Topics

Topic 1: Natural Disasters- Types, causes, Effects & Possible Risk Reduction Measures
(Flood, Drought, Cyclone, Earthquakes, Avalanches, Landslides, Volcanic eruption)

Topic 2: Disaster Management: Effort to mitigate natural disaster at national levels

 What is a Disaster ?

“A serious disruption in the functioning of the community or a society

causing wide spread material, economic, social or environmental
losses which exceed the ability of the affected society to cope using its
own resources”.

A disaster is a result from the combination of hazard, vulnerability

and insufficient capacity or measures to reduce the potential
chances of risk.
Any hazard – flood, earthquake or cyclone which is a triggering event
along with greater vulnerability (inadequate access to resources, sick
and old people, lack of awareness etc) would lead to disaster causing
greater loss to life and property. For example; an earthquake in an
uninhabited desert cannot be considered a disaster, no matter how
strong the intensities produced.

An earthquake is disastrous only when it affects people, their

properties and activities. Thus, disaster occurs only when hazards and
vulnerability meet.
 FLOOD

Flood is a state of high water level along a river channel or on the coast that
leads to inundation of land, which is not usually submerged. Floods may
happen gradually and also may take hours or even happen suddenly
without any warning due to breach in the embankment, spill over, heavy
rains etc.
There are different types of floods namely: flash flood, riverine flood, urban
flood, etc.
Flash floods can be defined as floods which occur within six hours of the
beginning of heavy rainfall, and are usually associated with cloud bursts,
storms and cyclones requiring rapid localized warnings and immediate
response to reduce damage.

Causes of floods:
There are several causes of floods and differ from region to region. The
causes may vary from a rural area to an urban area.
 Some of the major causes are

a. Heavy rainfall
b. Heavy siltation of the river bed reduces the water carrying capacity of the
rivers/stream.
c. Blockage in the drains lead to flooding of the area.
d. Landslides blocking the flow of the stream.
e. Construction of dams and reservoirs
f. In areas prone to cyclone, strong winds accompanied by heavy down pour
along with storm surge leads to flooding.
Typical Adverse Effects:

The most important consequence of floods is the loss of life, livestock,

structure and property.

Lack of proper drinking water facilities, contamination of water (well, ground

water, piped water supply) leads to outbreak of epidemics, diarrhoea, viral
infection, malaria and many other infectious diseases

Flooding also leads to a large area of agricultural land getting inundated as a

result there is a huge crop loss. This results in shortage of food, and animal
fodder. Floods may also affect the soil characteristics. The land may be
rendered infertile due to erosion of top layer or may turn saline if sea water
floods the area.
 Distributional Pattern of floods in India

Floods occur in almost all the river basins of the country. Around 12 per cent
(40 million hectare) of land in India is prone to floods
Our country receives an annual rainfall of 1200 mm, 85% of which is
concentrated in 3-4 months i.e June to September. Due to the intense and
periodic rain, most of the rivers of the country are fed with huge quantity of
water, much beyond their carrying capacity
Most of the flood affected areas lie in the Ganga basin, Brahmaputra basin ,
the northwestern river basin (comprising Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej, Beas
and the Ghagra), peninsular river basin (Tapti, Narmada, Mahanadi, Baitarani,
Godavari, krishna, Pennar and the Kaveri) and the coastal regions of Andhra
Pradesh, Tamilnadu, orissa and Kerela. Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa
are some of the states who have been severely prone to floods.
 Warning
Flood forecasting and warning has been highly developed with the
advancement of technology such as satellite and remote-sensing equipments
flood waves can be tracked as the water level rises. Except for flash floods
there is usually a reasonable warning period. Heavy precipitation will give
sufficient warning of the coming river flood. High tides with high winds may
indicate flooding in the coastal areas. Evacuation is possible with suitable
monitoring and warning. Warning is issued by the Central Water Commission
(CWC), Irrigation & Flood Control Department, and Water Resources
Department. CWC maintains close liaison with the administrative and state
engineering agencies, local civil authorities to communicate advance warning
for appropriate mitigation and preparedness measures.
Possible Risk Reduction Measures:

