10 years have gone by since the Indian Ocean churned on
Dec 26th, 2004. It must be said that there is today a more evolved
understanding of Tsunamis, a higher consciousness of early warning systems, and
the need for disaster preparedness in India. However, our rehabilitation
processes, measures and choices continue to be primarily political,
unorganized, and knee-jerk.
10 years later areas of rehabilitation despair
continue to be:
1. Developing a policy
guideline for timely support for temporary and transitional shelters. In the
absence of one, we continue to leave communities vulnerable to issues of
safety, climatic variabilities, ad hoc
philanthropic measures, and reduced dignity. This also leaves the state and
civil society in a weakened position to institutionalise sustainable, long term
shelter rehabilitaion measures.
2. We continue to
neglect local governments. Acknowledging, recognizing, integrating and
empowering the essential role of local governments, both in the preparedness
and in the post disaster relief and rehabilitation should have become an
essential aspect of recovery processes. Likewise, we should have, by now, going
by the Tamil Nadu experience, learnt how
to relate, integrate and perhaps
regulate the role of indigenous systems
of local governance - community institutions, traditional panchayats, self help
groups etc who may carry tremendous credibility with the affected communities.
3. Surrendering to
the basic premises, values and principles of environmentally sustainable pre
and post disaster measures. Whether it is in creating bulwarks against future
disasters, developing settlements and
habitats, land use patterns, introducing new livelihood options, or shelter
reconstruction, our impulses, policy choices, and implementation methodologies do not yet have a set of ecological non negotiables.
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