SHARING RESPONSIBILITY – ROLE OF LOCAL AND STATE BODIES

The following ministry is assigned the responsibility of providing emergency support (i) Ministry of home affairs
(ii) Ministry of health and family welfare.

The officials from the health, irrigation water, sanitation, police and fire services department and representatives
of national and international NGO’s forms that District Disaster Management committee.

. The officers from the social welfare, health, water and sanitation, police and fire services department and
different government and non-government organizations are the part of BDMS.

The primary purpose of UNDMT is to ensure prompt effective and country level disaster preparedness by the UN
system and the response when appropriate.

The Nehru Yuva Kendras were launched in the year 1972 as part of the silver jubilee celebration of India
Independence with the objective of providing the non-student rural youth avenues to take part in nation building
activities.

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NYE functions under the ministry of youth and sports affairs, Govt. of India. It is registered society and governed
by Board of Governors under the ministry.

In order to make a competent force, training right from the school to the higher education courses about disaster
management is being introduced. It has been designed with a purpose to sensitize students in all the aspects of
disaster management.

As a District Magistrate of a particular district, I will coordinate and supervise powers of all the departments at
the district level. I will take efforts in tackling disasters through early warning system, relief distribution,
providing shelter to the victims, medical assistance, etc. I will also take the help of the Disaster Management
Teams, like the Fire Services, Police, Health, Practitioners, etc.

The departments which we need to furnish to fight the disasters are :Health department, Department of water
and sanitation, Police, Fire Services and NGOs.
Communication facilities for disaster management System

[pic]

Over the last few decades, a numbers of countries have set up disaster management information systems
according to their own specific needs. Disasters are unpredictable and occur suddenly like earthquake, floods,
drought and cyclone etc. Communication facilities for disaster management system is most important act as it
convey at the right time communication in disaster,it may handle disaster and helping to decrease it.

Two type of information needs in disaster management

Pre disaster information: Question arise that how to get pre disaster information? It is getting from the research
and analysis department of the geography in the country.

Post disaster information: After the disaster, our first job is to find out where and where it was occurs. What is the
next step to help people?

Now a days Satellite communication play a major role in disaster management communication. Communication
facilities can be set up for

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rescue and relief operation purposes. That type of early warning system developed at the different area’s by itself.

Here are the disaster communication facilities:

DCWDS Digital Cyclone Warning Dissemination System set at Delhi and other coast area. It is for the pre disaster
information.

The WLL - VSAT system is in terms of handsets which can be easily taken inside of the affected areas and sends
information by direct audio communication.

The MSS Type C reporting terminal developed for the sending short messages directly through satellite in remote
area.

AES-SNG is a system which can send video pictures of the affected area for online review from the control center.

Tele medicine: It is one more step for the disaster management communication. In this system, on line help can
be provided from the hospital and super specialty doctors. Only connect up link to laptop or PC and get the online
information about cure.
SHARING RESPONSIBILITY – ROLE OF LOCAL AND
STATE BODIES

The following ministry is assigned the responsibility of providing emergency support (i) Ministry of
home affairs (ii) Ministry of health and family welfare.

The officials from the health, irrigation water, sanitation, police and fire services department and
representatives of national and international NGO’s forms that District Disaster Management
committee.

. The officers from the social welfare, health, water and sanitation, police and fire services
department and different government and non-government organizations are the part of BDMS.

The primary purpose of UNDMT is to ensure prompt effective and country level disaster
preparedness by the UN system and the response when appropriate.

The Nehru Yuva Kendras were launched in the year 1972 as part of the silver jubilee celebration of
India Independence with the objective of providing the non-student rural youth avenues to take
part in nation building activities.

NYE functions under the ministry of youth and sports affairs, Govt. of India. It is registered society
and governed by Board of Governors under the ministry.

In order to make a competent force, training right from the school to the higher education courses
about disaster management is being introduced. It has been designed with a purpose to sensitize
students in all the aspects of disaster management.

As a District Magistrate of a particular district, I will coordinate and supervise powers of all the
departments at the district level. I will take efforts in tackling disasters through early warning
system, relief distribution, providing shelter to the victims, medical assistance, etc. I will also take
the help of the Disaster Management Teams, like the Fire Services, Police, Health, Practitioners,
etc.

The departments which we need to furnish to fight the disasters are :Health department,
Department of water and sanitation, Police, Fire Services and NGOs.
The important bodies that are responsible for disaster management are the folloing:

i) Union Cabinet headed by P.M.

ii) Group of Ministers headed by P.M.
iii) National Crisis Management Committee under the chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary.

The main functions of the District Disaster management committee are:

i) Helping the administration for preparation of the district disaster management plan.
ii) Carry out mock drills.
iii) Coordinating training for the members of the disaster management teams at the district level.
The National Civil Defence College was founded on 29th April 1957 at Nagpur as the Central
Emergency Relief Training Institute ( CERTI) to function as the training centre of the emergency
institute focuses on advanced and specialist training to the leaders of relief services.

The motto of NSS is NOT ME BUT YOU. It underlines that the welfare of an individual is ultimately
dependent on the welfare of the society as a whole. The Ministry of Education – introduced the
National Service Scheme during 1969 – 1970.
The disaster to be managed at National level:

The Ministry of Home Affairs is the Nodal Ministry at the centre for coordinating
Disaster management activities for all natural hazards except drought, which is taken care by
Ministry of Agriculture under the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation. Other ministries are
assigned the responsibility of providing emergency support in case of disasters that fall with in
their preview.

The disaster to be manager at State Level:

The Chief Minister or the Chief Secretary of the state and the Relief Commissioner who are
incharge of the relief and rehabilitation measures in the wake of natural disasters in their states
function under the overall direction and control of the state level committee. The states have the
relief manual called as the State Relief Code and th Stte contingency plan which guides them to
manage disaster scenarios.

Home Guard is a voluntary force to assist police in controlling civil disturbance and communal
riots.

The functions of Home Guard is to:

i) Serve as an auxiliary to the police in maintenance of internal security.

ii) Help the community in any kind of emergency such as air raid, fire, cyclone, earthquake,
epidemic, etc.
iii) Promote communal harmony and assist the administration in protecting weaker sections.
iv) Help in maintenance of essential services.
v) Participate in socio-economic and welfare activities and perform civil defence duties.

Civil Defence and Home Guards NCC, Youth Organizations, UN agencies, Police and para-military
forces, Voluntary groups and media, etc.

The Armed Forces are the core of the government’s response capacity. They intervene and take on
specific tasks only when the situation is beyond the capacity of civil administration. Due to their
ability to organize action in adverse ground circumstances, speed of operational response, the
resources and capacities at their disposal, the armed forces have historically played a major role in
emergency support functions such as communications, search and rescue operations, health and
medical facilities, transportation, power, food and civil supplies, public works and engineering
especially in the immediate aftermath of disaster.

National Cadet Corps ( NCC) : The National Cadet Corps a body formed in 1948, aims at:

i) Developing qualities of character courage, discipline, leadership, secular outlook, spirit of

adventure and sportsmanship and the ideals of selfless service among the youth to make them
responsible citizens.
ii) Creating a human resource of organized, trained and activated youth.
iii) Providing leadership in all walks of life including the Armed Forces and making themselves
available for the service of the nation.
ome Wikipedians have formed a project to better organize information in articles related to Disaster
Management (a.k.a. Emergency management). We have three main work areas:

Theoretical and background information, including the phrases: Mitigation, Preparedness,

Response, and Recovery. This section also covers methods
hazards and their impacts, which cause disasters. Examples of hazards
include, earthquakes, drought and dirty bombs. When those hazards impact people, it creates
a disaster, such as the Boxing Day tsunami and the World Trade center attack).
Organisations and Individuals involved in disaster management

Thank you for taking the time to be a part of educating Wikipedians about managing
disasters. This page and its subpages contain their suggestions; it is hoped that this
project will help to focus the efforts of other Wikipedians. If you would like to help,
please inquire on the talk page and see the to-do list there.

Contents

[hide]

• 1 About the Project

○ 1.1 Aim

○ 1.2 Goals

○ 1.3 Central

articles

• 2 Participants

• 3 Standards

○ 3.1 Definition,

scope & structure

○ 3.2 Naming

convention

• 4 To Do List

• 5 Article Specific

○ 5.1 Assessments

○ 5.2 Quality

Statistics

○ 5.3 Article

checklist

• 6 Editors' tools
 ○ 6.1 Templates

○ 6.2 Infoboxes

○ 6.3 Categories

• 7 Related Wikis

○ 7.1 Wikipedia

WikiProjects

○ 7.2 Wikibooks

○ 7.3 Wikiversity

• 8 Bibliography

• 9 External links

[edit]About the Project

[edit]Aim

The main aim of this WikiProject is to develop consistently formatted articles of a high
standard relating to the disaster management, emergency management and related
disciplines. .
[edit]Goals

1. Create a categorisation of concepts and applied terminology

2. Maintain one inventory page of disastrous events, see list of disasters

3. Merge articles that describe similar concepts into one comprehensive article
[edit]Central articles

 Emergency management

 Emergency services

 Public safety

 Civil defence

 Disasters, List of disasters

 Natural disasters

 Severe weather

 Man-made disasters
[edit]Participants

If you want to help out, just add your name and join in by adding your name on
the participants page! If you want to you can use this code {{User WikiProject DM}} to
add the below member template to your user page:

This user is a member of

theDisaster Management
WikiProject.

If you don't like userboxes, then just add [[Category:WikiProject Disaster

management members]].

[edit]Standards

[edit]Definition, scope & structure

No classification of this project has been agreed upon. The subject is being discussed
by project members on a dedicated talk page. The scope of this WikiProject is any
article relating to policies as well as implementations of disaster management. This
include emergency services operations (police, ambulance, and fire service) as well
as the phenomenological description of natural and man-made hazards. It also
include individual disastrous events, e.g. hurricane Katrina and the
Ethiopian famine in the 1980s.
[edit]Naming convention
Main page: Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Disaster management/Naming

A naming convention for such articles is also definitely required. It has been decided
that all articles concerning individual disasters should be <<year>> <<place>>
<<event>>. To illustrate the point with an example, the article October 11, 2006 New
York City plane crash was recently renamed to 2006 New York City plane crash

[edit]To Do List
There is a lot of duplication of efforts and confusion of terminology surrounding
disaster management on Wikipedia now. Examples includes Disasters and Natural
disasters. The current categorisation is also far from great, lacking in structure and
logic. The task to clean up in this domain is immense, but it has to be done.

WikiProject: Disaster management

Here are some disasters related tasks you can do:

 Improve: Random Hacks of Kindness, Ramstein airshow disaster, Emergency management, Canal

Hotel bombing, Threat of the Dnieper reservoirs, I-35W Mississippi River bridge, Boys in Red

Tragedy

 Expand: Disaster response, Stampede, Bambi bucket, Environmental hazard, Environmental

disaster, 1948 Ashgabat earthquake, 1920 Gansu earthquake, 1998 Papua New Guinea

earthquake, 2009 Hermosillo daycare center fire

 Create: Vulnerability (society) see Vulnerability, Hazard (society) see Natural hazard, 2000

Pingxiang steel plant oxygen generator explosion see bottom of [1], West Coast and Alaska Tsunami

Warning Center (WCATWC) seeofficial website.

view • edit • discuss • history • watch

[edit]Article Specific
[edit]Assessments

The Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team requests that more disaster articles be
assessed as to their quality and importance. To help facilitate this, Template:Disaster
management could to be modified to accept optional quality and importance
arguments (and by default add articles to an "unassessed" category).
See Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Using the bot for how to do this and how to
set things up so a bot will automatically keep track of statistics on assessed articles.
After the setup is completed, volunteers will need to go
through Category:Disasters and assess all the articles there and in appropriate
subcategories. (See below for ideas.) Some articles have already been assessed for
Version 0.5.
SeeWikipedia:Version_1.0_Editorial_Team/WPHumanities#Wikipedia:WikiProject_Di
saster_management. See also:

 Wikipedia:Article assessment/Natural disasters (inactive results from

experimental assessment)

 Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Work via Wikiprojects

[edit]Quality Statistics

Disaster management articles by quality

and importance

Importance

To Hig Mi Lo Tota
NA ???
Quality p h d w l
 2 2 11 7 22
FA

1 2 3
A

2 3 12 7 19 43
GA

B 6 25 30 12 34 107

C 4 12 37 20 43 116

Start 3 16 45 86 124 274

Stub 6 15 46 67 134

List 1 3 9 5 5 23

23
NA 1 1 241
9

15 24
Assessed 18 66 187 292 963
6 4

Unassess 1,11 1,11

2 2
ed 1 5

15 18 24 1,40 2,07
Total 18 68
8 7 4 3 8
Government of India

Ministry of Home Affairs

DISASTER MANAGEMENT IN INDIA2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Section Subject Page No.

I Introduction

II Institutional and Policy Framework

III Early Warning System

IV Disaster Prevention & Mitigation

V Preparedness

VI Conclusion

Annexure

(i) National Disaster Management

Framework.

(ii) Tenth Plan – Chapter on Disaster

Management.

(iii) Guidelines to State Governments 3

SECTION -I

Introduction

1.1 India has been traditionally vulnerable to natural disasters on account of

its unique geo-climatic conditions. Floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes and

landslides have been a recurrent phenomena. About 60% of the landmass is

prone to earthquakes of various intensities; over 40 million hectares is prone to

floods; about 8% of the total area is prone to cyclones and 68% of the area is

susceptible to drought. In the decade 1990-2000, an average of about 4344

people lost their lives and about 30 million people were affected by disasters

every year. The loss in terms of private, community and public assets has
been

astronomical.

1.2 At the global level, there has been considerable concern over natural

disasters. Even as substantial scientific and material progress is made, the loss
of

lives and property due to disasters has not decreased. In fact, the human toll
and

economic losses have mounted. It was in this background that the United

Nations General Assembly, in 1989, declared the decade 1990-2000 as the

International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction with the objective to
reduce

loss of lives and property and restrict socio-economic damage through

concerted

international action, specially in developing countries.

1.3 The super cyclone in Orissa in October, 1999 and the Bhuj earthquake in

Gujarat in January, 2001 underscored the need to adopt a multi dimensional

endeavour involving diverse scientific, engineering, financial and social

processes; the need to adopt multi disciplinary and multi sectoral approach and

incorporation of risk reduction in the developmental plans and strategies. 4

1.4. Over the past couple of years, the Government of India have brought about

a paradigm shift in the approach to disaster management. The new approach

proceeds from the conviction that development cannot be sustainable unless

disaster mitigation is built into the development process. Another corner stone
of

the approach is that mitigation has to be multi-disciplinary spanning across all

sectors of development. The new policy also emanates from the belief that

investments in mitigation are much more cost effective than expenditure on

relief

and rehabilitation.

1.5 Disaster management occupies an important place in this country’s policy

framework as it is the poor and the under-privileged who are worst affected on

account of calamities/disasters.

1.6 The steps being taken by the Government emanate from the approach

outlined above. The approach has been translated into a National Disaster

Framework [a roadmap] covering institutional mechanisms, disaster prevention

strategy, early warning system, disaster mitigation, preparedness and response

and

human resource development. The expected inputs, areas of intervention and

agencies to be involved at the National, State and district levels have been
identified and listed in the roadmap. This roadmap has been shared with all the

State Governments and Union Territory Administrations. Ministries and

Departments of Government of India, and the State Governments/UT

Administrations have been advised to develop their respective roadmaps taking

the

national roadmap as a broad guideline. There is, therefore, now a common

strategy underpinning the action being taken by all the participating

organisations/stakeholders. A copy of the roadmap is at Annexure – I.5

SECTION-II

Institutional and Policy Framework

2.1 The institutional and policy mechanisms for carrying out response, relief

and rehabilitation have been well-established since Independence. These

mechanisms have proved to be robust and effective insofar as response, relief

and

rehabilitation are concerned.

2.2 At the national level, the Ministry of Home Affairs is the nodal Ministry for

all matters concerning disaster management. The Central Relief Commissioner

(CRC) in the Ministry of Home Affairs is the nodal officer to coordinate relief

operations for natural disasters. The CRC receives information relating to

forecasting/warning of a natural calamity from India Meteorological Department

(IMD) or from Central Water Commission of Ministry of Water Resources on a

continuing basis. The Ministries/Departments/Organizations concerned with the

primary and secondary functions relating to the management of disasters

include:

India Meteorological Department, Central Water Commission, Ministry of Home

Affairs, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Rural

Development, Ministry of Urban Development, Department of Communications,

Ministry of Health, Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Petroleum,

Department of Agriculture & Cooperation. Ministry of Power, Department of

Civil Supplies, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,

Planning Commission, Cabinet Secretariat, Department of Surface Transport,

Ministry of Social Justice, Department of Women and Child Development,

Ministry of Environment and Forest, Department of Food. Each

Ministry/Department/Organization nominate their nodal officer to the Crisis

Management Group chaired by Central Relief Commissioner. The nodal officer is

6

responsible for preparing sectoral Action Plan/Emergency Support Function Plan

for managing disasters.

2.3 National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC): Cabinet Secretary,

who is the highest executive officer, heads the NCMC. Secretaries of all the

concerned Ministries /Departments as well as organizations are the members of

the Committee The NCMC gives direction to the Crisis Management Group as

deemed necessary. The Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs is responsible for

ensuring that all developments are brought to the notice of the NCMC promptly.

The NCMC can give directions to any Ministry/Department/Organization for

specific action needed for meeting the crisis situation.

2.4 Crisis Management Group: The Central Relief Commissioner in the

Ministry of Home Affairs is the Chairman of the CMG, consisting of senior

officers (called nodal officers) from various concerned Ministries. The CMG’s

functions are to review every year contingency plans formulated by various

Ministries/Departments/Organizations in their respective sectors, measures

required for dealing with a natural disasters, coordinate the activities of the
Central

Ministries and the State Governments in relation to disaster preparedness and

relief and to obtain information from the nodal officers on measures relating to

above. The CMG, in the event of a natural disaster, meets frequently to review
the

relief operations and extend all possible assistance required by the affected
States
to overcome the situation effectively. The Resident Commissioner of the affected

State is also associated with such meetings.