Mapping of the flood prone areas

Construction of engineered structures

Land use control

Flood control and Management

Land use control will reduce danger of life and property when waters
inundate the floodplains and the coastal areas. The number of casualties is
related to the population in the area at risk. In areas where people already
have built their settlements, measures should be taken to relocate to better
sites so as to reduce vulnerability. No major development should be
permitted in the areas which are subjected to high flooding. Important
facilities like hospitals, schools should be built in safe areas. In urban
areas, water holding areas can be created like ponds, lakes or low-lying
areas.
Flood Management In India, systematic planning for flood management
commenced with the Five Year Plans, particularly with the launching of National
Programme of Flood Management in 1954. During the last 48 years, different
methods of flood protection structural as well as nonstructural have been adopted
in different states depending upon the nature of the problem and local conditions.
Structural measures include storage reservoirs, flood embankments, drainage
channels, anti erosion works, channel improvement works, detention basins etc.
and non-structural measures include flood forecasting, flood plain zoning, flood
proofing, disaster preparedness etc. The flood management measures undertaken
so far have provided reasonable degree of protection to an area of 15.81 million
hectares through out the country.
What is Drought?
Drought is either absence or deficiency of rainfall from its normal pattern in a
region for an extended period of time leading to general suffering in the
society.

Drought is negative balance between precipitation and water use (through

evaporation, transpiration by plants, domestic and industrial uses etc) in a
geographical region.
Causes of Drought

Though drought is basically caused by deficit rainfall, which is a meteorological

phenomenon, it manifests into different spheres because of various
vulnerability factors associated with them. Some of these factors are human
induced.

Though drought is a natural disaster, its effects are made worst in developing
countries by over population, over grazing, deforestation, soil erosion, excessive
use of ground and surface water for growing crops, loss of biodiversity.
Types of droughts
Meteorological drought
Meteorological drought is simple absence/deficit of rainfall from the normal. It
is the least severe form of drought and is often identified by sunny days and hot
weather.
Hydrological drought
Hydrological drought often leads to reduction of natural stream flows or ground
water levels, plus stored water supplies. The main impact is on water resource
systems
Agricultural drought
This form of drought occurs when moisture level in soil is insufficient to
maintain average crop yields. Initial consequences are in the reduced seasonal
output of crops and other related production.

An extreme agricultural drought can lead to a famine, which is a prolonged

shortage of food in a restricted region causing widespread disease and death
from starvation.
Socio-economic drought
When the supply of some goods or services such as water and electricity are
weather dependant then drought may cause shortages in supply of these economic
goods
Typical adverse effects

Drought, different from any other natural disaster, does not cause any
structural damages.

As the meteorological drought turns into hydrological drought, the

impacts start appearing first in agriculture which is most dependant on
the soil moisture.

Irrigated areas are affected much later than the rainfed areas.

However, regions surrounding perennial rivers tend to continue normal

life even when drought conditions are prevailing around.

The impacts slowly spread into social fabric as the availability of

drinking water diminishes, reduction in energy production, ground
water depletion, food shortage, health reduction and loss of life,
increased poverty, reduced quality of life and social unrest leading to
migration.
Possible Risk Reduction Measures:

Public Awareness and education:- water conservation techniques,

agricultural drought management strategies like crop contingency plans,
construction of rain water harvesting structure. Awareness can be generated
by the print, electronic and folk media.

Drought Monitoring: It is continuous-observation of the rainfall situation,

availability of water in the reservoirs, lakes, rivers etc and comparing with the
existing water needs in various sectors of the society.

Expansion of irrigation facilities- reduces the drought vulnerability. Land use

based on its capability helps in optimum use of land and water and can avoid
the undue demand created due to their misuse.

Livelihood planning identifies those- livelihoods which are least affected by

the drought. Some of such livelihoods include increased off-farm employment
opportunities, collection of non-timber forest produce from the community
forests, raising goats, carpentry etc.
Water supply augmentation and conservation through rainwater- harvesting
in houses and farmers’ fields increases the content of water available. Water
harvesting by either allowing the runoff water from all the fields to a common
point (e.g. Farm ponds, see the picture) or allowing it to infiltrate into the soil
where it has fallen (in situ) (e.g. contour bunds,contour cultivation, raised bed
planting etc) helps increase water availability for sustained agricultural
production.

