Editor’s Note: 

Disaster or catastrophe or any such accident is

inevitable. Almost all the nations witness such misfortune. Therefore
planning and organizing of rapid forces which can work during such
mishaps have been developed by all the nations in the form of natural
disaster management. India which has different types of vegetation and
geography witnesses almost all the kinds of disasters most common
among them all being floods. Therefore National disaster Management
Authority has been established. It is the apex body which looks after the
management and control of such accidents. It has been established
under Disaster Management Act, 2005. Its responsibility is like that of a
state which is also helped by central government through the ministry of
Home Affairs. Any disaster be it manmade or natural, always leads to
loss of life and property. For instance the recent floods in the state of
Uttarakhand led to loss of 30% of economy.  Many international
organizations like Red Cross, United Nations, World Bank also work in
this field. They collaborate with domestic agencies to work. Therefore it
is concluded that a strong and effective management system is a must
for prevention and control of such disasters.’

Introduction
“What has so often excited wonder is the great rapidity with which
countries recover from a state of devastation; the disappearance, in a
short time, of all traces of the mischiefs done by earthquakes, floods,
hurricanes, and the ravages of war.”
John Stuart Mill

What Does Disaster Mean?

The word “disaster” means a catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave
occurrence in any area, arising from natural or manmade causes, or by
accident or negligence which results in substantial loss of life or human
suffering or damage to, and destruction of, property, or damage to, or
degradation of, environment, and is of such a nature or magnitude as to be
beyond the coping capacity of the community of the affected area.[1] In other
words we can understand disaster as a natural or man-made hazard resulting
in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or
destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment. It is a
phenomenon that can cause damage to life and property and destroy the
economic, social and cultural life of people.
 Disaster is of two types:-

 i)  Natural disaster

A natural disaster is a consequence when a natural hazard affects humans
and/or the built environment. Human vulnerability, and lack of appropriate
emergency management, leads to financial, environmental, or human impact.
The resulting loss depends on the capacity of the population to support or
resist the disaster: their resilience.

Various phenomena like landslides, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, floods

and cyclones are all natural hazards that kill thousands of people and destroy
billions of dollars of habitat and property each year.

ii.)  Man Made disasters

Man-made disasters are the consequence of technological or human hazards.
The examples of manmade disasters include stampedes, fires, transport
accidents, industrial accidents, oil spills and nuclear explosions/radiation. War
and deliberate attacks may also be put in this category.

According to the world bank disaster management report developing countries

suffer the greatest costs when a disaster hits any such developing country.
More than 95% of all deaths caused by disasters occur in developing
countries, and losses due to natural disasters are 20 times greater (as a
percentage of GDP) in developing countries than in developed countries.[2]

What Is Disaster Management?

 “Disaster management” means a continuous and integrated process of
planning, organizing, coordinating and implementing measures which are
necessary or expedient for-
i.  prevention of danger or threat of any disaster;

ii.  mitigation or reduction of risk of any disaster or its severity or

consequences;

iii.  capacity-building;

iv.  preparedness to deal with any disaster;

v.  prompt response to any threatening disaster situation or disaster;

vi.  assessing the severity or magnitude of effects of any disaster;

vii.  evacuation, rescue and relief;

viii.  Rehabilitation and reconstruction.[3]

According to the international federation of Red Cross and red crescent
society Disaster management can be defined as the organization and
management of resources and responsibilities for dealing with all
humanitarian aspects of emergencies, in particular preparedness, response
and recovery in order to lessen the impact of disasters.[4]

Disaster, Disaster Management And India

Natural disasters in India cause massive loss to life and property. Flash
floods, cyclones, avalanches, droughts, landslides brought on by torrential
rains, and snowstorms pose the greatest threats. Other dangers include
frequent summer dust storms, which usually track from north to south; they
cause extensive property damage in North India and deposit large amounts of
dust from arid regions. Hail is also common in parts of India, causing severe
damage to standing crops such as rice and wheat. But floods are the most
common natural disaster in India.

