Tsunami defence
ARUN D. AHLUWALIA
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Basic life saving information disseminated in coastal areas is the key
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December 26, 2004 will be remembered as a day that presented a challenge for communities, in terms of logistics and management, and for governments, in terms of preparedness.
All one got as reaction time was just 30 minutes to several hours.This time was largely wasted.
In reality, the tsunami is the most "people friendly disaster" one can think of. In 2004, the world watched helplessly as 3,00,000 lives faded away in broad daylight. It was not the tsunami but an ignorance of the dynamics of a tsunami that killed people. The dead also included citizens of 39 countries outside the 13 countries of the region directly hit.
Tsunami museums
The disaster shows us that the results of valuable research by seismologists across the world must reach the user at the grassroots — especially those in coastal communities. This much sacred societal responsibility should become an integral part of research funding.
Efforts are now on to install a tsunami-warning system in the entire Asian region. Part of the $4 billion collected as relief funds should have been used to disseminate life saving awareness to communities living in the Indian Ocean coastal region. This could have been done by creating tsunami museums in the local dialects on the pattern of Pacific tsunami museums.
Much like civil defence measures, communities and non-government organisations need to inculcate such a mass awareness in the coastal areas against natural hazards.
Natural defences
That mangroves and coral reefs are natural shields against tsunamis should also be highlighted in the region. Technical and ethical auditing of all technical and administrative personnel as well as the media in the crucial minutes following the Sumatran quake, could have created a spirit of civil accountability. We need to document from scientists and administrators what they did on the morning of December26, 2004 before the catastrophe.
The International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) (www.unisdr.org) has warned that half the world's population living in coastal areas is vulnerable to being overwhelmed by a tsunami.
The challenge
Considering that oceanic landslides or even a meteorite impact can also trigger tsunamis, there is an urgent need to plan the relocation of communities from coastal areas to avert global human disasters. Further, as 430 nuclear reactors across the globe are in tsunami and/or flood prone areas that can be affected by sudden floods, there may not be enough time for a warning for a shut down. This is where political leaders, media as well as community animators face the acid test.
Futuristic planning now or sudden death of millions is one of the two options.
The dilemma that scientists face is that the silence on the necessity of such colossal management can ultimately hurt half the world's population, just as being vocal can make them look alarmist and easy targets of (ignorant) sceptics. While leaders can fail due to their political compulsions, scientists cannot fail humanity. The UNO, the ISDR and geo-scientific communities need to effectively articulate their opinions.
This is what a futuristic global defence against the tsunami requires: that elected representatives, bureaucrats and educators be educated and personally involved in setting up tsunami museums to provide basic life saving information that is put forth in a simple intelligible form.
Also, it must not be forgotten that communities living in northeast India and the neighbourhood must understand the Sumatran fault system. It is this fault system which seems to activate fault systems northwards. It is this which could lead to a possible repeat of the Assam quake and an activation of landslides, a hazard in the area.
The author is Professor, Centre of Advanced Study in Geology, Punjab University, Chandigarh.
TSUNAMI A YEAR AFTER
