Man-Made Disasters

This enchanting slogan of Man-Made disaster has raised me inquisitive about the issue. A quick search on Google revealed that Man-made disasters are harmful events caused by human intent, negligence, or error, involving the failure of man-made systems. This enchanting slogan of Man-Made disaster. The result shows, the Bhopal Gas Tragedy or 9/11 Terrorist Attacks, as examples. So, Mamata Banerjee can shore high, but it hardly caste any tangible impact.

Politics of Man-made disaster

Its not mentioned when the damp losses his water holding capacity and release water, they can be also called Man-made disaster. In the recent past, we have heard from our political top brasses that the water release by Farakka barrage or DVC is deliberate as a matter of conspiracy against West Bengal. Did we enquire whether the reservoir has reached its maximum or critical capacity? The excessive pressure of water beyond the dam’s capacity can cause irreparable damage. Hence, it becomes their compulsion to release water  in a highly calculative way to minimize downstream damage.

Changes in Climate

We must acknowledge  that the climate change has dramatically altered the rainfall pattern of  in the recent past. Now-a-days, whenever there is a rain, the downpours come in high concentration. We have seen in the last week, Mirik and parts of North Bengal has faced a massive rainfall of 300 mm in average for 24 to 48 hours.  Even the Bhutam Government has sent a red alert to the Bengal ministry as their Tala Dam has overtopped following unprecedented rainfall. As a result, the downstream region, primarily the places of North Bengal can also be flooded.

Unfortunately, we don’t have any control or apply short term strategy over the climate. We have grown accustomed with this conspiracy theory of DVC and  Ministry of Jal Shakti. The question is whether they had sent the signal or alert the West Bengal Authorities. They made it clear that they signaled  the Government was well in advanced. Even the recent north Bengal flood was preceded by enough caution signals.

Actions on Man-made Disaster

Its quite impossible to install a solid barrier for the downstream areas so that the people stops suffering. Its expected that the Administration will alert the probable affected inhabitants and try to rescue them to the safe zones. We have observed such a similar move during Foni or Ayala or any such catastrophic whirlwind. Did we get adequate time to shift the people from there? Did our Disaster Management & Civil Defense Department proactively deploy the disaster management team? The news reports reveal in case of north Bengal calamity, our administration and disaster management team have worked on reactive basis. Additionally, the NDRF has worked with high level of efficacy in spite of hurdles of rain and road blocks.

When such catastrophes  have been recurring every year, we should get ready with a proper roadmap of evacuation and implement with high level of efficacy and humanity. There is no use of blaming other states or center. We need a rock solid defense mechanism to safeguard our fellow citizens. A robust, well-coordinated evacuation and disaster response roadmap is required. On top of it, Safeguarding lives should be our top priority, not political point-scoring.