August 25, 2018
Making Sense of Kerala’s Flood Disaster
The humanitarian response to Kerala’s calamity has risen above blame games.
T
he recent tragedy in Kerala seems to have evoked public
responses at three levels. At the first and basic level, it
evoked a spontaneous humanitarian response from several
segments of society, which transcended regional and national
boundaries. Responses at this level seem to have been unmediated
by any prior calculations or instrumental factors. The humanitarian
aid that continues to flow into Kerala both from within the country
and abroad, particularly from the non-governmental organisations,
has been quite phenomenal. These acts have transcended all the
defined boundaries, and demonstrated how our common human-
ity mattered more, leading to the mobilisation of resources from
different corners of the country and the world, evoked by human
emotions. This first level of response has acquired a form that is
morally pure on three counts. First, it is devoid of any blame-
gaming. Second, it encapsulated a moral narrative of individuals
and groups who had volunteered to donate their personal assets
in solidarity, to mitigate, to even some extent, the devastating
consequences of the ravaging floods. Finally, the moral initiative
does not wait for any particular direction or guidance as it
happens quite instinctively, without any delay.
But, this is not the case with the response which occurs at the
second level and begins with relentless criticism of the handling of
the situation, this time targeting the Kerala government that is
caught in the vortex of the disaster. As the case of Kerala shows,
this response was led predominantly by two kinds of critics: envi-
ronmentalists, and stakeholders in Kerala’s polity and economy. The
environmentalists have sought to criticise the successive govern-
ments for failing to heed the warning that was given to the former
from time to time. But, the politics of the Kerala model of develop-
ment and the remittances-fuelled development of a large consumer
and housing market along with the “growth” fetish led to the dismis-
sal of the timely cautions by these experts, both from within Kerala
and outside. Similar warnings had been given to different govern-
ments that, in the recent times, have faced calamities of flood, but
these have almost been reduced to a development ritual, inasmuch
as they are noted and kept aside, if not thrown into the dustbin.
Thus, the politics of development which is driven by instrumental
reasons tends to overrule the warnings and cautions, only at the cost
of inviting devastating consequences for humanity. Thus, the second-
level response, unlike the first, is not emotionally spontaneous and
involves the force of scientific truth, and hence morally empowers
the experts to fix the responsibility not on nature, but on human
self-interests and the public institutions that protect those interests.
Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 25, 2018 vol lIii no 34
But, the stakeholders in Kerala’s economy have concerns about
the devastating impact of the calamity on the economy, its produc-
tive sectors, and the demand for goods and services. It has been
voiced by the economists that the calamity has implications for
the banking and insurance sectors with exposure to Kerala, the
tourism and housing sectors, and, of course, the agriculture and
primary producing sectors, apart from traditional industries.
While the preliminary estimates of damage are put at `20,000
crore, the Kerala government expects it to go well beyond these
initial estimates as the damage is yet to be systematically as-
sessed. The tourism sector, estimated at `30,000 crore, which ac-
counts for 10% of Kerala’s gross state value added and employs
around 1.4 million people, has been severely affected. The con-
sumption demand for both durables as well as non-durables is
expected to drastically fall in the short term, especially during the
current Onam season. It has adversely affected the demand for au-
tomotive sales during the festival season as well. Thus, these set of
responses are also related to instrumental reasons wherein costs
and livelihood losses are involved and needed to be ascertained.
At the third level, the response understandably was a bit delayed,
but was articulated neither on scientific nor instrumental grounds,
but through causes mediated by a supernatural force. This was
evident in the responses by right-wing politicians and their sup-
porters who were eager but unable to attack the Kerala govern-
ment, and who seem to have chosen to attack it by making a cun-
ning move of offering a problematic response that sought to put
the blame squarely on the government for the latter’s efforts to
make the entry of women in Sabarimala temple possible. But, this
mediation of reason is different from the one that was offered by
M K Gandhi in the tragic context of the Nepal–Bihar earthquake in
1934. Gandhi did attribute the earthquake to the god who punished
Bihar’s upper castes, who committed the sin of practising untouch-
ability against a vast number of fellow human beings. Unlike the
right-wing reading of Kerala’s disaster, Gandhi, through god, sought
to fix social responsibility on human beings who, according to him,
failed to treat a large number of people as fellow human beings.
In the present case of the right-wing reading of Kerala floods, god
is invoked rather deviously, as a mediator, not for holding human
beings responsible for the latter’s failure to practise equality, but
to perpetuate gender inequality in the practice of worship.
However, going beyond, over and above these three levels of
responses and reactions, the post-disaster relief and rescue
operations by the administrative machinery and the state officials,
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EDITORIALS

along with the valiant rescue efforts carried out by army, navy, air
force, national defence and rescue forces, and the teams of medical
doctors both from the state and other parts of the country, has
been commendable. The expertise of the fishing community and
their noble-minded attempts to rescue the affected people was
quite admirable, if not inspirational. In the event of the devastating
tragedy that gripped most parts of rural and urban Kerala, the
people of Kerala have risen over superficial boundaries, and
have demonstrated their tenacity, grit and, unity in spirit to tide
over a common tragedy that has engulfed them.

8 august 25, 2018 vol lIii no 34 EPW Economic & Political Weekly