Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Oct 13, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version | Audio | Blogs
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Oct 13, 2009 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version | Audio | Blogs |
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Opinion
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Editorial Industry & Economy - Natural Calamities Managing disasters It would be simplistic to explain the recent floods in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh as merely due to unprecedented rainfall, without looking at lapses in governance. The flood waters of the Krishna river and its tributaries have wreaked havoc in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Even as the focus is understandably on relief and resettlement operations, the question that must be addressed by the Centre and State governments, the political class and civil society is: what is our level of disaster-preparedness? It would be simplistic, if not plain wrong, to explain this disaster merely as a fall-out of unprecedented rainfall, without looking at lapses in governance. Perhaps, the single biggest cause of the floods was the sudden release of water from the Almatti and Narayanpur dams in the upper reaches of the Krishna, forcing downstream reservoirs such as Srisailam to do the same. Was it impossible to stagger the release of water? Given that peninsular India is given to spells of wet weather between October and December, it is surprising that the Central Water Commission (CWC) was caught totally unprepared, even if one grants that the rainfall was away above normal in the affected areas in the last week of September. Even as climate experts predict a higher incidence of extreme weather conditions, it is possible to mitigate their impact by developing early warning systems and, more crucially, transmitting that information across regions and layers of government. The Centre appears serious about addressing the first issue, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) investing in doppler radars to improve its forecasting ability. But poor governance and communication could nullify the gains of improved technology. For instance, co-ordination between the CWC and the IMD on their respective weather assessments can play a critical role in containing floods, more so along a river that is as extensively dammed as the Krishna. Generally speaking, our strengths in communications and information technology should be leveraged. The government’s plan to set up one lakh rural internet kiosks on a public-private partnership basis, which works out to about one kiosk in every six villages, should be expanded and operationalised at the earliest. Community radio can prove just as effective. Disaster management can be more effective when responsibility is vested with local communities. While the creation of the National Disaster Management Authority, an inter-ministerial body that focuses on pre-disaster rather than post-disaster measures, marks a major advance in the government’s approach, disasters are still viewed as an opportunity by politicians and bureaucrats to exercise power and disburse patronage. Their grip poses the biggest obstacle to effective management of disasters. Flood victims still await rehabilitation measures Flood damage could have been minimised, say experts More Stories on : Editorial | Natural Calamities
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