Drought planning: the basic goal of- drought planning is to improve the
effectiveness of preparedness and response efforts by enhancing monitoring,
mitigation and response measures.
 Earthquake

It is the sudden shaking of the earth crust. The impact of an

earthquake
is sudden and there is hardly any warning, making it impossible to
predict.
Earthquake is one of the most destructive natural hazard

Earthquakes not only destroy the entire habitation but may de-
stabilize the government, economy and social structure of the
country.
 Cause of Earthquake :

The earth’s crust is a rocky layer of varying thickness ranging from a depth of about
10 kilometers under the sea to 65 kilometers under the continents

The crust is not one piece but consists of portions called ‘plates’ which vary in size
from a few hundred to thousands of kilometers

When these plates contact each other, stress arises in the crust

These stresses can be classified according to the type of movement along the plate’s
boundaries:
a) pulling away from each other,
b) pushing against one another and
c) sliding sideways relative to each other.
All these movements are associated with earthquakes.
The areas of stress at plate boundaries which release accumulated energy by
slipping or rupturing are known as 'faults

The fault rupture generates vibration called seismic (from the Greek 'seismos' meaning
shock earthquake) waves, which radiates from the focus in all directions.

Seven major plates and several minor

ones- They move a few inches a year,
riding on semi-molten layers of rock
underneath the crust
The point of rupture is called the 'focus' and may be located near the surface or deep
below it. The point on the surface directly above the focus is termed as the
'epicenter‘ of the earthquake
 General characteristics

Earthquake vibrations occur in a variety of frequencies and velocities. The

actual rupture process may last for a few seconds to as long as one minute
for a major earthquake. The ground shaking is caused by ‘body waves’ and
‘surface wave’.

Earthquakes can be of three types based on the focal depth:

Deep:- 300 to 700 kms from the earth surface

¨ Medium:- 60 to 300 kms
¨ Shallow: less than 60 kms
The deep focus earthquakes are rarely destructive because by the time the
waves reach the surface the impact reduces. Shallow focus earthquakes are
more common and are extremely damaging because of their proximity to
the surface.
 Measuring Earthquakes

Earthquakes can be described by the use of two distinctively different scales of

measurement demonstrating magnitude and intensity.

Earthquake magnitude or amount of energy released is determined by the use of a

seismograph’ which is an instrument that continuously records ground vibration.

The scale was developed by a seismologist named Charles Richter. An earthquake with a
magnitude 7.5 on the Richter scale releases 30 times the energy than one with 6.5
magnitudes.

An earthquake of magnitude 3 is the smallest normally felt by humans. The largest

earthquake that has been recorded with this system is 9.25
The second type of scale, the earthquake intensity scale measures the effects
of an earthquake where it occurs.

The most widely used scale of this type was developed in 1902 by Mercalli an
Italian seismologist.

The scale was extended and modified to suit the modern times. It is called the
Modified Mercalli Scale, which expresses the intensity of earthquake effect on
people, structure and the earth’s surface in values from I to XII.

With an intensity of VI and below most of the people can feel the shake and
there are cracks on the walls, but with an intensity of XII there is general panic
with buildings collapsing totally and there is a total disruption in normal life.
 Typical adverse effects

Physical damage

Damage occurs to human settlement, buildings, structures and infrastructure,

especially bridges, elevated roads, railways, water towers, pipelines, electrical
generating facilities. Aftershocks of an earthquake can cause much greater damage
to already weakened structures.

Secondary effects include fires, dam failure and landslides which may block water
ways and also cause flooding. Damage may occur to facilities using or
manufacturing dangerous materials resulting in possible chemical spills. There may
also be a break
 Distribution pattern of Earthquakes in India

India falls quite prominently on the 'Alpine -Himalayan Belt'. This belt is the line along
which the Indian plate meets the Eurasian plate. This being a convergent plate, the
Indian plate is thrusting underneath the Eurasian plate at a speed of 5 cm per year.

The movement gives rise to tremendous stress which keeps accumulating in the rocks
and is released from time to time in the form of earthquakes.

