Disaster Management - What, How and When ?. Review on Dealing with Natural Disasters

Disaster Management, is operationalised in three stages -

Pre-disaster Management, Disaster Management and Post-disaster Management.

Actually many disasters occur all on a sudden, and therefore, Disaster Preparedness is necessary. For natural calamities like heavy rain, flood and cyclone, which occur in a given area regularly, preparedness to meet the challenges is built into the system of governance. But, for earthquakes, a proactive disaster preparedness is not always possible. According to the World Health Organisation, a disaster is:' Any occurence that causes damage, economic disruption, loss of human life and deterioration of health and the health services on a scale sufficient to warrant an extraordinary response from outside the affected community or area.' Under this definition, a disaster occurs almost every day somewhere in the world. By the very definition it is clear that response to a disaster must involve all sectors of Government and the entire community.

Disaster, whether natural or manmade usually occurs suddenly and unexpectedly, disrupting normal life and infrastructure for social services, including health care systems. The importance of preventive planning for disaster management is undeniable. The International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction was celebrated all over the world with effect from 1 January 1990, following a Resolution of the United Nations General Assembly, which designated the second Wednesday of October as the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction.

India is most prone to disasters, because to a considerable extent, its topographic conditions lend themselves to increasing the vulnerability of the country to natural disasters of different types, such as flood, drought, cyclone, earthquake and volcanic activity, which is rather rare. Floo and drought alternate in India, and sometimes they co-exist. Drought has been affecting one part of the country or the other round the year. Cyclone is an annual feature in India. Its coast line of 5700 kilometers is exposed to tropical cyclones, which originate in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. In 1971, 10, 000 people had died in Orissa due to a devastating cyclone. And the devastations caused by the super-cyclone in Orissa in 2000 were still of severe dimensions. From a Macro situation to a Micro Situation:

On 11 April last, at 3.30 pm, there was a sudden outpour of rain accompanied by a hailstorm in areas around Angul, a district headquarters town in the centre of Orissa. The white stones falling from the sky with a very high velocity were of different sizes weighing 200 gms to 1500 gms. Just imagine a stone of one kilogram hitting you on your head with all the impact. Within half an hour all the trees were deprived of their leaves, the roofs of many houses damaged, many animals and birds were dead and human beings were injured. There was no power supply for three days and no telephone connections. the Bajiraut Chhatravas, a huge educational complex having 175 children, both boys and girls, was no exception. Most of its houses were constructed around the late forties and early fifties. Its Prayer-cum-Dining Hall, called the Shanti Mandir, developed many holes on its roof. Its kitchen is severely damaged. Its flora has become non-existent. A very pathetic scenario indeed.

The District Administration has been sensitive to our needs for urgent repairs. Leaders of many political parties in the State have visited us. Smt. Manorama Mahapatra, Editor of the Oriya Daily The Samaja visited us personally and has donated six Tarpolines, which we need urgently. After a couple of months the mansoons would come, and unless we are prepared, where will the children live? Hence my appeal to you, as a Member of the Global MouthShut Fraternity, and as the Executive President of the Bajiraut Chhatravas. My wife, Smt. Krishna Mohanty, who is the President of the Bajiraut Chhatravas, joins me along with the 175 children, our teachers and other supporting staff in making this appeal to come to our rescue at our time of need. Our appeal is modulated with the societal demands on you, our friends, because God has given you much more than us, to give us when we need it. This is the principle of Trusteeship as enunciated by Mahatma Gandhi. This much now. With our profound regards.