Despite the lessons from various natural calamities that stare us in the face, we seem to have developed a disdain for learning. The consequence is that various parts of the country are repeatedly ravaged by a nature disturbed
A series of natural calamities, be it the Uttarakhand disaster in 2013 or the ongoing floods in Jammu & Kashmir, have devastated the nation’s confidence in dealing with the merciless side of nature. As the beleaguered people in the state of Jammu & Kashmir try to cope with the misfortune, the situation has been made worse by an incapable State Government that could neither respond quickly to the rapidly unfolding disaster nor prevent exploitation of the environment that has precipitated this calamity. The calm and relentless efforts of the Army, the Air Force and the National Disaster Response Force backed by coordination from the Union Government has literally saved the day for many. It is crucial that lessons are derived from this calamitous experience, but unfortunately the learnings from the Uttarakhand disaster are yet to see the light of the day in terms of being applied to other States. It cannot be predicted where the next natural disaster will occur, but it is imperative that high-risk States have a well-laid out natural disaster management strategy which is not only based on lessons from recent events but also on traditional methods of safeguarding the environment that are rooted in centuries of wisdom and practice.
Usually, the months of June to September see India receiving 75 per cent of its total annual rainfall. Consequent floods have become an integral feature of the monsoons wreaking havoc across hundreds of hectares and rendering millions of people homeless. Besides, they cause immense damage to standing crops and assets. The early-on efforts to tackle the issue through the National Flood Control Programme launched in India in 1954 have not helped India to evolve a decent flood management system. In recent times a plethora of Government departments established to ensure efficient flood management have not improved the scenario, be it due to lack of resources or coordination with other official agencies. The National Disaster Management Authority, established as a nodal agency to coordinate relief, rescue and rehabilitation efforts during national emergencies, is an apt example of bureaucracy in slow motion. The NDMA currently without a Chairman, and its members have been conspicuous by their absence in the ongoing crisis. How such a crucial agency can remain inactive in the hour of national need, is incomprehensible. The Narendra Modi Government must intervene and galvanise this agency.
The Government must also seek to overhaul these agencies and weed out political appointments done by previous regimes, and appoint environment and weather experts. The officials should be suitably empowered to draw knowledge from across the world in handling adverse natural scenarios and combine the same with the traditional methods practised in India for centuries to keep natural disasters at bay or to at least minimize their impact. For instance, in the case of flood management, several traditional measures to control floods such as building embankments to control the flow of river, and constructing reservoirs to ensure release of water at a controlled rate, are still the best tools to tackle the dangers.
Yet another time-tested method is the planned afforestation of the flood plains, as trees absorb rainfall water and obstruct flow into the rivers.Traditionally, effective water-level management in dams have helped avoid flooding of upstream areas, but the insatiable need for hydro-energy requires raised water levels. The Government must address the dilemma by shifting focus from hydro-electricity to solar energy so that indiscriminate dam-building on arterial rivers is controlled. Such constructions lead to disasters such as the Uttarakhand case.
Assam is a practical example in the application of traditional methods of flood control and management. Since 1954, the State has methodically built a strong foundation for making itself flood-proof through the construction a total of 4,448 km of embankments, 629 of protection and anti-erosion works, 85 major sluices and 850 km of drainage channels. These initiatives are effective even today and are helping to take out the edge in flood impact. However, traditional methods of flood control are negated by large-scale deforestation. Rapid advancements in construction technology have also has had a negative impact on flood control as large-scale construction activities have begun to take place on the flood plains. This is fuelled by economic factors as commercial profit overtakes the concern for environment.
In the backdrop of these tragic, natural events, it is time the Government creates a hybrid strategy comprising traditional methods and remote-sensing space technology to look for ecological measures that can help in the management of floods on a durable and long-term basis.