12th May 2019 11:05:PM Editorials
Eastern Sentinel Arunachal News

People of Sigar and Raling villages in East Siang district have caught attention of media for setting an example of a cohesive community centric togetherness in face of an impending natural calamity- flood.   A few weeks back, Kongkul village from the same Mebo Sub-Division of the district was also under attention for a similar kind of activity. These suo moto efforts of the villagers have received wide applause from all sections of the Arunachalee society and will definitely act as sources of inspirations to fight natural disasters which visit the state almost on regular basis.

Flood disasters are growing in frequency worldwide due to a variety of environmental and human factors and are increasingly becoming more destructive. And the vulnerability of communities to climate-related disasters is increasing, especially in the case of poor, rural communities living at the foot of mountains and in flood plains, as is the case in state. Rivers essentially are a part of human existence sustaining farmlands and thus ensuring square meals to the teeming millions. But sadly the current reality, caused primarily out of global warming also compels us to fear our rivers, which so often take a monstrous identity.Particularly in the developing world where governance many times fails to percolate to the grassroots, alternate ways to fight the furies of nature are emerging with remarkable amounts of success in many cases. Community based flood management is one such that had been found to be extremely result- oriented in many Indian states also.

The model has gained acceptance to such extent that even governmental apparatus is keen to encourage it, along with its own budget based programmes. Community participation in flood management has achieved success because it essentially incorporates the factors that so often slips the radar of the conventional, time consuming and red-tape ridden state initiated programmes.  A typical such programme always addresses the actual realities specific to the community’s needs. It is sometimes hard to decipher how these amateurish band of people without any professional disaster management knowledge display such cohesion, effectiveness, efficiency and practicality making full and judicious use of the scarce resources. The success is attributed to the integrated use of local knowledge, effective participatory process with a high degree of involvement and motivation which any conventional engineering curriculum rarely teaches.

But the current initiatives of these villagers must be supplemented by the usual developmental plans of the government for a long term solution in taming Siang floods.

In any case, these villagers must be complimented for their efforts, described best as an example of camaraderie in face of a crisis.


Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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