Kochi: Disasters should not be viewed merely as tragedies, but as opportunities for rebuilding societies and nations, said Dr. Muralee Thummarukudy, Chief of Disaster Risk Reduction at the UN Environment Programme, while speaking at the Summit of the Future organised by Jain University. He emphasised that it is time for Kerala to begin serious, long-term thinking about its future.
Dr. Thummarukudy noted that survival is not accidental, but a conscious choice made by individuals and societies. While communities possess a natural capacity to endure, resilience must be deliberately built through planning and collective effort.
Citing global examples, he recalled how Rwanda, despite the genocide that claimed nearly eight lakh lives, emerged as one of the cleanest countries in the world through collective initiatives such as Umuganda, a nationwide monthly community cleaning programme. He also referred to the reconstruction of Beichuan in China after the 2008 earthquake, where the destroyed city was preserved as a museum while a new city was built elsewhere, integrating disaster victims with new settlers to overcome trauma and stagnation. Similarly, the 2004 tsunami brought an end to prolonged civil conflict in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, paving the way for peace and development.
He stressed that rehabilitation areas can become cities of hope only when planned to attract new investments and people. Praising the role of students and youth during disasters in Kerala, he said the unity displayed by Malayalis across caste and religious lines during the 2018 Kerala floods and the Chennai floods stands as a model for the world.
Questioning the global response to climate change, Dr. Thummarukudy asked why the urgency and unity seen during the Covid-19 pandemic are absent in addressing the climate crisis. Despite its seriousness, climate change rarely figures prominently in elections or political discourse, he noted, adding that environmental concerns must be central to discussions about the future.
