Call for paradigm shift in disaster management

The absence of adequate infrastructure enhances the vulnerability of the coastal areas in the country to the threat of natural disasters unleashed by climate change, says R.K. Mall, Associate Professor (Hydromet, Climate Change and Impacts), National Institute of Disaster Management, New Delhi. In a paper presented at a training programme on coastal hazard management organised by the Institute of Land and Disaster Management here recently, Mr. Mall said the lack of infrastructure, together with social, economic and gender inequities, aggravated the vulnerability and sufferings of the largely illiterate, unskilled and resource-poor fishing, farming and landless labour communities. "Their resilience to bounce back to pre-disaster level of normality is limited," he said. Mr. Mall observed that the largely modern science and technology-based sophisticated early warning systems were unlikely to be of much help in the circumstances. "Speedy evacuation of communities becomes impossible in the absence of good roads, communication and adequate transport facilities," he said. Stressing the need for a paradigm shift in disaster management, he said, "Hydro- meteorological natural disasters lead to salinity of soil and aquifers, submergence of standing crops and long spells of drought, exerting stress on the production of crops like paddy." Mr. Mall said climate change posed a threat to India's food security as well. He said a proper assessment of disaster vulnerability was an essential factor in helping communities adapt to climate change. He explained how vulnerability assessment was different from the mitigation studies that had formed the mainstream of climate change research over the last three decades. "Vulnerability assessment takes hold of the problem at the other end, where decisions about both mitigation and adaptation are actually made. Thus, vulnerability assessments must integrate knowledge about the environment with knowledge about humans and their activities like agriculture, forestry or fishing, resource management, political governance, energy use and culture to determine a holistic picture of how sensitive particular places are and how resilient they are to the impact of climate change."

 

The Hindu, 17th March 2009