Disaster Management on India

Disaster Management .When I first heard this term, I thought how contradictory the two words are. Can a
disaster really be managed and if so then it does not qualify to be called disaster.

After some research, I realized probably these are the things that are really required to be managed, all
other things might manage themselves on their own, but disasters surely need to be managed .
Earlier disasters used to be natural like floods, cyclones, drought, earthquake, landslides but now we
have added to this a long list of manmade disasters as well like chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear,
Industrial disasters, pollution related disasters like acid rain, disturbed monsoons and seasonal cycle.
According to Bureau of Crises Prevention and Recovery of United Nations Development Program, some
75% of the world’s people live in areas that have been affected at least once by an earthquake, a tropical
cyclone, flooding or drought between 1980 and 2000.

India has been traditionally vulnerable to natural disasters on account of its unique geo-climatic
conditions. About 60% of the landmass is prone to earthquakes of various intensities; over 40 million
hectares is prone to floods; about 8% of the total area is prone to cyclones and 68% of the area is
susceptible to drought. The super cyclone in Orissa in October, 1999, the Bhuj earthquake in Gujarat in
January, 2001 and the unprecedented tsunami in 2004 underscored the need to adopt a multi
dimensional endeavour involving diverse scientific, engineering, financial and social processes; the need
to adopt multi disciplinary and multi sect oral approach and incorporation of risk reduction in the
developmental plans and strategies.

INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
The arrangement for disaster management is comparatively of recent origin in our country as compared
to other countries like USA which had a formal arrangement in 1979.Most of the developed countries are
30 to 40 years ahead of India.
In 1999 government set up a high powered committee to develop disaster management plans at
national ,state and district levels.

India became one of the first developing countries to have set up an institutional mechanism for disaster
management as part of 169 member Hygo Framework for

Action(2005-2015).The Disaster Management Bill was unanimously adopted by both houses of

Parliament and Disaster Management Act 2005 that envisaged the establishment of NDMA(National
Disaster Management

Authority, chaired by Prime Minister of India as the apex body for disaster management in, State disaster
management authorities(SDMAs) and District disaster management Authorities (DDMAs).

National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM)

has been established as the Apex Training Institute for disaster management in India. NIDMs main areas
of concern are

• To undertake quality research , with a multi-hazard approach

• To work as a National Resource Center for the central and state governments through effective
knowledge management and sharing of best practices
• To professionalize disaster risk reduction and emergency management in India and other neighboring
countries by developing an independent cadre of professionally trained emergency and mitigation
managers.
• To build working partnerships with the Government, universities, NGOs, corporate bodies and other
national and international Institutes of eminence.
• To link learning and action by building a synergy between institutions and professionals in the sector.

A National Disaster Response Force(NDRF) has also been established with personnel from Para military
forces for strengthening the preparedness and emergency response in the country. Total 8 battalions
have been set up and deployed in the country and its personnel are trained and equipped with state-of-
the-art life saving equipments, search and rescue equipments ,inflatable boats, etc. Its 4 battalions are
specially trained for preparing and responding to chemical, biological, radiological and
nuclear(CBRN)emergencies.
Focus on community based measures
NDMA encourages involvement of all stakeholders in strengthening community based disaster
management through comprehensive training programmers, public awareness campaigns, mock drills.
Through Community Based Disaster Management (CBDM) the people’s capacity to respond to
emergencies is increased by providing them more access and control over resources and basic social
services. It Provides local communities to evaluate their own situations based on their own experiences.

Awareness of the risks and vulnerabilities has its own place in disaster management. Consider the
tsunami of 2004 , the devastation was more because of lack of knowledge of what a tsunami is and the
people their hadn’t faced such a calamity before. So when they didn’t know from what they are preventing
themselves, how would they plan to deal with it .Vulnerabilities are inherent weaknesses in the functional
environment of the society.

NEED for Training

Disaster management training is essential for NGOs or volunteers providing support and rehabilitation
measures during disasters personnel of home guards, paramilitary organizations, civil defense personnel,
as well as functionaries of rural development and primary health centers, administrative services, relief
workers.

IGNOU and Pune university offer Disaster management courses after plus 2.Such programs provide
knowledge on disasters, its preparedness, prevention, mitigation, relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation.
PRT institute of post graduate environmental education and research, new delhi in association with
institute of open and distance education, Bhopal offers the two year Master of Disaster control to
graduates and professionals through distance learning.

Besides destruction and loss of lives there are many aspects to a disaster like total breakdown of social
norms, providing security to people from loot, availability of heavy machinery to search for survivors,
photographing ,fingerprinting, collecting DNA samples, proper burial of dead, controlling spread of any
epidemic, dealing with sanitation problems, appropriate medical assistance ,dealing with post traumatic
stresses, fear psychosis, which stays with them even after physical wounds are healed.

Then there is lot of administrative work involved .Identification of dead and those who are left to give
government assistance to the poor .Like in case of cyclone alia in Bengal, lists were prepared of the
farmers whose land would not be able to grow anything because of saline water. Govt would identify
,calculate and would provide for them till they would be able to thrive on their own.
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Conclusion

From State to individual level ,now the effort is to be aware of the disaster susceptibility of an area and be
prepare accordingly. Getting EIA(Environment Impact Assessment) before beginning any big project from
Ministry of environment, ensuring that all new buildings are earthquake resistant, using Early Warning
Systems in case of cyclones, tsunami. With Institutional mechanisms in place all that is required is to
involve communities, individuals to work towards this life saving management. A multi sectoral and multi
pronged approach is demand of the time.

Key Words: Disaster Management in India, India Managing Disaster, is India ready for disaster, Can
disasters can be managed, disasters are unmanageable, Disasters need to be managed, managing the
disasters, Bureau of Crises Prevention and Recovery of United Nations Development Program, State
disaster management committee.
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