Disaster management in India – A report by Ministry of Home Affairs

The perception about disaster and its management has undergone a change following the enactment of the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The definition of disaster is now all encompassing, which includes not only the events emanating from natural and man-made causes, but even those events which are caused by accident or negligence.

There was a long felt need to capture information about all such events occurring across the sectors and efforts made to mitigate them in the country and to collate them at one place in a global perspective. This report has been an effort towards realising this thought.

India’s geo-climatic conditions as well as its high degree of socio-economic vulnerability, makes it one of the most disaster-prone country in the world. A disaster is an extreme disruption of the functioning of a society that causes widespread human, material, or environmental losses that exceed the ability of the affected society to cope with its own resources.

The eleventh five year plan document of Government of India gave impetus to mainstreaming disaster risk reduction as one of the priority programmes in the development planning process and disaster management. As mentioned in the report of the working group on disaster management for the eleventh plan and also in the various initiatives towards this effort, the way forward comprises of the following -

• Policy guidelines at the macro level that would inform and guide the preparation and implementation of disaster management and development plans across sectors,
• Building in a culture of preparedness and mitigation,
• Operational guidelines of integrating disaster management practices into development, and specific developmental schemes for prevention and mitigation of disasters,
• Having robust early warning systems coupled with effective response plans at district, state and national levels,
• Building capacity of all stakeholders,
• Involving the community, NGOs, CSOs and the media at all stages of disaster management,
• Addressing gender issues in disaster management planning and developing a strategy for inclusive approach addressing the disadvantaged sections of the society towards disaster risk reduction, and
• Addressing climate risk management through adaptation and mitigation.

To achieve results in these key identified areas, the report suggests certain steps which should be integral to all stages of disaster management.

Download the report here -