Disasters are ruinous events that can genuinely damage a nation’s potential for continual development by terribly affecting both lives and resources. Overseeing disasters hence is a tough undertaking and disaster management should therefore involve systematic policy making and effective use of resources to ensure an effective disaster relief, rehabilitation and long-term recovery.

One of the integral parts of disaster management is disaster rehabilitation which includes precise strides for the requiring changes in the disaster affected sites with a perspective of guaranteeing long haul recovery.

Disaster rehabilitation refers to actions taken in the aftermath of a disaster providing basic services in order to resume functioning, help help casualties' on  self-improvement endeavors to repair physical damages, revive monetary exercises, and give support to the mental and social prosperity of the survivors.

The process might be partitioned into following stages:  

1. Disaster preparedness and mitigation which rests on the principle that prevention is better than cure.
2. Disaster response, which includes immediate search and rescue operations.
3. Disaster relief, which involves provision of food, clothing and shelter for the affected.
4. Disaster rehabilitation, reconstruction, and the efforts to restore all essential facilities to pre-disaster status.
5. Disaster recovery, which focuses on measures that will pave the way for long-term recovery of social, economic and physical structures as well as processes in such a way that future disasters are unable to impact severely.

All the above mentioned stages basically supplement and increase each other trying to correct the disaster related issues. It is impractical to recommend time outline for disaster rehabilitation, reconstruction and recovery, as these procedures are totally intertwined.

Rehabilitation and reconstruction should lead to long term recovery, yet this may not happen unless certain measures are nearly taken fast. A far reaching restoration and remaking arrangement or what can be called long haul recovery arrangement should be considered about both physical and nonphysical prerequisites of the affected zones.

Amplitude of Disaster Rehabilitation 

There are three types of rehabilitation: physical, social and psychological. Physical restoration involves reconstruction of physical foundations, for example, houses, structures, railroads, roads, water supply, power lines, and so on.

Social recovery is likewise a vital part of disaster rehabilitation. The vulnerable groups like the elderly persons, vagrants, single mothers, and children would require extraordinary social back-up to reduce the effect of disasters.

Another crucial dimension of disaster rehabilitation is psychological support to the disaster victims. Providing psychological support is an exceptionally delicate issue and should be managed with caution. Recovery from the emotional shock of losing one’s family members or the effect of post-disaster trauma may involve longer time than the stakeholders in disaster management often presume.

Community participation at all levels of disaster restoration can go far in making recovery successful. Community support ought to run as an inseparable unit with the evaluation of unmet needs and reaction limit. No disaster recovery arrangement can accomplish its targets unless an interest in the definition, execution, and assessment of its different parts is taken.

The recovery arrangement must be clear, straightforward, organized, objective, available, responsible, and responsive. It must be versatile in nature with the goal that it can change according to the requests of another circumstance. Adaptability standard in term of structure, procedures and funds should be included in the arrangement. The key issues relate to appraisal to harm, obsession of obligation relief methodologies, and above all observing, assessment, and general survey of the advancement procedure.

Getting Closer to a New Vista

Guaranteeing viable disaster restoration is not a simple assignment. An oversimplified arrangement would be to set up a flawless disaster recovery plan and execute it through controlled observation and assessment. In spite of the fact that disasters are catastrophic occasions, lessons learnt and fused into long haul advancement arrangement may serve to lessen future weakness.

Defective urbanization, populace blast, common strife, and unequal modern development are likely to provoke extreme natural disasters. An unnatural weather change, deforestation, desertification, soil erosion and salinization reflect the denuded face of earth’s environment. The degradation of environment and its blunder may exasperate the recurrence, seriousness, and consistency of disasters. The relationship between environmental degradation and disaster should be unmistakably overviewed. There are numerous universal Environmental arrangements, for example- Kyoto convention, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) etc. These bargains and traditions have set rules for ecological security. The restoration arrangement ought to keep the fundamental components of these settlements into perspective and coordinate ecological assurance measures wherever required.

The Thoroughfare

A modern point of view would need to investigate the shapes of disaster improvement interface and devise a systematic disaster rehabilitation strategy. The progression in science and innovation could be utilized with preferred standpoint for long-term recovery. The international development in terms of various environmental treaties, international consortiums, sustainable data forums and declarations focus on the use of technology, information exchange, coordination mechanism, and environmental protection, etc. has helped raise the profile of discussions surrounding the social and economic causes of disaster and has acknowledged the mitigation of loose through technological and engineering solutions.

Disaster management is acquiring a global connotation. Besides the United Nations and the World Bank, many international organizations such as Caritas India, Lutheran world service, Asian Development Bank, Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG), Danish International Development Agency, Swedish International Development Agency, Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE), Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development (SEEDS), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Oxfam etc. are doing substantial work in the area of disaster relief, rehabilitation and recovery.

A straightforward reasoning for adapting to disaster is in fact one of the tasks of government and individuals cooperating in composed path by method of a coherent disaster management system. A totally new point of view of connecting disaster with improvement can shape these advancements in the territory of science, data innovation, legitimacy, authoritative system, additionally training and research. Development has to be environment friendly and sustainable.  It should give due regard to the goals of equality human rights, and social justice. Disaster planning needs to be a crucial component of overall development planning of a country. We may finish up by saying that the road ahead is complex and we have a long way to go.

*** Lieutenant Colonel Mirza Manwar Reza is the Chairman of department of disaster and human security management at Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP)