Nature is benign, nature is merciless; nature preserves and nature destroys. Yes, it is a mixture of opposites. Philosophers and intellectuals have reflected on the dimensions of nature. There are a host of calamities through which nature takes heavy toll of human and animal life, flora and fauna and topography.
It is true that we the human beings are unable to control the fury of the nature when it comes to unleashing. Maybe in some cases the human kind is responsible for helping the nature cause large scale damages. Deforestation is usually believed to be a major cause of floods because deforestation leads to the loosening of the soil, landslides and then vulnerability to flooding of the areas. Another cause of floods is the greed of people for grabbing the land wherever it is available. Rivers and nullahs often change their course and with the change of direction of flow, they leave the previous bed dry and take a different course. Greedy and covetous people grab the vacated land and raise structures there. But again by quirk of destiny the rivers and stream again change their course and the entire area is flooded because the structures illegally raised become big obstruction for free flow of flood waters in the channel.
Recently, an earthquake of 7. 5 intensity on Richter scale struck a vast area from Afghanistan eastwards to entire Hindukush and Pamir region, Tajikistan Pakistan, Northern India. Jammu and Kashmir also came under its sway. Three persons were killed in Kashmir and one in Reasi but there are scores of people with injuries and many of them have been admitted in hospitals. We regret the loss of life and we send condolence to the bereaved families. We expect the Relief Department to extend help to the affected families. Fortunately, no big loss of human life has been reported from anywhere in the State. That is a redeeming factor.
The area that has come in the grip of this earthquake has already been identified as seismic prone area. Some years back, a deadly earthquake had happened with epicenter somewhere in PoK. The quake had caused massive loss of human lives and the livestock. It was a major tragedy. Geologist say that this area is very much seismic and earth shaking can happen with more and more devastative power. In this earthquake also there has been some loss of lives though it could have been very harsh and devastating. The point is that since it is firmly established that this area is highly vulnerable to earthquakes, as such experts must come together from all vulnerable parts and discuss a methodology in which immediate help and rescue can be provided to the victims and precious lives saved as far as possible. It should be a joint venture of the states in the region, NGOs and other philanthropic organizations that are capable of helping in disaster management.
However, nearer home, this quake is another reminder to the State administrative machinery that it has to put in place the Disaster Management Authority fully equipped and prepared to manage massive disasters happening either by earthquakes, floods or fire. The splash floods of September 2014 had exposed the inadequacy of State Disaster Management Authority and it had come under severe criticism. The Government of the day had decided to equip the organization with the requisite wherewithal. We are not aware to what extent that commitment has been fulfilled by the Government. All that we want to bring home is that any complacency on this count is unacceptable. The Government must ensure at its earliest that the DMA is fully geared to meet any challenge at any time as we know that disasters keep no calendar.
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