Disaster preparedness should be built into development programmes
The recent tsunami has again shown that India lacks an effective disaster management system. Debates over how best to create such a system have again heated up in the aftermath of the tragedy. Technological solutions to forewarn disasters as well as to reduce reaction time have also been mooted. But the debate is unlike to bear much fruit till we make two fundamental shifts. Firstly, the focus has to shift from relief to community preparedness that addresses long-term recovery. Secondly, affected communities have to be given a central role in this process.
Large disaster preparedness programmes are in place in India as well as in other developing countries for quite some time now. However, these programmes have had very limited success. This author had undertaken a survey of three states -- Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa -- to assess community preparedness for various disasters. The surveys, part of a study Indicators for disaster preparedness, proposes a new methodology to assess community preparedness for the six most frequent hazards in India -- earthquakes, cyclones, flood, droughts, fires and epidemics.
The study showed that there really is no effective mechanism to monitor the progress of our preparedness programmes. The practice of expert group assessment is ineffective because it depends on a select group of experts --
very often members of these groups, or their associate organisations, are involved in the design and implementation of the same programmes. This neglect assumes significance because post-tsunami there is talk of integrating disaster preparedness capabilities into planned rehabilitation programmes.
The model was field-tested in communities located in Kutch in Gujarat, Bolangir and Rajnagar in Orissa and Machlipatnam in Andhra Pradesh -- among the most disaster-prone in the country. Quite alarmingly, the community with the lowest preparedness -- Gupti panchayat in Jagatsinghpur district, Orissa -- is located very near Ersama, the site of extreme devastation by the super cyclone of 1999. Another cyclone had claimed more than 10,00 people of this community in 1971. The communities we studied in Kutch are also not any better-prepared.
Often, disaster preparedness is equated with the ability to respond well to a calamity. This works well in developed countries where people have insured assets and other mechanisms that ensure smooth recovery. But communities in developing countries such as India do not have such wherewithal. So, it is important to link preparedness programmes with long-term recovery.
Biswanath Dash is a researcher at Jawharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
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