← HCS syllabus
HCS (Haryana)Stage 2: Main Written Examination
Disaster and Disaster Management
What the official syllabus says
General Studies III (Main Written Examination, Paper V):
- Disaster and disaster management.
Topics in detail
Concepts
- Hazard, vulnerability, exposure, capacity and risk
- Natural and man-made (human-induced) disasters
- The disaster management cycle: prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery and reconstruction
- Build back better; disaster risk reduction as part of development
Disasters in India
- Earthquakes: seismic zones of India; building codes
- Floods, flash floods and urban flooding
- Cyclones: early warning and evacuation in coastal States
- Droughts and heat waves; heat action plans
- Landslides, avalanches and glacial lake outburst floods
- Cold waves, fog, hailstorms and lightning
- Industrial and chemical disasters: Bhopal gas tragedy (1984); nuclear and radiological emergencies
- Biological disasters: epidemics and pandemics
- Fires, stampedes and road accidents
- Lessons from major events: the Odisha super cyclone (1999), the Gujarat earthquake (2001), the Indian Ocean tsunami (2004), the Uttarakhand floods (2013), the Kerala floods (2018)
Legal and institutional framework
- Disaster Management Act, 2005
- National Disaster Management Authority (chaired by the Prime Minister), State authorities (chaired by Chief Ministers), District authorities
- National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Forces
- National Institute of Disaster Management
- National Policy on Disaster Management (2009); National Disaster Management Plan (2016)
- Disaster response and mitigation funds at national and State level; role of the Finance Commission
- Role of the armed forces, civil defence and home guards
Early warning and technology
- India Meteorological Department, Central Water Commission flood forecasts, INCOIS tsunami warnings
- Satellites and remote sensing for damage assessment
- Common Alerting Protocol and mobile alerts
International frameworks
- Hyogo Framework (2005-2015) and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030)
- Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (2019)
- Climate change adaptation and loss and damage
Community and governance
- Community-based disaster management; village and ward plans
- Mock drills, school safety and hospital safety
- Insurance and risk transfer
- Trained community volunteers (Aapda Mitra)
- Heat action plans and cooling shelters in cities
- Media and communication during disasters; rumour control
- Response phases: search and rescue, relief camps, damage and loss assessment, rehabilitation and reconstruction
- Incident Response System for coordinated field command
- Role of NGOs, volunteers and corporate social responsibility funds
Classifying disasters
| Group | Examples |
|---|---|
| Geological | Earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis |
| Hydro-meteorological | Floods, cyclones, droughts, heat and cold waves, cloudbursts, hailstorms |
| Biological | Epidemics, pest attacks such as locusts, cattle epidemics |
| Technological and man-made | Industrial and chemical accidents, nuclear accidents, fires, building collapse |
Overlaps
- General Studies I: earthquakes, cyclones and other physical phenomena.
- Haryana: Disasters and Internal Security: floods, drought, heat and earthquake risk in Haryana and the State's arrangements.