Do we learn lessons?

If there is one news these days that is followed globally by people, it is the California fire. The visuals shock viewers into disbelief, as if the fires are imaginary presentations of the stars out in the wider spaces of the universe. The flames forming tornados melts even the strongest of hearts. That it is happening across continents and oceans is no reason for us not to learn lessons from it.

This disaster has many lessons for us as individuals, as a society, and as a government. Individually it teaches us how we are finally at the mercy of natural forces which if unleashed can devastate us. It brings home the lesson that the smaller things we do to damage the environment can sometimes result in huge catastrophes. It also tells us that as individuals how we are vulnerable to natural disasters, and how huge a responsibility we shoulder. But do we do that? Similarly our society should also gear up itself in terms of the collective responsibility towards the environment.

The way we have been playing with our water bodies, the way we deal with the disposal of wet waste that is generated from households, and the way we disturb the natural habitat of the animals, aren’t we preparing for a bigger disaster? Disasters are not alike, but their impact on human lives is almost alike. It consumes lives, it destroys properties. What we also need to learn from this huge fire is to take a look at our societal preparedness.

In case a disaster, small or big, hits any of the areas are we connected enough to come to the rescue of the affected people. Do we have the societal structures in place that can mitigate the adverse effects of a disaster? Do we have the necessary linkages with the concerned government departments through which we can collaborate and help victims? Finally, the government. We have departments that are specifically meant for countering disasters and there are some departments that eventually get into responding to the aftermath of any disaster.

What is the level of preparedness in each of these departments? What is process of improving the efficiency of these departments? And are these departments connected to the larger society to widen their impact?