Step Up Preparedness Against Disaster

The winter chill has long gone away and now we are in the midst of hot summer days. But the intermittent showers all across the country, many a times accompanied by thunder and lightning, subtly reminds all that the monsoon season is also steadily knocking on our doors. While winter has its own problems, like the bitter cold for the people, monsoon is more devastating and many lives are lost and lush fields are also destroyed, leaving the affected people in tears. Of course, we also see devastating landslides, which not only destroys houses and settlement, but also disrupts many major highways and other roads, especially in the hilly parts of the nation.

The sad part is floods and landslides take place every year during the rainy season in this country. What is more saddening is the fact that dozens of people lose their lives and many houses are destroyed which makes hundreds, if not thousands, of people homeless. If we cannot totally stop the destruction of the torrential rains during the monsoon season, the problems could at least be mitigated to a high level, if we are better prepared for this yearly change in the season.

Annual disaster

In regard to such thoughts, it was heartening to read in TRN that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, while speaking at the 17th meeting of the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Executive Committee in Kathmandu last week, said that ‘status quo thinking and behaviour’ prevail in disaster preparedness and people often make comments on it. ‘There should be no weaknesses in mitigating the possible risks of natural disasters in the future’, the DPM rightly said. Many other high ranking officials and experts expressed their seriousness of how the present government is tackling this annual disaster which causes much misery for the people and creates losses for both the general public and the government.

The floods created by heavy rains, the landslides and disruption of traffic on major highways and other hilly roads are quite predictable and virtually all are aware of this fury of nature during the rainy season which begins soon at around mid-June. Last year, the situation was even worse. Not only did the rains come much earlier than the usual period, but it lasted till as late as Dashain, the biggest festival of the Nepalis. Naturally it created havoc at many places and we constantly heard of how roads were disrupted and the passengers stranded. 

There is no doubt that the uncontrolled felling down of trees in many parts of the country and the building of unplanned roads by those who have no knowledge about this specialised work, have also contributed immensely in triggering landslides which has cost many people their lives. So besides preparedness for such disasters, the government must also deter the people in developing roads at their own will for individual gains. Roads being built everywhere and anywhere without proper planning and without expert guidance are destruction of the landscape and no development. 

During the dry seasons people feel happy that they can go to remote areas, many a times back to their own villages and they feel nice, but these same roads become unable to navigate and virtual traps during the rainy seasons. Forget the remote areas of the country, even the roads in Kathmandu become water clogged and it becomes a nightmare to either drive or walk in the streets of the Capital City.

Moreover, with houses being built in every corner of the city where once lush green fields stood, the roads become even worse. In some of these packed unplanned neighbourhoods, it would be impossible for a fire engine to get to the destination of disaster because the streets are too narrow. In normal times as well, it is quite difficult for two much smaller vehicles to pass each other. All over the Ring Road and many other places too, one sees roads jutting out at unplanned places, which not only creates unwanted traffic jams, but also serious accidents.

But to come back to the hazards of the monsoon season, it is not enough to only call for the help of the security forces to rescue people. As there already is a government body to deal with such natural eventualities, it will be better to keep a trained group of men and women to instantly react to any such accidents. Of course, these men and women must be well trained for their jobs and they must also be provided with equipment that is really helpful. Air support and proper ground support must be provided. It is very essential for the planners in the government to prepare sound logistics too, so that the work of those in the front line of rescue, can work more effectively.

Finding flash spots

About the rivers, proper embankments, bridges, canals and even dams have to be built so that settlements are not inundated and fields where crops are growing are not destroyed. If people have to be shifted to safer places, then shelters should be built ahead of any flood or landslide which cannot be controlled. The country has the experts and also people with experience who have researched in these subjects, and they can point out the flash spots which are the most vulnerable before these calamities. 

Even in nearby Bangladesh, which sees destructive storms regularly, thousands were shifted to a safer site much before a deadly storm hit that nation just about a week back. Disaster management should remain an ongoing process and not a one or two-month exercise only. And like mentioned by Deputy Prime Minister Shrestha, any ‘status quo style of thinking or such behaviour’ must be done away with to make the rains of monsoon be made a pleasant experience rather than a dangerous season for the people.

(The author is former chief editor of this daily.)