2.5 Control Room (Emergency Operation Room): An Emergency

Operations Center (Control Room) exists in the nodal Ministry of Home Affairs,

which functions round the clock, to assist the Central Relief Commissioner in the

discharge of his duties. The activities of the Control Room include collection and
7

transmission of information concerning natural calamity and relief, keeping close

contact with governments of the affected States, interaction with other Central

Ministries/Departments/Organizations in connection with relief, maintaining

records containing all relevant information relating to action points and contact

points in Central Ministries etc., keeping up-to-date details of all concerned

officers at the Central and State levels.

2.6 Contingency Action Plan: A National Contingency Action Plan (CAP)

for dealing with contingencies arising in the wake of natural disasters has been

formulated by the Government of India and it had been periodically updated. It

facilitates the launching of relief operations without delay. The CAP identifies

the initiatives required to be taken by various Central Ministries/Departments in

the wake of natural calamities, sets down the procedure and determines the
focal

points in the administrative machinery.

2.7 State Relief Manuals: Each State Government has relief manuals/codes

which identify that role of each officer in the State for managing the natural

disasters. These are reviewed and updated periodically based on the experience
of

managing the disasters and the need of the State.

2.8 Funding mechanisms: The policy and the funding mechanism for

provision of relief assistance to those affected by natural calamities is clearly laid

down. These are reviewed by the Finance Commission appointed by the

Government of India every five years. The Finance Commission makes

recommendation regarding the division of tax and non-tax revenues between the

Central and the State Governments and also regarding policy for provision of

relief assistance and their share of expenditure thereon. A Calamity Relief Fund

(CRF) has been set up in each State as per the recommendations of the
Eleventh

Finance Commission. The size of the Calamity Relief Fund has been fixed by the
8

Finance Commission after taking into account the expenditure on relief and

rehabilitation over the past 10 years. The Government of India contributes 75%
of

the corpus of the Calamity Relief Fund in each State. 25% is contributed to by
the

State. Relief assistance to those affected by natural calamities is granted from

the

CRF. Overall norms for relief assistance are laid down by a national committee

with representatives of States as members. Different States can have

Statespecific norms to be recommended by State level committee under the
Chief

Secretary. Where the calamity is of such proportion that the funds available in
the

CRF will not be sufficient for provision of relief, the State seeks assistance from

the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) - a fund created at the

Central Government level. When such requests are received, the requirements
are

assessed by a team from the Central Governemnt and thereafter the assessed

requirements are cleared by a High Level Committee chaired by the Deputy

Prime

Minister. In brief, the institutional arrangements for response and relief are
wellestablished and have proved to be robust and effective.

2.9 In the federal set up of India, the basic responsibility for undertaking

rescue, relief and rehabilitation measures in the event of a disaster is that of the
State Governemnt concerned. At the State level, response, relief and
rehabilitation

are handled by Departments of Relief & Rehabilitation. The State Crisis

Management Committee set up under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary who

is

the highest executive functionary in the State. All the concerned Departments
and

organisations of the State and Central Government Departments located in the

State are represented in this Committee. This Committee reviews the action
taken

for response and relief and gives guidelines/directions as necessary. A control

room is established under the Relief Commissioner. The control room is in

constant touch with the climate monitoring/forecasting agencies and monitors

the

action being taken by various agencies in performing their responsibilities. The

district level is the key level for disaster management and relief activities. The 9

Collector/Dy. Commissioner is the chief administrator in the district. He is the

focal point in the preparation of district plans and in directing, supervising and

monitoring calamities for relief. A District Level Coordination and Relief

Committee is constituted and is headed by the Collector as Chairman with

participation of all other related government and non governmental agencies

and

departments in addition to the elected representatives. The Collector is required

to

maintain close liaison with the district and the State Governments as well as the

nearest units of Armed Forces/Central police organisations and other relevant

Central Government organisations like Ministries of Communications, Water

Resources, Drinking Water, Surface Transport, who could supplement the efforts

of the district administration in the rescue and relief operations. The efforts of
the

Government and non-governmental organisations for response and relief and

coordinated by the Collector/Dy. Commissioner. The District

Magistrate/Collector and Coordination Committee under him reviews

preparedness measures prior to a impending hazard and coordinate response

when

the hazard strikes. As all the Departments of the State Government and district

level report to the Collector, there is an effective coordination mechanism

ensuring

holistic response.

2.10 New institutional mechanisms: As has been made clear above, the

existing mechanisms had based on post-disaster relief and rehabilitation and

they

have proved to be robust and effective mechanisms in addressing these

requirements. The changed policy/approach, however, mandates a priority to

full

disaster aspects of mitigation, prevention and preparedness and new

institutional

and policy mechanisms are being put in place to address the policy change.

2.11 It is proposed to constitute a National Emergency Management Authority at

the National level. The High Powered Committee on Disaster Management which

was set up in August, 1999 and submitted its Report in October, 2001, had inter
10

alia recommended that a separate Department of Disaster Management be set

up in

the Government of India. It was, however, felt that conventional

Ministries/Departments have the drawback of not being flexible enough specially

in terms of the sanction procedures. The organisation at the Apex level will have

to be multi-disciplinary with experts covering a large number of branches. The

National Emergency Management Authority has, therefore, been proposed as a

combined Secretariat/Directorate structure – a structure which will be an integral

part of the Government and, therefore, will work with the full authority of the

Government while, at the same time, retaining the flexibility of a field

organisation. The National Emergency Management Authority will be headed by

an officer of the rank of Secretary/Special Secretary to the Government in the

Ministry of Home Affairs with Special Secretaries/Additional Secretaries from the

Ministries/Departments of Health, Water Resources, Environment & Forests,

Agriculture, Railways, Atomic Energy, Defence, Chemicals, Science &

Technology, Telecommunications, Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation,

Rural Development and India Meteorological Department as Members of the

Authority. The Authority would meet as often as required and review the status
of

warning systems, mitigation measures and disaster preparedness. When a

disaster

strikes, the Authority will coordinate disaster management activities. The

Authority will be responsible for:-

i) Coordinating/mandating Government’s policies for disaster

reduction/mitigation.

ii) Ensuring adequate preparedness at all levels in order to meet disasters.

iii) Coordinating response to a disaster when it strikes.

iv) Coordination of post disaster relief and rehabilitation.

The National Emergency Management Authority will have a core permanent

secretariat with three divisions – one for Disaster Prevention, Mitigation & 11

Rehabilitation, the other for Preparedness and the third for Human Resource

Development.

2.12 At the State level, as indicated in para disaster management was being

handled by the Departments of Relief & Rehabilitation. As the name suggests,

the

focus was almost entirely on post-calamity relief. The Government of India is

working with the State Governments to convert the Departments of Relief &

Rehabilitation into Departments of Disaster Management with an enhanced area

of

responsibility to include mitigation and preparedness apart from their present

responsibilities of relief and rehabilitation. The changeover has already
happened

in eight State Governments/Union Territory Administrations. The change is

under

process in other States.

2.13 The States have also been asked to set up Disaster Management Authorities

under the Chief Minister with Ministers of relevant Departments [Water

Resources, Agriculture, Drinking Water Supply, Environment & Forests, Urban

Development, Home, Rural Development etc.] as members. The objective of

setting up an Authority is to ensure that mitigation and preparedness is seen as

the

joint responsibility of all the Departments concerned and disaster management

concerns are mainstreamed into their programmes. This holistic and

multidisciplinary approach is the key to effective mitigation.

2.14. At the district level, the District Magistrate who is the chief coordinator

will be the focal point for coordinating all activities relating to prevention,

mitigation and preparedness apart from his existing responsibilities pertaining to

response and relief. The District Coordination and Relief Committee is being
reconstituted/re-designated into Disaster Management Committees with officers

from relevant departments being added as members. Because of its enhanced

mandate of mitigation and prevention, the district heads and departments

engaged 12

in development will now be added to the Committee so that mitigation and

prevention is mainstreamed into the district plan. The existing system of

drawing

up preparedness and response plans will continue. There will, however, also be
a

long term mitigation plan. District Disaster Management Committees have

already been constituted in several districts and are in the process of being

constituted in the remaining multi-hazard prone districts.

2.15 Similarly, we are in the process of creating Block/Taluq Disaster

Management Committees in these 169 multi-hazard prone districts in 17 States.

At the village level, in 169 multi-hazard prone districts, we are constituting

Disaster Management Committees and Disaster Management Teams. Each

village

will have a Disaster Management Plan. The process of drafting the plan has

already begun. The Disaster Management Committee which draws up the plans

consists of elected representatives at the village level, local authorities,

Government functionaries including doctors/paramedics of primary health

centres

located in the village, primary school teachers etc. The plan encompasses

prevention, mitigation and preparedness measures. The Disaster Management

Teams at the village level will consist of members of voluntary organisations like

Nehru Yuvak Kendra and other non-governmental organisations as well as able

bodied volunteers from the village. The teams are provided basic training in

evacuation, search and rescue etc. The Disaster Management Committee will

review the disaster management plan at least once in a year. It would also

generate awareness among the people in the village about dos’ and don’ts for

specific hazards depending on the vulnerability of the village. A large number of

village level Disaster Management Committees and Disaster Management Teams

have already been constituted.

2.16 The States have been advised to enact Disaster Management Acts. These

Acts provide for adequate powers for authorities coordinating mitigation, 13

preparedness and response as well as for mitigation/prevention measures

required

to be undertaken. Two States [Gujarat & Madhya Pradesh] have already enacted

such a law. Other States are in the process. The State Governments have also

been advised to convert their Relief Codes into Disaster Management Codes by

including aspects of prevention, mitigation and preparedness.

2.17 In order to further institutionalize the new approach, the Government of

India have decided to enunciate a National Policy on Disaster Management. A

draft policy has accordingly been formulated and is expected to be put in place

shortly. The policy shall inform all spheres of Central Government activity and

shall take precedence over all existing sectoral policies. The broad objectives of

the policy are to minimize the loss of lives and social, private and community

assets because of natural or manmade disasters and contribute to sustainable

development and better standards of living for all, more specifically for the poor

and vulnerable sections by ensuring that the development gains are not lost

through natural calamities/disasters.

2.18 The policy notes that State Governments are primarily responsible for

disaster management including prevention and mitigation, while the Government

of India provides assistance where necessary as per the norms laid down from
time

to time and proposes that this overall framework may continue. However, since

response to a disaster requires coordination of resources available across all the

Departments of the Government, the policy mandates that the Central

Government

will, in conjunction with the State Governments, seek to ensure that such a

coordination mechanism is laid down through an appropriate chain of command

so

that mobilization of resources is facilitated.

2.19 The broad features of the draft national policy on disaster management are

enunciated below:- 14

i) A holistic and pro-active approach for prevention, mitigation and

preparedness will be adopted for disaster management.

ii) Each Ministry/Department of the Central/State Government will set

apart an appropriate quantum of funds under the Plan for specific

schemes/projects addressing vulnerability reduction and preparedness.

iii) Where there is a shelf of projects, projects addressing mitigation will be

given priority. Mitigation measures shall be built into the on-going

schemes/programmes

iv) Each project in a hazard prone area will have mitigation as an essential

term of reference. The project report will include a statement as to how

the project addresses vulnerability reduction.

v) Community involvement and awareness generation, particularly that of

the vulnerable segments of population and women has been emphasized

as necessary for sustainable disaster risk reduction. This is a critical

component of the policy since communities are the first responders to

disasters and, therefore, unless they are empowered and made capable

of managing disasters, any amount of external support cannot lead to

optimal results.

vi) There will be close interaction with the corporate sector, nongovernmental
organisations and the media in the national efforts for

disaster prevention/vulnerability reduction.

vii) Institutional structures/appropriate chain of command will be built up

and appropriate training imparted to disaster managers at various levels

to ensure coordinated and quick response at all levels; and development

of inter-State arrangements for sharing of resources during emergencies.

viii) A culture of planning and preparedness is to be inculcated at all levels

for capacity building measures. 15

ix) Standard operating procedures and disaster management plans at state

and district levels as well as by relevant central government departments

for handling specific disasters will be laid down.

x) Construction designs must correspond to the requirements as laid down

in relevant Indian Standards.

xi) All lifeline buildings in seismic zones III, IV & V – hospitals, railway

stations, airports/airport control towers, fire station buildings, bus stands

major administrative centres will need to be evaluated and, if necessary,

retro-fitted.

xii) The existing relief codes in the States will be revised to develop them

into disaster management codes/manuals for institutionalizing the

planning process with particular attention to mitigation and

preparedness.

2.19 With the above mentioned institutional mechanism and policy framework

in position and the actions taken to implement the policy guidelines, it is

expected

that the task of moving towards vulnerability reduction will be greatly facilitated.
16

SECTION III

Early Warning System

Cyclone Forecasting

3.1 Tropical Cyclones are intense low pressure systems which develop over

warm sea. They are capable of causing immense damage due to strong
winds,

heavy rains and storm surges. The frequency of the TC in the Bay of Bengal
is

4 to 5 times more than in the Arabian Sea. About 35% of initial disturbances
in

the north Indian ocean reach TC stage of which 45% become severe.

3.2 Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) is mandated to monitor and give

warnings regarding Tropical Cyclone (TC). Monitoring process has been

revolutionized by the advent of remote sensing techniques. A TC intensity

analysis and forecast scheme has been worked out using satellite image

interpretation techniques which facilitate forecasting of storm surges.

3.3 Data resources are crucial to early forecasting of cyclones. Satellite based

observations are being extensively utilized. Satellite integrated automated

weather stations have been installed on islands, oilrigs and exposed coastal

sites. Buoys for supplementing the surface data network in the tropical ocean
have been deployed. The Government have also started a National Data Buoy

Programme. A set of 12 moored buoys have been deployed in the northern

Indian Ocean to provide meteorological and oceanographic data.

3.4 Dynamic forecasting of TCs requires knowledge of the vertical structure of

both the Cyclone and the surrounding environment. The rawin sonde remains
the

principal equipment for sounding. The Doppler Radar wind profiler provides

hourly soundings. A mesosphere, stratosphere, troposphere (MST) radar has

also

been installed at Thirupatti. Another profiler is being developed and will be 17

deployed at IMD Pune. Another important source of upper level data is the

aircraft reports. Increasing number of commercial jet aircraft are equipped with

the Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay system. This data is being made

available is also being used by the IMD for analysis and predictions.

3.5 Radars have been used to observe TCs since long. Surveillance of the

spiral rain bands and the eye of the TC is an important function of the coastal

radars. 10 Cyclones Detection Radars have already been installed. These radars

are providing useful estimates of storm centres upto a range 300-400 Km.

Doppler radars provide direct measurements of wind fields in TCs. Due to

range limitation, Doppler wind estimates are usually within a range of about

100 Km. IMD has deployed Doppler radars at 3 sites on the east coast.

Another set of 3 Doppler radars are being deployed in Andhra Pradesh in near

future.

3.6 The meteorological satellite has made a tremendous impact on the analysis

of cyclones. All developing cloud clusters are routinely observed through

satellite cloud imagery & those showing signs of organisation are closely

monitored for signs of intensification. TC forecasters everywhere use the

Dvorak

technique to estimate storm location and intensity. It has been found to

provide
realistic estimates for TCs in the Bay of Bengal as well as Arabian Sea.

INSAT data has also been used to study the structures of different TCs in the

Bay of Bengal. IMD is also producing Cloud Motion Vectors (CMVs). Very

High Resolution Radiometer (VHRR) payload onboard INSAT –2E which have

been improved upon to provide water vapor channel data in addition to VIS & IR

onboard INSAT – 2E. A separate payload known as Charged Couple Device

(CCD) has also been deployed onboard this satellite. 18

3.7 The goal of any warning system is to maximize the number of people who

take appropriate and timely action for the safety of life and property. All
warning

systems start with detection of the event and with people getting out of harm’s

way. Such warning systems encompass three equally important elements

namely;

Detection and Warning; Communication; and Response.

3.8 The two stage warning system has been in existence since long in IMD.

Recently it has been improved upon by introducing two more stages - the
‘PreCyclone watch’ and the ‘post-landfall Scenario’. This four stage warning

system meets the requirements of Public Administrators and Crisis Managers.

The ‘Pre-Cyclone Watch’ stage, contains early warning about the development
of

a cyclonic disturbance in the form of monsoon depression which has a potential

to threaten the coast with cyclone force winds. The coastal stretch likely to be

affected is identified. This early warning bulletin is issued by the IMD before the

Cyclone-Alert Stage. This provides enough lead time for the crisis managers to

undertake preparedness actions.

3.9 After the early warning on the ‘Pre-Cyclone Watch’ the Collectors of

coastal and few immediate interior districts and the Chief Secretary of the

concerned maritime State are warned in two stages, whenever any coastal
belt is
expected to experience adverse weather (heavy rain/gales/tidal wave) in

association with a cyclonic storm or a depression likely to intensify into a

cyclonic storm.

3.10 The second stage of “Cyclone Alert” is sounded 48 hours in advance of

the expected commencement of adverse weather over the coastal areas.

Forecasts of commencement of strong winds, heavy precipitation along the

coast in association with arrival of cyclone are issued at the alert stage. Landfall

point is usually not identified at this stage. The third stage warning known as
19

“Cyclone Warning” is issued 24 hours in advance. Landfall point is forecast in

this stage of cyclone warning. In addition to the forecasts for heavy rains and

strong winds, the storm surge forecast is also issued. Since the storm surge is
the

biggest killer so far as the devastating attributes of a storm are concerned,

information in this regard is most critical for taking follow up action for

evacuation from the low lying areas likely to be affected by the storm.

3.11 After the landfall of the cyclone the strong winds with gale force speeds

continue over certain interior districts of the maritime States hit by the
cyclone.

To take cognizance of that, a fourth stage known as ‘Post-landfall Scenario

Stage’ is now identified usually as a part of the ‘Cyclone Warning Stage’ either
at

the time of landfall of the disturbance or about twelve hour in advance of it. It

includes warnings of strong winds and heavy rains likely to be encountered in

the

interior districts.

3.12 For communications, the IMD makes use of 97 point-to-point teleprinter

links connecting different field offices. Switching computers have been

provided at 5 Regional Centres. These computers are linked to the central

Regional Telecom Hub Computer at New Delhi. In addition, 69 centres have

been provided with 85 telex connections. Besides, 27 field offices have been

provided with Radio Teletype facility. IMD also utilizes VSAT technology

which has been installed at field offices. In addition, there are a number of

HF/RT and VHF links.

