Disaster Management Class 01

VisionIAS- Disaster Management Material

Classnotes

Basic Terms and Concepts

a) Hazard- a dangerous condition or an event that has the potential for

causing injury to life or damage to property or the environment.
b) Disaster-it is the disruption in the functioning of the community or a
society causing widespread economic, social, political, or environmental
losses which exceed the ability of the affected society to cope using its
own resources.
The loss is too much that the community cannot come out of it on its
own. It is a disaster. It is irreversible damage.
Eg- an earthquake in Delhi would be a disaster.
Earthquake in the desert of Rajasthan (remote location) may not be a
disaster due to lack of settlement.
c) Vulnerability- Characteristics of an area that makes it more like to be
damaged by the impact of a hazard.

Types of vulnerability

Physical- it is based on the physical condition of people, building,

infrastructure, etc, and their proximity, location, and nature of the
hazard.
Eg- The settlements located along steep slopes are more vulnerable to
landslides.
Economic- it is based on the economic status of people who are under
the threat of hazard.
Eg- poor people living in low-lying areas are more vulnerable to floods.
Social- it is a type of vulnerability imposed by the social status of people
such as status of gender, disabled, old aged, children, etc.
Causes

Poverty
Limited access to resources
Inequality
Disability
Lack of education
Lack of training
Lack of institutional support
Population explosion
Unplanned Urbanization
Environmental degradation

Indicators of vulnerability/ characteristics of a vulnerability

Physical condition- low lying area

Demographic condition- how much of population is there/ population
pressure/ density
Social status
Income level
Literacy level
Health status
Organizational support
Levels of urbanization
Training/ skill development

Capacity-

the resources, means, and strengths which enable the community to

prevent, mitigate, withstand or quickly recover from a hazard.
Types
Physical- to improve physical skills; the process of capacity
development.
It can be done through training, education, research and development,
awareness.
Economic
Social- community partnership, reducing the gender gap
Organizational- government should empower the people through
enhancing skills, information dissemination, etc.
Risk-

the measure of expected losses. It is the probability of harmful losses

resulting from the interactions between hazards and vulnerable
conditions.
Through capacity development, we aim to reduce the risk.
Risk is directly proportional to vulnerability and hazard.
Risk is inversely proportional to capacity.
Risk reduction is to reduce vulnerability by increasing capacity.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT CYCLE

It includes disaster management.

It includes sum total of all activities, programs, and measures that can
be taken up before, during, and after a disaster.

Pre-disaster

These are the activities taken to reduce the losses to be caused by

potential hazards. It involves mitigation and preparedness.
Mitigation: It involves all the measures to reduce the impact or the size
of disasters. It includes prevention and risk reduction.
Prevention: it involves all the measures to prevent disasters wherever it
is possible. Eg- water management in dry and arid regions.
Risk reduction: It aims to reduce risk and vulnerability.
Structural measures: Physical construction of barriers, engineering
solutions, etc.
Non-structural measures such as awareness, policy formulation,
knowledge development, etc.
Through disaster management, we have moved from response-centric
measures to mitigation centric.
It involves formulation of emergency plans, development of warning
systems, training of personnel, conduction of mock drills, construction
of shelter homes, maintenance of inventories, etc.
Nodal Agencies
Cyclone- IMD
Tsunami- INCOIS
Floods- Central Water Commission
Landslides- Geological Survey of India
Avalanches- Snow and avalanche study establishment
Heat and cold waves- IMD

During disaster

Response- the immediate action during disaster which includes

forecasting, warning, rescue, and immediate relief, assembling in
shelter homes.

Post-disaster

Recovery- which includes immediate action after a disaster such as a

rescue, debris clearance, immediate relocation, etc.
Rehabilitation- It involves temporary relocation to safe places, shelter
homes, distribution of relief material, and coordination of different
agencies, catering towards gender issues, restoration of communication
lines, etc.
Rehabilitation- It involves damage assessment, taking feedback from
the previous stages, construction safer and sustainable buildings
ensuring accountability, and moving towards the pre-disaster phase
again.

Disaster Management in India and international initiative

1994- Yokohama Conference on Disaster reduction

This was the first world conference on the disaster.
1999- Super cyclone in Odisha
High powered committee on DM was set up.
2001- Bhuj Earthquake
A disaster management division was set up under Home Ministry
without any structure.
2004- Tsunami
In 2005, the Disaster Management Act was passed.