Natural disasters arrive with unfailing regularity. Only the numbers of the dead, their names and their locations change. Each time the nation, instead of learning from earlier experiences, is caught totally unprepared. Whether it was the recent cyclone in Gujarat which killed 3,000 people; a landslide in Okhimath or Malpa; or the floods in Gorakhpur and Malda, the absence of a cohesive disaster management plan is clearly felt. Indeed, it is in times like these, that we are suddenly made conscious of our vulnerability.

When disaster strikes, the battle is already half lost as district administrations take at least three days to get their act together. Such delays are expensive interms of precious lives. The Gujarat cyclone proved once again that despite the severe cyclonic disturbances that states like Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have experienced over the years, the country still does not have an organised system of issuing cyclone warnings. After thousands of people were swept away instead of being evacuated, the Kandla Port Trust and the district administration were left blaming each other for the lapse. Of course, a commission to look into this was promptly set up. But what use are these august bodies if the nation is incapable of benefiting from their wisdom?

There are other problems as well. Long after the stench of the decaying bodies has died down, the various agencies involved in the rescue and relief measures find themselves at daggers drawn. Malpa was no different. ``We have requisitioned the army to help us, they will do what we tell them,'' said L.R. Yadav, DM Pithoragarh, who coordinated the Malpa landslide rescue operations. ``Once the Army is called for rescuework, the Army heads the rescue operation,'' said the Army authorities.

For the district administration, rescue operations are often occasions to flex muscles and display its sense of power. The irony is that in spite of its vast machinery it is often seen floundering in the absence of a viable disaster management plan. The entire battery of officials, from ADMs to DMs and commissioners camp near the site, but this invariably leads to confusion, duplication and misinformation. Recalled a harried relative of a Malpa victim, ``Every time we called, they would give us a different figure of the number of bodies recovered at Malpa.'' For four days, there was no single control room set-up in Pithoragarh. In Malpa, the chief secretary and the commissioner issued contradictory orders on the disposal of the bodies --especially those of the high profile yatris in the group. Strangely, the state relief commissioner was conspicuous by his absence.

Incidentally, there are clear guidelines on disastermanagement. Aid to the Civil Administration is the Army's reference manual and it has a detailed chapter on disaster management. For bureaucrats, there is the Manual of Government Ordinance as a ready guide. These manuals clearly outline the exact sharing of powers between the civil administration and the army in disaster situations. Unfortunately, not many bureaucrats or army officers seemed to have read these volumes. Another factor which seriously impedes rescue work is the interference of political leaders and bureaucrats sitting in Delhi or the state capitals who have no idea of the ground reality. All relief work in Kandla was suspended for the first three days as the government machinery was busy with VIP visits, ranging from those of the home minister to the PM.

A genuine problem which the administration faces is that of liquid cash: large sums are sometimes required at short notice. ``Even small things like tents have to be pitched for relatives coming to identify the bodies. Somebody has to bepaid cash. Most of the time, our coffers are empty,'' said Jayati Chandra, Commissioner, Kumaun Mandal. From ATF (aviation fuel) to medicines, there are no special funds which could be dipped into in times of emergency. Apart from delaying things, it also means that the authorities will have to deal with inflated proformas later, with interest rates having been added to the payments.

The Malpa tragedy also proved clearly that proper rescue operations cannot be mounted without the help of the local people, because they knew the terrain like the back of their hand. A lot of them said that if they had proper ropes used for mountain climbing, they would have managed to get some bodies across from the Nepal side. Yet, the locals were actually forbidden to go towards Malpa for fear of overcrowding! Disaster-watchers feel that the country needs a permanent administrative machinery to deal with disasters. Said Ram Lal Tolia, director of the Administrative Training Institute, Nainital: ``This should comprisebureaucrats, geologists, hydrographers, geographers and meteorological scientists.''

He also recommended a disaster management plan to be made for every district. ``We have achieved success in floods and fires in some areas where the locals are adequately briefed, but none for landslides,'' he said. There should be some thought given to setting up a co-ordination agency to manage disasters with neighbouring countries like Nepal and China. In the Malpa case, this would have helped immensely in cutting down on costly delays in rescue operations caused by bad weather. With such an agency in place, permits and official permission could have been waived. This time it took three days for the government to get the requisite permission from Nepal to approach the landslide-hit area from that side of the border.

Various institutes in China and the Centre for Integrated Mountain Development in Kathmandu have done extensive work on risk engineering. ``We have made roads at an altitude of 3,000 feet in Ladakh,Badrinath and Kedarnath, so why not here?'' said Rakesh Sharma who has been DM, Pithoragarh, three times and is familiar with the problems there. ``Risk engineering as a regular science should be made compulsory for all those involved in building border roads like the Border Roads Security.''

To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Hazard zone mapping would help immeasurably in anticipating disasters and preventing them. For instance, when cracks, a metre wide, suddenly appear on a mountain side, the authorities should react to them. In hindsight, it was clear that a village like Malpa should never have been allowed to come up in that particular location, perched as it was under those treacherous mountains. As Tolia put it, ``It is not possible to stop all development in such areas but at least some informed intervention can be made.'' Natural disasters will continue to strike. We can do nothing about preventing them. But what's crucial is to learn from them, and have a viable disaster management plan in placeso that when they strike the next time, we are better prepared to cope with the pain and trauma they bring in their wake.