Disaster Education

Ref soysauce #22

[I have written copiously here and anyone with a modicum of intelligence would have figured out by now that I am a scientist by training and profession.]

Keep your voice low. Otherwise, guys in white coats will be coming to your home to take you to a real nice place and medicate you so that you do not hallucinate about being a scientist.

Of course, I have to grant you that the possibility exists that you are a physicist working in the area of particle physics. In which case, you would think that ``moron`` is a subatomic particle named for you!

#21 Yo lying old fool, ``My stealing of professional education``? Where`s the evidence? I have written copiously here and anyone with a modicum of intelligence would have figured out by now that I am a scientist by training and profession. Regardless, anyone with a bit more intelligence would have understood that broad principles dont` require an immediate personal stake and defending these principles is not the same as defending one`s personal turf. But a bigot and a moron like you couldn`t possibly grasp that...

Ref Sangilikkaruppan #20

[#20 Haha, my ``foolishness`` also is because of your senility. I haven`t claimed anyone to be my hero. It`s all in your head..]

Yep. That is why for the last two years you have been justifying your stealing of professional education seats and scholarships as well as the denial of a merit-based system using the arguments of Doctor Artist Leader the Fund of Compassion.

It is clear it is not just his arguments that you have swallowed.

#20 Haha, my ``foolishness`` also is because of your senility. I haven`t claimed anyone to be my hero. It`s all in your head..

Ref Maasanamuthu #18

[#14 Yo senile old fool, govt schools are in worse shape than private schools.]

After how many years of rule by your hero Doctor Artist Leader the Fund of Compassion?

If as you claim senility is the cause of my foolishness, what IS yours?

#14 Yo senile old fool, govt schools are in worse shape than private schools.

re: this article
Udaykumar has brought an important issue out of the closet for discussion. Is India prepared for disasters?
When i read the report of Kumbakonam mishap, i felt outraged and helplessness. It is too heart rending to even imagine how small children, who we adults are supposed to protect and nourish, struggled for breath and cried invain for help during their struggle before succumbing to the fire.
In India, i have seen a sense of apathy that can baffle an outsider. It is as if the whole nation is resigned to fate and is reluctant to move forward. It is not as if small budget, fire proof schools cannot be designed. But, those mother-fukcing politicians in India do not care and the general public does not care either until something like this happens.
India faced another tragedy some years ago. I am talking about the earthquake in Gujarat. A lot of equipment was brought from foreign countries for rescue operations. There was some talk about establishing training institutions for resuce operations. What happened to all that?
Schools in India do not train students in assuming leadership roles and ethics. This is why adults in that school did not immediately assume the responsiblity of rescuing the stranded children but thought of escaping and saving their own lives! It is my opinion that these adults should face a death penalty.
Urstruly raised an important question. How is India, a democrazy, different from Pak, a dictatorship. In reality, there is no difference.
Sridhar

#8 by einsteinwallah on July 22, 2004

what i mean is laws on books (building codes) are sufficient. new legislation is hardly needed.

its kind of silly to see folks use anything at all (including a tragedy) to further their agenda and go off with rhetoric about forex reserves etc, this is hardly a money issue.

the point the author raises about disaster training is good, i remeber as a kid practicing these things (those were the days of `71 war) like ducking under a desk if there is an earthquake, getting off a building in a single file etc.

harmau # 14

I know it was a private school.

The Governments do have specially funded projects to support/assisst private enterprises. Some appropriate solution can always be found.

In poor localities, the investers are ussually on a shoe-string budgets. And they place services (Toilets, Fire, First aid, security etc) at a very low priority.

As Tahmed32 said, our culture is still at a basic level where things like safety or environment are thought to superfluous.

As such, these areas do need a special Government patronage. Some money will always get siphoned off or wasted as it happens in other areas.

On C-Span, one hears Congressmen speak out on such minor issues of children and schools and safety. Our Governments think these issues are below their dignity. Actually, the Governments are there to solve/resolve such problems of a common man.

