WHAT IS DISASTER?

Disaster is .a suclden, calamitous event bringing great damage, loss, and destruction and deva~tation to. life
a1~dproP.erty. The datnage caused by,tlisasters Is lm~e~surable,a~d yarle~ with the geograph1c~I locat,on,
climate and ~he type of the earth surface/degree of vulnerability. This ,nnuences the mental,_ socio• .1 . ___,.,,.
aconomic, political and cultural state of the affected area. Generally, disaster ,has the follow1.ng effe_cts JL,--·
the conc~med areas, . ..
1. It cOl1'.lRl.~tely dlsrypts the .normal d~tt~.day,-1.ife .
2. It neg~tlvely.-lnfl~~mces the.emergehcY systems · . . .
3. Normal heeds aiid processes like,food; shelter·, health, J3tc:.are affected and deteriorate depending on
· . th13 lnt~nslty and severity0Mhe.dlsastet: · ; · ·· · , ·· , . ·. .
It ~ay_ al~6 Ue ~erll'.led as 1'·a~s¢,t\bu,i=d,is·~llptiop-'of/t.n~·f.u~6t1onlr'l9 of societ ,-c~using widesp~ea~ human,
material or environmental losses which exceed the ability oMhe aff c ed society to cope using its own
resources." '
Thus. a disa~.ter may have the following mairi teatures:.;. ' , '\
_,.., o Unpredictability · 11 -=--·---.. 1
t, .Unfamiliarity ..
o Speed
j Urgency
o Uncertainty
o Threat /

. disaster.
TYPES Of-DISASTER ___/ '
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Generally, disasters are of two types-' Natural andManmade. Based on the deJastation, these are
~,,'J.
,..--:::)

t~,rthe~ ;daf ~ip~ J) t'\ ~d~ ajor/min?r natural .di~aster and ·rnaJ~ -~ fil!ill_~qe rJJr,ast,ejS. S.ome of,the
drsas~erE=, ~~~:11$J~d.~l;'l:elo~. . -. · ·· · · •· I ·
IV!lnor natutaldlsaste~ ·. · ·
,Major hatural disasters: • Cold wave . . ._
. ii· o Flciod .• Thunderstorms ·;_ ·
. I
• ·. · Cyclbne · " Heat w,aves •.
;• Drought •· Mud·slldes ·
a · · Earthquake o Storm ·

'. :.~· : ... ·': Minor manmade disaster:

Maj of maninade disaster:
0 Road / train accidents, riots
Setf:it,g qt.fire~ · ·1 - 1,,
Epi[J~mic -~-Jir.w~·,:; J.,,,M,,,-e::/ i'-n (" (t•:W:~ Lflfl kll
8
e Food poisoning
• Oeforest~tion . iJ: Cc.~"'~wT• J;;~,..r,. • lndustrlal·disaster/ crisis
• Environmental pollution
Cl) Pollution due to prawn cultivation /
e Chemical -pollution.
• Wars

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/
T . .· ·
,_____.,-"
-~ I .. , . . ,... • ,.
Risi<:
7
Ris~ is~ ~ea~,4recf}h~ -~_xp cted losses ~ue.to.ah~z~t<;loµseventof a_~articular magnitude occurring in
a given ar.ea·o~er a ~pec1fic.t1me period. R1s1< Is a f1,m.ctlon:ofthe.probab1hty of .particular occurrences and
the losses eacli i,vould cause. The level of risk depends 011. .
Natur.e,of'the Hazard
"'1ll11,erabilitYof the elements w,h.ich are. affected
· Ecorfomic value of those elem~nts .. ·
Vulnerablllty:
 · · · · . . . ·. ndlor geographic area is lil<ely to be
It 1s clef1neclas
''Iha extent to which a comm_ umty, st,uctwe, se,vice, 8 h . ·ture construction and
cla1naQed or disrupted /Jy the impact of parllcu/ar hazard, 011 1:1ccount of I elf na · '
1
proximity to hazardous terrain or a disaster prone areE1'
Hazards: 01. conomic assets and
Hazards are defined as ''Phenomena that pose a threat to peop/f!, structures, . e . ironment ··
which may cause a disaster. They could be either manmade or naturally occurrmg m our env . ·
The e><lent of damage in a disaster dep~nds on;
·f) Tile impact, intensity and charac;;teristics of the phe,nomenon and
2) How people, environment and -lnfraf/,trui::;tures are affected by that phenomenon
This relationship can be written as an equation:,

Disaster Rislc = Ha~ard +V~lnerabillty

DISASTER MANAGE/VIENT CYCLE I ' . '

OVERVIEW OF THE DISASTER R).S.K MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME

[2002-2007)
Government of India [Gal], Ministry of Home Affairs [MHA] and United Nations Development Programme
[UNDP] have signed an agreement on August 2002 for implementation of "Disaster Risk Management"
Programme to reduce the vulnerability of the communities to natural disasters, in identified multi-hazard
disaster prone areas.
Goal : "Sustainable Reduction In Naturifl Disaster Risk" In some of the most hazard
prone districts in selected states of India".
The four main objectives of this programme are:
1. National c:apacity building support to the Ministry of Home Affairs
 thening <he capacity at all
:z. Environment building, eclucation, awareness programme and streng ·
levels in nah.rral disaster rislc man~genient and sustainable recovery · t state district
3. Multi-hazard preparedness, response and mitigation plans for the programme a ' '
blocl< and village/ward levels in select prograrnm·e states and districts . - .
4. Nelvlorking l<nowled~e on effeollVEi approaches, methOds and tools for natural disaster nsl<
maf)agement, developing and promoting .policy. frameworl<s
Programme Phases: ·
The programme has been divldEid Into two phases-over-:li period of six years. Phase I _.(2002~2_004]
would provide support to carry out the activities in 28 select districts ih the states of Bthar, GuJarat
and Orissa. In phase II [2003--2007], the Rrogramipe would ,cover "l4·i districts in the states of
Ass~m, Meghalaya, Sil<l<im, West Bengal, Uttarancllal; tJttar Pradesh, Delhi; Maharashtra, · .
Tam,.tnadu, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, ArunachalPradesh and Nagaland. ·
Special Focus: 38 Ea1thquake prone cities having more th,aithalf a million population