
Along Longkumer
Consulting Editor
In the wake of reports that cyclone ‘Mahasen’ is likely to hit the north-eastern states, including Nagaland in the next few hours, perhaps a layman’s perspective on disaster management is in order here. Many people may consider ‘disaster’ to mean some earth shaking stuff like a devastating earthquake, killer tsunami or a life threatening urban fire. These are major disasters no doubt but we need to perhaps broaden our definition of what a disaster is supposed to be. And actually the work of Disaster Management should be about responding to the range and type of accidents or disasters whether manmade or natural. It includes not just the big stuff but even your regular things like landslide, road mishap, deadly pandemic, flood or a forest fire.
And yes we need to be prepared at all times, for you do not know at what hour disasters will strike. A state of preparedness and ability to respond quickly can considerably mitigate loss of life and property and the human suffering and restore normalcy at the earliest. And to prepare for this we need to have the right kind of institutional arrangement. This should include a proper chain of command & control structure; high technology assistance; up to date knowledge and skill manual; fully loaded manpower and logistic support system.
What makes disaster management different from other line of work is the need for a quick response. Time is life and every minute lost in responding to a crisis should count as losses. It means that there can be no compromise/s when it comes to disaster management. We can ill afford to have corruption, bureaucratic red tape or political interference. It will require utmost discipline, hard work, patience and a professional approach to handle the governance of disaster management and to ensure its success.
I would imagine a scenario where, say a road mishap occurs involving a bus carrying tourists or school children; or a major fire breaks out in a forest close to the State Capital endangering human lives. How or what does it take to manage such disasters? It will require not just a quick response but a systemic, coordinated response. The institutional arrangement mentioned above should come into play. Team work, synergy with other departments, timely decision, communication, getting air and road transport up and running and not to forget getting a combat ready team to the place of disaster.
While the Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA) has been taking the initiative to give training on disaster response to the different units of the IRB Nagaland Police, nevertheless there is a need to commission a full-fledged professionally trained, full time State Disaster Response Force. Not only this, but we need a separate Department or if that is not possible to incorporate some of the existing ones like Home Guards, Civil Defence or Fire Department under the umbrella of Disaster Management. Institutional arrangement is vital as already emphasized. Just having a NSDMA office at the Secretariat and a handful of trained personnel is not going to be enough.
In the last one year or so there has been a marked improvement in the functioning of the NSDMA. A series of awareness programmes, training, drills etc have been conducted. These are the first few steps taken. However there is still a long way to go as far as institutionalizing disaster management goes and to ensure a thorough professional approach towards its functioning as a vital cog of our public service. For this to happen, the government must start to give due attention to the entire aspect of disaster management.
(The article was first written for the Newsletter—‘Towards a safer and resilient Nagaland’ published by the Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority and has been re-edited)
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