Some key lessons learnt from a survivor
A natural calamity is unavoidable by any means. Be it the Hurricane Katrina, Great
Tsunami of 2004, innumerous big earth-quakes, Tornadoes, Volcanic eruptions – Humans are at risk when these tragedies strike. At these
testing times, a lot of outstanding champions emerge, humanity thrives, and
lessons of brilliant leadership, post calamity lessons improve the quality of
life forever.
I(Kalilur Rahman) got
affected by the recent #ChennaiRains and #ChennaiFloods in a big way. Being cut-off from the most of the world and a
quality time spent with my family and in a way transported to early 1970s or
1980s, certain thoughts came to the fore.
I was
impressed by the way citizens of Chennai conducted themselves. It was humanity
over selfishness across the board wherever I saw. Be it guidance for motorists
to navigate the water logging safely, brave new ideas to rescue and transport
people stranded in neck deep water, offer for help across the board, creative
and positive use of social media, Radio stations and Social responsibility of
citizens made me become stronger in my view that basic human values thrive and
is at its best.
Nature is a great leveler. Be it a millionaire or a daily-wage earner, it leveled people to an extent where everyone was looking for a safe aboard and relief for food and amenities, waiting atop the high-rise buildings or nearest taller locale. This calamity of epic proportions (worst in more than 100 years) caused major firsts – among them a newspaper
missing its print in over 135 years of operations in India, rivers over-flowing in bridges across the arterial roads in the city.
Keeping the citizen responsibilities on one side, when it comes to the readiness of the Government and Administration, a lot can be left unsaid. There were brilliant officers planning the rescue and relief efforts in a brilliant fashion. Yet, it was all reactive.
Some key questions / lessons learnt are
1. Have a fail-safe Disaster Recovery Measure
2. Have faith in Humanity – People are best and humanity is at its best at troubled times
3. Make Righteous use of amenities and make core services available all the times
4. Become an accountable and righteous citizen to make your communities better
5. Governments/Administrators need Learn a Lesson – and make it a better society for citizens
6. Have a solid plan for prevention of reoccurrence.
Nature is a great leveler. Be it a millionaire or a daily-wage earner, it leveled people to an extent where everyone was looking for a safe aboard and relief for food and amenities, waiting atop the high-rise buildings or nearest taller locale. This calamity of epic proportions (worst in more than 100 years) caused major firsts – among them a newspaper
missing its print in over 135 years of operations in India, rivers over-flowing in bridges across the arterial roads in the city.
Keeping the citizen responsibilities on one side, when it comes to the readiness of the Government and Administration, a lot can be left unsaid. There were brilliant officers planning the rescue and relief efforts in a brilliant fashion. Yet, it was all reactive.
Some key questions / lessons learnt are
1. Have a fail-safe Disaster Recovery Measure
2. Have faith in Humanity – People are best and humanity is at its best at troubled times
3. Make Righteous use of amenities and make core services available all the times
4. Become an accountable and righteous citizen to make your communities better
5. Governments/Administrators need Learn a Lesson – and make it a better society for citizens
6. Have a solid plan for prevention of reoccurrence.
(thanks Kalilur Rahman) //from ln
