Lessons from the Nepal earthquake

Amidst all the pain devastation destruction and death wrought by Saturdayrsquos earthquake in Nepal is the miserable understanding that the death toll will be high and the poorest will suffer the most Listening to earthquakeaffected people talk on television the underlying heartbreaking story is familiar to anyone in the subcontinent a lack of disaster management and preparednessFor years we have heard all those cliches about human life being cheap in India and about how our philosophical or fatalistic attitude to life makes us more prone to accept deathKathmandursquos Durbar Square is a massive historical loss But what about all those other buildings which should have been built according to more stringent norms in an earthquakeprone area PicGetty ImagesThe same applies more or less to our neighbours International aid will pour in the better off will send money just a click away on the Internet but the essential organisation to prevent human misery at the next catastrophe will remain slipshod Because we will forget until the next one comes alongThe UNrsquos aid and related wings the International Red Cross Doctors Without Borders and others like them for all that NGOs are made into bogeys for political gain will do their best to provide material assistance As we have seen in Nepal the Indian armed forces are exemplary in its efforts and abilities Across India as well it is they who top at searchandrescue But we have been unable to set up a civilian force that can match or complement themMumbai knows all too miserably how it works Almost none of the promises made after the worstever floods of 2005 or the 2008 terror attacks have been fulfilled Everything just fell to the twin terrors of red tape and official apathy and there was no political will to go beyond it Boats were bought but diesel was not sanctioned is the story that emphasises our situationSome chaos is understandable when a calamity of this magnitude strikes But if you have a proper disaster management plan in place then you can regroup and work out search rescue and rehabilitation modalities India in that sense has no business to continue to behave like a thirdworld nation We surely have the capabilities to be better The question is why donrsquot we seem to want toThen therersquos the big fat elephant in the room shoddy or complete lack of construction and restoration standards Loss of life often comes from some combination of all this Kathmandursquos Durbar Square is a massive historical loss But what about all those other buildings which should have been built according to more stringent norms in an earthquakeprone area All the shortcuts that we take as citizens because we think it will never happen to us Sometimes collective bravado can lead to massive sufferingBuildings that are constructed on lake or river beds buildings which are legalised after the fact because it is easier to pay a fine later than follow a law first these are the giants which have to be vanquished Imagine what would happen for instance to all these huge tall towers of glass coming up all over Indiarsquos seismic zones because of a current fad The image is too terrifying to considerParts of Gujarat went through massive retrofitting after the catastrophic earthquake of 2001 Yet even then some damage couldrsquove been contained if building standards had been adhered to But looking at the unbridled galloping construction all over India right now and the easy way in which money changes hands at all levels when it comes to construction development and real estate you would be extremely naiumlve if you imagined that everything was above board And even worse that you are safeWithout being a scaremonger how seriously do we have to take a wakeup call It is one thing to be an optimist and have a positive attitude to life And it is another thing to behave like so many of Indiarsquos twowheeler drivers who firmly believe that helmets are for other peopleTheyrsquore not you know The answer perhaps is not in fearing death but in taking it more seriouslyRanjona Banerji is a senior journalist You can follow her on Twitter ranjona