Ref Meen-kari-kuzhambu #2

[What I cannot comprehend is the behavior of some adults. It has been reported that the cook & assistants ran away when the fire began to spread. How do you teach ordinary people responsibility and selfless behavior?]

How do you teach selfless behavior when your hero Doctor Artist Leader the Fund of Compassion gets a job for his nephew Dayanidhi Maran as Minister for Telecommunications in the Government at the Centre in his very first election as an MP in return for supporting the UPA coalition (after a drama about not wanting to join the cabinet) whereas long-term party workers who die for him don`t get a penny?

But the question is funny coming from you who has stolen somebody else`s professional education and is now enjoying life in the US.

When do you propose to return to your beloved Tamil Nadu and devote yourself to social service? When Hell freezes over?

Ref Rajat #4

[Dr. Udayakumar, I don`t understand why you had to bring in Koodankulam in your article.]

In the US, it is known as NIMBY (not in my backyard).

Look at a map of India. Koodankulam is located not far from his hometown in Kanyakumari district.

We need to kill all the Communist/Socialist/Leftist vermin in India. This should take precedence over the fight against polio, cholera, malaria and other infectious diseases. Otherwise, we get the likes of Udayakumar who is preaching against power plants from his airconditioned office.

Ref nazarhayatkhan #11

[India has over 100 billion dollar reserves and it can easily afford to spend more money on education facilities rather than on tanks or planes that the politicians are so fond off. There is no threat to India at all.]

This tragedy happened at a private school, not a government school.

The last thing we need is government funding of private schools. Even more private schools will be opened to skim off the public money.

Nikki7777# 9

Population or overweight women is not the issue.

The Author is honestly trying to bring up an important issue - death of little innocent children of the poor families.

Not that Pakistan is any better off on such score, India has over 100 billion dollar reserves and it can easily afford to spend more money on education facilities rather than on tanks or planes that the politicians are so fond off. There is no threat to India at all.

The biggest threat is poverty and lack of quality education. Obviously, this applies even more to Pakistan which has an added baggage of ideology.

NHK

I just spent three hours today learning how to protect against fires and also how to put out fires as member of a Community Emergency Response Team for the area I live in. Based on this little bit of training, it seems to me that simple precautions (e.g. having at least two escape routes in case of a fire, some awareness on the part of teachers and students on what to do in case of a fire) is all that would have taken to save those young lives.

This lack of concern for emergency preparedness is an endemic problem in developing countries. Given the hand-to-mouth nature of life for most people, the culture of protecting against contingencies just does not exist. Thus, in Pakistan very few people bother to put on seat belts even though they have them in the cars and it requires virtually no effort to put it on. But they wont do it - even otherwise intelligent people. Culture takes a long time to change I guess, and we would need two or three generations of prosperity before people become safety conscious.

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[The Kumbakonam school fire tragedy is yet another indication that we, as a nation, are not good * * * at being prepared for unexpected emergency situations. ]

I do not think so this was unexpected. This school had thatched roofs made of dried leaves. It was disaster waiting to happen.

And I do not think what jang says in #7 is correct. Legislations like the building code revisions and their enforcement do work. Legislations are great opportunity for debate and informing public. I know in cities like Mumbai and Kolkata a neighbour can make a complaint under provision of an existing law. PIL are more likely to be started if a law is there. If there is law and there is blatant violation then sooner or later it ends up being noticed and talked about.

The administration of this school and teachers will have many excuses for not taking preventive measures one of which would have been replacing roof with something fire unfriendly. If building code were there no sensible building code inspector would have okayed a building with thatched roof for a school.

