[India_Vision_2020] The floods in Chennai and the urgent need to learn from such disasters ~ India Vision 2020

Dear friends,

After reading the detailed comments in the latest issue of ezine PreSense and reports in different newspapers about I felt I should remind the policy makers about the need to learn the lessons from such disasters. In the following paragraphs I have expressed my views:

The December deluge in Chennai caused untold death and destruction. The deluge like any natural calamity, did not discriminate between the haves and the have-nots. While the citizens braved the challenge commendably with exemplary courage and camaraderie the policy makers got away with promises to give succour to the sufferers and to take preventive measures in future.

This is not the first time that the country has experienced natural and man-made calamities. One similar to the Chennai deluge occurred in Mumbai in July 2005. The torrential rains made the Powai lake overflow and flood the almost dried up Mithi river on its shrunken track to the Mahim Creek. The areas nearby the 'stolen' river were inundated; that included the Santa Cruz airport and many colonies.

In June 2013, Uttarakhand witnessed flash floods of epic proportions with casualties as high as 20000, dead or missing. In September 2014, Srinagar in Jammu Kashmir was similarly flooded by the overflowing Dal Lake.

In December 1984, the Union Carbide Corporation's plant in Bhopal saw the world's worst ever industrial disaster with death, destruction and disability yet to be correctly assessed.

In June 1997, in New Delhi's Uphaar Cinema fire tragedy, 59 people were burnt to death. In December 2011, in South Kolkatta's AMRI Hospital, fire killed 95 people, mostly patients including a large number in ICU.

It is not my intention to catalogue the calamities. It is only to remind ourselves of the frequency of such disasters and our failure to learn the lessons from every disaster. While the country now has a National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) it is only a paper tiger.

A few facts will substantiate my contention that we do not learn lessons. Although the floods in Mumbai, Uttarakhand and Srinagar were due to nature's fury, the after effects could have been mitigated.

"The Mithi River (in Mumbai) used to serve as an important storm water drain but has been reduced to a sewer over the years" was the observation of Mithi River Development Authority. The entire river was literally stolen with encroachments by structures and what was left was used to dump sewage. When the upstream Powai Lake overflew, the storm water had to find a way. What did the city planners in Mumbai do when the river was being stolen? Have they woken up later? If this year Powai Lake overflows, where will the water go? Mumbaiwallas have to answer these questions!

In Uttarakhand, in the name of tourism, the Himalayan terrain was so commercialised that disaster could happen any time. We need to read what an expert commented: "… In the process (of development), denuded mountains have remained deforested, roads designed to minimise expenditure rather than enhance safety have endangered human lives, tunnels blasted into mountainsides have further weakened the fragile slopes and dried up springs, ill-conceived hydropower projects have destroyed rivers and their ecosystems, and hotels and land developers have encroached on river banks." (The Hindu, June 25, 2013: The untold story from Uttarakhand ). What happened in 2013 was, therefore, man-made. The latest reports say that Kedarnath is reopened without any change from the past.

In Srinagar, it is reported that in spite of the existence of Lakes and Waterways Development Authority, the world famous Dal Lake had shrunk due to encroachments, buildings and hotels from 53 square kms in 1953 to just 11 square kms in 2014. As a result, in 2014, the water collected in the downsized lake had to find its ways causing a deluge in the city.

And what about the industrial disasters? After the Bhopal gas leak of 1984, the Ministry of Environment and Forests issued guidelines regarding location of new industrial projects. Among them one says that up to a radius of 25 kilometres from a city of 3 lakh population no hazardous industry should come up. In my own city, Mangalore, a new petroleum refinery was set up initially in the joint sector and now run by the public sector ONGC. It is less than 15 kms away from the city. Fire accidents, leaks and explosions take place frequently with hardly any media coverage except as small news items. And there are many more such projects near other cities making the ordinary citizens extremely vulnerable.

After the Uphaar tragedy the fire safety requirements were reportedly tightened. But in many cities, multiplexes have come up in violation of fire safety precautions. And if one more tragedy occurs there will be fresh breast beating and pronouncements of compensation to the next kin of the dead.

In AMRI Hospital tragedy, there were reports of serious risks of fire which were ignored by the hospital and the state fire service department. After the event, an enquiry was ordered and promises of 'stringent action' were held out. In case of Ansals of Uphaar theatre (New Delhi) the Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that by paying a fine of Rs.30 crores they can avoid jail term awarded by a lower court for their criminal negligence.

Can't the NDMA undertake independent fire-safety audits to check compliance and revoke licences to cinemas and hospitals which have violated the norms ?

The recurring disasters expose two stark realities. One, no one is held accountable for criminal negligence of safety precautions while implementing development plans-for a city, for a tourism centre, for industrialisation or urbanisation. And second, we hardly ever learn lessons from earlier bitter experiences.

I conclude by quoting the statement of Ms.Ewa Rowe before the US Congress Enquiry Committee headed by George Miller. In 2005, there was a serious explosion in the Texas refinery of the oil giant BP. 15 workers were killed and 180 injured in the accident. Despite stringent guidelines the horrifying tragedy took place compelling the Congress to cause an enquiry into the lapses. Ewa was a relative of a working couple who lost their lives in the refinery. What she stated before the George Miller Committee is relevant to us, as it could have happened in most disasters in our country also:

For me and many others, tomorrow will be a solemn day in Texas City, Texas as it marks the second anniversary of the horrible blast that ripped apart my life and the lives of so many others. The explosion at BP's Oil refinery murdered 15 people, including my parents, James and Linda Rowe, and injured hundreds more. The true tragedy is that it was needless and completely avoidable.

At approximately 1:20 p.m. that day, BP initiated a dangerous procedure at the refinery, using outdated and faulty equipment that sent 7,600 gallons of highly flammable liquid hydrocarbons, the equivalent of a tanker truck full of gasoline, into the air. Dozens of workers were in trailers as close as 100 feet away. They were not warned of the imminent danger when an idling truck ignited the devastating chain-reaction explosion.

I, personally, believe that BP, with its corporate culture of greed over profits, murdered my parents, denying my brother Jeremy and me, along with the families of 13 others, the joy of the love of our fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters and the warmth of their smiles and embraces forever. It is of little comfort to us, but we hope through this legislation to ensure more stringent worker health and safety standards that their deaths will not be in vain.

The deaths in Bhopal, Uphaar, AMRI, Uttarakhand, Srinagar and Chennai and, elsewhere would not be in vain if many of the authorities in our country- the Ministries of Environment, Industry, Petroleum, Home and NDMA keep their houses in order. The tragedies of the recent three decades should really make us wiser.

Regards,

T R Bhat,
Mangalore

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Posted by: Ramachandra Bhat <bhat_tr@yahoo.co.in>

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