3.13 Cyclone warnings are communicated to Crisis Managers and other

concerned organizations by high priority telegrams, telex, telephones and Police

wireless. Cyclone warning are provided by the IMD from the Area Cyclone

Warning Centres (ACWCs) at Calcutta, Chennai and Mumbai and Cyclone

Warning Centers (CWCs) at Vishakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar and Ahmedabad. 20

There is also a Satellite based communication system called the Cyclone

Warning

Dissemination Systems (CWDS) for transmission of warnings. There are 250 such

cyclone-warning sets installed in the cylone prone areas of east and west coast.

The general public, the coastal residents and fishermen, are also warned
through

the Government mechinery and broadcast of warnings through AIR and

Television.

Flood Forecasting

3.17 Flooding is caused by the inadequate capacity within the banks of the rivers

to contain the high flow brought down from the upper catchments due to heavy

rainfall. It is also caused by accumulation of water resulting from heavy spells

of

rainfall over areas, which have got poor drainage characteristics.

3.18 Flooding is accentuated by erosion and silting leading to meandering of the

rivers in plains and reduction in carrying capacity of the river channel. It is also

aggravated by earthquakes and land slides, leading to changes in river course

and

obstructions to flow. Synchronization of floods in the main rivers and

tributaries and retardation of flow due to tidal effects lead to major floods.

Cyclones bring in their wake considerable loss of life and property.

3.19 The flood forecasting and warning system is used for alerting the likely

damage centers well in advance of the actual arrival of floods, to enable the
people

to move and also to remove the moveable property to safer places or to raised

platforms specially constructed for the purpose.

3.20 A beginning in scientific flood forecasting was made in November, 1958 by

Central Water Commission (then known as Central Water & Power Commission)

when a Flood Forecasting Centre was set up at its Headquarters, at Delhi, for 21

giving timely Forecasts and Warnings of the incoming floods to the villages

located in the river areas around the National Capital, Delhi. The network has

been expanding and by now the Flood Forecasting Network of the Central Water

Commission(CWC) covers all the major flood prone inter-State river basins in the

country.

3.21 At present there are 166 flood forecasting stations on various rivers in the

country which includes 134 level forecasting and 32 inflow forecasting stations,

river-wise break up of which is as under :

Sl.No. Name of River Systems No. of Flood Forecasting Stations

Level Inflow Total

1. Ganga & Tributaries 71 14 85

2. Brahmaputra & Tributaries 27 - 27

3. Barak-System 2 - 2

4. Eastern-Rivers 8 1 9

5. Mahanadi 2 1 3

6. Godavari 13 4 17

7. Krishna 2 6 8

8. West Flow Rivers 9 6 15

TOTAL 134 32 166

3.22 The Flood Forecasting Network covers the 14 States and one Union

Territory in addition to NCT of Delhi. State-wise number of flood forecasting

centres are as under :

Sl. No. of Flood Forecasting Stations

No.

State /

Union territory Level Inflow Total

1. Andhra Pradesh 8 7 15

2. Assam 23 - 23

3. Bihar 32 - 32

4. Chhattishgarh 01 - 01

5. Gujarat 6 4 10

6. Haryana - 01 01

7. Jharkhand - 04 04 22

8. Karnataka 01 03 04

9. Madhya Pradesh 2 - 02

10. Maharashtra 5 02 07

11. Orissa 10 01 11

12. Uttaranchal 01 02 03

13. Uttar Pradesh 31 04 35

14. West Bengal 11 03 14

15. Dadra & Nagar

Haveli

01 01 02

16. N.C.T. of Delhi 02 - 02

All India total 134 32 166

3.23 The Flood Forecasting involves the following four main activities :-

(i) Observation and collection of hydrological and hydro-meteorological

data;
(ii) Transmission of Data to Forecasting Centres;

(iii) Analysis of data and formulation of forecast; and

(iv) Dissemination of forecast.

3.24 On an average, 6000 forecasts at various places in the country are issued

during the monsoon season every year. The analysis of the forecasts issued

during the last 25 years (1978 to 2002) indicates that accuracy of forecasts has

consistently increased from around 81% to 98%. Forecast is considered accurate

if forecast water level is within ± 15 cm. of actual water level of the inflow

forecast (i.e. discharge) is with in ± 20% of actual discharge. 23

3.25 In monitoring the floods, severity of floods are placed in the following four

categories by the central Water Commissions.

(i) Low flood stage:

It is that flood situation when the water level of the river is flowing

between warning level and danger level of the forecasting stations.

(ii) Medium flood stage:

The river is called in medium floods when its water level is at or

above the danger level of the forecasting station but below 0.50 of its

highest flood level (HFL).

(iii) High flood stage:

When the water level of the river is below the HFL but within 0.50

m. of the HFL of the forecasting stations.

(iv) Unprecedented flood stage :

The river is called in unprecedented floods when it attains water

level equal to or above its previous HFL at any forecasting station.

3.26 A computerized monitoring system has been developed under which daily

water levels as observed at 0800 hrs. and forecasts issued by field units are

transmitted to CWC headquarters in New Delhi. Based on the compilation of all

such data received from field divisions, daily water level and flood forecast

bulletins in two parts for stage and for inflow forecasting stations respectively.

3.27 Special Yellow Bulletins are issued whenever the river stage at the

forecasting site attains a level within 0.50 m of its previous HFL. Red Bulletins

highlighting security of the problem are also issued whenever the water level at

the forecasting stations equals or exceeds previous HFL. 24

3.28 Bulletins are also updated on CWC Web site: www.cwc.nic.in for

wider publicity among user agencies during flood season. 25

SECTION IV

Disaster Prevention and Mitigation

4.1 The Yokohama message emanating from the international decade for

natural disaster reduction in May, 1994 underlined the need for an emphatic
shift

in the strategy for disaster mitigation. It was inter alia stressed that disaster

prevention, mitigation, preparedness and relief are four elements which

contribute

to and gain, from the implementation of the sustainable development policies.

These elements alongwith environmental protection and sustainable

development,

are closely inter related. Therefore, nations should incorporate them in their

development plans and ensure efficient follow up measures at the community,

sub-regional, regional, national and international levels. The Yokohama Strategy

also emphasized that disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness are

better

than disaster response in achieving the goals and objectives of vulnerability

reduction. Disaster response alone is not sufficient as it yields only temporary

results at a very high cost. Prevention and mitigation contribute to lasting

improvement in safety and are essential to integrated disaster management.

4.2 The Government of India have adopted mitigation and prevention as

essential components of their development strategy. The Tenth Five Year Plan
document has a detailed chapter on Disaster Management. A copy of the said

chapter is enclosed at Annexure – II. The plan emphasizes the fact that

development cannot be sustainable without mitigation being built into

developmental process. Each State is supposed to prepare a plan scheme for

disaster mitigation in accordance with the approach outlined in the plan. In brief,

mitigation is being institutionalized into developmental planning.

4.3 As indicated in the earlier chapter, the Finance Commission makes

recommendations with regard to devolution of funds between the Central 26

Government and State Governments as also outlays for relief and rehabilitation.

The earlier Finance Commissions were mandated to look at relief and

rehabilitation. The Terms of Reference of the Twelfth Finance Commission have

been changed and the Finance Commission has been mandated to look at the

requirements for mitigation and prevention apart from its existing mandate of

looking at relief and rehabilitation. A Memorandum has been submitted to the

Twelfth Finance Commission after consultation with States. The Memorandum

proposes a Mitigation Fund.

4.4 The Government of India have issued guidelines that where there is a shelf

of projects, projects addressing mitigation will be given a priority. It has also

been

mandated that each project in a hazard prone area will have disaster

prevention/mitigation as a term of reference and the project document has to

reflect as to how the project addresses that term of reference. A copy of the

guidelines is at Annexure – III.

4.5 Measures for flood mitigation were taken from 1950 onwards. As against

the total of 40 million hectares prone to floods, area of about 15 million hectares

have been protected by construction of embankments. A number of dams and

barrages have been constructed. The State Governments have been assisted to

take up mitigation programmes like construction of raised platforms etc. Floods

continue to be a menace however mainly because of the huge quantum of silt

being carried by the rivers emanating from the Himalayas. This silt has raised
the

bed level in many rivers to above the level of the countryside. Embankments
have

also gives rise to problems of drainage with heavy rainfall leading to water

logging in areas outside the embankment.

4.6 Due to erratic behaviour of monsoons, both low and medium rain fall

regions, which constitute about 68% of the total area, are vulnerable to
periodical 27

droughts. Our experience has been that almost every third year is a drought
year.

However, in some of the States, there may be successive drought years

enhancing the vulnerability of the population in these areas. Local

communities

have devised indigenous safety mechanisms and drought oriented farming

methods in many parts of the country. From the experience of managing the
past

droughts particularly the severe drought of 1987, a number of programmes have

been launched by the Government to mitigate the impact of drought in the long

run. These programmes include Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP), Desert

Development Programme (DDP), National Watershed Development Project for

Rainfed Areas (NWDPRA), Watershed Development Programme for Shifting

Cultivation (WDPSC), Integrated Water Development Project (IWDP), Integrated

Afforestation and Eco-development Project Scheme (IAEPS).

4.7 A comprehensive programme has been taken up for earthquake mitigation.

Although, the BIS has laid down the standards for construction in the seismic

zones, these were not being followed. The building construction in urban and

suburban areas is regulated by the Town and Country Planning Acts and Building

Regulations. In many cases, the Building regulations do not incorporate the BIS

codes. Even where they do, the lack of knowledge regarding seismically safe

construction among the architects and engineers as well as lack of awareness

regarding their vulnerability among the population led to most of the
construction

in the urban/sub-urban areas being without reference to BIS standards. In the

rural

areas, the bulk of the housing is non-engineered construction. The mode of

construction in the rural areas has also changed from mud and thatch to brick
and

concrete construction thereby increasing the vulnerability. The increasing

population has led to settlements in vulnerable areas close to the river bed areas

which are prone to liquefaction. The Government have moved to address these

issues. 28

4.8 A National Core Group for Earthquake Mitigation has been constituted

consisting of experts in earthquake engineering and administrators. The Core

Group has been assigned with the responsibility of drawing up a strategy and

plan of action for mitigating the impact of earthquakes; providing advice and

guidance to the States on various aspects of earthquake mitigation;

developing/organizing the preparation of handbooks/pamphlets/type designs for

earthquake resistant construction; working out systems for assisting the States
in

the seismically vulnerable zones to adopt/integrate appropriate Bureau of

Indian

Standards codes in their building byelaws; evolving systems for training of

municipal engineers as also practicing architects and engineers in the private

sector in the salient features of Bureau of Indian Standards codes and the

amended byelaws; evolving a system of certification of architects/engineers for

testing their knowledge of earthquake resistant construction; evolving systems

for training of masons and carry out intensive awareness generation

campaigns.

4.9 A Committee of experts has been constituted to review the building

byelaws. The State Governments have been advised to ensure rigorous

enforcement of existing bye laws. A national programme for capacity building

for earthquake mitigation has been finalized for imparting training to 10000

engineers in public and private sectors. Since earthquake engineering is not a

part of course curriculum in engineering colleges at undergraduate level at

present , it is proposed to select 3 to 4 leading engineering colleges in each

State

and train the faculty members of the civil engineering departments in

earthquake engineering at the Indian Institutes of Technology and few other

apex level institutes which have the requisite capabilities. These faculty

members will take up training of municipal engineers as well as the training of

engineers/architects in the private sector in RCC and masonry construction. The

first phase of this programme for imparting training to 10000 engineers will
be 29

completed within a period of three years. The trained faculty members of the

leading engineering colleges will also assist the State Governments in the

detailed evaluation of lifeline buildings and their retrofitting, wherever

necessary.

4.10 It has been decided to include earthquake engineering education in the

engineering colleges at undergraduate level. The course curriculum for this

purpose has already been finalized by a group of experts taken from IITs and
will

be introduced in the engineering colleges within an year. A system of special

audit of buildings is being put in place with a view to ensuring that the new

constructions conform to the latest building byelaws, which have been

reviewed

and revised recently by Bureau of Indian Standards.

4.11 While these mitigation measures will take care of the new constructions,

the problem of unsafe existing buildings stock would still remain. It will not

be possible to address the entire existing building stock, therefore the life line

buildings like hospitals, schools or buildings where people congregate like

cinema

halls, multi-storied apartments are being focussed on. The States have been
advised to have these buildings assessed and where necessary retrofitted. The

Ministry of Finance have been requested to advise the financial institutions to

give

loans for retrofitting on easy terms. Insofar as the private housing stock is

concerned emphasis is placed on awareness generation.

4.12 An earthquake mitigation project has been finalized for reducing the

vulnerability to earthquakes. The programme includes detailed evaluation and

retrofitting of lifeline buildings such as hospitals, schools, water and power

supply units, telecommunication buildings, airports/airport control towers,

railway stations, bus stands and important administrative buildings. The

programme also includes training of more than one hundred thousand

masons

for earthquake resistant constructions. Besides, assistance will be provided 30

under this project to the State Governments to put in place appropriate techno

legal regime.

4.13 An accelerated urban earthquake vulnerability reduction programme has

been taken up in 38 cities in seismic zones III, IV & V with population of half a

million and above. Sensitization workshop for engineers/architects,

government

functionaries and voluntary organizations have already been held in 36 of the

38 cities. Disaster mitigation and preparedness plans are under preparation in

these cities. Awareness generation campaign has already been undertaken.

The

orientation courses for engineers and architects have been organized to impart

knowledge about seismically safe construction and implementation of BIS

norms. This programme will be further extended to 166 earthquake prone

districts in seismic zones IV & V.

4.14 Rural housing and community assets for vulnerable sections of the

population are created at a fairly large scale by the Ministry of Rural

Development under the Indira Awas Yojna(IAY) and Sampooran Grameen

Rojgar Yojna(SGRY). About 250 thousand small but compact units are

constructed every year, besides community assets such as community centres,

recreation centres, anganwadi centres etc. Technology support is provided by

about two hundred rural housing centres spread over the entire country. The

Ministry of Rural Development are now under the process of revising their

guidelines for construction of such dwelling units by incorporating appropriate

earthquake/cyclone resistant features. Training to the functionaries in the

rural

housing centres will be organized through the Ministry of Home Affairs . This

initiative is expected to go a long way for the construction and popularisation of

seismically safe construction at village/block level.

31

4.15 A National Core Group on Cyclone Monitoring & Mitigation has been

constituted. Experts from Indian Meteorological Department, National Centre for

Medium Range Weather Forecasting, Central Water Commission, National

Remote Sensing Agency and Indian Space Research Organisation have been
made

the Members of the Core Group, besides administrators from the relevant

Ministries/Departments and State Governments vulnerable to cyclones. The

Group

has been assigned with the responsibility of looking warning protocols for

cyclones; coordination mechanism between different Central and State

Ministries/Departments/Organisations; mechanism for dissemination of warning

to

the local people and; cyclone mitigation measures required to be taken for the

coastal States. The Group will also suggest short-term and long-term measures
on

technology upgradation.

4.16 A cyclone mitigation project has been formulated. The project inter alia

includes components on strengthening of monitoring/warning systems, coastal

shelter belt plantation, mangrove plantation, construction of cyclone shelters,

storm surge modeling and water envelope studies. The focus will be on
regeneration of coastal shelter belt plantation and mangrove plantation where
these

have degenerated. The location of the cyclone shelters will be decided in such a

manner that no person in the vulnerable zone is required to walk more than two

kilometers to reach a cyclone shelter. The cyclone shelters will be multi purpose

units to be run as schools or community centres in normal times and will have

capacity to house 3000 to 5000 persons with adequate number of toilets,

community kitchen and other facilities. Areas will be identified for providing

shelter to livestock.

4.17 In the engineering designs for construction, special attention will be paid to

the attachment of roof to the dwelling units so as to make such units cyclone 32

proof, besides incorporating earthquake resistant features. The project will be

taken up shortly and is expected to be completed over a period of five years.

4.18 A Disaster Risk Management Programme has been taken up with the

assistance from UNDP, USAID and European Union in 169 most hazard prone

districts in 17 States including all the 8 North Eastern State. The implementation

of the project commenced from October, 2002 and is expected to be concluded

by

December, 2007. The programme components include awareness generation

and

public education, preparedness, planning and capacity building, developing

appropriate policies, institutional, administrative, legal and techno-legal regime

at

State, District, Block, village, urban local body and ward levels for vulnerability

reduction.

4.19 Under this programme Disaster Management Plans have been prepared for

about 3500 villages, 250 Gram Panchayat, 60 blocks and 15 districts. Elected

representatives of over 8000 Panchayati Raj Institutions have already been

trained,
besides imparting training to Members of voluntary organisations. Over 20000

Government functionaries have been trained in disaster mitigation and

preparedness at different levels. About 600 engineers and 220 architects have
been

trained under this programme in vulnerability assessment of lifeline buildings.

Training is being imparted to master trainers under the programme. More than
600

master trainers and 1000 teachers have already been trained in different
districts in

disaster mitigation. Disaster Management Committees consisting of elected

representatives, civil society members, Civil Defence volunteers and

Government

functionaries have been constituted at all levels including village/urban local

body/ward levels. Disaster Management Teams have been constituted in villages

and are being imparted training in basic functions of first aid, rescue, evacuation

and related issues. The thrust of the programme is to build up capabilities of the

community since the community is invariably the first responder. During the last
33

15 months, it has been experienced that the capacity building of the community

has been very helpful even in normal situations when isolated instances of

drowning, burns etc. take place. With the creation of awareness generation on

disaster mitigation, the community will be able to function as a well-knit unit in

case of any emergency. Mock drills are carried out from time to time under the

close supervision of Disaster Management Committees. The Disaster

Management

Committees and Disaster Management Teams have been established by

notifications issued by the State Governments which will ensure that the entire

system is institutionalized and does not disintegrate after the conclusion of the

programme. The key points being stressed under this programme are the need
to
ensure sustainability of the programme, development of training modules;
manuals

and codes, up-scaling partnerships in excellence, focused attention to awareness

generation campaigns; institutionalization of disaster management committees

and

disaster management teams, disaster management plans and mock-drills and

establishment of techno-legal regimes.