Udaykumar,

Not having any system in place to respond to such disasters in india is a symptom of the disease that afflicts our scoiety. You mentioned about the nuclear pwer plant, but have you thought about planning for roads, cities, drainage, railways, university system etc.? Are any of these given due thoughts or planning that they require? Obviously not. People in india who pride at developing economy, should look at the recent numbers of indian scientific contribution to the world. Its falling, not going up.
I guess the whole point here is why we don`t have a system created for not just disaster management but for general operations, implementation etc. in any sphere of public life. Please note that our people are experts at understanding foreign systems, following them and even creating IT solutions for many such systems. But when it comes to developing our own, that serves us, we somehow are not interested. I believe a lot of it has to do with how well the british screwed us up. They created a system in india that would benefit them, with least concern or safety for the locals. We are eager to follow such a system to become world class clerks. Someone needs to understand that, we too need to create various systems for us and by us. Disasters like Kumbkonam only remind us of the lack of such policies or systems. We`ve had earthquakes, floods and famines too in the past, but how have we prepared ourselves for the future occurences of such disasters? Heck, we`ve repeated the disaster of pathetic town planning, drainage and water distribution in every town and city of this country.

Urstruly,
You`ve brought a very valid point to the discussion. The non-resident sub-continental folks think like this only because we`ve seen systems in place for such eventualities in various foreign countries. I hope that our countries can develop proper policies and measures that can prevent such things from re-occuring.

Adios

#1 by Urstruly on July 22, 2004 9:29am PT

``I just want to know whether Indians think that this tragedy would serve as a trigger to pass tougher building safety codes or legislation that requires multistorey house to have a safe exit procedure -``

improvements will come not thru legislation but more aware, empowerd, and demanding public. what democracy gives people is an idea that they can get things done. e.g. after the gujrath earthquak, people demanded to check building codes and they get this demand satisfied more or less. but overall in democratic india, overall disastor record is very poor. no week passes without a boat mishap, bus mishap or wedding pandal burning or food poisoning. so we have nothing to offer here.

improvement in enforcement of bulding codes is actually coming from globalization (not democracy). all the new mortgage bankers that have set shop have brought in western procedures in which building inspection is a gate.

Dr. Udayakumar, I don`t understand why you had to bring in Koodankulam in your article. I also referred to your letter to Frontline regarding the same. You people from `SOUTH ASIANS AGAINST NUKES` seem not only to be against Nuclear Weapons but also against against Nuclear Power Plants (NUKES sound more like Nuclear Weapons). Nuclear power is CLEAN and COST-EFFECTIVE. There are added benefits like the Desalination plants being run by MAPS, Kalpakkam etc.

I think this devastating tragedy points to the utter hollowness of the ``India Shining`` slogans. We talk about superpower status, when we cannot even provide half-way decent, safe schools for our kids to get educated. What a shame!!

We just announced a huge hike in defence expenses, when we are already in peace taks with Pakistan. Talk about misplaced priorities!! We could take just 5% of that and build hundreds of new schools with good facilities. Of course, it would be too much to expect desi politicians to actually do something sensible to benefit ordinary people. Even if the money were allocated, it would all get siphoned in the middle and nothing would ever happen at the ground level.

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What works is periodic drills that make appropriate response to disasters almost reflexive. While that might have saved some lives, the building in this case was a death trap with only a narrow exit available.
What I cannot comprehend is the behavior of some adults. It has been reported that the cook & assistants ran away when the fire began to spread. How do you teach ordinary people responsibility and selfless behavior?

I do not want to use this space and occassion to say bad things about India because the this tragedy is so heart breaking - but in the spirit of debate I just want to know whether Indians think that this tragedy would serve as a trigger to pass tougher building safety codes or legislation that requires multistorey housese to have a safe exit procedure - or even prompt a fire drill or safety training. Lack of funds is one thing but the ``will`` to do something like that is another. My question is that I want to know how people in a democracy think and then act upon their thinking. In a dicatorship like ours, people are usually dejected to the tragedy and resign any action to the government since it is government who controls everything from cricket to God. I like to see the difference. As far as Bhopal tragedy is concerned government has only begun now to compensate to those effected - 20 years after the fact. Similarly, in US no compensation has so far been made to any 9/11 victim. No one knows what happened to the billions of dollars collected through donations. Where would people like us, in dictatorships will go then?