India
Today has commented on the case I had discussed on this blog on June 24, 2012,
and has also commented on the need to be prepared to meet mass-scale disasters
such as earth-quakes. Visit
This
item also reports on the role of Sohrab Khan, a local well-digger, who
eventually got her body out of the well. This does not in any way
detract from the credit that should go to the army personnel who worked night
and day to dig an 80 foot parallel well to enable access to the bore-well.
The question about preparedness to cope with mass disasters is
this: with whom does the responsibility lie? I would vote for the Chief
Secretary of the State and the Secretary to Govt who supervises the fire
department. They are well-educated, trained government officers who ought to be
trained in disaster-management as well. Every mass disaster should be reviewed
by a judicial commission, and if unpreparedness or incompetence is established,
the officers concerned should have their jobs terminated.
A soft state is one which does not assign clear
responsibilities and does not punish negligence and incompetence.
Srinivasan Ramani
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