Disaster readiness

The earthquake, measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale, which hit the Iran-Balochistan border area on April 16 could not, of course, have been stopped. It lies beyond the power of humans to stop the course of nature. But the degree of damage arising from such calamities can indeed be controlled, through better readiness and education provided to people. This is certainly not an impossible task. Indeed, it is an essential one in a country like ours, prone to many different kinds of disasters.

Most deaths in the quake, which claimed 34 lives, occurred in the Mashkeel tehsil of Balochistan. Around 1,000 houses collapsed, in some cases resulting in injury. Many, like the majority of houses across our country, were weak mud structures. These are, of course, all impoverished people, and as always, natural calamities, too, hit the poor the worst. These people need help and compensation. The offers of aid coming in from the US and other nations should then be considered so that people do not suffer.

What is as important is the handling of disaster. The quake created panic in Karachi too as the city’s high-rise buildings shook, bringing people outdoors into what limited open spaces still remain. Television channels stepped in, offering advice on evacuations. But we need a more organised system. The injuries caused by collapsing roofs could have been avoided if people had known to leave them. In Japan, which lies along a fault line, training is offered in schools. We need to emulate this. To avoid the mass panic seen after this quake, we need regular drills to be ready for any emergency. All buildings must have emergency exits, regulations for this enforced and people given the awareness and readiness required to help them tackle an emergency situation. Such preparedness could come in very handy indeed. The latest quake should act to remind us of this so that we move towards real action, and not just words, in this regard. This is vital.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2013.