Disaster and Disaster

Management

PRASHANT SUMBE, IPS

 A disaster is a serious disruption in the functioning of the society causing
wide spread material, economic, social or environmental losses which
exceed the ability of the affected society to cope using its own resources.
 2009 Home Ministry Report
27 of 35 states & Uts disaster prone
58.6 % India prone to earthquakes
40 million hectare (12 % of land ) prone to
floods , erosion
Of 7516 km coastline 5700km prone to
cyclones & tsunamis
68% of cultivable land is vulnerable to drought
 Types of disasters - India
Earthquakes Himalayas, Kutch, islands
Cyclones predominantly east coast
Tsunamis- east coast and islands
Floods Assam, UP and Bihar, West Bengal
Landslides/avalanches- Himalyas, western
ghats
Industrial disasters man made
Epidemics
 Types of disasters - India
Nuclear hazards
Drought particularly south and central India
Heat waves- Telangana, Maharashtra, Rajsthan
 Management
Steps :
pre-disaster planning
response during disaster
Supporting / rebuilding ,post-disaster
management.
People Involved :
Individuals
Groups
Communities
Phases of disaster management
 1. Mitigation
Mitigation : long term, cost effective
Structural measures : technology
Non Structural measures : legislation , land
use planning
Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction in
developmental strategy
The road leading to the hospital is narrow and congested.
Inside the hospital, there was chaos - the building was
engulfed in smoke, many patients suffocated.
 2. Preparedness
Communication plans
Emergency services
Emergency exercises
Train volunteers
Predicting casualty
Trigger mechanism
Crisis Management plan
Guidelines in the form of checklist
Geospatial Techniques and Methods : Role of Satellite
remote sensing & telecommunication technology
satellite images : mapping the drought and flood
stricken areas and forest fire affected areas.
magnitude of the drought and flood
identifying disaster prone areas.
determine the most frequent disaster prone areas.
using satellites allow transmission of disaster
warning even to remote and inaccessible areas
Identification of safer locations in case of
evacuation of people from affected area.
A raised platform in Morigaon, Assam
 3. Response
Mobilization of necessary service
1st wave : core emergency services
Secondary services
National international agencies
Fulfill basic humanitarian needs
 4.Recovery
Address immediate needs first
Process , policies, procedures
Assessment
Coordination
Shelter
Sustainability in Recovery process
Accountability
Evaluation
 Capacity Development
Human Resource, Organisational, Institutional
and legal framework development
Training, Education, Research, Awareness
 G.o.Is Paradigm shift in approach
Sustainable development needs disaster
mitigation
Multidisciplinary
Mitigation more cost effective than
rehabilitation i.e shift to preparedness,
prevention and planning from earlier response
and relief centric approach
Poor, underprivileged worst affected
 National policy on disaster management

Holistic approach, standard operating procedures, disaster

management plans
Min/ dept to set aside funds to address vulnerability reduction
Mitigation projects to get priority, built in mitigation measures in
on going schemes
Projects in hazard prone areas mitigation important. Report on
reducing vulnerability
Empowering local communities, awareness
Interaction with corp., NGOs, media for prevention
Institutional structures, training for quick response coordination
Lifeline buildings in Zones III, IV and V to be evaluated, retrofitted
Revise Relief codes w.r.t disaster preparedness
 National Disaster Management Act 2005

The Act provides for establishment of:

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)
State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA)
District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA)
The Act also provides for -
Constitution of Disaster Response Fund and Disaster Mitigation
Fund at National, State and District levels.
Establishment of NIDM and NDRF.
It states that there shall be no discrimination on the ground of
sex, caste, community, descent or religion in providing
compensation and relief.
 State prevention and mitigation & Centre provides assistance
entry 23 (Social security and social insurance) in the Concurrent List
States would also be able to enact their own legislations on the
subject.
9th FC calamity relief fund (CRF) in each state
additional funds, centre : National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF)
13th FC : merged CRF and NCCF into one fund, National Disaster
Response Fund ( NDRF).
provision of disaster funding is limited to immediate and
intermediate disaster recovery.
no provision or dedicated fund available for long term recovery
National Disaster Management Act 2005 has made provision for
constitution of two funds viz. National Disaster Response Fund and
National Disaster Mitigation Fund.
 Problems in India
Lack of early warning systems
Paucity of trained, dedicated clinicians
Lack of search rescue facilities
Reactive rather proactive approach
Uniform approach to disaster management
leads to ineffectiveness
 ARC recommendations
Have a policy
Integrated water policy to tackle flood and
draughts
Define trigger mechanism so that relief can
start immediately.
Legal framework for inter-state floods
DDMA plan to have long term mitigation and
emergency response
 ARC recommendations
Make disaster management plans a part of
development plans
Disaster resisting structures
Traditional knowledge to be used
Early warning systems
Building community resilience
CAG to lay down accounting procedures for
spending funds
 ARC recommendations
Relief measures to account for vulnerable
sections (women & children)
Rationalization of drought declaration
Model legislation on public health
All plans should include plans for handling
possible disruption of essential services
 International collaboration
International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
(ISDR) aims to build resilient nations and
communities as an essential condition for
sustainable development.
The World Conference on Disaster reduction
adopted the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-
2015 and emphasized the need to promote
strategic and systematic approaches to reducing
vulnerability and risks to hazards.
SAARC disaster management centre
 A Way Forward
Developing a Centralised Database
Early warning systems and communication upto the last mile
Emergency Operations Centre
Mitigation Plans and Mainstreaming DM into Development
Planning Process
Strengthening the Preparedness phase through Urban planning
and zoning, flood proofing etc.
Capacity building plan
Three tier Response plan
CSR
Integrating Climate change and DRR
 In conclusion
Disaster : not the problem of disaster management but
is a larger development issue for protecting
development gains and making development sustainable
Idea of how catastrophic disaster affects countrys
economy directly and indirectly.
Along with immediate recovery we should also plan long
term recovery
Making assessment of financial tools available for
disaster funding and also innovate new funding
mechanisms like insurance.
 References
http://www.ndmindia.nic.in/
Natural hazards and DM- supplementary
textbook for Class XI CBSE
Vision IAS Material