Lessons from the Past: Learnings for the Futurefrom the Canacona Disaster

Disasters which are common on the earth are generally caused by a quick release of energy from matter causing a catastrophe. It is moderately acknowledged and accepted that occurrence of disasters cannot be eliminated; however, they can be abridged through earnest efforts towards impact reduction on life; economy, environment, through predictability, forecasting, protectiveness, preparedness, preventiveness, mitigation and ameliorative planning measures. Disaster proofing is also important especially for the weaker sections of the society, wherein efforts must be made to consciously raise the economic status of the people. An effective disaster management program will therefore aim to avoid deaths, reduce casualties, property, damage and minimize disruption of communities, social and economic fabric. Technical innovation is a great instrument, tool and challenge towards mitigating adverse effects of the calamities. Under these circumstances, adaptation efforts can be meaningful and effective through collaboration of various competent actors and players, in an interactive manner, along with the affected community and government machinery, wherein the state administration is a major key player. A long term planning process is a prerequisite which with an objective at decreasing the level of potential risks, mitigating the consequences and preventing the development of chain of events by localizing and limiting the scope of the catastrophe. Therefore, there is an urgent need for an effective predicting system along with awareness and sensitization drives, supported with sophisticated communication networking. Social, electronic and print media, including capacity building and training, would be an effective approach towards awareness and sensitization generation. The State of Goa being ecologically fragile, and susceptible to man-made and natural disasters, demands to have at place a disaster management plan at taluka level as a unit and at the State as a block. Thus, there is an urgent need to have an insight into the disaster management plan for the entire State of Goa, and primarily for the flash flood hit Taluka of Canacona. These plans should be people centric, with involvement of the local population and supported with an effective and refined early disaster warning system, coupled with constitution of search and rescue teams. In this direction, Geo Informatics, a synergy of RS, GIS and GPS tools has been used for rapid appraisal survey of post disaster analysis, data base generation and the generation of an Integrated Disaster Management Plan for the Canacona Taluka. These management plan have been generated through the integration of various thematic layers, viz; land use pattern, slope gradient, elevation and relief, land forms, drainage, lineaments, geology, as also, through a consultative process incorporating traditional knowledge of the local community as also with the interaction with the concerned authorities.