Disaster Management in India-Institutional Framework

A terminology developed by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) defines a disaster as A serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society involving idespread human! material! economic or environmental losses and impacts! hich e"ceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its o n resources#$ %he Disaster &anagement Act! '(() defines a disaster as a catastrophe! mishap! calamity or grave occurrence in any area! arising from natural or man made causes! or by accident or negligence hich results in substantial loss of human sufferings or damage to! and destruction of property! or damage to! or degradation of! environment and is of such nature or magnitude as to be beyond the coping capacity of the affected area$# Disasters are divided into t o categories# Natural Disaster and &an &ade Disasters# *arth+ua,es! floods! cyclones! tsunami and landslides - avalanches are categori.ed under natural disasters as these are supposed to be due to natural causes and not directly attributable to human actions although human activities are indirectly responsible for many of them by contributing in the environmental degradation# %he second category is the &an/&ade Disasters and includes those types of disasters hich ta,e place directly due to human actions# %hese include nuclear disasters! chemical disasters and biological disasters# India is a vast country ith diverse geographical and climatic conditions and hence different parts are vulnerable to different types of disasters# As per National Disaster &anagement 0olicy! '((1! )2#34 of the landmass is prone to earth+ua,es of varying intensity5 over 6( million hectares (7'4 of land) is prone to floods and river erosion5 out of our 8)73 9m long coastline! about )8(( 9m is prone to cyclones and tsunamis5 324 of the cultivable land is prone to drought and hilly areas are prone to landslides and avalanches# :urther! possibility of man made disasters li,e chemical! biological! radiological and nuclear disasters also e"ists# Disaster Management Disaster management means a systematic response to a disaster# *arlier the approach to disaster as relief centric and as limited to providing relief to the disaster affected area# :or the first time! the tenth five year plan devoted a chapter to disaster management# %he approach subse+uently changed and pre/ empting the disaster! assessing disaster ris, and ta,ing preventive measures has also become a part of disaster management# %he Disaster &anagement Act as notified on '3th December '(() hich defines disaster management as a continuous and integrated process of planning! organising! coordinating and implementing measures hich are necessary or e"pedient for/prevention of danger or threat of any disaster5 mitigation or reduction of ris, of any disaster or its severity or conse+uences5 capacity building5 preparedness to deal ith any

disaster5 prompt response to any threatening disaster situation or disaster5 assessing the severity of magnitude of effects of any disaster5 evacuation! rescue and relief5 and rehabilitation and reconstruction#$ %he Act provided for a dedicated and institutionali.ed frame or, to coordinate various aspects of disaster management# A National 0olicy on Disaster &anagement! hich provided detailed guidelines on disaster management! as announced in '((1# National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) %he Disaster &anagement A;%! '(() provides for setting up of a National Disaster &anagement Authority (ND&A) ith the 0rime &inister as ;hairperson# Apart from him there are members hose number shall not e"ceed nine# <ne of these can be nominated as =ice/;hairperson of the Authority# 0resently! Sh#&# Shashidhar Reddy! a sitting member of Andhra 0radesh >egislative Assembly is the =ice/;hairman of the Authority# ND&A is responsible for laying do n policies! plans and guidelines for disaster management for ensuring timely and effective response to disaster# ND&A is to be assisted by a National *"ecutive ;ommittee hich comprises of Secretaries to the ?overnment of India heading various &inistries or Departments having administrative control over Agriculture! Atomic *nergy! Defence! drin,ing ater supply! environment and forests! finance! health! po er! rural development! science and technology! space! telecommunication! urban development and ater resources# ;hief of the Integrated Defence Staff of the ;hiefs of Staff ;ommittee is also a member of the *"ecutive ;ommittee# National *"ecutive ;ommittee is responsible for preparing and updating a National 0lan for disaster management# %he 0lan includes measures to be ta,en for prevention of disasters or the mitigation of their effects5 measures to be ta,en for the integration of mitigation measures in the development plans5 measures to be ta,en for preparedness and capacity building to effectively respond to any threatening disaster situation or disaster5 and defining the roles of various departments in respect of these measures# State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) %he Disaster &anagement Act '(() also provides for setting up of Stage Disaster &anagement Authorities under the ;hairpersonship of the ;hief &inister# State Authority is to be assisted by a State *"ecutive ;ommittee under the ;hairpersonship of the ;hief Secretary of the State# %he ;ommittee shall prepare a State 0lan hich ould include assessment of vulnerability of different parts of the State to different forms of disasters5 measures to be adopted for prevention and mitigation of disasters5 capacity building5 and role of departments of State ?overnment# Apart from the planning aspect it is also involved in ta,ing up and supervising relief and rescue operations at the time of disaster and in disseminating information about any impending disaster#