The heavy southwest monsoon rains cause the Brahmaputra and other rivers
to distend their banks, often flooding surrounding areas. Though they provide
rice paddy farmers with a largely dependable source of natural irrigation and
fertilization, but the floods can kill thousands and displace millions. Almost all
of India is flood-prone, and extreme precipitation events, such as flash floods
and torrential rains, have become increasingly common in central India over
the past several decades, coinciding with rising temperatures.

As the apex Body or as an authoritative body for Disaster Management in

India, mandated by the Disaster Management Act, 2005, is the National
Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). Prime Minister of India is the
chairman of NDMA, and the Vice Chairman is Shashidhar Reddy. Under the
Vice chairman are eight members, all superannuated officials, who have the
status, pay, and entitlements of ministers of state. Also there is a National
Disaster Response Force (NDRF) of 12 battalions, under the NDMA. It is
organized on paramilitary lines, and is manned by persons on deputation from
the para-military forces of India. As on 6 October, 13, it was headed by Mr.
Krishna Chaudhary.

The responsibility for Disaster Management in India’s federal system is that of

the State Government with the supporting role of the national government.
The ‘nodal Ministry’ in the central government for management of natural
disasters, is the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). In the MHA this function is
discharged by the Disaster Management Division (DMD). When ‘calamities of
severe nature’ such as the natural disaster in Uttarakhand occur, the Central
Government is responsible for providing aid and assistance to the affected
state, as may be needed, including the deploying, at the State’s request, of
Armed Forces, Central Paramilitary Forces, National Disaster Response
Force (NDRF), and such communication, air and other assets, as are
available and needed. The response of the central government is based on
‘gravity of a natural calamity’ and the ‘scale of the relief operation’.

Microeconomics Aspect
Natural disasters are the one which can disrupt both the local economy as
well as the national economy. Calculation of the damages of such an event
can be a difficult task because the cost of a natural disaster is ultimately
wedded to several factors, and varies by type of disaster. The key factors are
the magnitude and duration of the event, the structure of the local economy,
the affected geographical area, time and population base. Naturally, disasters
that affect densely populated areas have the greatest potential for inflicting the
most damage because not only are large numbers of people endangered, but
the potential loss to homes, roads, bridges, businesses, highways and utilities
is also magnified.

The factors that contribute to the over-estimation of losses vary considerably.

In some cases, buildings, infrastructure and crops that appear totally
destroyed may in fact be only partially damaged. To some extent, this
phenomenon may be driven by the media, who are merely striving to add a
monetary flavor to the disaster. Other factors also come into play. According
to some economists who have studied natural disasters, there is an incentive
for states to overestimate their losses in order to maximize their political
leverage.

Till now we have discussed the cost of a natural disaster and the losses that
stem from a natural disaster as if they are one and the same; economically
they are two separate terms. Losses occur principally through destruction of an
economy’s wealth like the physical assets that help generate income. These
assets include levees, roads, bridges, utilities, factories, homes, buildings,
forests or other natural resources. To correctly measure these losses, one
must attempt to calculate either the lost income that these physical assets
help generate, or the decline in the assets’ values. But to count both is to
double count. By contrast, costs are incurred when an economy undertakes to
replace, repair or reinforce those tangible assets (capital) that are destroyed.
Despite these limitations, economists attempt to measure the total loss of a
disaster by estimating two separate types of losses i.e. direct and
indirect. Direct losses are easier to estimate. For example, in an earthquake or
Tsunami, they would consist of the structures that are destroyed or damaged
as a result of the actual force; in the case of a flood, they would consist of
water damage to levees, crops or buildings.
Indirect, or secondary, losses occur as a result of destruction to buildings,
structures or bridges. These include lost output, retail sales, wages and work
time, additional time commuting to work, additional costs to business from
rerouting goods and services around the affected area, utility disruptions,
reduced taxable receipts, lost tourism or increased financial market volatility.
Disaster losses manifest themselves in numerous ways and can never be
estimated with absolute certainty. Economists believe that the true value of a
physical asset is its present discounted value.
Probably the next best alternative will be the structure’s market value, but this
measure also presents problems because some physical assets are not
traded in the marketplace and hence determining their true market value is
next to impossible. Thus, with the lack of reliable information, asset’s
replacement cost is used. But endlessly other issues also arise like how do
you measure the decline in property values that sometimes occurs in the
vicinity of the disaster area? What prices and production should you attach to
crops that were washed away before harvest, or livestock that were unable to
gain weight during severe weather? And finally, how do you calculate the
expected lifetime earnings of individuals who perished?

