sahiti

I have seen mainak’s blog on disaster management and would like to share my views on the topic.
In India we have more of a reactive approach to Disasters rather than the proactive one. This holds good even we know that one is on cards and staring us right in our face! First problem is the responsibility. There is no single person or organization that is solely responsible. “Government” which means the political party in power is held responsible. State government is always waiting to “study” the extent of damage so that it can get more central funds!!! By the time funds are granted and released the media hype/coverage of the catestrophy is reduced and only God knows how much of the hundreds of crores is actually put to use where it was ment to!!

The effectiveness of disaster preparedness can be measured based on the time taken to get back to normalcy after a disaster.
There are two types of requirements

a) Immediate requirements when disaster strikes,
i) day 0
1. Machinary to clear rubble and save lives. (Boats, Cranes ..etc)
2. Medical attention to the surviors
3. Identification of the dead and disposing the dead bodies in a respectable manner.
4. Food, water and temporary shelter for the survivors
5. Helping the survivors find their missing relatives.

b) Day 1
1. Restorement of government services like Electricity, Drinking water supply, Sewage disposal asap
2. Clothing, warm clothing in cold areas

b) Long term requirements
1. Permenant houses
2. Employment
3. Emotional support

Primary responsibilty of any organization would be establishing a pool of experts and volunteers who would rush to the site of disaster at a short notice. Secondly proper supply chain networks should be established so that the required rations and equipment reach the places prone to disaster as soon as possible.

Even today there is no dearth of people who want to contribute for some good cause. People would happily part with their earnings/belongings if they are sure that they would be properly put to use. What India lacks is organized effort and transparancy. When the Tsunami struck, most of the professionals in Blore have donated a days salary to the Prime Minister relief fund, which was a sizeable sum. I could see lots of used clothes being collected at Mosques, offices and even shopping malls. Few days later there appeared photos with large piles of clothes that were dumped on the survivors, which they found to be insulting and therefore abandoned. Vans with supplies came, but didnt know whom to approach for proper distribution.

So need of the hour would be some single organization that would have wholistic plan as well as the team in place for the disaster management. Ex. one domain expert and a team of volunters responsible for each item in the above list. Knowing who has to do what decreases the amount of time taken for execution.
Incase i missed out on any important aspects, please do add them …

Also, Incase anybody knows any organization that trains civilians as volunteers for such emergencies do let me know. I have been searching for such organization for quite sometime.
Btw, there is one organization called Goonj, which collects old n used clothes and gives them to the needy. Their catch line is that we need not wait for a disaster to strike to clean our closet :-)))

Following is an article about goonj at my most favourite website

http://www.goodnewsindia.com/index.php/Magazine/story/goonj/


” The Only Thing necessary for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing : - Edmund Burke