Goans were caught unawares in the intervening night of Thursday when a sudden burst of rainfall accompanied by streaks of lightning and explosive thunder lashed several parts of the State leaving a trail of destruction.
With no State Management Plan in place, the state machinery was left helplessly to bear the brunt of nature and despite being on the receiving end every year, there have been no lessons learnt. Goa is left to only fire-fight disasters and till now the fire brigades has been at the centre of the job of picking up the pieces.
That a short stormy spell could bring down huge highway destination signboards, rip apart hoardings, uproot trees and even damage houses, while everybody watched with bated breath, is enough to expose the helplessness we are in.
Goa has been hit by storms and cyclones from time to time, and we still don’t have a State Disaster Management Plan. Our district disaster management plans have remained on paper with no ground-level study to identify disaster-prone areas. The Revenue Department’s move to float a tender to carry out GIS mapping on the eve of another monsoon season only goes to show how careless and lackadaisical the government’s approach is. With the pace at which the government is approaching the DMP, the State will in all probability, and in all helplessness, face a few more disaster situations and do nothing about it. It is only now that the government has realized the need of formulating a new disaster management plan to handle issues like flooding, high tides, storm surges, etc.
Goa being a coastal state and more prone to natural calamities, a comprehensive and well-knit disaster management plan should have been in the list of priorities of any government. Because, such a plan becomes a guiding force for the entire machinery engaged in relief and rescue operations. Goa is currently banking on only fire brigade services. Nothing else moves.
While the storm didn’t last long, it took the government machinery endlessly long in the clean up job. Several power poles and trees that were uprooted continued to remain obstacles blocking roads and accesses even late in the evening. Electricity supply that blacked out late in the night added to the misery even the next day. The chinks in the armory were clearly exposed once again.
While there may be ambitious disaster management plans in the making, for any plan to be effective, it should revolve around the locals. The panchayat or the urban bodies have to be involved. There can’t be one team to address calamity issues of the entire district. Local teams need to be formed in every village where villagers are trained to handle disaster situations. Locals know the contours of their village better than anyone, including the collector and the deputy collector. This will help in not only speeding up relief and rescue operations, but also in instilling a sense of confidence in the area concerned.
