Twenty days have passed since the earthquake in Kashmir. The extent of the devastation has been almost tabulated in terms of human and material casualties in each village. Now, it is time to critically evaluate our immediate response and look into the future, in terms of coping with the challenges.

Rehabilitating the victims and reaching every single village and individual would be the biggest challenge. Invariably, every single village has been accessed but the relief is yet to reach every one of them. In certain villages, only a section has received the aid in terms of tents, blankets, rations etc. This needs do be undertaken at a faster pace as the winter is setting in faster. In particular, rehabilitating the orphans and widows of the earthquake would be a major challenge for the administration. If the record of State government in rehabilitating the children and widows of violence in J&K is taken as a yardstick then there is much need to be done. If the State finds it difficult to deliver, then it should not hesitate to exploit the potential of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in reaching the victims. While the track record of some NGOs has been dismal, others have made a positive impact at the ground level. Given the level of corruption in J&K (the second most corrupt state in India according to the latest Transparency International report); it would be a good idea to use the NGOs.

Second, restoring communication also needs to be given priority. The road network has been a major casualty. Besides the earthquake, the follow up landslides have blocked, cut-off and in certain places have completely washed off the roads. For example, Teetwal in Kupwara district, one of the worst affected areas was totally cut-off after more than 30 landslides wrecked the only road from Kupwara via Tangdhar. Despite the Army Engineers working round the clock, it took almost two weeks to reopen the road. Restoration of roads is essential for providing any substantial relief - human and material.

Third, both the society and the state have to overcome the politics of earthquake. It is unfortunate that every section had a vested interest in responding to the earthquake. The state government, led by the PDP, stands accused of diverting relief to its own supporters and not those who really needed it. Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami, state secretary of the CPI (M) demanded transparency in providing relief and even suggested that names of those people who received relief should be published in the newspapers. There have been many accusations of corruption in terms of providing relief.

For the separatist leaders, the disaster has become a reason to whip the state and Union governments. When the entire Valley is preoccupied with managing the impact of the earthquake, Syed Geelani has called for a 'complete shutdown' to protest 'the occupation of Kashmir by Indian troops in 1947'. Immediately after the earthquake, Mirwaiz Farooq questioned the whereabouts of "India Inc" that had rushed to help the victims of the Gujarat earthquake. The local media, led by the Greater Kashmir used the earthquake and the problems of relief to beat both the State and Union governments. Even the civil society outside J&K was not spared. There was sarcasm even when the civil society at large started responding. A news story mentioned sarcastically, "The Indian Muslims have finally woken up to lend a helping hand to the quake hit people of Kashmir as different groups are literally making a beeline here."

Finally, a long-term policy should be initiated in terms of managing the post-disaster problems. The much publicized disaster management is yet to become active in every sense. After the tsunami early this year and now the earthquake, it is imperative that the state becomes proactive in terms of building its disaster management team. Obviously, this would mean close coordination between various departments, especially health, police, transport, and engineering along with organizations such as the Army, Border Roads Organization (BRO), Air Force and other paramilitary organizations.

The State administration also needs to work and regulate the civil society organizations that are willing to provide relief and rehabilitation. While there are individuals and organizations, both inside and outside Kashmir who would undertake photo-relief operations for narrow self-publicity, others are serious. The government should be prepared to deal with both categories and make effective use of those who are serious.

Disaster management should also focus on relief distribution. Invariably in every village, the immediate relief distribution is marked by chaos, anarchy and looting. Relief workers belonging to various civil society organizations find it extremely difficult to cope with the crowd and its expectations. The armed forces invariably have the use force to bring order, so that whatever little aid is being distributed reaches everyone.

Disaster management should also focus on allocating funds that would predict disasters and warn in advance. It would be a criminal negligence if the government were to ignore studying this problem, especially when Kashmir is considered as a part of sensitive zone for seismic activities.