My father-in-law has very recently committed himself to the building of a fine temple. A noble thought indeed, except that the temple precincts hug the cross-valley slope of the tumultuous Burhi Gandak. The naughty imp of a river has till date eluded the training of its riotous waters. With an increase in extreme rainfall events, the investment seems risk-ridden. Yet, he is confident that the ‘Devi’, goddess Durga will prevail despite all odds. The attitude adequately summarises our unique ability to disregard science. Hard-earned money is lost in an act of God–without questions and without lessons learnt. Uttarakhand thus lies populated precariously with temples and tourist hotels, coastal areas in Tamil Nadu is rebuilt with the most expensive tourism resorts lapping at the oceans and soon Kerala would be redesigned to be more of a ‘God’s own country’ than ever before—waiting till the next ‘happening’. Is India then too poor to think clearly? Does this mass amnesia call for a re-think of all our preparedness policies? Kerala, despite its well-heeled disaster risk mitigation plan, lay exposed in worst way possible. Is preparedness then just another top-down intervention—failing to convince the local populace. Moreover, oft repeated concerns related to implementation of disaster mitigation policy and multiplicity of executing departments remain shrouded in darkness, with little hope of light at the end of the tunnel. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), mandated to lead the disaster discourse in the nation showed marked disinterest in addressing the emergent issues when approached. Functioning halfheartedly headless and directionless for several years now—is NDMA reflective of the attitudinal shift in the present day list of priorities?

Last week I attended a conference dotted with many eminent scientists. I discovered that air pollution, which has assumed a near-disaster proportion in many cities, may soon become a thing of the past. No, it is not likely to go away—just the parameters are to be changed. So, India will turn less toxic overnight, albeit a trifle dusty. And mind you, since humans here have adapted differently, what is a little dust here and there? I would request our readers to kindly read between the lines in the event of a paramaterisation change and never lose sight of the toxicity in the air.

This issue is dedicated to new perspectives in disaster management, from changing the definition of disasters to analysing the reasons for the Kerala tragedy. Read on.