4.20 Human Resource Development at all levels is critical to institutionalization

of disaster mitigation strategy. The National Centre for Disaster Management at

the national level has been upgraded and designated as the National Institute
of

Disaster Management. It is being developed as a Regional Centre of Excellence

in

Asia. The National Institute of Disaster Management will develop training

modules at different levels, undertake training of trainers and organize training

programmes for planners, administrators and command functionaries. Besides,

the

other functions assigned to the National Institute of Disaster Management

include

development of exhaustive National level information base on disaster

management policies, prevention mechanisms, mitigation measures; formulation

of disaster management code and providing consultancy to various States in

strengthening their disaster management systems and capacities as well as 34

preparation of disaster management plans and strategies for hazard mitigation

and

disaster response.

4.21 Disaster Management faculties have already been created in 29 State level

training institutes located in 28 States. These faculties are being directly

supported

by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The State Training Institutions take up several

focused training programmes for different target groups within the State. The
Disaster Management faculties in these Institutes are being further strengthened
so

as to enable them to develop as Institutes of Excellence for a specific disaster.

This

system has already been institutionalized and is being further strengthened so

as to

make it a focal point in each State for development of human resources in

disaster

mitigation and preparedness. Assistance to the State level training institutes will
be

provided by the National Institute of Disaster Management in the development of

training/capsules training modules for different functionaries at different levels.

4.22 Large-scale awareness generation bringing out specific do’s and don’ts is

crucial to disaster mitigation. A Steering Committee on mass-media campaign

has

been constituted for this purpose. The Committee is in the process of developing
a

profile for taking up mass media campaign through audio, video and print media

as well as publicity through pamphlets, posters, bus back panels at all levels. The

posters would be prominently displayed at buildings like Primary Health Centres,

Community Centres, schools and such other places where villagers normally

congregate for community activity. The Corporate sector is also being

associated

with the dissemination of campaign.

4.23 Disaster management as a subject in Social Sciences has been introduced

in

the school curriculum for Class VIII from the current academic year. The Central

Board of Secondary Education which has introduced the curriculum runs a very

large number of schools throughout the country and the course curriculum is 35

invariably followed by the State Boards of Secondary Education. Several State

Governments have already introduced the same curriculum in Class VIII from the

current academic year. Syllabus for Class IX and X has been finalized and will be
introduced in the course curriculum from April, 2004 and April, 2005
respectively.

4.24 In order to assist the State Governments in capacity building and awareness

generation activities and to learn from past experiences including sharing of best

practices, the Ministry of Home Affairs has compiled/prepared a set of resource

materials developed by various organisations/institutions to be replicated and

disseminated by State Governments based on their vulnerabilities after

translating

it into the local languages. The voluminous material which runs in about 10000

pages has been divided into 4 broad sections in 7 volumes. These sections

coverplanning to cope with disasters; education and training; construction

toolkit;

and information, education and communication toolkit including multi-media

resources on disaster mitigation and preparedness. The Planning section

contains

material for analyzing a community’s risk, development of Preparedness.

mitigation and disaster management plans, coordinating available resources and

implementing measures for risk reduction. The model bye-laws, DM Policy, Act

and model health sector plan have also been included. Education and Training

includes material for capacity building and upgradation of skills of policy makers,

administrators, trainers, engineers etc. in planning for and mitigating against

natural disasters. Basic and detailed training modules in disaster preparedness

have been incorporated along with training methodologies for trainers, for

community preparedness and manuals for training at district, block, panchayat

and

village levels. For creating a disaster-resistant building environment, the

Construction Toolkit addresses the issue of seismic resistant construction and

retrofitting of existing buildings. BIS Codes, manuals and guidelines for RCC,

Masonry and other construction methodologies as also for repair and retrofitting
of

masonry and low-rise buildings have been included. 36

4.25 IEC material seeks to generate awareness to induce mitigation and

preparedness measures for risk reduction Material and strategies used by

various

States and international organisations, including tips on different hazards, have

been incorporated along with multi-media CDs on disasters. The material has
been

disseminated to all the State Governments/UT Administrations with the request

to

have the relevant material, based on the vulnerability of each district, culled out,

translated into local languages and disseminate it widely down to the village
level.

4.26 The various prevention and mitigation measures outlined above are aimed

at building up the capabilities of the communities, voluntary organisations and

Government functionaries at all levels. Particular stress is being laid on ensuring

that these measures are institutionalized considering the vast population and the

geographical area of the country. This is a major task being undertaken by the

Government to put in place mitigation measures for vulnerability reduction. This

is just a beginning. The ultimate goal is to make prevention and mitigation a part

of normal day-to-day life. The above mentioned initiatives will be put in place
and

information disseminated over a period of five to eight years. We have a firm

conviction that with these measures in place, we could say with confidence that

disasters like Orissa cyclone and Bhuj earthquake will not be allowed to recur in

this country; at least not at the cost, which the country has paid in these two

disasters in terms of human lives, livestock, loss of property and means of

livelihood. 37

SECTION V

Preparedness

5.1 Mitigation and preparedness measures go hand in hand for vulnerability

reduction and rapid professional response to disasters. The Bhuj earthquake in

January, 2001 brought out several inadequacies in the system. The search and

rescue teams had not been trained professionally; specialized dog squad to
look

for live bodies under the debris were not available; and there was no centralized

resource inventory for emergency response. Although army played a pivotal

role

in search and rescue and also set up their hospital after the collapse of

Government hospital at Bhuj, the need for fully equipped mobile hospitals with

trained personnel was felt acutely. Despite these constraints, the response was

fairly well organized. However, had these constraints been taken care of before

hand, the response would have been even more professional and rapid which
may

have reduced the loss of lives. Specialist search and rescue teams from other

countries did reach Bhuj. However, precious time was lost and even with
these

specialist teams it was not possible to cover all severely affected areas as
quickly

as the Government would have desired. It was, therefore, decided that we

should remove these inadequacies and be in a stage of preparedness at all

times.

5.2 The Central Government are now in the process of training and equipping

96 specialist search and rescue teams, with each team consisting of 45

personnel

including doctors, paramedics, structural engineers etc. Ten teams have

already

been trained. These teams will be located at various centres around the country

for specialised response. These teams will have the latest equipment as also
dog

squads for locating survivors in the debris. 38

5.3 Apart from specialist search & rescue units, it has been decided that

personnel of Central Police Organisations should also be imparted training in

search and rescue so that they can be requisitioned to the site of incident
without

loss of time. Pending arrival of the specialist teams, the battalions located near
the

site of incident would be deployed immediately. For this purpose, a curriculum

has been drawn up and integrated into the training curriculum of CPMFs.

5.4 The States have also been advised to set up their own specialist teams for

responding to disasters. Assistance will be provided to the State Governments

for

training their trainers at the national institutes already designated for this

purpose. The State Governments’ search and rescue teams to be constituted

from

the State Police will be equipped to meet the requirement. For this purpose,
the

State Governments have been authorised to utilize 10% of the annual

allocation

made under the Contingency Relief Fund for purchase of equipments.

5.5 Fourteen Regional Response Centres are being set up in different parts of

the country . These centres will have response teams and equipment and
resources

for being able to response to any hazard/calamity in the neighbouring States.

5.6 A Steering Committee has been constituted in the Ministry to oversee the

creation of capabilities for emergency response.

5.7 A 200 bedded mobile hospital, fully trained and equipped is being set up

by the Ministry of Health and attached to a leading Government hospital in

Delhi. Three additional mobile hospitals with all medical and emergency

equipments are proposed to be located in different parts of the country. These

mobile hospitals will also be attached to the leading Government hospitals in

the

country. This will enable the mobile hospitals to extend assistance to the

hospitals with which they are attached in normal time. They will be airlifted
39
during emergencies with additional doctors/paramedics taken from the hospitals

with which the mobile hospitals are attached to the site of disaster.

5.8 It is proposed to purchase dedicated aircraft and helicopters with a view

to reducing the response time. The issue is pending for consideration and

approval of Empowered Group of Ministers on Disaster Management. Once the

airlift facilities are developed for exclusive use for disaster management, it will

be possible to provide airlift facilities to specialist search and rescue teams,

mobile hospitals and equipments.

5.9 In order to professionalise the response, it is proposed to introduce the

Incident Command System in the country. This system provides for specialist

incident command teams with an Incident Commander and officers trained in

different aspects of incident management – logistics, operations, planning,

safety,

media management etc. The incident Command System has been finalized

keeping in view the systems and procedures prevalent in our country by

dovetailing it in the existing governmental machinery already in position. The

training of trainers in the Incident Command System has already commenced

at

Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration at Mussoori which has

been designated as the nodal training institutes for this purpose.

5.10 A web-enabled centralised data base for the India Disaster Resource

Network has been operationalzed. The network will ensure quick access to

resources to minimise response time in emergencies. The list of resources to

be

updated in the system has been finalized. It has 226 items. About 60,000
records

in 481 districts throughout the country have already been uploaded since Ist

September, 2003 when the India Disaster Resource Network was formally

inaugurated. The system will give, at the touch of the button, location of specific

equipments/specialist resources as well as the Controlling authority for that 40

resource so that it can be mobilized for response in the shortest possible time.
The

data base will be available simultaneously at the district, state and national
levels.

5.11 The States are being persuaded to set up control rooms/emergency

operations centres at the state and district level. Assistance for construction
and

purchase of equipments for control rooms is being provided. The control

rooms,

which will function round the clock, will be composite control rooms to look after

law and order issues as well as disaster management. Equipments are also

being provided for these control rooms under the disaster risk management

programme.

5.12 Communication is a major bottleneck in case of any major disaster

particularly when the traditional network system already in force brake down. In

order to strengthen communications, it has been decided that police network

(POLNET) will also be used for disaster management. For this purpose POLNET

communication facility will be extended to District Magistrates, Sub Divisional

Magistrates as well as the Control Rooms. For emergency communication,

mobile satellite based units which can be transported to the site of the
disaster

are being procured. A group was constituted to draw a comprehensive

communication plan for disaster management and the report has since been

received. This provides for a dedicated communication system for disaster

management with built in redundancies.

5.13 The Geographical Information System (GIS) data base is an effective tool

for emergency responders to access information in terms of crucial parameters

for the disaster affected areas. The crucial parameters include location of the

public facilities, communication links and transportation network at national,

state

and district levels. The GIS data base already available with different agencies
of the Government is being upgraded and the gaps are proposed to be bridged.
A 41

project for this purpose is being drawn up with a view to institutionalising the

arrangements. The data base will provide multi layered maps on district wise

basis. Three maps taken in conjunction with the satellite images available for a

particular area will enable the district administration as well as State

Governments to carry out hazard zonation and vulnerability assessment, as well

as coordinate response after a disaster.

5.14 In order to further strengthen the capacity for response, the fire services

are proposed to be developed into multi hazard response units as is the normal

practice in several other countries. It is proposed to provide rescue tenders in

addition to fire tenders to each fire unit and fill up all gaps upto sub-divisional

level. Hazmat vans will be provided to State capitals and metropolitan cities.

This will necessitate recruitment of additional fire men and drivers and intensive

training required to be provided to enable them to function as efficient of all

purpose response units. A project for development of fire service into all hazard

response units has also been finalized and submitted for obtaining necessary

financial approval.

5.15 India has a large network of Civil Defence and Home Guards volunteers.

The existing strength is about 1.2 million. However, this organization has not
so

far been associated with disaster mitigation, preparedness and response

functions. It is proposed to revamp the Civil Defence organization to enable

them to discharge a key responsibility in all the facets of disaster

management

including preparedness. A proposal in this regard has been finalized and is

under

consideration of the Government.

5.16 Standard Operating Procedures are being laid down to ensure all the steps

required to be taken for disaster management are put in place. The Standard
Operating Procedure will also in encompass response, besides preparedness. 42

5.17 With the development of disaster management committees and disaster

management teams at all levels including village/urban local body/ward level,

the

stage will be set for comprehensive preparedness measures to be taken with

active participation of the community and non-governmental organizations.

5.18 With the mitigation and preparedness measures outlined in this and earlier

section in position, it is expected that natural hazards could be handled more

efficiently so as to ensure that these hazards did not get converted into
disasters. 43

SECTION VI

Conclusion

6.1 Disaster Management has to be a multi-disciplinary and pro-active

approach. Besides various measures for putting in place institutional and policy

framework, disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness enunciated in this

paper and initiatives being taken by the Central and State Governments, the

community, civil society organisations and media also have a key role to play in

achieving our goal of moving together, towards a safer India. The message being

put across is that, in order to move towards safer and sustainable national

development, development projects should be sensitive towards disaster

mitigation.

6.2 Our mission is vulnerability reduction to all types of hazards, be it natural

or manmade. This is not an easy task to achieve, keeping in view the vast

population, and the multiple natural hazards to which this country is exposed.

However, if we are firm in our conviction and resolve that the Government and
the

people of this country are not prepared to pay the price in terms of massive

casualties and economic losses, the task, though difficult, is achievable and we

shall achieve it.

6.3 We have taken the first few but significant steps towards vulnerability

reduction, putting in place prevention and mitigation measures and

preparedness

for a rapid and professional response. With a massive awareness generation

campaign and building up of capabilities as well as institutionalization of the

entire mechanism through a techno legal and techno financial framework, we are

gradually moving in the direction of sustainable development. 44

6.4 Our vision 2020 is to build a safer and secure India through sustained

collective effort, synergy of national capacities and people’s participation. What

looks a dream today will be transformed into reality in the next two decades.
This

is our goal and we shall strive to achieve this goal with a missionary zeal. The
path

ahead, which looks difficult today, will become a lot easier as we move along

together. 45

ANNEXURE-I

MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

[NDM DIVISION]

1. A review of the disaster management mechanism was carried out by the

Government of India after the Bhuj earthquake. It was noted that there was
need

for building up holistic capabilities for disaster management – so as to be able to

handle both natural and man-made disasters. It was accordingly decided that
the

subject of Disaster Management be transferred from the Ministry of Agriculture

to

the Ministry of Home Affairs (excluding drought and epidemics and those

emergencies/disasters which were specifically allotted to other Ministries). The

Government (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 were accordingly amended in

February, 2002. The actual transfer of work took place in June, 2002.

2. India has been very vulnerable to natural hazards and calamities. The Bhuj
earthquake accounted for 13805 deaths, the super cyclone in Orissa accounted
for

9885 deaths. Government are of the view that if appropriate mitigation

measures

had been taken these casualties could have been reduced significantly.

3. Each year disasters also account for loss of thousands of crores in terms of

social and community assets. It is clear that development cannot be sustainable

without building in mitigation into the planning process. Keeping the above

factors in view, the Government of India have brought about a change in policy

which emphasizes mitigation, prevention and preparedness. With the approval

of

Dy. Prime Minister, a strategic roadmap as given in the succeeding pages has
been

drawn up for reducing the country’s vulnerability to disasters. Action for

reducing

our vulnerabilities to disasters shall be taken in accordance with the roadmap.

The

roadmap will be reviewed every two years to see if any change in direction is

necessary. 46

NATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK

I. INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS

Expected Outputs Areas of intervention Agencies/sectors to be

involved and resource

linkages.

Nodal agency for

disaster management at

the national level with

appropriate systems

(i)Constitution of

National Emergency

Management Authority
with appropriate legal,

financial and

administrative powers.

(ii)Roles and

responsibilities of the

NEMA:

-Coordinating multihazard mitigation,

prevention, preparedness

and response

programmes.

- Policies for disaster

risk reduction and

mitigation

-Preparedness at all

levels.

-Coordination of

response

-Coordination of post

disaster relief and

rehabilitation.

-Amendment of existing

laws, procedures,

instructions.

Ministries/ Departments

of Health, Water

Resources, Environment

and Forests, Agriculture,

Railways, Atomic
Energy, Defence,

Chemicals, Science &

Technology, Rural

Development, Road

Transport & Highways

etc. 47

Creation of State

Departments of Disaster

Management

Departments of Relief &

Rehabilitation to be redesignated as

Department of Disaster

Management with

enhanced areas of

responsibility to include

mitigation, prevention

and preparedness

State Governments/ UT

Administration.

Setting up State Disaster

Management Authorities

(i) State Disaster

Management Authority

to be headed by the Chief

Minister.

(ii) The Authority to lay

down policies and

monitor mitigation,
prevention and

preparedness as also

oversee response.

Ministers for

Agriculture, Home,

Disaster Management,

Water Resources,

Health, Road &

Transport, Civil

Supplies, Environment &

Forests, Rural

Development, Urban

Development and Public

Health Engineering

Departments as

Members.

II. DISASTER MITIGATION/PREVENTION

Disaster

mitigation/prevention to

be mainstreamed into the

development process.

(i) Each Ministry

/Department which has a

role in mitigation

/prevention will make

appropriate outlays for

schemes addressing

mitigation/prevention
(ii) Where there is a

shelf of projects

/schemes, projects /

schemes contributing to

mitigation to be given a

priority.

(iii) Wherever possible

Ministries / Department

of Govt. of India / State

Governments /UT

Administration 48

schemes/projects in areas

prone to natural hazards

to be so designed as to

contribute to mitigation,

and preparedness.

(iv) Projects in

vulnerable areas/areas

prone to natural hazards

to be designed to

withstand natural

hazards.

Techno-legal regime (i) regular review of

building codes and its

dissemination

(ii) construction in

seismic zones III, IV and

V to be as per BIS
codes/National Building

Codes.

(iii) Construction in

areas vulnerable to

cyclones to be so

designed as to withstand

the wind hazard as per

BIS codes/National

Building Codes.

(iv) Comprehensive

review and compliance

of

- Town and Country

Planning Acts

-Development Control

Regulations

-Planning and Building

Standards Regulations

Bureau of Indian

Standards/Ministry of

urban Development

State Urban

Development

Department / Urban

Local Bodies

State Urban

Development

Department / Urban
Local Bodies

State Urban

Development

Department / Urban

Local Bodies 49

(v)Put in place

appropriate technofinancial regime

(vi)Capacity

enhancement of Urban

Local Bodies to enforce

compliance of technolegal regimes

State Urban

Development

Department / Urban

Local Bodies

State Governments

Land-use Planning and

Zoning regulations

(i) Legal framework for

Land-use planning and

zoning regulations to be

reviewed.

