The world is experiencing one of the most destructive and profound
economic shocks in recent history in the wake of the novel coronavirus
disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The damage the virus is unleashing is
only by way of human infection — it will not affect the infrastructure
like other natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes do.’
Prepare a project, highlighting the causes for the disaster, loss of lives
and its impact on human beings through case studies. Discuss how did
Delhi responded to this pandemic, how did the people and the
government; both at the State level and the Centre level; prepare to
fight against this contagious pandemic.
Answers
Answer:
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Explanation:
The world is experiencing one of the most destructive and profound economic shocks in recent history in the wake of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The damage the virus is unleashing is only by way of human infection — it will not affect the infrastructure like other natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes do.
Yet, the chaos COVID-19 has brought is more devastating than previous occurred catastrophes.
India has a robust legal framework for disaster management, yet reports are replete with gaps in response and preparedness to fight the COVID-19 outbreak. One of India’s primary weapons against COVID- is a 123-year-old colonial legislation — the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.
While it empowers officials to enter any house and forcibly examine a suspected sick person, it does not authorise the government to enforce a lockdown or even screen passengers at airports. There was no air travel when the law was enacted to deal with bubonic plague outbreak in India’s commercial capital, Mumbai. But authorities soon found a way forward.
By declaring the catastrophe a national disaster instead of an epidemic, they were able to invoke comprehensive disaster management laws to empower the executive to deal with the situation.
The 2004 Tsunami led to the enactment of National Disaster Management Act, 2005, and setting up of disaster management bodies to deal with catastrophes.
The Act provided for the establishment of a national authority at the Centre and for state authorities for each state and union territory for the effective management of disasters. For the first time, this law has been pressed into service on a pan-India basis. It is also the first time it has been invoked to address a public health crisis — COVID-19.
The moment has not quite arrived though. The Damocles Sword hangs dangerously on the untold numbers of largely defenceless heads, a massacre almost too appalling to contemplate. The country has been under lockdown since March-end. It’s not easy for any nation to let its economy stand still and bear heavy losses. Yet, India took that hard decision to protect hundreds of thousands of lives.
A halted economy brought despair and paralysed commerce across various key sectors.
Even if the preventive action is proven effective, it would have failed to take into account that many poor and low-income people could not afford to self-isolate. Despite being one of the major economies, India is still struggling with third-world issues. For example, about 70 per cent of Indians living in rural areas or slums do not have options to self-isolate in a pristine environment.