Respect social realities; bridge environment, disasters and development in policy action - Janki Andharia

“We continue to look at disasters as a single, one off event. Policy action must be based on an appreciation of the deep connection between environment, disasters and development.” - Janki Andharia, Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India

I happened to be in Port Blair on a holiday when the Indian Ocean tsunami swept through the Nicobar Islands, south of Port Blair, causing enormous destruction. I could visit Carnicobar and Nancowry restricted areas, on 1^st January and had an opportunity to learn about the salutatory rescue efforts of the Army, Navy and Air force.

A disaster exposes the underbelly of a society- it is rightly said. The administration was weak and depended heavily on the armed forces leaving one wondering about the massive resources that come to the Islands precisely because they are viewed as being “remote” and tribal communities, as “primitive “ and in need of development. Were there any lessons?

During the next 3 years, working closely with the Nicobari tribals and the administration, one learnt what was going on in the name of governance. The utter insensitivity of untrained local officials to the Nicobari culture, their aspirations was a major challenge in conceiving and implementing relief and rehabilitation programmes.

 The recovery processes in the A&N islands have resulted in drastic changes in the physical and cultural environment of the Nicobarese communities, caused largely by a huge influx of cash in a traditional, largely subsistence-based economy and newer (read corrupt) ways of transaction. They have learnt that this is what democratic governments do!!

Lesson: Clearly external agents and government officials needed to give credence to the way people experience and construct their social realities. This appreciation of context and acknowledgement of the special and distinctive social circumstances of each ethnic group, each community or settlement would have aided the discovery of their particular assets and abilities by those in the line of duty. Such an appreciation would involve moving away from the dominant perspective of viewing them as ‘backward, primitive’ and understanding their highly evolved traditional wisdom and also recognise the strengths of their cultural norms and practices.

 The gap between what is professed in the name of recovery and what actually transpires is unacceptably wide- and this duality epitomises governance across the world- and surely world leaders must work on ways of addressing this gap.

While mainstreaming DRR is an oft repeated mantra, development processes seem to be driving the planet towards destruction, “rendering the world unsafe”. (Many traditional cultures believe that these disasters are a “sign”).

However- within policy practice we continue to look at disasters as a single, one off event. Despite a large body of literature produced especially after the tsunami- both on lessons learnt and best practices- their internalisation remains weak- reflecting political will of a state or a nation. 

Decision making continues to be driven by economic imperatives of profit and the environment on which life on the planet depends, is plundered. The challenge of guiding policy action based on an appreciation of the deep connection between environment, disasters and development-cannot be undermined – is a clear lesson. 

There is a very large body of literature that provides fascinating insights on what needs to be done- relevant only if the national and world leaders care and mean what they say!