Disaster Management & Disaster Management Cycle in India | UPSC Mains: Internal Security & Disaster Management PDF Download

What is Disaster Management?

Disaster Management In India

• Prevention of danger or threat of any disaster;
• Mitigation or reduction of risk of any disaster or its severity or consequences
• Capacity-building;
• Preparedness to deal with any disaster;
• Prompt response to any threatening disaster situation or disaster;
• Assessing the severity or magnitude of effects of any disaster; evacuation, rescue and relief;
• Rehabilitation and reconstruction

Paradigm Shift In Disaster Management

• There was a paradigm shift from the erstwhile relief centric response to a proactive prevention, mitigation and preparedness-driven approach.
• The new approach is obtained from the conviction that development cannot be sustainable unless disaster mitigation is built into the development process.
• This paradigm shift underpins that disasters can be managed through adequate planning and preparedness for response.
• The new approach also originates from the belief that investments in mitigation are much more cost effective than expenditure on relief and rehabilitation.

Evolution Of the Responsive And Preparedness Approach To Disaster Management

• The repeated occurrences of disasters compelled the Government of India to take cognizance of the objectives of International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (1990-2000), Yokohama Strategy for Safer World (1994), and the Plan of action for Safer World (Istanbul, 1996).
• Consequently, the High Power Committee on Disaster Management (HPC) was set up in 1999 to recommend strategies for Disaster Management Plans.
• Until 2001, the responsibility of Disaster Management was with agriculture Ministry. Following a recommendation of the HPC, it was transferred to Ministry of Home Affairs in 2002.
• The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was established in 2005.
• Disaster Management Act was passed in 2005.

How Has been this Changed Approach Put Into Effect?

• Institutional changes
• Proclaiming policy
• Legal framework
• Mainstreaming mitigation into Developmental process
• Funding
• Specific Schemes addressing mitigation
• Preparedness measures
• Capacity Building
• Human Resource Development
• Community participation

The Disaster Management Cycle

Key Phases In Disaster Management Cycle: 

• Pre-Disaster Phase: Before a disaster to reduce the potential for human, material or environmental losses caused by hazards and to ensure that these losses are minimized when the disaster actually strikes.
• During-Disaster: It is to ensure that the needs and provisions of victims are met to alleviate and minimize suffering.
• After Disaster: After a disaster to achieve rapid and durable recovery which does not reproduce the original vulnerable conditions.

Pre-disaster Phase:

• Action within this segment is designed to impede the occurrence of a disaster event and/or prevent such an occurrence having harmful effects on communities or key installations.

Mitigation:

• Mitigation includes all measures taken to reduce both the effects of the hazard itself and the vulnerable conditions to it in order to reduce the scale of a future disaster.
• Mitigation also aims at reducing the physical, economic and social vulnerability to threats and the underlying causes for this vulnerability
• Example: some countries regard the development and application of building codes (which can reduce damage and loss in the event of earthquakes and cyclones) as being in the category of mitigation.

Preparedness:

• It includes measures that enable governments, communities and individuals to respond rapidly to disaster situations to cope with them effectively.
• Example: the formulation of viable emergency plans, the development of warning systems etc.

Early Warning:

• This is the process of monitoring the situation in communities or areas known to be vulnerable to slow onset hazards, and passing the knowledge of the pending hazard to people.

The Disaster Impact:

• This refers to the “real-time event” of a hazard occurring and affecting elements at risk.

During Disaster Phase:

• This refers to the first stage response to any calamity

Typical measures include:

• Implementation of plans
• Activation of the counter-disaster system
• Search and Rescue
• Provision of emergency food, shelter, medical assistance etc.
• Survey and assessment
• Evacuation measures
• Maintenance of Law & Order

Post- Disaster Phase:

• Recovery is the process by which communities and the nation are assisted in returning to their proper level of functioning following a disaster.
• Recovery encompasses the three overlapping phases of emergency relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Reconstruction:

• Reconstruction attempts to return communities to improved pre-disaster functioning.
• Example of measures: the replacement of buildings; infrastructure and lifeline facilities etc.

Development:

• It is an ongoing activity
• Example: Long term disaster reduction measures for examples like construction of embankments against flooding, irrigation facilities as drought proofing measures.

Importance Of Communication In Disaster Management

• Application of communication technology has a role in all the four distinct phases of disaster management namely, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.
• However, the most important application is in the response and recovery phase.
• This is because it connects affected people, families, and communities with first responders, support systems, and other family members.

There are two distinct facets of communication:

• physical one: Credible and influential agents of communication
• Content and clarity of the message. It is necessary to ensure that recipient of communication understands the contents of the message being conveyed and that he responds to it in the desired manner.

Example: Role of communication was best experienced during the super cyclone and floods in Odhisa. When all the telephone lines were down and mobile towers were razed to the ground. The then Andhra Pradesh Government rushed its modern technology phones which came into immense use.