The seismic zoning map of India is divided into four zones namely Zone II, III, IV and V,
with zone V shown in red colour in being most vulnerable to earthquakes. Much of
India lies in zone III. New Delhi the capital city of India lie in zone IV where as big cities
like Mumbai and Chennai are in zone III.
 Possible risk reduction measures

Community preparedness

Planning: The Bureau of Indian Standards

has published building codes and guidelines for safe construction of buildings against
earthquakes.
Public education
Engineered structures:
What is a Cyclone?
Cyclone is a region of low atmospheric pressure surrounded by high atmospheric
pressure resulting in swirling atmospheric disturbance accompanied by powerful
winds blowing in anticlockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere and in the
clockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere. They occur mainly in the tropical and
temperate regions of the world. Cyclones are called by various names in different parts
of the world

General Characteristics:
Cyclones in India are moderate in nature. Some of the general characteristics of a
cyclone are:
1. Strong winds
2. Exceptional rain
3. Storm surge
Cyclones are generally accompanied by strong winds which cause a lot of
destruction. In some cases it is accompanied by heavy downpour and also the rise in
the sea which intrudes inland there by causing floods
Indian Cyclones
Cyclones vary in frequency in various parts of the world.
The 7516.6 kilometers long Indian coastline is the
earth’s most cyclone battered stretch of the world.
Around 8 per cent of the total land area in India is prone
to cyclones. About two-third of the cyclones
that occur in the Indian coastline occur in the Bay of
Bengal. The states which are generally affected in the
east coast are West-Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh;
Tamil Nadu and on the west coast Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Goa, Karnataka and Kerala.
The satellites track the movement of these cyclones based on which the people are
evacuated from areas lively to be affected. It is difficult to predict the accuracy.
Accurate landfall predictions can give only a few hours’ notice to threatened
population.

India has one of the best cyclone warning systems in the world. The India
Meteorological Department (IMD) is the nodal department for wind detection,
tracking and forecasting cyclones. Cyclone tracking is done through INSAT satellite.
Cyclone warning is disseminated by several means such as satellite based disaster
warning systems, radio, television, telephone, fax, high priority telegram, public
announcements and bulletins in press. These warnings are disseminated to the
general public, the fishing community
Elements at Risk:
Strong winds, torrential rains and flooding cause a huge loss to life and property.
The 1999 Super Cyclone of Orissa killed more than 10,000 precious lives with women
and children greatly affected. Apart from loss to life there is a huge loss to
infrastructures like houses built of mud, older buildings with weak walls, bridges,
settlements in low lying areas.

Typical Adverse effect:

First, in a sudden, brief onslaught, high winds cause major damage to infrastructure
and housing, in particular fragile constructions. They are generally followed by heavy
rains and floods and, in flat coastal areas by storm surge riding on tidal waves and
inundating the land over long distances of even upto 15 kilometer inland.

Water supplies – Ground and pipe water supply may get contaminated by flood
waters.

Crops and food supplies – high winds and rains ruin the standing crop and food stock
lying in low lying areas. Plantation type crops such as banana and coconut are
extremely vulnerable. Salt from the sea water may get deposited on the agricultural
land and increase the salinity. The loss of the crop may lead to acute food shortage.
Communication – severe disruption in the communication links as the wind may
bring down the electricity and communication towers, telephone poles, telephone
lines, antennas and satellite disk and broadcasting services. Transport lines (road
and rail) may be curtailed, Lack of proper communication affects effective
distribution of relief materials.

Physical damage – structures will be damaged or destroyed by the wind force,

flooding and storm surge. Light pitched roofs of most structures especially the ones
fitted on to industrial buildings will suffer severe damage.

Casualties and public heath – caused by flooding and flying elements, contamination
of water supplies may lead to viral outbreaks, diarrhea, and malaria.
Possible Risk Reduction Measures:

Hazard mapping

Engineered structures

Land use control

Flood management

Improving vegetation cover

What is a landslide?
The term’ landslide’ includes all varieties of mass movements of hill slopes
and can be defined as the downward and outward movement of slope
forming materials composed of rocks, soils, artificial fills or combination of
all these materials along surfaces of separation by falling, sliding and
flowing, either slowly or quickly from one place to another

Although the landslides are primarily associated with mountainous

terrains, these can also occur in areas where an activity such as surface
excavations for highways, buildings and open pit mines takes place.

