Dear readers,

As Indians, we are proud of so many varied attributes–but the foremost is our attitude. The ‘chalta hai’ takes the cake. We are a satisfied lot, happy in our cocooned existence of neo materialism. Yet, ignorance is acceptable, complacency is not. Builders and heavy weight industrial lobbies throw all caution to the winds when designing our fragile abodes. We have our codes and zones in place, but no concerted effort to follow them in stringent earnestness. Is it the common man who is to blame, the government or is it merely destiny. Committee, expert committee, and expert committee sanctioned schemes and programmes apart, what are the enforcement norms on noncompliance? 

Reading through this issue on disaster management, a ‘but why’ question may bother the better informed. Do we really need a disaster mitigation plan – do we not have a culturally vibrant civilization that could adequately predict myriad natural calamities with alarming precision. By all means, we should remain abreast with all recent developments, but to leave a gold mine of traditional knowledge untapped seems a trifle misplaced. Perhaps it is time to make the mergers, the old and the new, education and enforcement, disaster and destiny.

Happy reading...