(ii) Zoning regulations

to be enforced.

Ministry of Urban

Development

Department of Land

Resources[MORD]
Ministry of Environment

and Forests[GOI]

State Governments

Plan schemes for

vulnerability reduction

and preparedness.

State Governments. to

formulate Plan Schemes

and submit to Planning

Commission

State Governments

III. LEGAL/POLICY FRAMEWORK

Disaster Management to

be listed in List – III –

[Concurrent List] of

Seventh Schedule to the

Constitution

(i) Bill to be drafted.

(ii) Bill to be brought

before Parliament

Ministry of Home

Affairs/

Ministry of Law

(Legislative Department)

State Disaster

Management Acts

Model Act to be

circulated to the States.

Ministry of Home

Affairs

State Governments

National Policy on

Disaster Management

(i) Mainstreaming

disaster management into

planning and

development process.

Ministry of Home

Affairs, Ministry of

Finance, Planning

Commission, Ministry of 50

(ii) Mandate safe

construction.

(iii) Coordinated action

by all relevant

Departments as per

policy

Environment & Forests,

Rural Development,

Urban Development and

other relevant Ministries

to be consulted.

States to enunciate

Policy on Disaster

Management .

(i) Mainstreaming
disaster management into

planning and

development process.

(ii) Mandate safe

construction.

IV. PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE

National Emergency

Response Force/

Specialist Response

teams

(i) Designation of units

for conversion into

Specialist Response

Teams.

(ii) Designation of

training centres.

(iii) Training of trainers.

(iv) Procurement of

equipment

(v) Training of teams.

Ministry of Home

Affairs

Central Industrial

Security Force/ IndoTibetan Boarder Police/

Border Security Force/

Central Reserve Police

Force

Specialized Response Teams at State

level

(i) Designation

of units for

conversion into

Specialist

Response Teams.

(ii) Designation

of training

centres.

(iii) Training of

trainers.

(iv) Procurement

of equipment

using CRF

resources

(v) Training of

teams.

State Department

of Disaster

Management/State

Home Department

State Police

Traning College/

State Fire

Training Institute 52

V. NATIONAL NETWORK OF EMERGENCY OPERATION

CENTERS [NNEOCs]

Setting up Emergency
Operations Centre[EOC]

at National level

(i) Multi- hazard

resistant construction.

(ii) Communication

system linkages.

(iii) Mobile EOCs for

on-site disaster

information management

Central Public Works

Department

Department for Central

Public Works

Ministry of Home

Affairs

State level EOC (i) Multi- hazard

resistant construction.

(ii) Communication

system linkages.

(iii) Mobile EOC for onsite disaster management

information

State Governments

District level EOC (i) Multi- hazard

resistant construction.

(ii) Communication

system linkages.

State Governments

Putting Incident
Command System in

Place

(i) Designate nodal

training centres.

(ii) Putting in place

protocols/SOPs for

Incident Command

System.

Ministry of Home

Affairs/ Department of

Personal and Training/

Lal Bahadur Shastri

National Academy of

Administration / State

Governments/

Administrative Training

Institutes

Emergency Support

Function Plan

(i) epartments/agencies

which perform

emergency support

functions to draw up ESF

plans, constitute teams,

Central Government

Ministries/ Departments

State Governments 53

and set apart resources in

advance so that postdisaster response is

prompt.

India Disaster Resource

Network

(i) A web enabled GISbased resource inventory

listing out all the

necessary resources for

emergency response

available at the district

and State level

throughout the country

so that resources can be

mobilized at short notice.

(ii) Set up servers, draw

up and install

programmes, input data.

(iii) Half yearly

updating

Ministry of Home

Affairs

State Governments.

Communication linkages

which will be functional

even post-disaster.

(i) Draw up

communication plan.

(ii) Obtain sanctions.

(iii) Put communication

network in place.

Ministry of Home

Affairs

Directorate Coordination

of Police Wireless

State Governments

Regional Response

Centres

(i) Identify location of

Regional Response

Centres.

(ii) Identify caches of

equipment required.

(iii) Obtain sanctions.

(iv) Put teams and

caches of equipments in

place.

Ministry of Home

Affairs

Border Security Force/

Indo-Tibetan Border

Police /Central Reserve

Police Force/ Central

Industrial Security Force 54

Training in response to

be made a part of

training curriculum of

CPMFs and State Police

Forces.

(i)Draw up capsules.

(ii) Train trainers

Ministry of Home

Affairs

State Governments

State Disaster

Management Plans

(i) Plan to be drafted

under the supervision of

the Chief Secretary.

(ii) Plan will include

mitigation, preparedness

and response elements.

(iii) The plan will be

multi-disciplinary to be

drawn up in

conjunction/consultation

with all relevant

Departments concerned

with mitigation,

preparedness and

response.

(iv) Plan to be updated

once a year.

State Governments/ State

Disaster Management

Authorities
District Disaster

Management Plans

(i) To be drawn up

under the supervision of

District

Magistrate/Collector and

to include mitigation,

preparedness and

response.

(ii) Emergency Support

Functions by various

Departments to be

included.

(iii) To be drawn up in

consultation with all

State Governments/ State

Disaster Management

Authorities 55

relevant Departments.

(iv) District inventory of

resources to be

maintained.

Block Disaster

Management Plans

(i) To be drawn up

under the supervision of

District

Magistrate/Collector and
to include mitigation,

preparedness and

response.

(ii) Emergency Support

Functions by various

Departments to be

included.

(iii) To be drawn up in

consultation with all

relevant Departments.

(iv) District inventory of

resources to be

maintained.

State Governments/ State

Disaster Management

Authorities / Block

Development

Administration 56

Community based

mitigation, preparedness

and response plans

(i) Enhance community

capacity in multi-hazard

prone States and districts

to respond effectively to

disasters-special

attention to be given to

empowering and
capacity building of

vulnerable communities

and groups including

women.

(ii) Set up and train

village/ Panchayat (for

rural areas) and

wards/municipal

council/corporations (for

urban areas) disaster

management committees

and disaster management

teams e.g.

-Identification of safe

shelters and management

-Stockpiling of relief

materials etc.

-early warning

dissemination

-first-aid and counselling

-assist in search and

rescue

(iii) such plans to be

made integral to annual

development plan of

local bodies

(iv) mitigation plans of

the community and

Panchayats to receive

priority under various

rural development

schemes administered by

Panchayats and Urban

local bodies

State Governments/

District Administration/

Panchayati Raj

Institution /Urban Local

Bodies 57

VI. EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS

(i) State of the art

sensors to be set up.

(ii) Hazard monitoring,

tracking and modelling.

(i) IMD/CWC to carry out

a review of sensors

available and draw up

plans for strengthening the

system.

(ii) Models to be updated

to improve prediction

accuracy.

Indian Meteorological

Department/ Central

Water Commission/

National Centre for

Medium Range

Weather Forecasting

Warning Protocols (i) Warning protocols to

be user friendly.

(ii) Warning to be

communicated as quickly

as possible to the

States/districts/community.

(iii) Protocols should be

simple to understand.

(iv) Districts to set up

protocols for

communication of early

warning to the community.

(v) Panchayats/local

bodies to be used for early

warning communication.

vi) Communication

linkages for early warning.

Ministry of Home.

Affairs/ State

Governments /Indian

Meteorological

Department/ Central

Water Commission/

National Remote

Sensing Agency/

Information and
Broadcasting/

Doordarshan/ All India

Radio

VII. HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT & CAPACITY BUILDING

Training for services

/cadres/ agencies

involved in mitigation,

preparedness or

response.

(i) Training needs

analysis/ Human

Resource Development

Plan

(ii)Drawing up of

capsule courses for

Ministry of Home

Affairs

State Governments 58

training.

(iii) Training of trainers.

iv) National Institute for

Disaster Management to

be strengthened.

(iv)Setting up

/strengthening training

institutions in state

faculties of Disaster

Management in
Administrative Training

Institutes

Training of IAS/IPS,

State Administrative

Service Officers/State

Police.

(i) Training curriculum

for IAS/IPS and State

Administrative Service

Officers/State Police

Officers to include

capsules in disaster

management.

(ii)Training of

Block/Village level staff

(iii) Training of PRIs.

Administrative Training

Institutes /State Institutes

of Rural Development

and District Institutes of

Education and Training

to be used.

Engineers/Architects Curriculum for

undergraduate

engineering and B.Arch

courses to be amended to

include mitigation

technologies in general
and elements of

earthquake engineering

in particular

State Governments

All India Council for

Technical Education

Indian Institute of

Technologies

Professional bodies

Health Professionals Include crisis prevention,

response and recovery

and trauma management

in the MBBS curriculum.

Ministry of Health and

Family Welfare

Medical Council of India

Youth organisation NCC, NSS, Scouts &

Guides to include

disaster response, search

and rescue in their

orientation/training

programmes.

Ministry of Youth and

Sports

Ministry of Defence 59

Masons Mason training for safe

construction

Ministry of Rural
Development/

Department of Urban

Development/ State

Governments

School curriculum To include disaster

awareness.

Central and State Boards

of Education

National mass media

campaign for awareness

generation

Design and develop a

communication strategy

for awareness campaign

Use audio, visual and

print medium to

implement awareness

campaign

Development of resource

materials on mitigation,

preparedness and

response

Ministry of Home Affairs

/State Governments

Ministry of Home Affairs

/State Governments

Ministry of Home Affairs

Non-government
community-based

organizations involved in

awareness generation and

community participation

in disaster preparedness

and mitigation planning

(i) Facilitate network of

non-govt community

based organizations at

national/State/district

levels

(ii) Co-opted into the

planning process and

response mechanisms at

all levels

Ministry of Home Affairs

/National Institute for

Disaster Management

Ministry of Home Affairs

/National Institute for

Disaster Management

Corporate sectors

involved in awareness

generation and disaster

preparedness and

mitigation planning

Sensitisation, training and

co-opting corporate sector

and their nodal bodies in

planning process and

response mechanisms

Ministry of Home

Affairs/

Federation of Indian

Industries

Inter-state arrangements

for sharing of resources

during emergencies and

lessons learnt

(i) Arrangements for

inter-State sharing of

resources to be

incorporated in State

Ministry of Home

Affairs/

State Governments 60

Disaster Management

Plans

(ii) Inter-state exposure

visits to be facilitated for

learning from the

experiences of other

States

Ministry of Home

Affairs/

State Governments
VIII. RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Institutionalise

knowledge and lessons

learnt in the process of

working on the national

roadmap

(i) Assessment and

evaluation of ongoing

programmes and

activities

regular documentation of

key lessons

(ii) Establish India

Disaster Resource

Network as knowledge

portal to pool and

exchange information and

knowledge among all

concerned institutions and

organization

Ministry of Home Affairs

State Governments /

National Institute for

Disaster Management

Ministry of Home Affairs

Develop national

disasters database

(i)Systematic
inventorization of

disasters

(ii)Trend analysis and

reporting

National Institute for

Disaster Management

Promote research in

national, state and

regional institutions in the

areas of disaster risk

reduction

(i)mitigation technologies

for housing, roads and

bridges, water supply and

sewerage systems, power

utilities,

(ii)cost-effective

equipments for

specialized rapid response

and preparedness in

--temporary and transition

shelter in post-disaster

situations

Ministries / Departments

of Central Government 61

--search and rescue

equipments

--provision of drinking
water, emergency health

and sanitation in postdisaster situations

-post-trauma stress

management and care

(iii) promote participation

of corporate sector in

finding out technological

solutions for disaster risk

reduction 62

ANNEXURE-II

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

THE DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE

1. Five Year Plan documents have, historically, not included consideration of

issues relating to the management and mitigation of natural disasters. The

traditional perception has been limited to the idea of “calamity relief”, which is

seen essentially as a non-plan item of expenditure. However, the impact of major

disasters cannot be mitigated by the provision of immediate relief alone, which is

the primary focus of calamity relief efforts. Disasters can have devastating
effects

on the economy; they cause huge human and economic losses, and can

significantly set back development efforts of a region or a State. Two recent

disasters, the Orissa Cyclone and the Gujarat Earthquake, are cases in point.
With

the kind of economic losses and developmental setbacks that the country has
been

suffering year after year, the development process needs to be sensitive towards

disaster prevention and mitigation aspects. There is thus need to look at

disasters

from a development perspective as well.

2. Further, although disaster management is not generally associated with

plan financing, there are in fact a number of plan schemes in operation, such as
for

drought proofing, afforestation, drinking water, etc., which deal with the

prevention and mitigation of the impact of natural disasters. External assistance

for

post-disaster reconstruction and streamlining of management structures also is a

part of the Plan. A specific, centrally sponsored scheme on disaster management

also exists. The Plan thus already has a defined role in dealing with the subject.

3. Recently, expert bodies have dwelt on the role of the Planning

Commission and the use of plan funds in the context of disaster management.

Suggestions have been made in this regard by the Eleventh Finance

Commission,

and also the High Powered Committee on Disaster Management. An approach on

planning for safe development needs to be set out in the light of these
suggestions.

4. This chapter reflects the considerations outlined above. It briefly outlines

the global context and the Indian experience of disasters, sets out the
institutional

and financial arrangements for disaster management and the response towards

these in

the country, looks at directions for improvement, and concludes with a strategy
to

facilitate planning for safe national development in the Tenth Plan period. 63

THE GLOBAL CONTEXT

5. There has been an increase in the number of natural disasters over the past

years, and with it, increasing losses on account of urbanisation and population

growth, as a result of which the impact of natural disasters is now felt to a larger

extent. According to the United Nations, in 2001 alone, natural disasters of

medium to high range caused at least 25,000 deaths around the world, more
than

double the previous year, and economic losses of around US $ 36 billion. These
figures would be much higher, if the consequences of the many smaller and

unrecorded disasters that cause significant losses at the local community level

were to be taken into account. Devastations in the aftermath of powerful

earthquakes that struck Gujarat, El Salvador and Peru; floods that ravaged many

countries in Africa, Asia and elsewhere; droughts that plagued Central Asia

including Afghanistan, Africa and Central America; the cyclone in Madagascar

and Orissa; and floods in Bolivia are global events in recent memory. However,

what is disturbing is the knowledge that

these trends of destruction and devastation are on the rise instead of being kept
in

check.

6. Natural disasters are not bound by political boundaries and have no social

or economic considerations. They are borderless as they affect both developing

and developed countries. They are also merciless, and as such the vulnerable
tend

to suffer more at the impact of natural disasters. For example, the developing

countries are much more seriously affected in terms of the loss of lives, hardship

borne by population and the percentage of their GNP lost. Since 1991, two-third
of

the victims

of natural disasters were from developing countries, while just 2 per cent were

from highly developed nations. Those living in developing countries and

especially those with limited resources tend to be more adversely affected. With

the alarming rise in

the natural disasters and vulnera-bility per se, the world community is

strengthening its efforts to cope with it.

7. As a number of the most vulnerable regions are in India, natural disaster

management has emerged as a high priority for the country. Going beyond the

historical focus on relief and rehabilitation after the event, we now have to look
ahead and plan for disaster preparedness and mitigation, in order that the
periodic

shocks to our development efforts are minimized. 64

THE INDIAN EXPERIENCE

Regional Vulnerabilities

8. Physical vulnerability relates to the physical location of people, their

proximity to the hazard zone and standards of safety maintained to counter the

effects. For instance, some people are vulnerable to flood only because they live
in

a flood prone area. Physical vulnerability also relates to the technical capacity of

buildings and structures to resist the forces acting upon them during a hazard

event.

9. The extent to which a population is

affected by a calamity does not purely lie in

the physical components of vulnerability, but

is contextual also to the prevailing social and

economic conditions and it’s consequential

effect on human activities within a given

society. Research in areas affected by

earthquakes indicates that single parent

families, women, handicapped people,

children and the aged are particularly

vulnerable social groups. The geophysical setting with unplanned and

inadequate

developmental activity is a cause for increased losses during disasters. In the

case

of India, the contribution of over-population to high population density, which in

turn results in escalating losses, deserves to be noted. This factor sometimes

tends

to be as important as physical vulnerability attributed to geography and

infrastructure alone.

10. The continent of Asia is particularly vulnerable to disaster strikes. Between

the years 1991 to 2000 Asia has accounted for 83 per cent of the population

affected by disasters globally. While the number of people affected in the rest of

the world were 1,11,159, in Asia the number was 5,54,439.Within Asia, 24 per

cent of deaths due to disasters occur in India, on account of its size, population
and

vulnerability. Floods and high winds account for 60 per cent of all disasters in

India. While substantial progress has been made in other sectors of human

development, there is need to do more towards mitigating the effect of disasters.

11. Many parts of the Indian sub-continent are susceptible to different types of

disasters owing to the unique topographic and climatic characteristics. About 54

per cent of the sub-continent’s landmass is vulnerable to earthquakes while

about

4 crore hectares is vulnerable to periodic floods. The decade 1990-2000, has

been 65

one of very high disaster losses within the country, losses in the Orissa Cyclone
in

1999, and later, the Gujarat Earthquake in 2001 alone amount to several
thousand

crore of Rupees, while the total expenditure on relief and reconstruction in

Gujarat

alone has been to the tune of Rs 11,500 crore.

12. Similarly, the country has suffered four major earthquakes in the span of

last fifty years along with a series of moderate intensity earthquakes that have

occurred at regular intervals. Since 1988, six earthquakes have struck different

parts of the country. These caused considerable human and property losses.

Table 7.1

Major Earthquakes in India, 1988-2001

13. Disasters lead to enormous

economic losses that are both

immediate as well as long term in

nature and demand additional

revenues. Also, as an immediate fallout, disasters reduce revenues from the

affected region due to lower levels of

economic activity leading to loss of direct and indirect taxes. In addition,

unplanned budgetary allocation to disaster recovery can hamper development

interventions and lead to unmet developmental targets.

14. Disasters may also reduce availability of new investment, further

constricting the growth of the region. Besides, additional pressures may be

imposed on finances of the government through investments in relief and

rehabilitation work.

15. In the recent earthquake in Gujarat,

more than 14,000 lives were lost, ten lakh

houses were damaged and the asset loss has

been indicated to be worth 15,000 crore. Tables

7.2 to 7.5 give an indication of the magnitude of

the damage and losses incurred by the country

in recent natural disasters.

