BISWA as an expediter in Disaster Management Services
Disasters whether natural or man-made can strike at any time. In general, the general response to a disaster is in terms of relief and rescue operations - after the event. However, if we are adequately prepared, its possible to severely reduce the impact of a disaster. The impact can be reduced through a good understanding of preventive actions, as well as having the knowledge of certain life-saving tools and techniques, which when used at the time of the event of disaster can control the total damage to life and belongings.
The biggest problem with the disasters is the suddenness and swiftness with which they arrive. Hence, in order to reduce the severity of a disaster the response also has to equally swift.
Disaster is a sudden accident or natural event that causes great damage or loss of life. Almost all of us can think of several disasters that have occurred in the recent past. Earthquakes, cyclones, floods, landslides, industrial accidents, oil-spills, forest-fires, terrorist activities etc. are some of the more commonly encountered disasters.
Disasters themselves are not limited to specific parts of world, though, certain areas might be more prone to certain specific type of disaster, e.g. area around Pacific rim is more prone to earthquakes, some countries are more prone to terrorist activities, some coastal areas are more prone to cyclones, and, some areas are more prone to floods. However, the more advanced a nation is, typically, their level of preparedness is higher. This higher level of preparedness allows them to have a better control over the loss.There are certain types of disasters, where, the loss during the actual event is not necessarily as high, but, the losses become very high due to inability to manage the situation in a timely manner. More often than not, it happens due to confusion and chaos in the context of too much loss, and, inefficient utilization of resources - which are already strained.
Another thing which causes a lot of loss during certain kind of disasters is the inability to properly manage and secure the utilities, like: electricity, gas, water etc. On one side, each of these utilities are very important, and, on the other side, due to leakages/ruptures, some of these might come in contact with each other, when they should not - causing further damage. Thus, the main motivation behind disaster management is to minimize the losses at the time of a disaster as well as ensure most efficient utilization of resources - which are already scarce.
BISWA as a philanthropic organization, has established a disaster management wing in its operational structure, where in, all the staffs of BISWA are the registered volunteers with adequate disaster management training and experience. Any disaster in the approachable areas of BISWA is seriously faced with strong and stout management decision and practice. BISWA also involves the people interested to be included in the disaster management activity with cordial welcome. Pleasure of giving is always felt with the donors for the cause. The Chairman BISWA says, "Disasters can't be stopped, but with necessary precautions, loss lives and assets can be avoided. The soreness that is left by the disaster can be relieved only by sere humanity and nothing else." All the volunteers of the organization work with the same sentiment and spirit to give the best possible services to the victims of any disaster.
Cyclone Phailin
Hit hardest by Cyclone ‘Phailin’, the coastal district of Ganjam is estimated to have suffered a loss of at least Rs 3,000 crore in the nature’s fury which has deprived lakhs of people of their livelihood and damaged 2.4 lakh houses. Fishermen have suffered massive losses as their nets, boats and catamarans have been damaged. The farming community has also been hit with the standing paddy crop submerged in water. Power infrastructure has been damaged to a great extent. There has been extensive damage to the standing paddy crop as a huge area of land covering paddy fields has been submerged in rain water. There has been huge loss to horticulture farming also as an enormous number of mango and coconut trees have been uprooted. People have lost their livelihood and are completely in dark. Apart from Ganjam, the other districts which are affected by the cyclone Phailin are Nayagarh, Gajapati, Khurda, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Balasore ,Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Kandhamal, Gajapati, Angul and Bolangir. About 128 Blocks, 40 Towns, 1924 Gram Panchayats with 15,578 villages have been seriously affected by heavy rainfall caused by cyclone Phailin. As a post Cyclone math, the districts like Balasore , Bhadrak, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Jajpur are facing high flood situation.