You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
It is the responsibility of a government to protect its citizens from natural disasters. Do you agree or disagree?
Give reasons for your answer.
You should write at least 250 words.
Sample Answer 1:
For many years natural calamities and disasters have been mankind’s greatest enemy. The word goes with its literal meaning ‘natural’, that is involuntary in nature. Humans have no control over it. Nevertheless, there are steps that can be taken to prevent it and reduce the magnitude of its consequences. Taking this in view, some people think that government solely is responsible for protecting its citizens, while, others oppose this by saying that individuals play an indispensable role in safeguarding themselves. This essay will provide an in-depth evaluation of the matter before coming to an appropriate conclusion.
First of all, in this high- tech world, it is nearly impossible for us to control or prevent these disasters. Nowadays, media in the form of Television and newspapers are creating awareness among the people to tackle these situations, even before they face it. For example, Cyclones; category 5 cyclone hit Australia in 2015, people were warned beforehand through TV about the occurrence and necessary steps were taken immediately to minimise the loss. Similarly, newspapers have articles about what to expect in times of earthquakes and so on. Furthermore, people today are much more educated to take initiatives themselves. For example, individuals nowadays build houses that are disaster proof.
Moreover, along with the citizens, the government also plays an important role in protecting its people. According to me, a generous amount of money should be spent on architectural works. Buildings should be made so strong that it even stands high magnitude earthquake. One such example is, UAE, it is currently including iron pillars and iron wheels so that the building can withstand high force. In addition, the government should provide to the people with adequate resources to reduce the amount of loss. For example, in cases of cyclones, sand bags should be supplied in abundance to the coastal areas to avoid flooding. Lastly, after the disaster has occurred, appropriate rescue plans should be executed with efficient medical facilities and compensation for the loss if practical, need to be provided.
To conclude, from the aforementioned contributions, it is crystal clear that the government has the major role to play in overcoming the disasters caused by natural calamities. But, to be mentioned, it works better if goes together with the co-operation of the citizens too.
[ Written by – Fatema Bohari ]
Sample Answer 2:
As much as the Nature is beautiful, it can wreck havoc and the resulting natural disasters often do not come with a warning. A natural disaster can hit a region any time and it is always thought to be a responsibility of the local government to protect their people from it.
According to me, the government can be held responsible for a disaster that was predicted and could have been averted. For e.g. floods. A region that has high a rainfall prediction has a high possibility of being flooded. Such regions should have more dams built which can control the excess water due to rain. Similarly, regions with low rainfall prediction should have advanced facilities like rain-water harvesting so that the people can get adequate water for drinking, farming, etc.
Having said this, the government may not be able to protect their people in all natural disasters for e.g. a tsunami, a volcanic eruption or a hurricane. A few years back two countries in Asia namely Sri Lanka and India were on the receiving end of the wrath of nature in the form of Tsunami. Thousands of people died and there was a substantial loss of property and livestock as well. Similarly, The United States has witnessed many cyclones in history and the people have suffered a lot of damage despite The States being the most powerful country in the world with a strong government at the helm.
The citizens should be aware and take responsibility as well. Local governments of the natural disaster-prone areas should take additional steps to forecast and broadcast the news to minimise the natural disaster. The forecasting system and technology related to weather forecasting should be updated to take precaution so that people of the area get the news before the disaster hit the area. The government should allocate a budget and manpower to help the victim of the natural disaster. Thus the devastating outcome of the natural calamities can often be reduced.
Thus, in conclusion, I feel that government should be responsible for the safety of its people but in some cases, it fails to do so against nature.
[ Written by – Ripal Vyas ]
Sample Answer 3:
Natural disasters are sudden and cause severe damages. The impact is worst if citizens are unprepared to handle the disaster. Though natural disasters are unpredictable, they often follow a pattern. Based on the trend, disaster-prone areas can be classified and disaster management plan should include necessary preparedness to handle any such situation. I feel it is the responsibility of the government to protect its people from any natural calamities.