District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) %he structure of disaster management institutions goes do n to the district level here the responsibility is given to DD&A hich is headed by the ;ollector@District &agistrate ith elected representative of the local authority as co/chairperson# DD&A ill act as the planning! coordinating and implementing body for disaster management at the district level# It ill prepare the District 0lan for disaster management in accordance ith instructions by ND&A and SD&A# %he DD&A ill also ensure that the guidelines for prevention! mitigation! preparedness and response measures laid do n by the ND&A and the SD&A are follo ed by all the Departments of the State ?overnment at the District level and the local authorities in the District# Local Authority :or the purpose of disaster management! local authorities ould include 0anchayati RaA institutions and those agencies hich control and manage civic services# %hese bodies are re+uired to ensure capacity building of their employees for managing disasters and carrying out relief and reconstruction activities in the affected areas# National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) ;apacity building is an important aspect of disaster management# %his re+uires developing human resources to handle disaster management or, and underta,e studies and research on the subAect# Disaster &anagement Act gives this mandate to the National Institute of Disaster &anagement# %he institute as formed as National ;entre for Disaster &anagement (N;D&) in 711) but as re/ designated as National Institute of Disaster &anagement in '(() after the enacting of the Disaster &anagement Act# %he institute is headed by the Union Bome &inister and =ice/;hairman! ND&A also acts as the =ice/0resident of the Institute# Day to day or,s are loo,ed after by the *"ecutive Director# %he institute has five divisions i#e ?eo/Ba.ard Division5 Bydro/&et Ba.ard Division5 0olicy 0lanning and ;ross ;utting Issues Division5 Response Division5 and Administrative and :inance Division# National Disaster Response Force(NDRF) NDR: as constituted in '((3 ith 2 battalions dra n from the paramilitary forces# 0resently it has strength of 7( battalions# ?eneral superintendence of the force vests in ND&A and the force is headed by the Director ?eneral of NDR: and ;ivil Defence# %hese battalions are positioned at different locations to provide timely response to disaster situations and are available to State ?overnments at the time of need# %he force provides speciali.ed response during disasters! is pro/actively deployed in impending disaster situations! imparts training to state disaster response force personnel

and conducts programmes for creating a areness and community capacity building# Integrated Data Resource Networ (IDRN) Integrated Data Resource Net or, is a database in the electronic form maintained by the &inistry of Bome Affairs# %he data enlists inventory of e+uipments and human resources relevant to disaster management# <rgani.ations related ith the or, update the inventory of e+uipments! s,illed human resources and critical supplies for emergency response# Idea is to ma,e available the information on availability of e+uipments and human resources re+uired to combat any emergency situation# %his database also helps the policy ma,ers to assess the level of preparedness for specific vulnerabilities# !ther Institutional arrangements ;abinet ;ommittee on &anagement of Natural ;alamities (;;&N;) has been constituted to oversee all aspects relating to the management of natural calamities# National ;alamity ;ontingency :und (N;;:) as created in '(((/(7 by the ?ovt of India ith a corpus fund of Rs#)(( crores ith an obAective of providing assistance to disaster affected states# %he fund as replenished ith the National ;alamity ;ontingent Duty on certain items such as tobacco products etc# and as operated through a Bigh >evel ;ommittee (B>;) hich had :inance &inister! as ;hairman and the Bome &inister! Agriculture &inister - Deputy ;hairman! 0lanning ;ommission as members# Since '(7(! this find has been merged ith National Disaster Response :und (NDR:) hich is also operated by a Bigh >evel ;ommittee ith similar composition# Armed :orces are called upon to assist the civil administration only hen the situation is beyond their coping capability# In practice! ho ever! the armed forces form an important part of the ?overnmentCs response capacity and are immediate responders in all serious disaster situations# %hey have played a maAor role in emergency support functions li,e communication! search and rescue operations! medical facilities and transportation# ;entral 0aramilitary forces also play a ,ey role at the time of immediate response to disasters# Desides contributing to the NDR:! they are also re+uired to develop ade+uate disaster management capability ithin their o n forces and respond to disasters hich may occur in the areas here they are posted# State 0olice and :ire Services are crucial immediate responders to disasters are re+uired to improve their response capabilities# ;ivil Defence Act has been amended in '((1 to bring disaster management in the area of operation of civil defence agencies# International agencies also play a role in disaster management# UND0 along ith ND&A too, up Disaster Ris, Reduction (DRR) and Urban Ris,

Reduction programmes# Eorld Dan, is associated ith National ;yclone Ris, &itigation 0roAect (N;R&0) being ta,en up in Andhra 0radesh and <rissa# Red ;ross Society also provides valuable support during relief operations# P