Hoping for the best, preparing for the worst
The hows and whys of disaster management were discussed threadbare at a multi-stakeholder meet organised jointly by Free Press and Indo-European Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Bhopal to mark the 33rd anniversary of the BHOPAL GAS LEAK DISASTER
On the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, deadly MIC gas gushed out of the pesticides manufacturing plant of the American transnational giant Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) at Bhopal, raining death and destruction on the city.
Thirty-three years down the line, how well-prepared are we for handling disasters - whether manmade or natural? Do we have the trained manpower and the technical expertise needed for managing disasters?
These and other relevant issues were discussed threadbare at a "Multi-stakeholder Meet on Disaster Management - Preparedness, Prevention and Mitigation Plan for the State of MP" organised jointly by the Free Press and Indo-European Chamber Of Commerce and Industry (IECCI) at Hotel Lake View.
Representatives of government departments and agencies, industry associations, senior police officers, former and serving bureaucrats, journalists and others participated in the lively and informative discussion.
Among the participants were Nirmala Buch, former chief secretary to government of Madhya Pradesh, Rakesh Kumar Shrivastava, Chairman, Madhya Pradesh State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, Manish Shankar Sharma, ADG, Disaster Management, Rajesh Sharma, DIG, MP State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Sanjay Shrivastava, CMD, Surendra Composites Ltd, R.S. Kori, Director (Environment), MP Pollution Control Board, Dr Rajendra Chaturvedi, Scientist, Emergency Response Centre, Dr Rakesh Dubey, Director, Disaster Management Institute, Madan Mohan Sharma, Secretary, Laghu Udyog Bharati, Manoj Modi, chairman, Association of All Industries, Mandideep, K.C. Sharma, plant head, Lupin Ltd, Mandideep and D.N. Nema, Joint Director, Industrial Health and Safety, Bhopal.
Anuradha Singhai, President of Indo-European Chamber of Commerce and Industry steered the discussion, which covered a wide gamut of issues related to disaster management ranging from the state of preparedness to the regulatory and legislative framework, to ways for preventing disasters, need for raising awareness levels and what more can and should be done to ensure that disasters cost us less in terms of pain and loss.
It was pointed out that while manmade disasters are preventable to some degree, natural disasters are not. What we can do is to minimise their impact and ensure that relief and rescue operations are timely and effective
Man-made disasters, on the other hand, are eminently preventable. "The Bhopal gas disaster would not have happened had the backup systems, including scrubber and flare towers were in a working condition in the UCC plant", Dr Rakesh Dubey pointed out.
The broad consensus at the meeting was that raising awareness levels and involving the common man in disaster prevention and management would go a long way in ensuring that disasters do not devastate us.