The key to fight disasters!

Benjamin Franklin once said, “ An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".

Mother Earth has given humans innumerable resources and opportunities so that we, her children can realize our potential and fulfill our destiny. But sadly, humans’ greed knew no bounds and we were constantly unhappy and dissatisfied, seeking more and more, exploiting mother earth and degrading her precious resources. However, nature decided not to remain mute to the atrocities inflicted upon her. She made sure that humans pay for their sins and ensured that they learned their lessons. So what we need to understand here is that disaster management not only involves reducing and managing the aftermath of the disaster, it also includes restoring and renewing mother earth to her pristine form. And for this, it needs to be proactive.

Let us understand this proactive approach by taking examples:

1) First, we take the example of South Asia, a part of the world that constantly faces the threat of disasters. According to the International Disaster Database, in the year 2015, 52 disasters had hit South Asia and death rates mounted up to 15000. Following this, various countries within the subcontinent adopted a proactive approach by ensuring knowledge generation, capacity building, and sustained inventions. They recognized this as the best possible effort to combat disasters.

2) Following the disastrous Sumatra earthquake of 2004, Indonesia adopted the policy of transparency. A public database system was put into place, information was spread across the neighboring countries and 500 recovery organizations were created to fight the disaster. This is a successful proactive approach from another country.

3)Floods are very common in Bangladesh. They moved their focus from disaster recovery to disaster risk management. There was social as well as economic involvement to achieve this and it proved to be extremely effective. Cuba is a country regularly prone to hurricanes. Between 1996 and 2005, ten hurricanes have hit this country. To combat this a detailed plan was developed with the concurrence of all the levels of Government. A major problem common to most countries is that there is a lack of cooperation and coordination between the federal government and the various local or community level governments. Since power-sharing and decentralization is uneven and unequal, the local bodies are unable to respond to the needs of their citizens at the time of a disaster. Hurricane Katrina which struck the US Gulf Coast in 2005 caused large destruction because of this. However, in Cuba there was centralized decision making and decentralized implementation.

Let us finally look at how our country is proactively handling the corona. India was lauded for this by various developed countries as well as the WHO.

• As a proactive measure, India decided to do continuous screening and testing. Those who were found with symptoms were immediately isolated and quarantined. With instant test kits and thermal screening India is fighting several odds to contain the virus at its early stage.

• Secondly what really worked out for India was the early awareness amongst people. The Government made sure that the citizens knew sufficient information about the symptoms, immediate clarification for the possible queries, the spread and people were made aware of the preventive and protective strategies. This led to swift as well as an enthusiastic response from all sections of the population.

•Another milestone in this fight was the effort put to ensure that there was community-based involvement. While a 21-day lockdown was put into place, people were encouraged to actively voice out their opinions through social media, support the corona heroes by clapping, cheering and lighting lamps and candles in their honor. People advocated the movement by urging others to maintain social distancing, constantly use masks, sanitizers, and other necessary medical equipment. Ultimately we all have become corona warriors and everyone including me take pride in having this title.

•Small drops indeed make a huge ocean. Warning messages, caller tunes, radio and television announcements, close monitoring by police, etc. have all proved to be small yet significant steps in achieving the common goal. The wider participation has resulted in greater contribution with schools and railway coaches turning into quarantine wards and people contributing generously to the center as well as the states' fund collection. A single sun is sufficient to lighten up the entire world. Similarly, the simple proactive measures from a country's side can surely create wonders. I would like to end with this beautiful quote from The Bible. When a disaster approaches, We are hard-pressed on every side but not crushed perplexed but not in despair persecuted but not abandoned struck down but not destroyed.