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THE earthquake and the consequent tsunami that struck parts of some Asian countries are proving to be more disastrous in their consequences than what was thought earlier. Every day, the death toll is rising higher and higher as more dead ones are discovered and added to the tally. From the economic perspectives of such countries, the consequences signal about the serious fall-outs. Countries like the Maldives, Thailand and Sri Lanka rely on earnings from tourism as major sources to support for their economies. If such infrastructures linked to their tourism industry are not put in order after this great natural calamity sooner than later, such countries will be hard-pressed to cope with the needs. Out of the calamity-hit countries, India and Thailand have considerable foreign currency reserves to be able to help themselves. But others have no such possession and are direly in need of external assistance.
Billions of dollars have been invested in the tourism sector of these countries over the years. It is not clearly known how far the related infrastructures have been damaged by the natural disaster. The overall destruction has, however, been great, having great dislocating effects on life and living of people. None can say with confidence at their stage that normal economic life can be resumed in the afflicted areas at an early date. Besides, there is no assurance either that geophysical conditions have normalised after the great disaster. People were seen trying to escape from warnings of fresh quakes and tsunamis even two days ago. A number of tremors have shaken the region and created a great concern again about the likelihood of another major quake and repeat of tsunamis. Thus, the affected region deserves to be the centre of the world's attention for helping it to cope with what had already happened and what could follow.
The neighbouring countries need to extend their helping hand in response to the distresses. Bangladesh has dispatched air force helicopters to aid in relief and rescue operations. The government needs to consider ways and means for augmenting such assistance. But self-help and regional endeavours will not be enough to cope with the after-effects of last week's great tragedy or its portended recurrence. The earthquake and waves from the sea have already been recognised as the worst natural disaster to hit the world in living memory. Therefore, it needs a befitting response from the international community. Thus for, this response has otherwise been encouraging. Yet then, it must not be forgotten that short-term fastest mobilisation of adequate relief and rehabilitation is dictated by the circumstances. Therefore, the resourceful countries need to be more generous in coming forward to contribute to such aid programmes. In the long run also, they would be expected to make available substantial funds towards reconstruction and rehabilitation.
The earthquake and tsunami have left very bitter lessons for all. It is now known that knowledge about the tsunami existed and warning was also extended to the countries that had been affected. But there was no formal coordination between national authorities and the US-based body that studies the course and likelihood of such disasters. It is almost impossible to predict earthquakes well in advance. But tsunamis that are caused by earthquake and which roll towards distant lands can be warned about hours in advance. Such warnings can be extremely helpful for people to save their lives and assets. Thus, better coordination ought to be developed immediately between national authorities and the tsunami warning centre. Worldwide, the countries should pool together their resources, institutions and expertise to help each other or finetune a system of warning against natural disasters.
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