INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

GROUP MEMBERS

ROLL NO. CLASS NAME

3516 IF5-I Suraj Mishra
3505 IF5-I Aakash
Deshmukh
3523 IF5-I Piyush Utekar
3515 IF5-I Ayush Maurya

GUIDED BY: MRS. Jagruti Girase

 PART- PLAN A

Title: Impact of Natural Disasters and Man-

made Hazards

Introduction:

• Natural and man-made hazards include, for

instance, droughts, desertification, floods,fires,
earthquake and dispersion of radioactive gases
in the atmosphere.

• They have significant social, environmental and

economic impacts.

• Extensive work is needed to continuously

monitor the situation, assess risks and potential
impacts, and forecast future events as
 accurately as possible in order to help prevent
these phenomena from happening or to limit
their impact.

Aim of Micro-Project:

• Understand the relationship of disaster

phases to each other and linkage of
activities from one phase to next.

• Identify the major disaster types and

understand the relief system and the
disaster victim.

• Learn about Disaster management which

aims to reduce, or avoid, the potential
losses from hazards, assure prompt and
appropriate assistance to victims of
disasters, and achieve rapid and effective
recovery.
 ACTION PLAN
DETAILS START DATE FINISH TEAM MEMBERS
DATE
1 Groups are made 22/08/22 2/9/22 Suraj Mishra
according to roll no. and Akash Deshmukh
branch. Piyush Utekar
Ayush Maurya
2 Arrange a meeting and 5/9/22 16/9/22 Suraj Mishra
discuss the given micro- Akash Deshmukh
project. Piyush Utekar
Ayush Maurya
3 Gather information about 19/9/22 30/9/22 Suraj Mishra
the micro-project. Akash Deshmukh
Piyush Utekar
Ayush Maurya
4 Gather resources 3/10/22 14/10/22 Suraj Mishra
required for the Akash Deshmukh
microproject. Piyush Utekar
Ayush Maurya
5 Gather more information 17/10/22 28/10/22 Suraj Mishra
related to the micro- Akash Deshmukh
project. Piyush Utekar
Ayush Maurya
6 Gather more resources 31/10/22 11/11/22 Suraj Mishra
related to the Akash Deshmukh
microproject. Piyush Utekar
Ayush Maurya
7 Implementation of the 14/11/22 25/11/22 Suraj Mishra
micro-project according Akash Deshmukh
to the topic. Piyush Utekar
 Ayush Maurya
8 Submission of 28/11/22 9/12/22 Suraj Mishra
microproject both plan A Akash Deshmukh
and plan B. Piyush Utekar
Ayush Maurya
 RESOURCES REQUIRED

RESOURCE S SPECIFICATIO N QUANTITY REMARK

REQUIRED
1 COMPUTER - 1

2 OS - 1

3 Web Browser - 1
 PLAN B

Title: Impact of Natural Disasters and Manmade

Hazards

Brief Description:

• Natural and manmade hazards include, for

instance, droughts, desertification, floods,fires,
earthquake and dispersion of radioactive gases
in the atmosphere.

• They have significant social, environmental and

economic impacts.

• Extensive work is needed to continuously

monitor the situation, assess risks and potential
impacts, and forecast future events as
accurately as possible in order to help prevent
these phenomena from happening or to limit
their impact.
 Aim of Micro-Project:

• Understand the relationship of disaster

phases to each other and linkage of
activities from one phase to next.

• Identify the major disaster types and

understand the relief system and the
disaster victim.

• Learn about Disaster management which

aims to reduce, or avoid, the potential
losses from hazards, assure prompt and
appropriate assistance to victims of
disasters, and achieve rapid and effective
recovery.

Course Outcome Integrated:

Gained awareness of major disaster types, what they
entail, as well as their impact both on the environment
and in human costs.
 Actual Procedure Followed:

1 Groups are made according to roll no. and

branch.
2 Arranged a meeting and discussed the DMA
micro-project.
3 Gathered information about the microproject.

4 Gathered resources required for the

microproject.
5 Gather more information related to the micro-
project.
6 Gathered more resources related to the micro-
project.
7 Implemented the micro-project according to
the topic.
8 Submitted hard copy after completion.
Actual Resources Used:

RESOURCE S SPECIFICATIO N QUANTITY REMARK

REQUIRED
1 COMPUTER - 1

2 OS - 1

3 Web Browser - 1
 Impact of Natural Disasters and Manmade
Hazards

Disasters can be defined as a sudden, accidental event of great magnitude that

causes considerable damage to life and property. They are sudden, drastic and
normally occur without any alarm or warning. Some disasters may be short lived
such as earthquakes and some other may be of long duration, such as floods.
However, irrespective of the duration of a disaster, the damage in the form of
deaths, injuries and losses of property is immense. The magnitude of the disasters
can be judged by the fact that only during the past two decades, occurrences of
floods, earthquakes, landslides, cyclones, etc. have killed several million people.
Most of the disasters have a natural origin, however, some disasters are
manmade as well. On this basis, disasters can be broadly classified into two
groups:

Natural disasters:
When disasters occur due to natural forces they are called natural disasters, over
which man has hardly any control. Some common natural disasters are
earthquakes, landslides floods, droughts, cyclones, etc. Tsunamis, volcanic
eruptions and wildfires are also included under natural disasters. These disasters
cause enormous loss to life and property.

