For a new model to handle disasters
Public purpose and private entrepreneurial drive and efficiency need to meld to help those who have to contend with calamities. This is a worthwhile challenge for both the corporate world and the government, says Kiran Karnik.
RECENT months have seen another round of disasters, many man-made and some natural. The frequency of such calamities has inured us and deadened our collective sensitivity, but that does not reduce the enormity of the personal tragedy of each victim, family and community. The economic loss is only secondary to the human suffering, but is also substantial.
The government whether state or central, and irrespective of the political party has standardised its response. By and large, this consists of reacting late, blaming others, visits or aerial surveys by VIPs, announcing a relief package, including compensation for those affected, and then forgetting all about it. There seems to be little attempt at drawing lessons from each disaster, storing the knowledge for future use, long-term planning, or studying possible pre-emptive or preventive action. While preparedness for disasters may have improved, it is very short of what is possible in the context of todays technologies.
Floods in many parts of the country most notably in Bihar and Assam are a well-known, yearly phenomenon. Yet, year after year, the authorities seem to be caught by surprise. It is obvious that tarpaulins, vaccines, medicines, kerosene, clothes and food will be needed, as will buses and boats for evacuation. Large numbers of doctors and para-medical staff need to be on call. Satellite phones, in large numbers, must be available. The list of such essential items is known to all who have dealt with emergencies. Yet, amidst each disaster, one hears of the non-availability of these when most desperately needed. Worse, the organisational structure and mechanism for dealing with disasters, without which all else is of little use, are lethargic and ill-defined.
National Disaster Management Agency, set up some time ago, being a central government agency, has limitations related to infringing the jurisdiction of states. It could, however, have aggregated and disseminated experiences and knowledge, and helped in preparing plans. It could also stock many of the items that are required in large-scale emergencies, or at least work with agencies concerned to ensure sufficient stocks which can be immediately accessed in such a situation.
While the picture with regard to such mega-disasters is dismal, equally sad is the response (or rather the lack of it) to emergencies relating to individual accidents. Victims sometimes lie unattended on a busy road, because all passers-by even good samaritans are wary of getting caught in our labyrinthine police and legal systems. The resulting delay in treatment converts injuries into deaths. If only the person could have had prompt medial attention in that first, golden hour, a life may have been saved.