Timely Measures Reduce Disaster Impacts

The officials at the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology had already warned the common people and also government and security agencies about the heavier rains that would come in this monsoon season, as compared to the rainfall the country had been seeing over the past two decades. As had been expected by some with saner heads, these experts have been proven right about their predictions and now we are witnessing many tragic incidents of disasters that have fallen down along with the rains. Also, the floods have affected the poor people in the plains which have bigger rivers than other areas of the country, while incidents of landslides have been very common in the hilly areas.

It is also a sad fact that these people have little resources to deal with this natural calamity, though they are aware of the dangers such incidents cause, because of their poverty and other difficulties they face even in normal times. Meanwhile, travelling by road has become cumbersome as well, as such road travel have become dangerous, due to the landslides that have blocked the badly constructed highways that link most parts of this country where people have  to live with difficult terrain, especially in the hilly areas. But sadly, no one has been held accountable for the poor planning and flimsy manner in which the roads have been constructed. Still, many people had been highly reassured by the announcement that this time a 'unified' task force had been established for the prevention, rescue and relief works which may be needed due to the damages caused by the heavy rains.

Rising death tolls

In spite of the preparations from the government and the local bodies, the downpours have inundated many villages, and individual houses have been swept away by floods and landslides and many people are still in the missing list and an alarming number of people have even lost their lives. All this has happened in just a few weeks after heavy rains entered the country from its eastern region. According to official reports, more than eighty persons have already died and many more are missing. This toll will surely rise in the days to come before the monsoon rains stop in early October.  

So thousands of people are living in fear wondering what other tragedies and hardships this terrible weather will bring. It has aggravated the situation by the reality that most of the victims of this wrath of nature are very poor and when they lose their houses, they have no option but to live under open skies and bear the hardship of heat and rain along with hunger. However, one cannot blame the government alone for not being fully prepared for these tragic events. The authorities and also local level bodies have done their best with the limited man power and relief materials they had been supplied with.

But still, it must be said that the preparations were not enough and too little was able to be done to reduce the hardships the people had to face and if possible, to save lives as well.

The most annoying factor is that the disaster brought by the weather at this time of the year, is something that is predictable and much could have been done to at least minimise its impact, if not do something to fully prevent it, which in reality is not in the hands of humans in any part of the globe. We know that earthquakes are distinctly not in the category of natural disasters such as floods, because they are not predictable at all, whereas floods are fully predictable and its devastation can be tackled more effectively with better planning and preparations.

This is where we have failed on many occasions, as it has been established that the government departments and also the people easily forget such tragic events after they pass by, though almost all are fully aware that the same sort of incidents will take place again in a particular time. Therefore, it would be more pragmatic if the authorities and decision makers establish a permanent unit comprising of security forces, experts, rescue people, the weather forecasters and better equipped groups, to spring into action fast when such calamities take place. Just forming such a government body for a few months will not help much, as they will lack the special skills, fitness, mental strength and a  real sense of what they are actually doing, which is so much vital on such occasions when the life and death of so many individuals are attached with.

Complaints 

At such a time, it is not surprising that the common citizens, who compulsorily have to work come rain or sunshine, are complaining about the waters entering their houses, flooded streets even in more developed areas and of course the devastation caused by overflowing rivers and many incidents of landslides, as they feel such incidents could have been minimised if not fully prevented, through the more sincere efforts of the leaders they voted into power and who are now in important decision making positions. Most people understand that the political situation is very fluid and the leaders are busy in different issues that definitely will make a lot of impact in the future of the nation and also all the people. 

But it is also the right of the people in Loktantra to expect something to be done for them when they are facing so much hardships just to make their day to day ends meet. It is of some comfort for the inhabitants, especially those who have been directly affected by the floods, that many parliamentarians are raising this issue in the parliament. The government on its part has also done something in the dangerous missions of rescuing the people and in providing relief materials like food, medical care and temporary shelter to the victims as well. The authorities and the people should be more aware of their own shortcomings of the past and learn to not repeat them in the future while dealing with such wraths of nature.

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