They often take place in conjunction with earthquakes, floods and volcanoes.
At times, prolonged rainfall causing landslide may block the flow of river for
quite some time. The formation of river blocks can cause havoc to the
settlements downstream on its bursting.

Himalayas including Northeastern mountains ranges being the worst

affected, followed by a section of Western Ghats and the Vindhyas
 Causes of Landslide

There are several causes of landslide. Some of the major causes are as follows

Geological Weak material

Erosion
Intense rainfall
Human Excavation
Earthquake shaking
Volcanic eruption

Removal of vegetation and

erosion have also triggered slides.
Torrential rainfall on the deforested slopes
is the main factor in the Peninsular India
namely in Western Ghat and Nilgiris. Human
intervention by way of slope modification
has added to this effect
 Adverse Effects:

The most common elements at risk are the settlements built on the
steep slopes, built at the toe and those built at the mouth of the
streams emerging from the mountain valley.

Landslides constitute a major natural hazard

in our country, which accounts for
considerable loss of life and damage to
communication routes, human settlements,
agricultural fields and forest lands.

Roads, communication lines are vulnerable

Possible risk reduction measures:

Hazard mapping locates areas prone to

slope failures. This will help to avoid building settlements in such areas. These maps will also
serve as a tool for mitigation planning.

Land use practices such as:

Areas covered by degraded natural vegetation in upper slopes are to be afforested with
suitable species. Existing patches of natural vegetation (forest and natural grass land) in good
condition, should be preserved

§ Any developmental activity initiated in the area should be taken up only after a detailed
study of the region has been carried out.

§ In construction of roads, irrigation canals etc. proper care is to be taken to avoid blockage of
natural drainage

§ Total avoidance of settlement in the risk zone should be made mandatory. § Relocate
settlements and infrastructure that fall in the possible path of the Landslide

No construction of buildings in areas beyond a certain degree of slope

Retaining Walls can be built to stop land
from slipping (these walls are commonly seen along roads in hill stations). These are
constructed to prevent smaller sized and secondary landslides that often occur along
the toe portion of the larger landslides.

Surface Drainage Control Works

Engineered structures

Increasing vegetation cover

Insurance
Snow Avalanches
Avalanches are block of snow or ice descending from the mountain tops at a river like
speedy flow. They are extremely damaging and cause huge loss to life and property. In
Himalaya, avalanches are common in Drass, Pir Panijal, Lahaul-Spiti and Badrinath areas.
As per Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE), of Defence Research and
Development Organisation (DRDO), on an average, around 30 people are killed every year,
due to this disaster in various zones of the Himalayan range. Beside killing people,
avalanches also damage the roads, properties, and settlements falling in its way. Traffic
blockage, structural damages of roads, and retaining wall damages occur most frequently
due to avalanches. Snow avalanches occur in several stretches of the Himalayan range
with the following areas being more vulnerable:
• Western Himalaya – the snowy regions of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and
Uttarakhand, especially Tehri Garhwal and Chamoli districts
• Jammu and Kashmir – Higher reaches of Kashmir and Gurez valleys, Kargil and Ladakh
and
along some of the major roads
• Himachal Pradesh – Chamba, Kullu-Spiti and Kinnaur
Volcanic Eruption
Characteristics
• Volcanoes which are likely to constitute a disaster threat are internationally well
documented and, in many cases, monitored for possible activity. Usually, therefore,
major eruptions can be predicted.
• Volcanic blast can destroy structures and environmental surrounds, and also cause
fires, possibly including forest fires.
• Land surface cracking, resulting from volcanic explosion, may affect buildings and
other structures.
• Lava flow can bury buildings and crops. It may also cause fires and render land
unusable.
• Ash, in its airborne form, can affect aircraft by ingestion into engines.
• Ground deposit of ash may destroy crops and also affect land use and water
supplies.
• Ash may also cause respiratory problems.
• Mud flows may arise from associated heavy rain.
General counter measures
• Land-use regulations,
• Lava control systems,
• Developing a monitoring and warning system,
• Evacuation plans and arrangements,
• Relocating the population, and
• Public awareness and education programs.
Disaster Management: Effort to mitigate natural disaster at national levels
Disaster Management definition
“The organization, planning and application of measures preparing for, responding to
and, initial recovery from disasters.”