Man-made disasters:
When the disasters are due to carelessness of human or mishandling of
dangerous equipment’s they are called man-made disasters. Common examples
of these disasters are train accidents, aeroplane crashes, collapse of buildings,
bridges, mines, tunnels, etc.
Natural Disasters:
Earthquakes-
An earthquake is the shaking of the earth’s surface caused by rapid movement of
the earth’s crust or outer layer.
Impact of Earthquake on the Environment-
The destruction, an earthquake causes, depends on its magnitude and duration or
the amount of shaking that occurs. In the last 500 years, earthquakes around the
world have killed several million people.
Earthquake is one of the most catastrophic natural disasters. Massive loss of life
and property occurs due to collapse of buildings. Besides, roads, bridges, canals,
electric poles, etc. are severely damaged.
Certain regions of the earth are more prone to earthquakes. These are places
located in the unstable regions of the earth crust, which are subjected to tectonic
activities. Countries like Japan, parts of Southeast Asia, Turkey, Iran, etc.
In India, the entire Himalayan region, parts of the Gangetic Plain, Kutch and
Andaman and Nicobar islands are in the earthquake hazard zone (See Table).

Shaking of the ground and surface rupture:

This is the main cause of destruction in which buildings, bridges, roads, canals and other
structures are damaged.
Liquefaction:
Earthquakes make sands and silts to transform from a solid to liquid state. This also
results in building collapse.

Landslides:
Earthquakes of high intensity often trigger many landslides in the hilly regions. Fires:
It is a major hazard associated with earthquakes. The shakings of the ground and
building damage often break the gas pipes and electric lines that cause fires.

Tsunami:
It is a Japanese term meaning ‘harbour waves’. Tsunamis are massive sea waves that are
mainly caused due to earthquakes in the ocean floor or possibly due to an undersea
landslide or volcanic eruption. When the ocean floor is tilted or offset during an
earthquake a set of waves is created similar to the concentric waves generated by an
object dropped into the water.
These waves are massive in size and gain height as they approach the seashore.
Tsunamis up to the height of 30 m are recorded. Tsunamis are the most catastrophic
among natural disasters as they affect a very wide geographical area. The tsunami of 26
December, 2004 killed around three lakh people and affected parts of Indonesia,
Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India, Sri Lanka and even Somalia.
Prevention and Mitigation:
Despite the advances made by modem science, the exact time and place where an
earthquake may strike cannot be predicted. Hence, the occurrence of an earthquake
cannot be prevented. However, there are certain regions that are earthquakes prone
and so the administration must work before hand to minimize the damages due to
occurrence of earthquakes in such areas. The control and mitigation measures in
earthquake prone regions include hazard reduction programmes, development of
critical facilities, etc.

Hazard Reduction Programmes:

i. Earthquake education and evacuation plans.
ii.Use of proper construction material that is not injurious even if the structures
collapse. iii. Construction of quake resistant buildings having proper structural
design.

Development of critical facilities:

i. Establishment of earthquake regulatory agencies for fast relief.
ii. Establishment of specific health care units for treating earthquake injuries Proper
land use planning.
iii. Mapping of faults and weak zones in earthquake prone areas.
iv. Buildings such as schools, hospitals, offices, etc. should be in areas away from active
faults.

Man-made disasters:
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster:
This nuclear disaster occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which was
one of the largest power plants in the Ukrainian Republic of erstwhile USSR, on
April 26, 1986. It is the worst nuclear disaster recorded in a nuclear power plant.
This nuclear power plant had four reactors of 1000 megawatt each for electricity
generation. A sudden power surge resulted in two explosions, which destroyed
the reactor core and blasted a large hole in the roof of the reactor building.
The Radioactive debris moved up through that hole to heights of 1 km.
Approximately 100 to 150 million curies of radiation (radioactive isotopes of
iodine and caesium) escaped into the atmosphere. To reduce emissions, the
rescue team bombarded the reactor with 5,000 metric tonnes of shielding
material consisting of lead, boron, sand and clay. Soviet officials placed the toll of
human lives to 31.
However, according to western estimates, 2000 people were killed. Large areas of
the Ukrainian, Byelorussia Republics of the USSR and even parts of Poland,
Denmark and Sweden were contaminated. Around 200,000 people had to be
evacuated and resettled. The after affects lasted for many years and a rise in the
incidence of thyroid and blood cancer has been observed in a wide group of
people. Other affects on the human health included skin diseases, hair loss,
nausea, anemia, respiratory and reproductive diseases.

