Disaster and Disaster Management

What the official syllabus says

Main Examination, Paper IV: General Studies III.

• Disaster and disaster management.

Topics in detail

Concepts

• Hazard, disaster, vulnerability, risk, exposure, capacity and resilience
• Natural disasters: earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones, floods, droughts, landslides, avalanches, heat waves, cold waves, cloudbursts, lightning, forest fires
• Human-made disasters: industrial and chemical accidents (the Bhopal gas tragedy, 1984), nuclear and radiological emergencies, fires, stampedes, building collapses, biological disasters and pandemics
• India's vulnerability profile: seismic zones, cyclone-prone coasts, flood-prone river basins, drought-prone regions, Himalayan landslide areas

The disaster management cycle

• Pre-disaster: prevention, mitigation, preparedness, early warning
• During the disaster: response, search and rescue, relief
• Post-disaster: recovery, rehabilitation, reconstruction ('build back better')
• Shift from relief-centred to risk-reduction-centred management

Institutional and legal framework in India

• Disaster Management Act, 2005 and the three-tier structure
• National Disaster Management Authority (chaired by the Prime Minister), State Disaster Management Authorities, District Disaster Management Authorities
• National Executive Committee; the National Institute of Disaster Management
• National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Forces
• National Policy on Disaster Management (2009) and the National Disaster Management Plan (first in 2016)
• Funding: National and State Disaster Response Funds and Mitigation Funds; the role of the Finance Commission
• Nodal ministries for different disasters; the role of the armed forces, civil defence and home guards
• Role of panchayats, municipalities, NGOs and communities; community-based disaster management

Early warning and technology

• Agencies: India Meteorological Department, Central Water Commission, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (tsunami warning), National Centre for Seismology
• Satellites, radar, GIS-based hazard mapping, common alerting protocols
• Heat action plans and urban flood management
• Building codes, earthquake-resistant construction, cyclone shelters, flood plain zoning
• Mass alerts through mobile networks, sirens and community radio
• Insurance and risk transfer: crop insurance, catastrophe bonds, parametric insurance

International framework

• Hyogo Framework for Action (2005-2015)
• Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030): its priorities and targets
• Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, launched by India in 2019
• Links with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement

Case studies and issues

• Odisha's cyclone preparedness after the 1999 super cyclone
• Gujarat earthquake (2001) and reconstruction; the Indian Ocean tsunami (2004)
• Uttarakhand floods (2013) and Himalayan fragility; Kerala floods (2018)
• Issues: weak enforcement of building codes, encroachment on drainage channels, capacity gaps at district level, climate change increasing the frequency of extreme events

Overlaps

Important geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic activity and cyclones are in General Studies I. Disaster situations can also be the setting of case studies in General Studies IV.