16. The dimensions of the damage, as

evident in the tables and the diagram 7.1 66

emphasise the point that natural disasters cause major setbacks to development

and it is the poorest and the weakest that are the most vulnerable to disasters.

Given the high frequency with which one or the other part of the country suffers

due to disasters, mitigating the impact of disasters must be an integral

component

of our development planning and be part of our poverty reduction strategy.

INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

17. The country with its federal system of Government has specific roles for
the Central and State Governments. However, the subject of disaster
management

does not specifically find

Table 7.2

Damage due to Natural Disasters in India

Source : Annual Reports, NDM Division, Ministry of Agriculture 67

Table 7.3

Annual Damage due to Heavy Rains, Landslide and Floods

Source : Annual Reports, Natural Disaster Management Division, Ministry of

Agriculture

Table 7.4

Damage due to Cyclone in Orissa in October ’2000

Source : Annual Reports, Natural Disaster Management Division, Ministry of

Agriculture

Table 7.5

Losses due to Droughts: 1999-2001

Source: Annual Reports, Natural Disaster Management Division, Ministry of

Agriculture 68

mention in any of the three lists in the 7th Schedule of the Indian Constitution,

where subjects under the Central and State Governments as also subjects that

come under both are specified. On the legal front, there is no enactment either
of

the Central or

of any State Government to deal with the management of disasters of various

types in a comprehensive manner.

18. The country has an integrated administrative machinery for management of

disasters at the National, State, District and Sub-District levels. The basic

responsibility of undertaking rescue, relief and rehabilitation measures in the

event
of natural disasters, as at present, is that of the State Governments concerned.
The

Central Government supplements the efforts of the States by providing financial

and logistic support.

Central Level

19. The dimensions of response at the level of the Central Government are

determined in accordance with the existing policy of financing relief expenditure

and keeping in view the factors like:

(i) the gravity of a natural disaster;

(ii) the scale of the relief operation necessary; and 69

(iii) the requirements of Central assistance for

augmenting financial resources and logistic support at the disposal of the State

Government.

20. The Contingency Action Plan (CAP) identifies initiatives required to be

taken by various Central Ministries and Public Departments in the wake of

natural

calamities. It sets down the procedures and determines the focal points in the

administrative machinery to facilitate launching of relief and rescue operations

without delay.

21. The Ministry of Home Affairs is the nodal Ministry for coordination of

relief and response and overall natural disaster management, and the
Department

of Agriculture & Cooperation is the nodal Ministry for drought management.

Other Ministries are assigned the responsibility of providing emergency support

in

case of disasters that fall in their purview as indicated in Table 7.6.

Table 7.6

Ministries Responsible for Various

Categories of Disasters

The following decision-making and standing

bodies are responsible for disaster

management at the Central level:

• Union Cabinet, headed by the Prime

Minister.

• Empowered Group of Ministers, headed by

the Deputy Prime Minister

• National Crisis Management Committee

(NCMC), under the chairmanship of the

Cabinet Secretary.

• Crisis Management Group (CMG): under the chairmanship of the Central Relief

Commissioner comprising senior officers from the various Ministries and other

concerned Departments which reviews contingency plans, measures required for

dealing with a natural disaster, and co-ordinates the activities of the Central

Ministries and the State Governments in relation to disaster preparedness

response

and relief.

• Technical Organizations, such as the Indian Meteorological Department

(cyclone/earthquake), Central Water Commission (floods), Building and Material

Promotion Council (construction laws), Bureau of Indian Standards (norms),

Defence Research & Development Organization (nuclear/biological), Directorate

General Civil Defence provide specific technical support to coordination of

disaster response and management functions. 70

• The setting up of a National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is being

contemplated by the Ministry of Home Affairs as the proposed apex structure

within the government for the purpose. Amongst other major organizational

initiatives, it is proposed to:

(a) establish a specialised and earmarked response team for dealing with
nuclear/

biological/chemical disasters;
(b) establish search and rescue teams in each State;

(c) strengthen communication systems in the North Eastern Region.

State Government

22. The responsibility to cope with natural disasters is essentially that of the

State Government. The role of the Central Government is supportive in terms of

supplementation of physical and financial resources. The Chief Secretary of the

State heads a state level committee which is in overall charge of the relief

operations in the State and the Relief Commissioners who are in charge of the

relief and rehabilitation measures in the wake of natural disasters in their States

function under

the overall direction and control of the state level committee. In many states,

Secretary, Department of Revenue, is also in-charge of relief. State Governments

usually have relief manuals and the districts have their contingency plan that is

updated from time to time.

District and Local Level

23. The district administration is the focal point for implementation of all

governmental plans and activities. The actual day-to-day function of

administering

relief is the responsibility of the Collector/ District Magistrate/Deputy

Commissioner who exercises coordinating and supervising powers over all

departments at the district level. Though it may not be a common phenomenon,

there exists by and large in districts also a district level relief committee
consisting

of officials and non- officials.

24. The 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments recognise Panchayati Raj

Institutions as ‘Institutions of self- government’. The amendment has also laid

down necessary guidelines for the structure of their composition, powers,

functions, devolution of finances, regular holding of elections and reservation of

seats for weaker sections including women. These local bodies can be effective
instruments in tackling disasters through early warning system, relief
distribution,

providing shelter to the victims, medical assistance etc. 71

25. Other than the national, state, district and local levels, there are various

institutional stakeholders who are involved in disaster management at various

levels in the country. These include the police and para-military forces, civil

defence and home-guards, fire services, ex-servicemen, nongovernment

organisations (NGOs), public and private sector enterprises, media and HAM

operators, all of whom have important roles to play.

Armed Forces

26. The Indian Armed Forces are supposed to be called upon to intervene and

take on specific tasks only when the situation is beyond the capability of civil

administration. In practice, the Armed Forces are the core of the government’s

response capacity and tend to be the first responders of the Government of India
in

a major disaster. Due to their ability to organize action in adverse ground

circumstances, speed of operational response and the resources and capabilities

at

their disposal, the Armed Forces have historically played a major role in

emergency support functions such as communications, search and rescue

operations, health and medical facilities, transportation, power, food and civil

supplies, public works and engineering, especially in the immediate aftermath of

disaster. Disaster management plans should incorporate the role expected of

them

so that the procedure for deploying them is smooth and quick.

External Linkages

27. The Government of India is a member of various international

organisations in the field of disaster response and relief. While, as a policy, no

requests for assistance or appeals are made to the international community in

the
event of a disaster, assistance offered suo moto is accepted. Linkages exist with

the following organisations:

a) UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), which has

been made responsible by UN General Assembly mandate for all international

disaster response.

b) United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), responsible for mitigation

and

prevention aspects of disaster management.

c) UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) System.

Streamlining Institutional Arrangements for Disaster Response 72

28. Institutional arrangements for disaster response are the heart of disaster

management systems. There is no dearth of personnel, both civilian and military,

experienced in handling situations arising out of natural disasters. However,

there

certainly is a pressing need for improvement and strengthening of existing

institutional arrangements and systems in this regard to make the initial

response

to a disaster more effective and professional. Most of the resources and

expertise

needed already exist with the Government. What needs to be streamlined is

how

they should be integrated, trained and deployed. Some of the areas where

improvement is urgently needed are:

a) Integrated planning for disasters, including the integration of relevant Armed

Forces formations into disaster management planning at all levels from District
to

State and Central Government.

b) Setting up of a modern, permanent national command centre or operations

room, with redundant communications and data links to all State capitals. The

national command centre or operations room needs to be manned on a 24-hour

basis by professionals to cater for instant integrated response. There needs to be
a

properly equipped operations room at the State level as well.

c) Establishment of a national stand by, quick reaction team composed of

experienced professionals, both military and civilian, drawn from Central and

State Government staff to respond immediately by flying in a matter of hours an

experienced response team to the locations when a disaster strikes. This team
can

be organized and run professionally on the same lines as the United Nations

Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) teams.

d) Creation of urban search and rescue capacity at all levels, by establishing a

fully

equipped Search and Rescue unit, as part of the fire service in all State capitals,

with

trained staff and modern equipment such as thermal imagers, acoustic

detection

devices etc. This is of immediate relevance since a major weakness exposed in

the

Gujarat earthquake was a lack of specialised urban search and rescue

capability in India.

e) Media policy geared to handling the growing phenomenon of real time

television reporting, which generates enormous political pressures on a

government to respond rapidly and efficiently. This needs attention since the
effect

is going to increase, not decrease in future.

f) Closer interface with and better understanding of the international system for

disaster response, and putting in place, systems for dealing with international
73

assistance once it comes in e.g., customs, immigration, foreign policy

implications

etc. A greater appreciation is needed of the speed and automation of modern

international response to a natural disaster. Closer interaction is required
between

of

the Ministry of External Affairs and the relevant inter-national agencies

concerned

with disaster response.

g) Standard procedures for dealing with domestic humanitarian and relief

assistance

from non-government sources. Procedures and systems need to be set out to

avoid

confusion and ensure best utilisation of the assistance being offered, just as in
the

case of systems for international assistance.

h) Modern unified legislation for disaster management. In view of the current

division of responsibilities between the State and Central Government into state,

central and concurrent lists, there is a need to create a body of legislation

dealing

with response to natural disasters and other emergencies, clearly delineating

responsibilities and powers of each entity and specifying what powers or actions

would need to be triggered on declaration of a disaster by the Government of

India

or a State Government. This legislation should also incorporate the current

legislation dealing with chemical emergencies that has been created by the

Ministry of Environment so that all emergencies are dealt with under one law.
The

legislation should include clear definitions of what constitutes a disaster at a

national level.

FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS

Financing of Relief Expenditures

29. The policy arrangements for meeting relief expenditure related to natural

disasters are, by and large, based on the recommendations of successive finance

commissions. The two main windows presently open for meeting such

expenditures are the Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) and National Calamity

Contingency Fund (NCCF). The Calamity Relief Fund is used for meeting the

expenditure for providing immediate relief to the victims of cyclone, drought,

earthquake, fire, flood and hailstorm. Expenditure on restoration of damaged

capital works should ordinarily be met from the normal budgetary heads, except

when it is to be incurred as part of providing immediate relief, such as

restoration

of drinking water sources or provision of shelters etc., or restoration of

communication links for facilitating relief operations. The amount of annual

contribution to the CRF of each State for each of the financial years 2000-01 to

2004-05 is as indicated by the Finance Commission. Of the total contribution 74

indicated, the Government of India contributes 75 per cent of the total yearly

allocation in the form of a non-plan grant, and the balance amount is contributed

by the State Government concerned. A total of Rs. 11,007.59 crore was provided

for the Calamity Relief Fund from 2000-05.

30. Pursuant to the recommendations of the Eleventh Finance Commission,

apart from the CRF, a National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) Scheme

came into force with effect from the financial year 2000-01 and would be

operative till the end of the financial year 2004-05. NCCF is intended to cover

natural calamities like cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire, flood and hailstorm,

which are considered to be of severe nature requiring expenditure by the State

Government in excess of the balances available in its own Calamity Relief Fund.

The assistance from NCCF is available only for immediate relief and

rehabilitation. Any reconstruction of assets or restoration of damaged capital

should be financed through re-allocation of Plan funds. There is need for defining

the arrangements in this regard.

31. The initial corpus of the National Fund is Rs.500 crore, provided by the

Government of India. This fund is required to be recouped by levy of special

surcharge for a limited period on central taxes. An amount of about Rs.2,300
crore

has already been released to States from NCCF. A list of items and norms of

expenditure for assistance chargeable to CRF/NCCF in the wake of natural

calamities is prescribed in detail from time to time.

Financing of Disaster Management Through Five Year Plans

32. Although not specifically addressed in Five Year Plan documents in the

past, the Government of India has a long history of using funds from the Plan for

mitigating natural disasters. Funds are provided under Plan schemes i.e., various

schemes of Government of India, such as for drinking water, employment

generation, inputs for agriculture and flood control measures etc. There are also

facilities for rescheduling short-term loans taken for agriculture purposes upon

certification by the District/State administration. Central Government’s assets/

infrastructure are to be repaired/rectified by the respective Ministry/Department

of

Government of India. Besides this, at the occurrence of a calamity of great

magnitude, funds flow from donors, both local and international, for relief and

rehabilitation, and in few cases for long-term preparedness/ preventive

measures.

Funds for the latter purposes are also available from multilateral funding
agencies

such as the World Bank. These form part of the State Plan. 75

33. There are also a number of important ongoing schemes that specifically

help reduce disaster vulnerability. Some of these are: Integrated Wasteland

Development Programme (IWDP), Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP),

Desert Development Programme (DDP), Flood Control Programmes, National

Afforestation & Ecodevelopment Programme (NA&ED), Accelerated Rural

Water Supply Programme (ARWSP), Crop Insurance, Sampurn Grameen Rozgar

Yojana (SGRY), Food for Work etc.

Initiatives Proposed by Various Bodies Regarding Financing Under the

Plan

34. References have recently been made to the role of the Plan in disaster

anagement by the High Power Committee (HPC) on Disaster Management, as

well

as by the Eleventh Finance Commission. The HPC was constituted in 1999 and

submitted its Report in October 2001. The HPC took an overview of all recent

disasters (natural as well as manmade) in the country and identified common

response and preparedness mechanisms on the basis of a series of consultations

with a number of government, non-government, national and international

agencies and media organisations. An important recommendation of the

Committee was that at least 10 per cent of plan funds at the national, state and

district levels be earmarked and apportioned for schemes which specifically

address areas such as prevention, reduction, preparedness and mitigation of

disasters.

35. The Eleventh Finance Commission too paid detailed attention to the issue

of disaster management and, in its chapter on calamity relief, came out with a

number of recommendations, of which the following have a direct bearing on the

Plan:

(a) Expenditure on restoration of infrastructure and other capital assets, except

those

that are intrinsically connected with relief operations and connectivity with the

affected area and population, should be met from the plan funds on priority
basis.

(b) Medium and long-term measures be devised by the concerned Ministries of

the

Government of India, the State Governments and the Planning Commission to

reduce, and if possible, eliminate, the occurrences of these calamities by

undertaking developmental works.

(c) The Planning Commission, in consultation with the State Governments and
concerned Ministries, should be able to identify works of a capital nature to 76

prevent the recurrence of specific calamities. These works may be funded under

the Plan.

PLANNING FOR SAFE NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

36. Development programmes that go into promoting development at the local

level have been left to the general exercise of planning. Measures need also to
be

taken to integrate disaster mitigation efforts at the local level with the general

exercise of planning, and a more supportive environment created for initiatives

towards managing of disasters at all levels: national, state, district and local. The

future blue-print for disaster management in India rests on the premise that in

today’s society while hazards, both natural or otherwise, are inevitable, the

disasters that follow need not be so and the society can be prepared to cope with

them effectively whenever they occur. The need of the hour is to chalk out a
multipronged strategy for total risk management, comprising prevention,
preparedness,

response and recovery on the one hand, and initiate development efforts aimed

towards risk reduction and mitigation, on the other Only then can we look

forward to “sustainable development.”

Disaster Prevention And Preparedness Measures Information and

Research Network

37. Disaster prevention is intrinsically linked to preventive planning. Some of

the important steps in this regard are:

(a) Introduction of a comprehensive process of vulnerability analysis and

objective

risk assessment.

(b) Building a robust and sound information database: A comprehensive

database

of

the land use, demography, infrastructure developed at the national, state and
local
levels along with current information on climate, weather and man-made

structures is crucial in planning, warning and assessment of disasters. In

addition,

resource inventories of governmental and non-governmental systems including

personnel and equipment help in efficient mobilisation and optimisation of

response measures.

(c) Creating state-of-the-art infrastructure: The entire disaster mitigation game

plan must necessarily be anchored to frontline research and development in a

holistic mode. State-of-the art technologies available worldwide need to be made

77

available in India for upgradation of the disaster management system; at the

same

time, dedicated research activities should be encouraged, in all frontier areas

related to disasters like biological, space applications, information technology,

nuclear radiation etc., for a continuous flow of high quality basic information for

sound disaster management planning,

(d) Establishing Linkages between all knowledge- based institutions: A National

Disaster Knowledge Network, tuned to the felt needs of a multitude of users like

disaster managers, decision makers, community etc., must be developed as the

network of networks to cover natural, manmade and biological disasters in all

their

varied dimensions,

Capacity Building, Training & Education

38. Personnel involved in the exercise have to draw upon knowledge of best

practices and resources available to them. Information and training on ways to

better respond to and mitigate disasters to the responders go a long way in

building

the capacity and resilience of the country to reduce and prevent disasters.
Training

is an integral part of capacity building as trained personnel respond much better

to
different disasters and appreciate the need for preventive measures. The
directions

in this regard are:

(a) The multi-sectoral and multi-hazard prevention based approach to disaster

management requires specific professional inputs. Professional training in

disaster

management should be built into the existing pedagogic research and education.

Specialised courses for disaster management may be developed by universities

and

professional teaching institutions, and disaster management should be treated

as a

distinct academic and professional discipline, something that the American

education system has done successfully. In addition to separate diploma/degree

courses in disaster management, the subject needs to be discussed and taught

as a

specific component in professional and specialised courses like medicine,

nursing,

engineering, environmental sciences, architecture, and town and country

planning.

(b) The focus towards preventive disaster management and development of a

national ethos of prevention calls for an awareness generation at all levels. An

appropriate component of disaster awareness at the school level will help

increase

awareness among children and, in many cases, parents and other family
members

through these children. Curriculum development with a focus towards

dissemination 78

of disaster related information on a sustained basis, covering junior, middle and

high schools may be worked out by the different school boards in the country.

(c) Training facilities for government personnel involved in disaster management

are conducted at the national level by the National Centre for Disaster

Management (NCDM) at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, in New

Delhi which functions

as the nodal institution in the country for training, research and documentation
of

disasters. At the State level, disaster management cells operating within the
State

Administrative Training Institutes (ATIs) provide the necessary training.

Presently, 24 ATIs have dedicated faculties. There is a need for strengthening

specialised training, including training of personnel in disaster response.

(d) Capacity building should not be limited to professionals and personnel

involved in

disaster management but should also focus on building the knowledge, attitude

and skills of a community to cope with the effects of disasters. Identification and

training of volunteers from the community towards first response measures as

well

as mitigation measures is an urgent imperative. A programme of periodic drills

should be introduced in vulnerable areas to enable prompt and appropriate

community response in the event of a disaster, which can help save valuable
lives.

