The
two swallows in the title refer to two articles [1, 2] I had read on Phailin
and its aftermath – surprisingly with minimal loss of human life. This came in after
a steady stream of bad-worse-worst-news disasters – Uttarakhand floods, Madhya
Pradesh stampede and the series of rail disasters all across the country. The
situation got to so bad, office meetings started with a series of one-minute
silences. With Phailin, I hope it has changed to one-minute of celebration, a
patting ourselves on the back.
No,
I am not being insensitive, calling for celebration even though some people
died at the hands of Phailin. I think it is in the fitness of things to
celebrate because only a few, 27 as per The
Economist blog (The Hindu of October 19th updates the number to 44), died. The families of the deceased, of course, take no
consolation from the fact that the disaster was managed well. Yet, as a
society, we do need to stand back and take in the message in a larger perspective
even as we mourn the loss of life, property and the widespread devastation.
Now
to the swallows, the first one is the Banyan
blog in The Economist which somewhat
grudgingly gives credit to governance and administration. It hedges its appreciation
by pointing out that landfall occurred during low tide. True, it is a valid
point, but we do not know whether the disaster preparedness would have been effective
for a high tide landfall of the cyclone. We, of course, do not want a cyclone
landfall during high tide! No contrafactual scenario, please! So, let us leave
this imponderable aside.
The
blog approves of many things – evacuation of people, disaster shelters, better
forecasts, wider and deeper communication, people’s awareness, improvements in relief
efforts and others. The blog takes in a wider perspective, about South Asia,
and points out what Bangladesh is doing right and also what Myanmar under a
military regime did wrong some years ago. It is a plug for democracy within the
perspective of standing up to disaster events. This matches what Amartya Sen
said about famines and democracy. Implicitly, then, The Economist, endorses a developmental economist. Good for the
paper.
Now,
to the second swallow. The two swallows came at the same time, but not in one
flock. The PTI release has many words of praise from the World Bank. To the
cynic, this is like patting oneself on the back. “This was the Bank’s ‘ex-ante’
disaster risk management project in India.”
Yet,
it goes to endorse the claims of the blog. It adds, “Mock drills have been
conducted in Odisha’s coastal districts every single year.” Steady work with
communities and local organizations helped set up “volunteer teams who all knew
exactly what needed to be done.” The preparedness against a disaster did not
arise overnight. It appreciates the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority
(OSDMA). It endorses giving “full credit for their [the government agency]
unwavering commitment to disaster preparedness and risk mitigation”.
To
quote further, “It is encouraging to witness that these investments are
contributing to the Government of India’s larger efforts in helping communities
become more resilient to the impacts of natural disasters …” What I liked most
in the above is the implicit “pull yourself up, but not by your bootstraps but
with the helping hand I proffer.” This has the flavor of a top- and bottom-down
combo, each moving towards a common goal. Convergence.
Two
swallows turned up to make what would have been a distressingly regular
condolence meeting to one of celebration, muted it might be because we still
had human fatalities.
Steps
in the right direction.
Raghuram
Ekambaram
References
1.
Small
changes, big gains, The
Economist, October 15, 2013
2.
World
Bank praises India’s Phailin evacuation efforts, The Hindu, October 19, 2013
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