Whether it is a flood or a cyclone, a tsunami or an earthquake, it is the members of the affected families and their neighbors who arrive first to offer assistance, well ahead of the official rescue teams and external volunteers. Working with the tsunami survivors in Indonesia and India, I observed their ability keep their calm and help others immediately after the disaster.

On October 8 the Black Saturday Earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale rocked parts of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The affected areas witnessed the same scenario of human courage as was evident after the traumatic tsunami earlier this year. Some of the lessons learned in this experience are worth relating, with the hopes that they will be of help in future calamities.

The Disaster Impact

In this earthquake buildings collapsed. Stored agricultural goods were buried in collapsed buildings. Utility services were disrupted. Roads were damaged and subsequent catastrophic landslides further aggravated transportation problems. Livestock, useful as a food source, for dairy products and for land cultivation, were largely lost. All of these issues have caused serious movement constraints for humanitarian aid in the form of supplies and relief workers.

Buildings collapsed, roads were damaged, and livestock was lost. All of these issues have caused serious movement constraints for the relief workers and supplies sent to the injured and homeless.

Latest estimates indicate that over 80,000 people are dead and an equal number seriously injured in Pakistan, and over 1,500 are dead in India. More than 3 million people are homeless. As several villages in the earthquake affected zone still remains cut off, these estimates are likely to go up when the rescue and relief teams enter the presently inaccessible areas.

With the widespread destruction of houses and winter setting in there is urgent need for winterized tents. Food items such as pre-cooked canned food and high-energy biscuits are priority requirements. Safe drinking water and hygienic sanitation are equally important. And, of course, medical care in terms of antibiotics, typhoid medicines, bone fracture kits, first aid supplies, surgical instruments and water purification tablets are of dire necessity.

The Socio-Economic Outcome

The affected region has rugged mountainous terrain, inadequate infrastructure and many villages in the region are remotely situated. As a result, a vast majority of the people here rely on their own labor for sustenance. Most are employed in the agriculture and informal sectors, without social safety nets.

Before the earthquake, most of the people in the affected region earned only as much as was sufficient to meet their daily needs, but had very little or no savings on which they could rely. The loss of shelter and means to earn for people with no savings and no social security has been exacerbated in many cases by disaster-induced death or disability of the earning member of a family. These factors imply a lifetime loss of income and the real possibility of ongoing destitution.

Before the earthquake, most of the people in the affected region earned only as much as was sufficient to meet their daily needs, but had very little or no savings on which they could rely.

According to an initial assessment by the International Labor Organization, over 1.1 million jobs were eliminated by this earthquake. This is more than 50 per cent of the total employment that existed in the quake affected region before the calamity.

The Way Forward

The lethality of a natural disaster is not its destructive power as it is on the vulnerability of the population in the affected region.

This earthquake hit a very vulnerable population and has further damaged the people's ability to earn and support themselves and their families. Following the current phase of emergency rescue, medical treatment and salvage activities, the focus needs to turn to the long term rehabilitation and reconstruction, especially the creation of income generating activities for the afflicted population. This is a significant issue for disaster management, and even more so in South Asia. As a region it is among the world's most vulnerable zones to natural disasters. It is a tough mesh of poverty, rampant and unplanned urbanization, chronic malnutrition and nightmarish population densities- all of which increase the risk of devastation when a natural disaster inevitably strikes.

Disaster relief in South Asia has traditionally been based on the principle of charity, focusing on critical and emergency care. To appropriately address the structural poverty in these areas, disaster relief has to be brought out of the comfortable foxhole of charity and emergency care. Its scope needs to be enlarged to include the creation of sustainable income generating activities as an integral part of aiding disaster victims.

It is empowerment of the people and collaborative efforts of the government, civil society and the community that can prevent the return of the Black Saturday.

It has been observed that families, friends and neighbors are generally the ones that search for and extricate their kith and kin in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. Contrary to apprehensions, disaster after disaster has shown us that survivors largely act calmly with common sense, and they also offer cultural appropriateness. It is both possible and prudent to involve the local community in the disaster relief operations together with external aid agencies. Particularly, local people are needed to be involved in needs assessment, emergency shelter management, rapid epidemiological surveillance, and food distribution. The record keeping and registration required in emergency situations will be better done by a local person and it will facilitate the local unity, camaraderie and spirit that are critical requirements for effective disaster mitigation.

Time and again natural calamities in South Asia have impeded growth and impoverished the people. Aside from the expensive and reactionary responses to natural disasters, it is necessary to build awareness of potential threats and possible solutions before the next disaster strikes. By providing information, training and resources ahead of time, people will be more able to come up with appropriate and responsive mechanisms that will hopefully save many lives. It is empowerment of the people and collaborative efforts of the government, civil society and the community that can prevent the return of the Black Saturday.




Contributed Amitava Basu, a Development Practitioner who has worked in Asia and Africa for over 28 years. He is actively engaged in poverty alleviation programs in conjunction with international agencies and governments in developing countries. Amitava has also worked on rehabilitation and reconstruction projects for disaster affected people in South and South-East Asia. Amitava is a Director with Intercontinental Consultants and Technocrats Private Limited in New Delhi, India.

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