ABSTRACT
Human society has recently not only coped with the challenge associated with COVID-19 pandemic but also seen disasters like monsoon floods, forest fires, hurricanes, cloud burst incidents, including devastating winter storms. In addition, disasters like the chemical plant explosion in Vizag, the Beirut explosion, boiler explosions, oil spill incidents and the gas leakage incidents, have left different parts of the world in shock. Dealing with pandemic and different kinds of natural and man-made disasters together, has been a challenging task, not only for different governments of the world, but also for personnel involved in rescue operations.
In this paper, a survey of personnel involved in rescue operations, people who had experienced a disaster, or are in contact with someone who is affected by disaster, is included. Reports available in public domain were analysed. Five case studies and 3 interviews were conducted to better understand the real time situation. The focus of paper largely remained on Indian context. India, being in a tropical region has an added advantage of 4-7 kWh/m2 insolation per day, which comes with another advantage that in most remote corners of the country, continuous power for potable water, medical equipment, food, and safety, can be ensured, using solar energy, especially during rescue and risk-mitigation operations. This paper is an attempt to understand what greater potential solar energy holds in intensifying risk mitigation and disaster management activities, along with limitations, for a secure `disaster-ready’ future which is likely to be more `disaster-prone’ in present context.