Analysis
 In this chapter we will see that what happened in Uttarakhand when the river
flood came and what role did Union and state played to manage the disaster
and economic effect on Uttarakhand because of this flood –

 River flooding at Uttarakhand: a timeline of events[6]

i. 13 June 2013: Meteorological Department, Dehradun, forecast “heavy to
very heavy rainfall in the upper regions of Uttarakhand in the next 48 to 72
hours”. The Central Government, Uttarakhand Government, and National
Disaster Management Authority, ignored the warning.
ii. 14–16 June 2013: Heavy unseasonal monsoon rain in north India, which
triggered floods, and landslides, in the north western mountain states of Uttar
Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh. But state of Uttarakhand  was
highly affected.
iii.  17 June 2013: Army helicopters conduct aerial reconnaissance of
Kedarnath. Army orders an infantry unit to send a foot column to establish
contact with the temple town. Next day, early morning, after a night march, an
infantry column, under its Commanding Officer reaches Kedarnath. India
Army’s Central Command starts deployment of 5000 troops in the flood
affected areas, in response named “Operation Ganga Prahar”. Indian Air
Force(IAF) helicopters conducts relief and rescue missions. Medium lift
helicopters including MI -17 and V5 helicopters, moved to Jolly grant helipad,
Dehradun. Late in the evening, Defense Minister A.K. Antony, alerts the
Armed Forces for relief and rescue mission.
iv.  18 June 2013: Lt-General Navtej Singh Bawa, the General Officer
Commanding Uttar Bharat Area, moves to Dehradun, to lead the Army
disaster response and coordinate with the State government, and other
agencies. Indian Air Force’s started humanitarian mission, named Operation
Rahat. MHA, outlines response to unfolding disaster. On 15 June, the
Inspector General, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Uttarakhand, ordered
to “get in touch with Chief Secretary and provide whatever assistance was
required by the State Government” as ITBP posts and troops are already
there in affects areas and are working and rescuing the people from day one;
Border Road Organization (BRO) asked to “facilitate restoration of road
communication across the different routes”; 12 additional teams of the NDRF
ordered to be deployed to Uttarakhand, and 34 deaths confirmed in
Uttarakhand.
v.  19 June 2013: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is also Chairman of
the NDMA and the Indian Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi, carry out
an aerial survey of affected area. The PM calls the situation in Uttarakhand a
‘disaster’ and directs “all Central Agencies to render all possible assistance in
their domain to the State.” Army’s names its response to the natural disaster
in Uttarakhand as Operation Surya Hope. Army carries out aerial
reconnaissance of Kedarnath, Jungle Chatti, and other inaccessible areas
where people are stranded. Army plans paratroop operations, and the
establishment of heli-bridge to rescue, and evacuate the stranded people.
Responders in affected area include 5500 Army man’s 3000 BRO person’s,
ITBP – 600, NDRF 13 teams- 422, 18 helicopters (IAF, army and civil) and 1
Hercules C-130.
vi.  20 June 2013: Official communication from the Government of
Uttarakhand, for army assistance reaches Home ministry.
Disaster toll : Districts affected-09; deaths-71; Injured- 53; missing-23; Lives
stock lost -1157; houses ‘fully’ damaged -366; houses partially damaged-272;
bridges damaged-21; stranded pilgrims-62,122; persons rescued- 22,392
vii. 21 June 2013: One of the eight members of the NDMA with status of
Minister of State, designated as nodal officer, to coordinate rescue, relief, and
assistance mission. Uttarakhand Government posts 12 officers to disaster
affected areas as nodal officers to coordinate the response. The officers reach
their respective post on 22 and 23 June.
viii. 25 June 2013: IAF Mi-17 V5 helicopter on a relief and rescue mission
from Gauchar to Guptkashi and Kedarnath on return leg from Kedarnath
crashed. 20 persons on board killed [ 5 IAF crew members, and 15 ITBP
soldiers, including 9 on deputation with NDRF]. But even after this incident
rescue operation is going on by military persons.
ix.  26 June 2013: Central Command launches a web site for reporting
progress on Operation Surya Hope in Uttarakhand. The site provides location
wise list of stranded and rescued persons, and press releases issued by
Central Command. Government imports 25 satellite phones from Hong Kong
for the ill-prepared NDMA, and NDRF.

