freely among the people.
*Education process should continue till all are taught the fundamentals of the plans.
*Definite action plans should be drawn up.
*Specific authorities should be put in place to implement the plans.
The plan specific to cyclone management:
*As cyclones mostly emanate from the sea, the action should kick-start from the sea coast.
*Personnel and equipment to handle early warning needs should be located at identified centres of possible cyclones.
*Evacuation arrangements should be in place round-the-clock with adequate equipment.
* Key responsibility areas of all connected personnel should be strictly enforced. Apart from providing relief materials, this is an ideal opportunity to coordinate with the Myanmar authorities to exchange information on what early warning systems they have, compare them with international standards and endeavour to have a joint machinery in the contiguous coastal belt bordering both the countries. Even Bangladesh could be a party to the programme, now that Myanmar has opened its doors to help from its Asian neighbours. Natural calamities are a global phenomenon especially in these days of global warming and climate changes. Eco issues need to be viewed in the background of their enormity and the U.N. agencies are to be strengthened by all countries in terms of both manpower and resources.
The more affluent countries should come forward with the required support systems.
India can well take a lead in at least the cyclone area as we have a vast coastline and again, the under-sea access to vibrations stretches from the Andamans to Africa. We can also offer the knowledge gained with the weather studies from the ISRO satellite programmes. A real global leadership opportunity for India indeed!
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