Disaster Management

A hazard is a situation that poses a level of threat to life, health, property, or environment.

A hazard itself is not a problem as long as it doesn’t become active, then it would become an emergency. This is what we call an incident. A disaster would be a very bad incident. When you look at a hazard and the possibility of it becoming an incident, this is what becomes risk.

We are becoming more modern day by day due to the help of the modern science and its applications in our daily life.

But still we are too weak to prevent the rage of the nature.

Different natural hazards like floods droughts, earthquakes etc., are almost non-predictable and non-resistible in a large scale.

These natural hazards destroy the human locality and other natural environments. It’s also causes great financial losses and can even cause death of the humans.

In this way the natural hazard takes form of a disaster.

Terrorism is the brutal act in which people resort to kill others.

Mahatma Gandhi preached ahimsa or nonviolence and truth as the tools for peaceful resolution of issues between people, communities or countries.

The main aim of terrorists is the greed for money and power. Hence there is an increase in the hostility between various groups of people all around the world.

Contrary to the hope of the integration of population across the globe into a ‘world community’ in harmony with each other, which was expected as a result of development, war and internal conflicts have plagued the world, causing immense suffering to vast numbers of people. Terrorism has become a common in certain areas of the world, including parts of India. In these areas, children live in constant fear of attacks and violence. Often, they do not attend formal schools and don’t lead normal lives.

The following are some of the measures to be taken in case of fire accidents:

• If you see smoke or flames, raise the alarm.

• Get out of the building as soon as possible. Cover yourself if you can. Use steps instead lift in case of fire. Keep the escape routes clear in the corridors.

• Find a phone and call 101. Ask for the fire brigade, and then give your address slowly and clearly to reach soon.

• If there’s smoke, crawl along the floor, as the air is cleanest there. Hot air rises up. If your escape route is blocked, go into a room with a window, put things round the door to stop smoke getting in, open the outside window and call for help.

• A closed door slows down the spread of a fire. While evacuating it is necessary that we close the doors.

• Switch off all the electrical appliances. The best thing one could do is to turn off the main switchboard.

• Check for worn or tape up cables or leads. These are dangerous and you should replace them. In case the plug points are at a very low level it is necessary that they are taped especially in the primary section of the school as the children might put their fingers inside which might lead to an accident.

• Wherever you are watch out for damaged wiring in the school. In case there are walls that soak or wet then the walls should be immediately repaired and the wires must be replace.

Road, rail and air accidents are some of the disasters that one faces every day. The rapid development and expansion of the road network for better connectivity and the increase in number of motor vehicles have led to a substantial rise in levels of both passenger and freight movement. The number of road accidents and fatalities has been growing in recent years.

In India about eighty thousand people are killed in road crashes every year which is thirteen percent of the total fatality all over the world. More than half of the people killed in traffic crashes are young people within the age group of 15-44 years who are often the bread winners of the family. In most of the cases crashes occur either due to carelessness, restlessness, overspeed, violation of traffic rules, drunken driving, poor maintenance of the vehicle, bad weather conditions etc. All these add to the rising number of accidents and road fatalities. It has been estimated that in the year 2000 more than 3 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was lost due to accidents. Hence, road safety education is as essential as any other basic skills of survival. The Road Safety Week is observed in January, every year throughout the country. The theme of the Road Safety Week in 2006 was ‘Road Safety and no Accident’.

The following measures should be followed to prevent or reduce the road accidents:

• Only those people who have a driving license should be allowed to drive.

• People should always walk on the foot path. If there is no foot path, they should walk on the right-hand side of the road.

• The people should cross the roads only at zebra-crossing and traffic signals should be properly followed.

• Everyone should know the meaning of the traffic signals and road boards and should follow them.

• Always wear a helmet when riding a bike as the helmet protects the head of the person in case of any accident.

• Follow a que when boarding a bus or getting down of it.

• Also, the people who have consumed alcohol or under the influence of drugs should not be allowed to drive the vehicles.

The following are the steps that have to followed in case of terrorist attacks.

In case terror strikes in your area, here are some things that you need to do.

• Remain calm and relaxed and be patient. Follow the advice of local emergency officials. Listen to your radio or television for news and instructions.

• If the disaster occurs near you, check for injuries. Give first aid and get help for seriously injured people. Noticing any unidentified briefcases, bags, cycles, tiffin boxes and inform police. Be away from those things.

• Shut off any other damaged utilities. Confine or secure your pets. Call your family contact. Do not use the telephone again unless it is a life-threatening emergency.

• Check on your neighbours, especially those who are elderly or disabled.

The following are the causes of rail accidents:

• Railway transportation appeared at earlier times to be safe due to slower speeds, shorter trips and lower density traffic. With the largest network in the world.

• The number of railway accidents has increased in India.

• The most common type of rail accidents is derailment which takes place due to lack of proper maintenance, human error or sabotage.

• This causes huge losses to life and inflicts injuries and disabilities to many more. The transportation of various highly inflammable products like coal, oil etc. also leads to accidents.

Home: gas cylinders, electrical outlets, water storage tanks, harmful medicines, smoke, stale food.

School: traffic, playgrounds, open drainage on the roads.