x.  28 June 13: General Bikram Singh, the Chief of the Army Staff, on a visit
Gauchar, in Uttarakhand, while speaking to journalist, says Operation Surya
Hope was “aid to civil authorities”, to “strengthen the hands of the civil
administration”. Army confirms that all people stranded in Kedarnath had been
evacuated, and that the road to Badrinath was open.
xi. 30 June 2013: Ministry of Defence update, notes that IAF from 17 -30 Jun
2013, airlifted 18,424 persons, in 2,137 sorties, and delivered 3,36,930 kg of
relief supplies.
xii.  2 July 2013: Evacuation of all stranded pilgrim complete. BBC described
it as “one of the world’s largest air rescue operations”.
xiii.  10 July 2013: Army Engineers started work on a new 20 km route to
restore land communication with Kedarnath, which has remained cut off since
the 16 June. An advance team of four officers and 21 soldiers reached
Gomkar on 11 July.
xiv.  15 July 2013: Officials confirmed that the disaster toll was 580 dead, and
5,748 missing (924, from Uttarakhand and 4,824 are from other Indian states),
and that a total of 108,653 people have been evacuated from affected area by
air and foot.
xv.  16 September 2013 : Subhash Kumar, Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand,
issued revised figures for missing persons from 5100 to 4,120, including 421
children. The revised figures, compiled by Dehradun-based Missing Persons
Cell, are based on a review of the First Information Reports recorded in the
state’s 13 districts.
xvi.  As on today rehabilitation work is going on which is supposed to be
completed in 2015.
 Operation Surya Hope[7]
It is the name that Indian Army’s Central Command gave to its response in
Uttarakhand following the June 2013 North India floods. Operation Surya
Hope was conducted by Indian Army’s Lucknow based Central Command.

Operation Surya Hope is a successor to Operation Ganga Pharar. Operation

Surya Hope was commanded by Lieutenant General Anil Chait, General
Officer Commanding in Chief Central Command. Over 10,000 troops
participated in Operation Surya Hope. It was conducted in tandem with the
response by IAF (Operation Rahat), the BRO, NDRF, ITBP and other para
military forces under the Ministry of Home.

The floods and landslides in Uttarakhand, the worst natural disaster in the
area in a hundred years, has been called a Himalayan Tsunami by the
Government of India. According to the Indian Meteorological Department, the
total rainfall in Uttarakhand was the highest in the last 80 years. The rainfall
was 440% above the normal.

The total number of aircrafts involved in the evacuation, relief, rescue, and
search tasks, according to government sources, was 83 (IAF-45, Army-13,
hired helicopters- 25). The helicopters carried out their mission in hazardous
mountain conditions, often in rain and fog.

For relief and rescue operations, the army divided the affected areas into four
axis, or sub sectors. On 19–20 June, the army conducted reconnaissance,
and  stranded people. By 20 June evening the army reported that it had
‘rescued more than 11000 people, and was sheltering, feeding, and providing
medical assistance to about 10,000. As follow up to aerial reconnaissance of
inaccessible areas on 19 June, army plans heliborne operations by
paratroopers and special forces to rescue stranded people, in Jungle Chatti,
Kedarnath, and other areas. On 20 June, the army, started work on the
maintenance and improvement, and expansion of helipad at Gagaria on
Hemkund Sahib axis to make it ready to accommodate the larger MI-17
helicopter to allow for speedier aerial evacuation.

On 23 June, relief, rescue, search, and evacuation operations were started by

indian army. Army works on securing, marking, and improving helipads;
repairing and installing bridges; improving and restoring tracks; establishing
staging areas, transit areas, reception centers, medical aid posts; escorting
and guiding people; providing food, water, shelter, and medical aid to the
affected population, and most importantly providing through their presence,
example, and leadership, hope, and encouragement to the stranded
population.

