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 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, 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, 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 cause 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 wreak 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. Region which has high 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. 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 minimize 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 hot 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 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,
Government need 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. Government can also ask for innovative proposals from its citizens on how to handle
disaster 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 fore-casting system should be in place to generate the accurate forecasting and then the
technological helps 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
minimize 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 organizations,
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.
Every one 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 spread of communicable diseases. Apart from the preventive measures,
Government at large scale can provide help aftermath the disaster 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 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 to 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 earth
quake, 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, government could help the residents by assisting them in rebuilding their homes.
The government's responsibilities also lies on 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 natural disasters, since
citizens have given contribution 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 ]