Disaster Risk Reduction (Mitigation)

Disaster Risk Reduction, as per UN, consists of a framework of elements that will help
to minimize vulnerabilities and disaster risks throughout a society, to avoid (prevention)
or to limit (mitigation and preparedness) the adverse impacts of hazards, within the
broad context of sustainable development.
 Disaster Response

Response measures are those which are taken immediately prior to and following
disaster. Such measures are directed towards saving life and protecting property and to
dealing with the immediate damage caused by the disaster.

Effective response to the impact of disaster is critical mainly to:

• limit casualties,
• alleviate hardship and suffering,
• restore essential life support and community systems,
• mitigate further damage and loss, and
• provide the foundation for subsequent recovery.

Requirements for Effective Response Wide international experience has shown that
effective response depends fundamentally on two factors:

• information

• resources
 FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR
INCREASING NUMBER OF
DISASTERS

 Population
Population Growth
Growth and
and Urban
Urban
Development
Development

 Development
Development Practices
Practices

 Climatic
Climatic changes
changes

 Effect
Effect of
of Environmental
Environmental degradation
degradation
DISASTER MANAGEMENT CYCLE

Emergency Response

Disaster

Preparedness Response/Relief

Prevention/ Rehabilitation
Mitigation

Reconstruction
Pre-disaster: risk reduction
Post-disaster: recovery
 DISASTER MANAGEMENT CONTINUUM
DISASTER MANAGEMENT

MITIGATION RESPONSE LONG TERM

MEASURES

Risk Analysis Rescue

Prevention Preparedness
Rehab

Vulnerability Warning and

Structural Evacuation Reconstruct.
Analysis Relief
Measures &
Planning of Recovery
Hazard Note
Assessment Disaster
Non-Structural
Response Being done efficiently
Measures
Risk Needs better Planning
Assessment No Substantial Work
done so far
 Levels of Disasters

High Power Committee on Disaster Management5, in its report of 2001, categorized

disaster situations into three 'levels': L1, L2, and L3. The period of normalcy, L0, should be
utilized for disaster risk reduction.

Level-L1: The level of disaster that can be managed within the capabilities and resources
at the District level. However, the state authorities will remain in readiness to provide
assistance if needed.
Level-L2: This signifies the disaster situations that require assistance and active
mobilization of resources at the state level and deployment of state level agencies for
disaster management. The central agencies must remain vigilant for immediate deployment
if required by the state.
Level-L3: This corresponds to a nearly catastrophic situation or a very large-scale disaster
that overwhelms the State and District authorities.
 DISASTER MANAGEMENT ACT, 2005

“In order to Coordinate Central Govt efforts in Preparedness,

Prevention, Response, Mitigation, Relief and Rehabilitation
and for adoption of a Holistic Pro-active Approach to
Disaster Management, a NATIONAL DISASTER
MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY has come into being by an Act
of Parliament in December 2005 under the Chairmanship of
Prime Minister as the NODAL AGENCY for Disaster
Management in the Country.”
 CHARTER
1. The ‘National Authority’ shall have the responsibility for
laying down Policies, Plans and Guidelines for Disaster
Management for ensuring Timely and Effective Response to
disasters (Both Natural & Man Made).
2. Coordinate the Enforcement and Implementation of the
Policy and Plans for Disaster Management.

Plan Approve Coord Monitor Ensure

Implementation

3. International Assistance and Cooperation.

 Institutional Framework

National Level

The overall coordination of disaster management vests with the Ministry of Home Affairs
(MHA). The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) and the National Crisis Management
Committee (NCMC) are the key committees involved in the top-level decision-making
with regard to disaster management. The NDMA is the lead agency responsible for the
preparation DM plans and the execution of DM functions at the national level.