The unfortunate helicopter crash that killed the Andhra Chief Minister, Y S Rajasekhar Reddy has brought to focus again our inadequacies as a nation to do mount an effective SAR (Search and Rescue) operation. It is ridiculous that it took us 24 hours to reach the accident spot.
India, of late, never tired of shouting from the roof top htat is a super power in information technology, nuclear sciences and space. But when it came to locating a crashed chopper, we failed to levarage this.
It is not about SAR alone. As a Country, we pay scant attention to Disaster Management -both prevention and post disaster activities.
I was in Guruvayoor temple a while back. The temple is overcrowded at any point of time with millions of devotees thronging its sannidhi. At best a harrowing experience, some ingenious guy has found a way to put crude barricades to manage the serpentine queue using steel pipes. The confined barricaded queue goes on and on, zig zaging the East Nada with absolutely no way a person can get out once he enters the barricade, whether he be sick or holding a kid, he/she is forced to stand in the queue for anything between 4-6 hours with no exit. Ditto in Tirumala and many other temples.
Municipal authorities give scant attention to Fire Safety regulations. In developed countries, and even in Kuwait, one cannot get a licence unless proper precautions including clearly lit Exit which is free of obstacles is available. But in India, no one bothers. The tragedy in Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu a few years back when a school operating in thatched shed burnt with students charred to death unable to get away is still vivid in the mind.
Our emergency forces lack the equipment, training and the will power to manage any emergency including road accidents effectively. It is always the locals, good samaritans, who are seen taking leadership in the event of an accident, fire or a train mishap. But in the bargain, they unwittingly, destroy crucial evidence that can lead the investigators to the actual criminal or cause. The police and fire service take pleasure in throwing their weight around while hardly doing anything. Ditto the ability of the hospitals to handle large scale disasters. We often see critical patients lying on the floor in unhygenic conditions. And to add to the horror, it is next to impossible for the anxious relatives to get proper information for there wont be any hotlines or help desks, and even if it is there, one wont get a proper answer.
We value life cheaply. That is the root cause for this apathy. We talk about the need for disaster management for a couple of days after every disaster, and then it is back to status quo till the next disaster.
