Fatal Earthquakes ….Destructive landslides…Deadliest floods... devastating Tsunami... Is this what we have in store for us from the nature in the recent times? From centuries we have been exploiting the earth for our own benefits and the mother earth without complaining kept on ushering everything we wanted. But how long?? And another question which hunts my mind always-Is nature biased against unprivileged people and Economical poorer nations? We all know that the economically stronger countries have more power to withstand these calamities but be it their luck or smart communication tools (in the form of Broadcasting etc) the scale of loss is much lesser.
Though late, but few of us have realized that to make our lives easier and luxurious we have created a situation where our planet is getting progressively hotter. We have deliberately ignored the negative effects which our environment is facing due to cycle of harmful processes that now seems to be adding on to increase the damage to our ecosystem. On the other hand, some fraction of people believe that these disasters are due to the natural climatic adjustments, but can we so easily discount our responsibilities towards the hazards that we are causing to the earth in name of industrial growth and other development ?
Tsunami- (2006) Earthquake- Haiti (Jan 2010) Chile (Feb 2010) China (April 2010) Keep observing and the list of recent calamities are increasing by every passing months. After any natural calamity the life changes instantly, but it is so short term for many of us that till the time media prefers to remind us we do remember but the moment media wants us to close our eyes on these issues we tend to forget, because it’s the media gatekeepers who makes the decision about ‘what subjects to cover’ and ‘its time frame’. And we the people follow them. We sleep better with some fringe of information. Can we afford to be so light hearted when it’s the question of lives of several thousands and lakhs of people? Instead of depending on the media to make us aware, let’s make our social consciousness alive and march ahead to those unfortunate people whom nature chose to victimize this time, next could be us.
On the administration front also more attention needs to be paid to the fact that, after any mishap a huge amount of money gets spent but if even half of the same amount is being spent in drilling some policies to prevent the calamity the figure could be less in terms of loss of life and property. It's also time that we accept our role in joining hands with the administration in financial, personnel and infra-structure rebuilding/support efforts to reduce the chance of such calamities. The administration should take the most popular mode to reach out the general public for the complete cycle of any disaster in planning, preparedness, response and recovery activities, for instance in the case of earthquake the Government should educate the people after identifying the most seismically active regions, safety norms for the buildings for earthquake resistance, Earthquake evacuation drills etc.
Lastly I want to add that as if natural disaster were not enough that human beings have themselves entered the race to finish their own species by killing their fellow innocent humans in the form of terrorism.
All said and done in my opinion we have a vital role to play in regard to save the earth. Hence let’s pledge to sacrifice some of our luxuries and save whatever possible by us in the form of electricity, water, mountains, natural resources, etc so that the burden on the earth is lesser and we can pass on a safer future to our next generation. So, let’s be considerate to the earth and the mankind….
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a simple thought..these calamities happen where nature is at its might..where nature is what surrounds the space, it becomes a fav tourist spot..so even after calamity strikes those spots..people should visit more of it..in that way we can help in the living of the habitants...its small but still creates a difference..
ReplyDeleteI shall try to do my part to save Mother Earth. On lighter note, Mothers are not supposed to be Angry.. Right ? Let me think back.... Hmmm.. Don't remember seeing my Mother ANGRY at me !!!! This proves one fact.. If kids behaves, Mother is never Angry. SO KIDS OF MOTHER EARTH.. START BEHAVING !!!!
ReplyDeleteThere's no bias! There are much fewer people per sq km of a developed country. So fewer people get hurt. They live in houses that are much stronger. They err on the side of caution. Europe's airports were shut down for nearly a week to avoid dust from the Icelandic volcano entailing enormous individual and economic cost. So it all about evolution - social, political and financial!
ReplyDeleteThe issue of balancing development with environment has no direct answer. You have to take an individual call on the matter. Natural disasters wipe out instantly but the fruits of development are not so obvious nor immediate but are nonetheless equally enduring and vital. Lifting people out of poverty and providing jobs and improved standards of living involve costs as also there are costs to develop environment friendly technology. Poor countries just do'nt have resources to develop these. They are stuck at a much lower level. Developed countries could transfer the technonlogy at concessional rates as saving the planet concerns all and assist poorer nations in preserving the environment - just setting deadlines will not help.
Administration does need to be sensitized to disaster situations and to galvanize its response. The civil administration that accompanies the army.