How important are vulnerability and risk assessment for pre-disaster management? Critically analyse.

Introduction

The starting point for reducing disaster risk lies in the knowledge of the hazards and the physical,
social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities and of the ways in which hazards and
vulnerabilities are changing in the short and long term, followed by action taken on the basis of that
knowledge. Understanding the interaction of hazards, exposure and vulnerability is crucial to effective
disaster prevention.

Vulnerability is defined as “the characteristics of a person or group and their situation that influences
their capacity to anticipate, cope with, resist, and recover from the impact of a hazardous event”.
Vulnerability represents the susceptibility of a given population to harmful effects from exposure to
hazardous events.

UNDP defines risk as the probability of harmful consequences — casualties, damaged property, lost
livelihoods, disrupted economic activity, and damage to the environment — resulting from
interactions between natural or human-induced hazards and vulnerable conditions.

Risk assessment is a process to determine the nature and extent of such risk, by analyzing hazards and
evaluating existing conditions of vulnerability that together could potentially harm exposed people,
property, services, livelihoods and the environment on which they depend.

A comprehensive risk assessment not only evaluates the magnitude and likelihood of potential losses
but also provides full understanding of the causes and impact of those losses. Risk assessment,
therefore, is an integral part of decision and policy-making processes and requires close collaboration
among various parts of society.

Vulnerability & Risk profile of India

 Around 59% of the landmass is prone to earthquakes of moderate to very high intensity.

 About 12% (over 40 million hectares) of its land is prone to floods and river erosion.

 Close to 5,700 kms, out of the 7,516 kms long coastline is prone to cyclones and tsunamis.

 68% of its cultivable area is vulnerable to droughts; and, the hilly areas are at risk from
landslides and avalanches.

 Moreover, India is also vulnerable to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN)
emergencies and other man-made disasters.

 Disaster risks in India are further compounded by increasing vulnerabilities related

to changing demographics and socio-economic conditions, unplanned urbanization, and
development within high-risk zones, environmental degradation, climate change, geological
hazards, epidemics and pandemics.
Importance of Vulnerability & Risk Assessment for disaster management

1) Risk mitigation: A vulnerability & Risk Assessment will help to reduce the impact of disaster. It
will help to lower human as well as economical loss.
2) Planned development: The unplanned development on river banks, earthquake prone areas
etc. cause a great loss at the time of natural disasters. But through Vulnerability & Risk
Assessment of these areas any construction activity in these areas can be prevented which
helps to lower the damage.
3) Decision making: These are important tools to support decision-making undertaken for
different purposes. They can be used to identify main risks and impacts on people, regions
and sectors as well as their vulnerability so that resources are allocated accordingly.
4) Policy formulations: These can be used in the design of adaptation policies and projects, and
to establish a baseline against which the success of adaptation policies can be monitored.
5) Training: The vulnerability & Risk assessment help to predict the problems which may occur in
near future. It helps the policy formulators to design training courses to deal with those
conditions.
6) The most important function of a risk assessment process is to pre-determine the possible
scenarios of disaster and then steps that the organization will take to recovery in the event of
each.
7) Resilient structures: vulnerability & Risk assessment would help to make resilient structures in
areas prone to disaster. It will help to standardize the building codes in these areas.
8) A comprehensive risk assessment not only evaluates the magnitude and likelihood of
potential losses but also provides full understanding of the causes and impact of those losses.
9) In case of lack of any vulnerability & risk assessment there are chances of migration of poor
people affected by these disaster events. This may lead to problems like unemployment,
unhygienic & exploitation etc.

Issues

Although the National Disaster Management Act 2005 and the National Disaster Management Policy
2009 both signal a shift towards a more comprehensive risk reduction approach, in practice, legal
frameworks and funding are still limited to rescue and response and not risk reduction and
preparedness. The imagination of holistic development which is resilient and sustainable is currently
missing.

Specific urban risks are not understood as well as those experienced or perceived in rural areas, e.g.,
climatic risks such as droughts still focus on rural areas and agricultural productivity1 and not on
access to water or water quality in urban areas.

Emergency response is preferred over pre-emptive risk reduction. A case in point is the existence of a
National Disaster Response Fund as against a National Disaster Mitigation Fund.

All hazards are dealt with individually by distinct departments at different levels of governance, and
there is a lack of a multi-hazard approach. Development Sector agencies (e.g., those working on
poverty reduction, housing, water and sanitation, etc.) are still not integrating a risk reduction agenda
sufficiently in their planning practices.

There is a dearth of a diversity of and access to financial systems (e.g., low insurance penetration due
to lack of comparable data) to cope with disaster conditions that could help rebuild better.

Way Forward

There is a need to understand the distinct components of risk—hazard, vulnerabilities, exposure and
lack of capacity to respond—as drivers of risk concentration in specific geographies, in order to direct
relevant policy and risk reduction practices, and for risk reduction to be understood as an integral
aspect to achieve sustainable development.

Synergies need to be found between various International frameworks for a consolidated Post-2015
Agenda for Resilient and Sustainable Development, and multiple actors need to work in partnership
to achieve this.

Data collection, monitoring and long-term evaluation systems need to build at the local government
level for long-term sustainability outcomes of the various interventions made.

Conclusion

Disaster management needs to be inclusive & holistic. Reducing risk and building resilience are critical
elements of sustainable development. Risk & Vulnerability assessment are the two major components
for making any disaster plan. Sendai framework and SDG’s also favours mitigation plans to reduce the
effects of disasters occurring in near future.