NGOs, experts slam state disaster management efforts

Leading NGOs and environmental experts criticised state government’s disaster management efforts after "Aila" in the absence of any synchronised disaster management policy at the state level. The rules for the Disaster Management Act 2005 had been framed last year. States were supposed to draft separate disaster management policy to mitigate climatic disasters, but no work has been done till date.

Speaking at a campaign organised by Greenpeace, Sugata Hazra, director, department of oceanographic studies, Jadavpur University, said, “While there was a flow of funds and post-disaster relief by government and non-government organisations, there was hardly any effort or fund to prepare the region for climatic extremes.”

“There’s hardly any food or cyclone shelter in place, raised tanks and drinking water facilities, health and relief centres in village or block level, or strategies to improve food security even after the enactment of the Disaster Management Act,” he added. Sundarbans, a World Heritage site declared by UNESCO, is a vast area covering 4,262 sq km, including a mangrove cover of 2,125 sq km in India alone, with a larger portion in Bangladesh. Professor Sudhir Chella Rajan, department of Humanities and Social Science in Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras said, “The crisis that climate change can bring to the Sundarbans is immense and the government needs to address adaptation plans instead of some relief measures.”

A voluntary organisation, “Sundarbanbasir Sathe”(with the people of Sundarbans), is working on preparing a detailed map of all affected blocks of Sundarbans, based on the impact of Aila, which would be submitted to the state and central governments requesting them to prepare a blueprint for the coordinated relief in the distribution network in the cyclone-ravaged Sundarbans. The work is expected to be completed in another two weeks.