India should take a leaf out of Thai cave rescue mission

Finally the 12 boys and their football coach have been successfully rescued from the cave in northern Thailand after more than two weeks trapped underground. A country that was noticed only for its tourism will be henceforth talked about how it successfully dealt with this extra-ordinary situation. The most tracked rescue mission has earned applause and appreciation in the international arena particularly with respect to the manner in which the Thai government backed by its military handled the crisis.

However, this entire exercise was an eye-opener for India as it has now revealed that we need to rework our system when dealing with such disasters. I would list below a few positive insights that can help us to be well-prepared to tackle such unfortunate situations should they develop. First and foremost, disaster management is no joke and emphasises the need for the team to be vigilant 24x7x365 days. The incident response forces of our country have to be rigorously trained to meet extreme conditions and be equipped with advanced rescue equipment.

There was minimal interference from the government. In spite of all global media attention on Thailand, the leadership (neither the prime minister nor ministers) never visited the site and appeared before the media. This demonstrates the level of trust the government has on its military and how they were sure not to mess things up. It was reported that the governor of Chiang Rai province was entrusted with the job of coordinating and he created history.

The National and State Disaster Management Code of India does not permit us to seek help from other nations at the time of a disaster. However, it is not preventing us to accept assistance if offered. This clause needs immediate review, considering the fact that India is more prone to such natural calamities/disasters. The physical and emotional fitness of these kids has to be praised and this is only because of the community-level training imparted to them in school and society levels. Being inside a cave denied of light, food and water for days itself is horrifying and the way these kids stayed united is remarkable. So the schools and parents of our country need to seriously introspect on how our kids are prepared/trained for these situations. Homework alone is not going to save them. In India nearly 300 people die every year getting stuck inside bore-wells and this shows how exposed we are to such accidents.

The actual rescue took place in stages and it was ensured that names of those saved first were not revealed. This was intentionally done not to add confusion especially when the international media were closely following details of this operation. Post-rescue recovery is also now done carefully considering the chances of these kids getting infected during their forced stay inside the cave. There are medical SOPs in place which are process-controlled and not emotionally led. The courage and patience exhibited by parents of these kids need special mention. When the world today is busy fighting over trade and closing borders to our fellow beings, Thailand showed us how we can unite at times of adversities.

(The writer works with a  private institution in Kochi. He can be contacted at  vivekmathai@gmail.com)