25th Nov 2019 11:11:PM Editorials
Eastern Sentinel Arunachal News

Fighting disasters whether delivered by nature or due to circumstances arising out of human intervention has always been a part of human life since the dawn of civilization. And since there are no ways to prevent furies of nature, all endeavours have always converged on the central motto of minimizing deaths and destruction. All throughout the world, there have been constant additions to the methods of keeping humans safe during these terrible exigencies and technology has played a commendable role as a reliable contributing partner. It has been a feature in all countries, irrespective of degree of susceptibility of disasters, especially natural, and noticeably, there is a commonality here which is to keep robust a comprehensive disaster management plan round the clock, of which, disaster relief centre(s) are integral components. Necessity of having well-equipped under-one-roof centres in Arunachal is a long-felt one and as such, the proposal of having such a centre nearby capital deserves appreciation.

So far as natural disasters are concerned, earthquakes are quite common in Northeast and Arunachal since the entire region, geomorphologically falls under Earthquake Prone Zone V. It was only in last July tremors were felt due to four successive earthquakes hitting the state within a span of twenty four hours and although nothing major in terms of destruction and casualties had occurred there is no guarantee that Mother Nature will be that much kind in forthcoming editions. It must always be kept in mind that the 1950 Assam-Tibet earthquake having a magnitude of round about 8.6 in Richter scale which ravaged the region and took over 4800 lives had its epicentre in Arunachal’s Mishmi Hills. Now, if such scale of devastation or even near to that strikes once more, it is obvious that degree of damage, both on life and property would be manifold due to an exponential growth of population. Nature’s rage is irreversible and when it comes to earthquake, there is very little scope of prediction, unlike cyclones where there is at least some time for preparations of undertaking safety measures. Thus, there is no option but to remain prepared for the post-disaster picture as that had been successfully done by many countries, Japan being exemplary. It is also painful to observe how fire related tragedies keep on repeating in state, only implying that there is an urgent need to revamp and make fire services more penetrable. The task is onerous keeping in mind the rough terrain, but not impossible if the roads are at least kept communicable so that time loss for fire tenders rushing to the spots is minimum.  

Disaster management in state can never be exclusive in itself and can only be successful it viewed as an inter-departmental coherent initiative. It’s an unavoidable reality that should better be faced unitedly. 


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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