Perspective: The Disaster of India's Disaster Management Plan

The biggest known fact about India's Disaster Management Plan is that, it is the biggest disaster in itself. Once and on many more uncountable occasions it has failed, and failed miserably to say the least. Without doubt, it shall continue to fail, given how it is being planned and managed till now, until and unless a dramatic and much required light of pleasant change embarks upon the policy makers of the world's largest democracy.

National Disaster Management (NDM) Authority of India takes care of disasters only which are natural in nature. Which means, only natural calamities like Floods, Draught, Tsunami's, Earthquakes etc, is what comes under the NDM. Even though this scope of work was acceptable may be in the past, surely in times such as now, where man-made disasters like Terrorism, happen if not more, but as frequently as natural disasters in India, the scope of work of the NDM needs to be expanded urgently. (http://www.ndmindia.nic.in/)

The main reason why disaster management is not taken seriously in India, is that the cost of a life of a common citizen in India is not at all important for the state. They hardly care how much blood is on the street, untill and unless someone dear to them/or someone like them is targetted.

The above is represented well in what the Deputy CM & Home Minister for Maharashtra, Mr. R R Patil, said in his infamous quote about the 26/11 Mumbai Attacks - "Bade shahron mein aise ek-do haadse hote rahte hain... Woh 5,000 logon ko marne aaye the, lekin humne kitna kum nuksan hone diya".

With all due respect to the late CM of Andhra Pradesh - Mr. YSR who died in a helicopter crash after his helicopter was missing and off the radar for almost 20 hours - Just take a look at what the Government actions were after the helicopter went missing:

5000 army men, an ISRO Remote Sensing Aircraft, a Sukhoi 30 fighter jet, 14 search choppers, the forest dept., Police, CRPF, Paramiliatary Forces, Tribals, Guides, and much more, all mobilised in not more than 3 hours for a missing CM. Obviously, the government was sleeping during 26/11, where they delayed calling the NSG's, did not have an aircraft ready to airlift the commando's from New Delhi for Mumbai, which by the way is our Financial Capital and should have commando's stationed there permanently anyways.

Worse, after reaching Mumbai, the NSG commando's were taken to Taj & Oberoi in BEST buses!! Were all the choppers of the Indian Air Force not airworthy which were stationed in Bombay, that they could not be air lifted and taken to ground zero? Our polititians & policy makers were trying to figure out how bad the situation was for the city, and only then wanted to call for the Army, NSG, Naval Commando's and the likes.

I think the best case study for "How to make a Disaster of Disaster Management".

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Sidharth Mehta

Dubai - UAE

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Key Tags - Disaster Management India, Terrorism Disaster Management India, Mumbai 26/11 Disaster Management, Biggest Search Operation in India - Andhra Pradesh CM goes missing & eventually died, Disaster Management Plan India, Disaster Management Analysis India, Incredible India, Sidharth Mehta