Impact On The Water Bodies:

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant is located next to the Pripyat River, which
feeds into the Dnieper reservoir system, one of the largest surface water systems
in Europe, which at the time supplied water to Kyiv's 2.4 million residents, and
was still in spring flood when the accident occurred.
The radioactive contamination of aquatic systems therefore became a major
problem in the immediate aftermath of the accident.
In the most affected areas of Ukraine, levels of radioactivity (particularly from
radionuclides 131I, 137Cs and 90Sr) in drinking water caused concern during the
weeks and months after the accident.
Two months after the disaster the Kyiv water supply was switched from the
Dnieper to the Desna River. Meanwhile, massive silt traps were constructed,
along with an enormous 30-metre (98 ft) deep underground barrier to prevent
groundwater from the destroyed reactor entering the Pripyat River.
In small "closed" lakes in Belarus and the Bryansk region of Russia, concentrations
in a number of fish species varied from 100 to 60,000 Bq/kg during the period
1990–92. The contamination of fish caused short-term concern in parts of the UK
and Germany and in the long term (years rather than months) in the affected
areas of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia as well as in parts of Scandinavia.
Flora and fauna:
After the disaster, four square kilometres (1.5 sq mi) of pine forest directly downwind of
the reactor turned reddish-brown and died, earning the name of the "Red Forest". Some
animals in the worst-hit areas also died or stopped reproducing. Most domestic animals
were removed from the exclusion zone, but horses left on an island in the Pripyat River
6 km (4 mi) from the power plant died when their thyroid glands were destroyed by
radiation doses of 150–200 Sv. Some cattle on the same island died and those that
survived were stunted because of thyroid damage. The next generation appeared to be
normal. The mutation rates for plants and animals have increased by a factor of 20
because of the release of radionuclides from Chernobyl. There is evidence for elevated
mortality rates and increased rates of reproductive failure in contaminated areas,
consistent with the expected frequency of deaths due to mutations.

Human impact:
Long-term impact-
Scientific consensus, in the form of the Chernobyl Forum, suggests that, although
unexpected, there has no statistically significant increase in the incidence rate of solid
cancers among rescue workers. Follow-up studies have also found this to be the case,
with apparent increases in thyroid cancer simply attributed to more meticulous cancer
screening for rescue workers.
Childhood thyroid cancer, however, is an exception, with approximately 4000 new
incidents in the general population by 2002 within contaminated regions of Belarus,
Russia, and Ukraine, most of which are attributed to high environmental levels of
radioactive iodine shortly after the accident.
Psychosomatic illness and post-traumatic stress, resulting from widespread fear of
radiological disease, is a much greater issue impacting many more people with lethal
health effects, especially as it receives relatively little attention from the general public.
People who believe they or others have been impacted by radiological illness, erroneous
or otherwise, exhibit greater issues with feelings of no control or fatalistic/pessimistic
outlooks, leading to harmful behaviors, such as a lack of initiative to treat diseases. Such
fears are further strengthened by poor public understanding of the effects of radiation.

Prevention and Mitigation:

• The Soviet and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) authorities introduced a
wide range of short and long term environmental countermeasures to mitigate the
accidents negative consequences:
— Decontamination of settlements in contaminated regions Exclusion of contaminated
pasture grasses from animal diets and rejection of milk based on radiation monitoring
data.
— Feeding animals with "clean" fodder Application of Cs-binders, such as Prussian blue,
to prevent contamination of milk and meat

• Restrictions:
— Restrictions on public and forest worker access as a countermeasure against external
exposure;
— Restricted harvesting of food products such as game, berries and mushrooms by the
public that contributed to reduction of internal doses. In the CIS countries mushrooms
are a staple of many diets and, therefore, this restriction has been particularly
important;
— Restricted collection of firewood by the public to prevent exposures in the home and
garden when the wood is burned and the ash is disposed of or used as a fertilizer; and
— Alteration of hunting practices aiming to avoid consumption of meat with high
seasonal levels of radiocaesium. Restriction of drinking water and changing to
alternative supplies. Restrictions on consumption of freshwater fish
• Prevention:
— Compliance with the basic and technical safety principles for nuclear power plants.
— Continuous safety analysis of operating nuclear power plants and of their early
upgrading in order to eliminate deviations.
— Establish and support a high-level national emergency response system in case of
man-made accidents.

CONCLUSION

We learnt about disasters, both man made and natural, their impacts
on both the environment and humans as well as the necessary steps for
their mitigation and prevention.
 REFERENCES

1) Disaster Management in India – Pramod Patil

Indian Stream Research Journal

2) The Impact of Natural and Manmade disasters on Household Welfare –

Yasuyuki Sawada
The international association of Agricultural Economists Conference, Gold
Coast, Australia

3) Disaster Management: “Managing the risk of environmental calamity” –

Shubhendu S. Shukla
International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Research (IJSER)