Water and disasters are inevitable. Whenever a disaster strikes, it usually manifests through the water. During winters, we typically talk about the possible occurrence of floods, landslides, tsunami, so on and so forth. But, the situation is only getting intense from where we are today.
The impact and costs of these events are exacerbated by some factors such as unplanned urbanization and degradation of the ecosystem. Reducing risk to, and improving the resilience of, water and sanitation services will be key to maintaining access during a climatically uncertain future.
Challenges
The challenges that water-related disasters bring up are quite hard to tackle. Whenever there is a flood, it impacts the livelihood. There will be a direct impact on infrastructure, crops and at times damage to buildings.
The increasing economic cost and toll of disasters should be a significant incentive for governments to make sure the right actions to be taken at the right time. Also, the involvement of humanitarian organisations to focus more attention on preparedness, prevention, and addressing the root causes of vulnerability.
Opportunities
There is always an opportunity that lies underneath the vulnerable state of the problem. But today, meeting the challenges associated with water-related disasters require investment and a proper strategy either from government or the external agencies that work towards disaster recover/preparedness.
Every year, a considerable amount of budget is allotted by the state and central governments to utilise whenever there is a flood or tsunamis. Despite making the policies, scaling up to meet the expectations continues to be a significant challenge.
