Unplanned growth blamed for high toll in disasters

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, OCT. 2. Unscientific development practices and population growth are two major constraints in managing natural and man-made disasters, according to the Director of the Centre for Earth Science Studies, Dr. M. Baba.

Speaking at a seminar on disaster management, organised by the regional unit of the Indian Institute of Public Administration here recently, he noted that development planners often failed to take into account the vulnerability of certain zones to natural disasters such as quakes and cyclones.

He pointed out that Gujarat had the bulk of the industries in the country at present and more were coming up. However, that State had experienced two large-scale natural disasters in the form of a cyclone and an earthquake during the last two years.

Dr. Baba said 50 per cent of the world's population lived in urban areas and this was estimated to climb to 60 per cent by the year 2025. Globally, four lakh people had died in natural disasters in a decade and 60 billion dollars worth of property was lost in a year.

The poor were invariably the worst affected by natural disasters, he said. In the event of a disaster, casualties tended to be much more in developing countries due to larger populations and comparatively poorer disaster management techniques.

There were no readymade remedies for disaster management and each country was found to evolve its own method, he said. While casualties in the developed world due to disasters were coming down due to improved management techniques, these were still high in the developing world.

Dr. Baba pointed out that even a fractional increase in the global temperature could alter the route of the monsoon currents and consequently change the rainfall pattern. This would have a devastating effect on a country like India which depended so heavily on the monsoons.

A theme paper on the topic, "Disaster management: lessons drawn and strategies for the future", prepared by the National Centre for Disaster Management, New Delhi, stressed the need for community participation in disaster management.

People should not only be made aware, but also be involved in disaster management activities including preparedness, disaster fighting, relief and rehabilitation, the paper said. For this, a cost-effective and people-oriented education and training system should be formulated for the purpose.

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