39. Capacity building for effective disaster management therefore needs to be

grounded and linked to the community and local level responders on the one
hand

and also to the institutional mechanism of the State and the Nation on the other.

Community Level Initiatives

40. The goal of any disaster management initiative is to build a disaster

resistant/resilient community equipped with safer living and sustainable

livelihoods to serve its own development purposes. The community is also the
first

responder in any disaster situation, thereby emphasising the need for

community

level initiatives in managing disasters. To encourage such initiatives, the

following
are required:

(a) Creating awareness through disaster education and training and information

dissemination are necessary steps for empowering the community to cope with

disasters. 79

(b) Community based approach followed by most NGOs and Community Based

Organisations (CBOs) should be incorporated in the disaster management

system

as an effective vehicle of community participation.

(c) Within a vulnerable community, there exist groups that are more vulnerable

like women and children, aged and infirm and physically challenged people who

need special care and attention especially during disaster situations. Efforts are

required for identifying such vulnerable groups and providing special assistance
in

terms of evacuation, relief, aid and medical attention to them in disaster

situations.

41. Management of disasters should therefore be an interface between a

community effort to mitigate and prevent disasters as also an effort from the

government machinery to buttress and support popular initiatives.

Strengthening of Plan Activities

42. Given the pervasive nature of disasters and the widespread havoc caused

by some of them, planned expenditure on disaster mitigation and prevention

measures in addition to the CRF is required. The Central Sector Scheme of

Natural

Disaster Management Programmes has been implemented since 1993-94 by the

Department of Agriculture and Co-operation with the objective to focus on

disaster preparedness with emphasis on mitigation and preparedness measures

for

enhanced capability to reduce the adverse impact of disasters. The major

activities

undertaken within this scheme include the setting up of the National Centre for

Disaster Management (NCDM) at the Indian Institute of Public Administration,

creation of 24 disaster management faculties in 23 states, research and
consultancy

services, documentation of major disaster events and forging regional

cooperation.

The Eighth Plan allocation of Rs 6.30 crore for this scheme was increased to Rs.

16.32 crore in the Ninth Plan. Within this scheme, NCDM has conducted over 50

training programmes, training more than 1000 people, while 24 disaster

management centres with dedicated faculty have been established in the states.

Over 4000 people have been trained at the State level. In addition, some
important

publications and audio-visual training modules have been prepared and

documentation of disaster events has been done.

43. Though limited in scope and outlays, the Scheme has made an impact on

the training and research activities in the country. Creation of faculties in

disaster

management in all 28 states is proposed to be taken up in the Tenth Plan in

addition to community mobilisation, human resource development,

establishment

of Control Rooms and forging international cooperation in disaster management.

80

There is also an urgent need for strengthening the disaster management

pedagogy

by creating disaster management faculties in universities, rural development

institutes and other organisations of premier research.

44. Sustainability is the key word in the development process. Development

activities that do not consider the disaster loss perspective fail to be sustainable.

The compounded costs of disasters relating to loss of life, loss of assets,

economic

activities, and cost of reconstruction of not only assets but of lives can scarcely
be

borne by any community or nation. Therefore, all development schemes in

vulnerable areas should include a disaster mitigation analysis, whereby the

feasibility of a project is assessed with respect to vulnerability of the area and
the

mitigation measures required for sustainability. Environmental protection,

afforestation programmes, pollution control, construction of earthquake resistant

structures etc., should therefore have high priority within the plans.

45. The aim of a mitigation strategy is to reduce losses in the event of a future

occurrence of a hazard. Structural mitigation may comprise construction of

individual disaster resistant structures like retrofitted or earthquake-resistant

buildings or creation of structures whose function is primarily disaster protection

like flood control

structures, dykes, levees, infiltration dams etc.

46. Mitigation measures on individual structures can be achieved by design

standards, building codes and performance specifications. Building codes, critical

front-line defence for achieving stronger engineered structures, need to be

drawn

up in accordance with the vulnerability of the area and implemented through

appropriate techno-legal measures.

47. Mitigation measures need to be considered in land use and site planning

activities. Constructions in hazardous areas like flood plains or steep soft slopes

are more vulnerable to disasters. Necessary mitigation measures need to be

built

into the design and costing of development projects.

48. Insurance is a potentially important mitigation measure in disaster-prone

areas as it brings quality in the infrastructure & consciousness and a culture of

safety by its insistence on following building codes, norms, guidelines, quality

materials in construction etc. Disaster insurance mostly works under the

premise

of ‘higher the risk higher the premium, lesser the risk lesser the premium’, thus

creating awareness towards vulnerable areas and motivating people to settle in

relatively safer areas. 81

THE PATH AHEAD

49. For addressing natural calamities such as floods and drought, there already

exist a number of plan schemes under which a lot is being done and can be
done.

State Governments need to make full use of the existing plan schemes and give

priority to implementation of such schemes that will help in overcoming the

conditions created by the calamity. In some cases this implies possible diversion

of the funds from other schemes to those schemes the implementation of which

will help meeting the situation. There may also be need in a crisis situation for

certain re-appropriations/reallocations among the different departments.

50. The Planning Commission will aim at responding quickly to the needs of

the Central Ministries/Departments/States in matters relating to the Plan for

meeting situations arising out of natural disasters, by enabling adjustment of

schemes to meet the requirements as far as possible. A mechanism will be

evolved

to take expeditious decisions on proposals which involve transfer of funds from

one scheme to another, or any other change which involves departure from the

existing schemes/

pattern of assistance, new schemes and relaxation in procedures, etc. in the

case of

natural disasters.

51. As the first responder in any disaster situation, however, each State needs

to build a team , skilled personnel, make provision for specialised equipments,

efficient communication network, and relevant, intelligent and easily accessible

database. There is also a need to consider creation of a plan scheme in each

state

basically to meet the minimum requirements for strengthening communications

and emergency control rooms, thereby improving coordination and response to

disasters. No new institutional structures need be created in such a scheme.

52. In particular, with regard to major disasters, it is also necessary for disaster
mitigation components to be built into all development projects. In order to save

larger outlays on reconstruction and rehabilitation subsequently, a mechanism

would

need to be worked out for allowing components that specifically help projects

coming up in highly disaster prone areas withstand the impact of natural

disasters

as part of approved project cost for projects financed under the Plan.

53. The message for the Tenth Plan is that in order to move towards safer

national development, development projects should be sensitive towards

disaster

mitigation. With the kind of economic losses and developmental setbacks that
the

country has been suffering year after year, it makes good economic sense to
spend

a little extra today in a planned way on steps and components that can help in

prevention and mitigation of disasters, than be forced to spend many multiples

82

more later on restoration and rehabilitation. The design of development projects

and the process of development should take the aspect of disaster reduction and

mitigation within its ambit; otherwise, the development ceases to be sustainable

and eventually causes more hardship and loss to the nation. 83

ANNEXURE-III

GUIDELINES TO STATE GOVERNMENTS

(i) The State Department of Relief and Rehabilitation may be converted

into Department of Disaster Management with the responsibility of

looking at the whole cycle of disaster management- prevention,

mitigation, preparedness, response, relief and rehabilitation. Steps for

prevention/mitigation will need to be taken across a number of

Departments. The Department of Disaster Management will coordinate

the steps taken by the different Department of the Government in these

spheres.

(ii) Mitigation, preparedness and response are multi-disciplinary activities

involving a number of Departments. In order to ensure the fullest

involvement of the relevant Departments, the State Government may

consider setting up a State Disaster Management Authority under the

Chairmanship of the Chief Secretary with the Secretaries of

Departments of Water Resources, Health, Agriculture, Animal

Husbandry, Roads, Communications, Rural Development, Public

Works, Public Health Engineering, Finance and Home as Members.

The Secretary of the Department of Disaster Management may be the

member-Secretary. This authority will ensure coordinated steps towards

mitigation and preparedness as also coordinated response when a

disaster strikes.

(iii) It has been noticed that while the local administration has the requisite

skills and capabilities for carrying out search and rescue in recurrent

types of disaster like flood, there is lack of capability for specialised

search and rescue. Each State may consider setting up specialised

search and rescue teams. The teams would need to be composite with

one coy of the State Armed Police trained and equipped to carry out 84

specialised search and rescue; one mobile engineering unit with

necessary equipment and one medical assistance team. These teams

may be constituted and trained together so as to function as a unit under

the overall charge of a designated officer. Guidance/advise required

with reference to training and equipment will be provided by the

Disaster Management Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs,

Government of India.

(iv) It has been decided that fire services may be trained and equipped to

function as all hazard response units as in other countries. This will

necessitate some additional equipment and training to the fire units for

carrying our search and rescue in all types of disasters. The Government

of India will be initiating a separate project for this.

(v) The Ministry of Home Affairs had advised the State Governments that

composite control rooms may be set up at the State level and at the

district levels under the District Magistrates for coordinating law and

order as well as disaster management and that allocations under the

Modernisation of Police Forces Schemes may be used for the this

purpose. Steps may be taken to put such control room in place quickly

with standby communication systems.

(vi) Disaster mitigation concerns/ aspects may be made an essential term of

reference for every plan project/development scheme in the areas

vulnerable to disasters. In other words, every plan project will need to

state as to how is addresses mitigation concerns. Plans/projects

specifically addressing mitigation/ prevention may be given a priority.

The Secretary of Department of Disaster Management may be made a

member for all bodies/ teams constituted for scrutinizing/approving

projects/plans. 85

(vii) Funds available under the ongoing schemes may be used for mitigation/

preparedness. For example funds under the rural development scheme

can be used for construction of cycle shelters in areas prone to cyclones.

Similarly, sites and designs of primary school buildings in flood prone

areas may be so selected so that they can serve as shelters in times of

floods. The design requirements for primary school building and

hospitals and other important public buildings in seismic zones V and

IV would need to be in accordance with BIS norms for construction in

these zones.

(viii) Every hazard prone district may draw up specific hazard related plans.
These plans may be reviewed/updated in the months of April and May

each year.

(ix) Every district located in area prone to hazard will need to maintain an

on line inventory of resources available in the Government, public and

private sector. This will enable easy and quick mobilization of

resources in case of need. A State-wide on line resources inventory

would enable the mobilization of resources from neighbouring districts

in cases of need.

(x) State in seismic zone V and IV may ensure that the BIS building codes

for these zones have been adopted and are rigorously enforced by the

municipal bodies. All construction in the Government sector in these

areas must conform to the BIS code.

(xi) The initial training curriculum of the field staff- VLWs, Karamcharis,

Patwaris, Talhatis, Block Agriculture Officers, Block Animal

Husbandry Officers other Block Supervisors, State Civil Service

Officers, Constables, Sub-inspectors, Dy S.Ps etc. in the States

vulnerable to hazards may include capsules on basic dos and don’ts in

case of disasters; disaster mitigation and response, search and rescues 86

techniques etc. In-service training may be organized for staff already in

service.

(xii) Special efforts may be put in for education and awareness. This should

include awareness of basic design requirements for constructing private

housing in seismic zones IV and V as well as in the belt vulnerable to

cyclones.

(xiii) AICTE have been advised to include engineering aspects of disaster

mitigation in the engineering courses at the undergraduate level. State

Governments may take similar action with reference to engineering

colleges under their universities.

(xiv) CBSE have been advised to include basic disaster related material in

text books for classes 8

th

,9

th

and 10

th

– the basic dos and don’ts /

precaution to be taken etc. State Government may advise their

Secondary Boards of Education to include similar in their text books.

***************

*********

*****MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

(NDM Division)

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

EXISTING FRAMEWORK AND NEW INITIATIVES

Existing Framework

In the federal set up of India, the basic responsibility for undertaking

rescue, relief and rehabilitation measures in the event of a disaster is that of the

State Government concerned. The Central Government supplements the efforts

of

State Governments by providing financial and logistic support in case of major

disasters. At the State level, response, relief and rehabilitation are handled by

Departments of Relief & Rehabilitation. The State Crisis Management Committee

is set up under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary who is the highest executive

functionary in the State. All the concerned Departments and organisations of the

State and Central Government Departments located in the State are represented
in
this Committee. This Committee reviews the action taken for response and relief

and gives guidelines/directions as necessary.

2. A control room is established under the Relief Commissioner. The control

room is in constant touch with the climate monitoring/forecasting agencies and

monitors the action being taken by various agencies in performing their

responsibilities.

3. The district level is the key level for disaster management and relief

activities. The District Magistrate/Collector/Dy. Commissioner is the chief

administrator in the district. He is the focal point in the preparation of district

plans and in directing, supervising and monitoring calamity relief. A District

Level Coordination and Relief Committee is constituted and is headed by the

Collector as Chairman with the participation of all other related government and

non governmental agencies and departments in addition to the elected

representatives. The Collector is required to maintain close liaison with the State

Government as well as the nearest units of Armed Forces/Central police

organisations and other relevant Central Government organisations like

Ministries

of Communications, Water Resources, Drinking Water, Surface Transport, who

could supplement the efforts of the district administration in the rescue and relief

operations. The District Magistrate/Collector and the Coordination Committee

under him reviews preparedness measures prior to an impending hazard and

coordinates response when the hazard strikes. As all the Departments at the

district level report to the Collector, there is an effective coordination mechanism

ensuring holistic response.

4. Each State Government has relief manuals/codes which identify the role of

each Department in the State for managing the natural disasters. These are
National Disaster Management Division/MHA/GOI/28/06/2004

reviewed and updated periodically based on the experience of managing the

disasters and the need of the State.

Funding mechanisms

5. The policy and the funding mechanism for provision of relief assistance to

those affected by natural calamities is clearly laid down. These are reviewed by

the Finance Commission appointed by the Government of India every five years.

The Finance Commission makes recommendation regarding the division of tax

and non-tax revenues between the Central and the State Governments and also

regarding policy for provision of relief assistance and the share of expenditure

thereon. A Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) has been set up in each State as per the

recommendations of the Eleventh Finance Commission. The size of the Calamity

Relief Fund has been fixed by the Finance Commission after taking into account

the expenditure on relief and rehabilitation over the past 10 years. The

Government of India contributes 75% of the corpus of the Calamity Relief Fund in

each State. 25% is contributed by the State. The requirement of funds for

response and relief is met from the CRF. Overall norms for relief assistance are

laid down by a national committee with representatives of States as members.

Different States can have State-specific norms to be recommended by State

level

committee under the Chief Secretary. Where the calamity is of such proportion

that the funds available in the CRF will not be sufficient for provision of relief, the

State seeks assistance from the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF).

When such requests are received, the requirements are assessed by a team from
the

Central Government and thereafter the assessed requirements are assessed by a

Central team and thereafter the requirements are placed before an Inter
Ministerial

Group chaired by the Home Secretary. A High Level Committee chaired by the

Home Minister with the Agriculture Minister, Finance Minister and the Deputy
Chairman Planning Commission take decision regarding the release of assistance

from the NCCF based on the report of the Central Team and the
recommendations

of the IMG thereon. In brief, the institutional arrangements for response and

relief are well established and have proved to be robust and effective.

Role of Central Government

6. At the national level, the Ministry of Home Affairs is the nodal Ministry for

all matters concerning disaster management except drought, which continues to

be

handled by the Ministry of Agriculture. The Central Relief Commissioner (CRC)

in the Ministry of Home Affairs is the nodal officer for coordinating relief

assistance for the natural and manmade disasters. The CRC receives information

relating to forecasting/warning of a natural calamity from India Meteorological

Department (IMD) or from Central Water Commission of Ministry of Water

Resources on a continuing basis. These forecasts are also concurrently passed

on

to the State by the Agencies responsible for early warning. Whenever assistance
is

required by the States for handling a natural calamity, the assistance is

coordinated

by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Nodal Officers have been appointed in each

Ministry/Department responsible for emergency support functions in the event of

a National Disaster Management Division/MHA/GOI/28/06/2004

disaster. The Central Relief Commissioner coordinates with the Nodal Officers to

ensure that the requisite assistance is made available to the State.

Transfer of Subject

7. The subject of disaster management (except drought and epidemics) was

transferred to the Ministry of Home Affairs from the Ministry of Agriculture in

2002. The change in the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules,

1961 was made in February, 2002. The actual transfer of work took place only in
June, 2002.

Change in Orientation

8. Prior to the transfer, the focus had been entirely on post disaster relief and

rehabilitation. Very little, if any, attention was paid to mitigation and

preparedness. We have brought about a radical change in orientation -

emphasizing mitigation, prevention and preparedness. A strategic

framework/roadmap has been drawn up with the approval of former Dy. Prime

Minister and action is being taken as per the roadmap. A copy of the roadmap is

at Annexure-I.

National Policy on Disaster Management

9 Despite the fact that we lose thousands of lives and property worth

thousands of crores each year in disasters, we have not had a National Policy on

Disaster Management. Where a number of Ministries or where a broad segment

of

Government is involved; it is useful to have a National Policy as it serves as a

framework for action by all the relevant Ministries/Departments. A National

Policy on Disaster Management has been drafted. In line with the changed
focus,

the policy proposes to integrate disaster mitigation into developmental planning.

Institutional Changes

10. The primary objective is to change the focus from relief and rehabilitation

to mitigation and preparedness. MHA is working towards putting in place

institutions which will reflect this holistic approach. The States have been
advised

(HS had written to all Chief Secretaries and the former Dy. Prime Minister has

also written to all Chief Ministers in this regard) to convert their Departments of

Relief & Rehabilitation into Department of Disaster Management. 10 States/UTs -

Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan Tamil

Nadu, Uttaranchal, Nagaland, Andaman & Nicobar Administration and

Lakshadweep have already acted on this.

11. The exercise of reducing vulnerabilities of mitigation or of preparedness or

in fact of response is multi-disciplinary. It involves a number of National Disaster

Management Division/MHA/GOI/28/06/2004

Ministries/Departments. Unfortunately, till date all Departments have had the

feeling that disaster management/response is the responsibility of the

Department

of Relief and Rehabilitation alone. The States have, therefore, been advised to
set

up Disaster Management Authorities under the Chief Minister with the Ministers

of Water Resources, Agriculture, Home, Health, PWD, Animal Husbandry, Urban

Development and other Ministers who may be relevant as members. 11 States

and

UTs – Tamil Nadu, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Orissa, Gujarat, Kerala,

Nagaland, Delhi, Goa, A&N administration and Chandigarh Administration have

notified the authority. The other States are in the process of setting up similar

authorities.