Only Government can frame a macro level policy to address various related issues related to disaster holistically. Though, the macro level policy can only be successful with micro-level initiatives and awareness. Hence, the government needs to involve its people so that they become aware of various stages of disaster management and need to disseminate the message properly that how the people can save their valuables and life in case of any natural calamities. The government can also ask for innovative proposals from its citizens on how to handle disasters as the nature of problem varies from area to area, it is important to consider those contextual complexities while designing a disaster management planning.
Proper weather forecasting system should be in place to generate the accurate forecasting and then the technological help should be taken to broadcast this information to the people. The aftermath of a disaster is always devastating and the government should take immediate steps to rescue the victim and provide aid to minimise the catastrophe.
The Government represents people of a country and act for the well-being of its population. Hence, to handle natural disaster cooperation between all the actors may it be the local government, civil society organisations, or local people are vital.
[ Written by – Aratrica Roy ]
Sample Answer 4:
A natural Disaster is a calamity which occurs beyond our imagination and which cannot be anticipated. The exact time of occurrence, its intensity and the damage it causes cannot be estimated by humans.
Everyone as an individual has his or her responsibility to safeguard themselves from such type of disasters. The main responsibility lies on the part of the government which is consisting of the people, represented by the people and formed for the people. The government has no role and is dormant if it does not help its citizens in time of need.
As far as my opinion is concerned I fully agree that government has to look after its citizens during such events of natural disasters which are of large scale. The responsibility of government has to be portrayed in the perilous times and in the times of need when a disaster occurs.
It is well known that a natural disaster occurs naturally and due to its unimaginable fierceness, the intensity of damage it may cause cannot be estimated. As an individual people can protect himself at his capacity but damages to a larger extent cannot be handled by an individual. For a natural disaster whose intensity is unknown, prevention and rescue operation should not be underestimated and relief operations of such large scale can only be dealt by the Government only.
It is vital that Government has to act in such type of situations by the way of evacuating people from the affected areas, setting up temporary relief camps, providing them essential commodities like water, milk etc, and setting up clinics to stop the spread of communicable diseases. Apart from the preventive measures, Government at a large scale can provide help tackle the aftermath the disaster causes in restoring the normalcy which cannot be done individually.
If we see the damages caused by a natural disaster it is so voluminous that sometimes even it is hard for the government to handle the situation. It is obvious that government works for the welfare of the people and without the people, the government has no meaning. If we consider an example there was a massive cyclone in south India during the month of October 2014, the damage was so massive that there was a huge impact on the everyday life and the Government with all its machinery and Governing attributes in use could restore water, electricity and basic needs of its people within 8 days. Imagine this without the help of government, what a mess it would be?
This type of situation cannot be handled by an individual and the control on every element lies on the Government which can be handled effectively by the Governing body.
Finally to conclude the main aim of a Government is to safeguard its citizens in times of need and in times of perilous situation because Government works for the people and without them Government has no meaning to sustain and un-functional.
[ Written by – Prasadarao Talluri ]
Sample Answer 5:
It is believed that a government should be responsible for the safety of its residents during natural disasters such as tsunami or volcano eruption. I personally agree with the statement, and the following essay will discuss in details regarding the statement.
To begin with, it is mandatory for the government to protect its people during the natural disaster. It is undeniable that the existence of the citizens has given significant contribution the development of a nation. Taxes that are collected from these people have been used to develop public facilities, expand new areas and funding public education. Without the existence of the residents, the country would have no support, no development and no fund.
From the humanity perspective, people are born and created as a social person, which means that people will interact, communicate and help each other. And during natural disasters such as typhoon, hurricane or earthquake, there will be a lot of people who found themselves in difficult conditions. They might have lost their family members and relatives, lost their properties and even some of them were injured condition. For the sake of humanity, the government should provide aids to their residents during these inconvenience events. They could provide emergency rescues, temporary accommodations and provide foods for their people. And once the disaster has passed, the government could help the residents by assisting them in rebuilding their homes.
The government’s responsibilities include broadcasting the forecast of any disaster and by improving the shelter system in natural disaster prone areas.
In conclusion, I personally agree that the government must help its residents during any natural disaster since citizens have made contributions to the government through taxes. Besides that, I believed that from the humanity point of view, we should help and take care of each other.
[ Written by – Darwin Lesmana ]