Lessons learnt, time to act

This article authored by me appeared in the Hindu Business line - Opinion/Perspective on 10th August 2013.

It is an irony that ‘land of gods’ (Uttarakhand) had to witness nature’s fury,  grossly exposing lack of preparedness.  India is among the most disaster-prone countries in the world -Two-thirds of the country is vulnerable to earthquakes and droughts. 76 per cent of India’s coastline carries a risk for cyclones and tsunamis.  NDMA’s India disaster resource network shows the extent of unpreparedness!

Post the Uttarakhand crisis, interest in disaster management has suddenly increased. State Governments are setting-up disaster management funds, inter-ministerial group has been setup, conferences are being held. However, all these will be seen as a knee-jerk reaction if not for a sustained effort, with time-bound action plan on the disaster preparedness.

Even as we celebrate 66th year of independence, it is embarrassing to see such a primitive disaster management set-up in the country.
It is imperative that accountability needs to be fixed as the first step. We need  focused planning and implementation efforts  to minimize the impact of natural disasters and help in time-bound rebuilding process.

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