12. At the National level, a National Emergency Management Agency is being

set up. The proposal for setting up NEMA and building up specialised capabilities

was considered by the Committee of Secretaries (COS) on 21

st

April, 2004. Based

on the recommendations of the COS, the Note for the Empowered Group of

Ministers on Disaster Management is being revised for submission to Home

Minister for approval.

Disaster Management Codes

13. In line with the changed approach, we are converting the Relief Codes into

Disaster Management Codes by building into it the process necessary for

drawing
up disaster management and mitigation plans as well as elements of
preparedness

apart from response and relief. A Committee constituted under the Executive

Director, National institute of Disaster Management is expected to submit the

draft

to the Ministry by 30

th

June, 2004.

MITIGATION

Twelfth Finance Commission

14. The terms of Reference of the Twelfth Finance Commission were changed

from what it was for the Eleventh Finance Commission so as to cover mitigation.

A Memorandum has been drawn up and sent to the Commission. In the

Memorandum, we have proposed a Disaster Mitigation Fund of Rs.10,000 crores

under which we will be assisting the States to take up mitigation projects.

Core Group on Earthquake Mitigation

15. A Core Group on Earthquake Mitigation has been set up having the most

eminent authorities on earthquake engineering in the country as members. The

States in seismic zones III, IV and V have been advised to change their building

bye-laws to incorporate the BIS codes for safe construction in the seismic zones.

Some States have done this already. In order to help other States, a Committee

has been set up to draw up model building bye laws and development control

regulation for adoption by the States/UTs. The Committee is expected to submit

its report to the Ministry by 15

th

June, 2004. National Disaster Management Division/MHA/GOI/28/06/2004

16. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is mandated to develop national codes

and practices for design and construction of housing and all infrastructure
projects.

Structural safety of the built environment can be ensured only when these codes

are observed in design and construction of all projects. These codes/documents

need to be revised at regular intervals based on change in hazard zonation,

building performance in past disasters and outcomes of research projects. It was

observed that these codes are not revised periodically even though BIS is
expected

to do this once in every five years. A committee consisting of representatives of

Ministry of Consumer Affairs, BIS and MHA is being constituted to review the

development of codes relevant to earthquake risk mitigation and the protocol for

revision by BIS. Availability to these codes in different parts of the country is also

an issue as was observed in the studies post Latur[1993] and Kachhh[2001]

earthquakes. BIS has been advised to develop a plan of action to streamline

revision of existing codes, development of new codes/documents/commentaries

and availability of codes all over the country including on-line access to codes

related to earthquake risk reduction.

Training of Engineers/Architects/Masons in Seismically safe building design

and construction

17. It has been observed that even where bye-laws have been amended to

incorporate the BIS codes, these are not being implemented. The reason is that
the

engineers/architects practising in private sector are not trained in the relevant

codes and neither are the engineers in the regulatory bodies (the

municipality/development authority). A project costing about Rs.12.36 crore has

been approved wherein the municipal engineers of all cities in the seismic zones

will be trained in the BIS codes as well as revised bye-laws, and Certificate

courses will be organised for engineers practising in the private sector. 11

National Resource Institutes have been selected for imparting training to the
Faculty members of Civil Engineering Departments of State Resource Institutes.

State Governments are in the process of nominating the State Resource

Institutes

(Engineering Colleges) and the Faculty Members to be trained. A six-week

training module has been finalized for this purpose. The State Resource Institutes

will train 10,000 engineers throughout the country in safe earthquake resistant

constructions. They will also assist the State Governments in putting in place an

appropriate techno-legal regime, in developing appropriate IEC materials, and in

conducting the detailed evaluation of lifeline buildings and make

recommendations for retro-fitting, where necessary. A copy of the approved

programme for capacity building of engineers in earthquake risk management is

at

Annexure-II. A similar programme for training of 10,000 architects in

conjunction with Indian Institute of Architects/Council of Architecture has been

formulated and is under submission for approval.

18. Masons play an important role in construction of buildings and critical

infrastructure. For most of the rural and many urban constructions, mason is the

architect, engineer and builder. There is no formal system of training of masons

in

construction of multi-hazard resistant built environment. A programme to assist

National Disaster Management Division/MHA/GOI/28/06/2004

the States/UTs in training and certification of 30000 masons in consultation with

HUDCO and MORD is under formulation. The training module for masons to

include multi-hazard resistant construction is under preparation by a committee

constituted and revised curriculum will be a part of the vocational training

programme of MHRD.

Awareness Campaign

19. This in itself will not be sufficient unless the people living in the seismic
zones are also made aware of their vulnerability as well as the means of
reducing

that vulnerability. A nation-wide media campaign is proposed. The Home

Secretary had taken a meeting with the Secretary (I&B), DG, Doordarshan, and

DG, DAVP to discuss this. In pursuance of this meeting, a Steering Committee

was set up under the Chairmanship of Secretary (BM) to consider the matter in

detail. The Prasar Bharti proposed to the Steering Committee that they may be

given an opportunity to draw up the media plan. Prasar Bharti have made a

presentation submitted a plan/proposal on the media campaign. The matter

will

be considered further by the Steering Committee in its next meeting scheduled

to

be held shortly.

Earthquake Engineering in Undergraduate Engineering Curricula

20. Up till now, earthquake engineering was not a part of the undergraduate

engineering curriculum which was the reason for the structural engineers not
being

aware of the elements necessary for earthquake resistant construction. A draft

curriculum has been finalized for incorporation in the undergraduate engineering

courses to be introduced from the current academic year. A similar curriculum

has

been finalized for architects, to be introduced in the Schools of Planning and

Architecture.

Awareness Generation for safe construction in rural areas

21 For the rural areas, where people go for non-engineered construction, the

strategy is of awareness generation by distribution of pamphlets bringing out

essential features, which need to be incorporated into the construction so that it

is

safe; and of training the masons. Samples of pamphlets/posters which could be

circulated have been compiled, and have been made available to States for

adoption/translation into local languages.

Retro-fitting of lifeline buildings

22. The above measures will take care of the future building stock. Insofar as

existing building stock is concerned, these will need retrofitting. Since it is not

possible to retrofit all the buildings, the focus is on life line buildings/buildings

where people congregate – hospitals, schools, cinema halls, multi-storied

complexes etc. The Home Secretary has written to the Chairman, Railway
Board,

Health Secretary, Secretary(Civil Aviation), Secretary (Power) and

Secretary(Telecom) requesting them to have the railway stations, hospitals and

airports/airport control towers, power stations and telecommunication

installations

located in the seismic zone, examined to see whether they need retrofitting, and,
if

so, to take action accordingly. They have also been requested to ensure that
future National Disaster Management Division/MHA/GOI/28/06/2004

construction in the seismic zones incorporate the features essential for safe

construction as per the BIS code for that zone.

Earthquake Risk Mitigation Project

23. An Earthquake Mitigation Project has been drawn up, with an estimated

cost of Rs.1039 crore. That project has been given in-principle clearance by the

Planning Commission. The project is being submitted for in principle approval of

Home Minister. Thereafter, the project will be appraised by the Committee on

Non

Plan Expenditure (CNE) before it is submitted for the approval of the Cabinet.

Urban Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction

24. Pending the clearance of the larger project, a project for earthquake

mitigation in 38 identified cities which are in seismic zones III, IV and V and

which have a population of more than half a million as well as in other

cities/areas

covered under the GOI-UNDP project in 169 districts in 17 multi-hazard prone

States has been taken up. 118 Orientation courses have been organized for

engineers and architects on the BIS codes for seismically safe construction in 38

cities. Awareness generation programme has been started in these cities. These

cities are also being assisted to change their building bye-laws. City Disaster

Management Plans are being developed under the project.

Cyclone Monitoring and Mitigation Group

25. A Cyclone Monitoring and Mitigation Group has been set up. This Group

is looking at protocols for cyclone warning and also the observation/monitoring

platform which need to be strengthened. A project has been taken up with the

United States for upgradation of models for cyclone track prediction.

Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project

26. A project for Cyclone Mitigation (estimated cost Rs.1050 crore) has been

drawn up in consultation with the cyclone prone States. This project envisages

construction of cyclone shelters, coastal shelter belt plantation in areas which

are

prone to storm surges, strengthening of warning systems, training and education

etc. This project has also been given in-principle clearance by the Planning

Commission and the World Bank has agreed in principle to provide funding for

the project. The project has been posed to the World Bank through Department
of

Economic Affairs. Counter-part funding will have to be provided in the plan

budget.

GOI-UNDP Disaster Risk Management Project

27. 169 districts in seventeen multi-hazard prone States have been taken up

under the GOI-UNDP project. Under this project, the States are being assisted to

draw up State, district and Block disaster management plans; village disaster

management plans are being developed in conjunction with the Panchayati Raj

Institutions and disaster management teams consisting of village volunteers are

being trained in various preparedness and response functions such as search
and

rescue, first aid, relief coordination, shelter management etc. Equipment needs
National Disaster Management Division/MHA/GOI/28/06/2004

for district and State Emergency Operation Centres have been identified by the

State nodal agencies and equipment is being provided to these EOCs.

Orientation

training of masons, engineers and architects in disaster resistant technology

have

been initiated in these districts and construction of model demonstration

buildings

will be started soon. A statement showing the achievements under the DRM

programme from September, 2002 to March, 2004 is at Annexure III.

Mainstreaming Mitigation in Rural Development Schemes

28. The Ministry of Home Affairs is working with the Ministry of Rural

Development for changing the guidelines so that the houses constructed under

IAY or school buildings/community buildings constructed under SGRY are

earthquake/cyclone/flood resistant; as also that the schemes addressing

mitigation

are given priority under SGRY. Ministry of Rural Development are carrying out

an exercise for this purpose. The matter is being closely followed up with that

Ministry.

NE States and A&N Islands

29. A special focus is being given to North-Eastern States and the Andaman &

Nicobar Islands. The North-Eastern Council has been made the nodal agency for

the NE States. The NEC has been provided with a resource person/advisor in

disaster management. A detailed presentation on the vulnerabilities of the NE

region and the need for comprehensive disaster management plan was given to
the

Governor of Assam and Chairman, NEC. An action plan has been drawn up by
NEC, which has been discussed in the Governing Body meeting of the NEC and a

declaration namely “Shillong Declaration” has been adopted by all States in the

NE region for integrating disaster management with development planning. 140

officials and non-officials have been trained in disaster management to act as

resource persons for the NE region.

30. For A&N Islands, a disaster management plan has been drawn up. This

plan was discussed in a meeting on the 16

th

of October, 2003 and cleared. Draft

Disaster Management Regulations for A&N Islands have also been vetted.

PREPAREDNESS

Specialist Response Teams

31. Eight battalions of CPMFs are being converted into specialist response

teams for responding to emergencies/disasters as well. Two training institutions

–

CISF/ NISA, Hyderabad and the ITBP/BTC, Bhanu (near Chandigarh) have been

developed as nodal institutions for training the trainers as well as the teams.
The

training centres of CRPF(CTC-II at Coimbatore) and BSF Academy, Tekanpur

have also been identified to impart such training to the teams from CRPF and

BSF. 16 teams have already been trained at NISA, Hyderabad and BTC, Bhanu

and training of more teams is continuing. Training of trainers of CRPF and BSF

will be conducted at NISA, Hyderabad in June and September, 2004 respectively.

National Disaster Management Division/MHA/GOI/28/06/2004

National Emergency Response Force

32. It is proposed to constitute these eight battalions into a special Force called

the National Emergency Response Force (NERF). The elements which need

financial sanction have already been included in the Note for the Empowered
Group of Ministers on Disaster Management.

33. The States have also been advised to set up their own specialist teams for

responding to disasters. They have been advised that we will provide assistance

for training of trainers. Resources have been an important constraint for the

States. We have, therefore, with the concurrence of the Finance Ministry,

provided that 10% of the annual inflows into the CRF can be used for the

procurement of search and rescue equipment and communication equipment.

34. Apart from the eight battalions which are being developed into specialist

units, it was decided that all the CPMFs should have the basic expertise in
search

and rescue so that they can be requisitioned for search and rescue by the

States/District Administration. A curriculum for this has been drawn up and

integrated into the training curricula of the CPMFs.

Fire Services as Multi-hazard Response Units

35. In order to further strengthen our capacity for response, the fire services are

proposed to be developed into multi-hazard response units (as is the practice in

other countries). This will require additional equipment and training. A project

for this (with an estimated cost of Rs.2457 crore) has been drawn up. The

Planning Commission has given in-principle clearance to the project. The project

is being submitted for in-principle approval of Home Minister. A Note for the

Committee on Non Plan Expenditure is being finalized.

Regional Response Centres

36. Regional Response Centres are being set up. Fourteen Regional Response

Centres have been identified – these are Group Centres or battalion

headquarters

where a cache of essential search and rescue equipments will be stored so that
they

can respond to any disaster in the neighbouring States immediately. Proposals

for

the cache of equipments are under consideration of Finance.

Emergency Operations Centres

37. The States are being assisted to set up control rooms/emergency operations

centres at the State and district level. Assistance for this is being given under
the

GOI – UNDP project in the States covered by the project. Assistance under the

Modernisation of Police Scheme is also available for setting up EOCs.

38. The MHA Control Room has been strengthened with some additional

equipment – SATPHONES and GPS and staff trained in their operation. A state
National Disaster Management Division/MHA/GOI/28/06/2004

10

of the art National EOC with superior structural features and communication

facilities is proposed to be set up. A Committee of CPWD/BARC/DRDO has been

constituted to finalize the design parameters. The project will be executed by

CPWD and is scheduled to be completed by June, 2006.

Communication System

39. The communication network between the national and the state EOCs and

the site of the emergency/crises is currently based on the DOT network. It has

been observed that in a calamity/hazard, communication is the first casualty. It

is

therefore decided to put in place multi-mode and multi-channel communication

systems so that enough redundancy is available. It has been decided that the

POLNET will also be used for disaster management; and for this the POLNET

communication facility will be extended to SDMs and Collectors as well as the

Emergency Operation Centers. For emergency communications, discussions

have

also been held with the Department of Space (ISRO). They will be making

available alternate satellite communication units to connect with State EOCs and

mobile units which can be transported to the site of a disaster. A Group had
been
set up for drawing up a communication plan for disaster management and the
said

Group has submitted its report. This provides for a dedicated communication

system for disaster management with built in redundancies. Phase I of the

National Disaster Management Communication Plan to provide satellite based

mobile voice/data/video communication between National EOC/State EOCs/

mobile EOCs and remote disaster/emergency sites is under implementation and

is

expected to be completed by August, 2004. Phase II of the communication plan

to

connect National/State/District EOCs with disaster/emergency sites is proposed

to be completed by March, 2006. The communication backbone to be used will

include terrestrial link(DOT), POLNET, NICNET, ISDN and SPACENET.

India Disaster Resource Network (IDRN)

40. One major step towards strengthening of our response system has been the

launch of India Disaster Resource Network (IDRN). This is a web based

inventory of all specialist equipment required for emergency/disaster response.

This will give at the touch of a button the location of specific

equipment/specialist

resources as well as the controlling authority for that resource so that it can be

mobilized for response in the shortest possible time. This was launched on 1

st

September, 2003. This inventory already has about 66,000 records/entries from

534 districts in 29 States/UTs.

Handling of Hazardous Materials

41. In the light of the experience of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, the Ministry of

Home Affairs has been interacting with Ministry of Environment & Forests and

new guidelines have been sent to the States for industries handling hazardous

materials. It has been prescribed that onsite and offsite disaster response plans
for
the industries dealing with hazardous material be updated in consultation with

District Administration and that this may be rehearsed once every year. It has
also

been prescribed that these industries will carry out awareness campaign for the

population in the vicinity regarding the dos/don’ts in case of any accident

involving hazardous material National Disaster Management

Division/MHA/GOI/28/06/2004

11

Incident Command System

42. In order to professionalize the response, it is proposed to introduce the

Incident Command System in the country. This system is in vogue in the United

States and it provides for specialist Incident Command Teams with an Incident

Commander and officers trained in different aspects of Incident Management –

logistics, operations, planning, media management etc. We are working with the

US experts for training of officers in this system here. The LBSNAA, Mussoorrie

has been designated as the mother training institution. Three programme for

training of trainers has so far been held at LBSNAA. 42 officers-trainers have

been trained so far in basic and intermediate ICS course and 29 officers-trainers

trained in planning module.

Human Resource Development

43. In order to further professionalize our response, it was decided to

incorporate elements of disaster management in the training curriculum of All

India Services (IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service). Curricula have been drawn

up for this purpose and have been integrated into the training curriculum of
these

All India Services.

Disaster Awareness in School Education

44. It was felt that making disaster awareness a part of school curriculum

would be an important step. Disaster awareness/Dos and Don’ts have been

made a
part of classes – VIII and IX CBSE curricula. It is proposed to incorporate the

elements of disaster awareness/do and don’ts in the curriculum of class X in the

coming academic year. The State Governments have been advised to take
similar

steps vis-à-vis their school boards. We are working with the Council of Board of

School Education (COBSE) to facilitate inclusion of disaster management in

public education in all 39 School Boards in the country.

Hospital Preparedness for emergencies

45. Hospital preparedness is crucial to any disaster response system. For the

purpose each hospital should have an emergency preparedness plan to deal with

mass casualties and should be manned by trained health managers. The

existing

curriculum for medical doctors does not include emergency health management.

Therefore capacity building through in-service training of the current heath

managers and medical personnel in handling health emergencies is extremely

essential. At the same time, the future health managers must acquire these skills

systematically through the inclusion of health emergency management in the

undergraduate and post graduate medical curricula. In consultation with Medical

Council of India(MCI) Two committees have been constituted for preparation of

curriculum for introduction of emergency health management in MBBS

curriculum, and preparation of in-service training of Hospital Managers and

Professionals. Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences Karnataka have been

identified as the lead national resource institution for the purpose.

46. While the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued instructions to

the states to evaluate the structural integrity of existing health institutions in

high National Disaster Management Division/MHA/GOI/28/06/2004