India And Disaster Management.

For a country blooming with richness, with its diversity, culture, history and resources, India is astoundingly unprepared when it comes to facing natural disasters.

 In the Uttarakhand floods that rampaged in 2013, over 5,000 people lost their lives. In Gujarat, when the earthquake hit in 2001, 20,000 people lost their lives and over 400,000 were left injured. In more recent and local news in 2017, hundreds were left injured or dead in the Elphinstone Bridge stampede, and officials only blamed it on the rain, confusion and crowd. The ‘chaos and crowd’ excuse was employed again when in late December last year, several people lost their lives tragically in the Kamala Mills Fire.

One thing that all of these incidents have in common is that if we had better disaster control, the number of people affected could have been dramatically decreased. This being said, some fatal accidents like the Bhopal Gas Tragedy could have been prevented altogether with better infrastructure and equipment.

We may not have the power to save hundreds and thousands of people, but we can, and certainly must take several precautionary methods to save ourselves, in case the need strikes. Below are three common accidents, their prevention and how to deal with them.

Preventative measures for road accidents

In case of a fire

In case of a stampede

 

As many technological advancements we make as humans, we may never be able to conquer the forces of nature, which is why it’s always important to prepare for the worst, arm yourself with the required materials and a calm mind to face any natural disaster.