Medical aid formed an important component of the mission. Doctors from

Army Medical Corps, and nurses from the Military Nursing Service were
amongst the lead elements to be deployed in the area. By 19 June, it was
reported, 12 self-sufficient medical teams were deployed in the area. An
emergency medical helpline was opened, and military communication
channels were provided to affected people to speak with their families and
friends.  In addition the IAF deployed Air Force Rapid Action Medical Teams,
with the air stations, and detachments.

On 26 June 13, A team of two psychiatrists from Army Medical Corps, opened
a post disaster and trauma counseling center in the Joshimath sector, to
provide counseling to the civil population stranded at Badrinath and
Kedarnath. On 26 June 13, veterinary teams from the Army Veterinary Corps
consisting of a veterinary doctor and two paramedics were inducted by
helicopter to establish Animal Aid Posts along the Hemkund axis to take care
of ponies and mules stranded in the area.

 Economical hit
After the river flood; economy of Uttarakhand whose major part comes from
tourism was badly affected. As people are threatened to come in Uttarakhand,
around 30 % of the economy suffered. Many people became jobless and
moreover almost all the tourist places were destroyed. There was a huge loss
of infrastructure and man power.  Around 1000 crore is the money which is
decided to be given as a compensation part which is not sufficient at all as
loss is much more than that for example a person who lost his 1 family
member and around 20 lacs of property is getting only 10 lacs which is not in
any kind of comparison and for that also; he had to wait.

So at the end one can clearly say that economical condition of affected people
as well as of state is in very bad condition. To overcome the situation state of
Uttarakhand had demanded a special package from union government.

From the happening of river floods in Uttarakhand the clear picture of

seriousness of state and union towards Disaster management was displayed.
All the work done including rescue operations and relief camps were done by
localites and military forces and official agencies for this work responded after
3 days with a lot of confusion in there mind. Our great politician at both level
are just trying to blame each other and were in busy in making the plan that
how can they take the political advantage of this situation. However there are
some serious and good politicians and bureaucrats who helped and were
trying to cope up with the situation.
At both the levels state as well as union there was a very late response to this
situation as seen earlier but because of the activeness of army and co
operation of civilians somehow situation was managed.

Comparative Study
In this chapter we will see the various organization working for the purpose of
disaster management and disaster management in other countries

  Organisation working at international level for the purpose of

disaster management
i.  Red Cross/Red Crescent[8]
National Red Cross/Red Crescent societies often have pivotal roles in
responding to emergencies. Additionally, the International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies may deploy assessment teams. After
having assessed the needs Emergency Response Units (ERUs) may be
deployed to the affected country or region. They are specialized in the
response component of the emergency management framework.

ii. United Nations

Within the United Nations system responsibility for emergency response rests
with the Resident Coordinator within the affected country. However, in
practice international response will be coordinated, if requested by the
affected country’s government, by deploying a UN Disaster Assessment and
Coordination team.

iii.  World Bank[9]

Since 1980, the World Bank has approved more than 500 operations related
to disaster management, amounting to more than US$40 billion. These
include post-disaster reconstruction projects, as well as projects with
components aimed at preventing and mitigating disaster impacts, in countries
such as Argentina, Bangladesh, Colombia, Haiti, India, Mexico, Turkey and
Vietnam to name only a few.

Common areas of focus for prevention and mitigation projects include forest
fire prevention measures, such as early warning measures and education
campaigns to discourage farmers from slash and burn agriculture that ignites
forest fires; early-warning systems for hurricanes; flood prevention
mechanisms, ranging from shore protection and terracing in rural areas to
adaptation of production; and earthquake-prone construction.

In a joint venture with Columbia University under the umbrella of the

ProVention Consortium the World Bank has established a Global Risk
Analysis of Natural Disaster Hotspots.

·         Various National organizations working in their respective

countries

i.  Australia
Natural disasters are part of life in Australia. There Drought occurs on average
every 3 out of 10 years and associated heat waves had killed more
Australians than any other type of natural disaster in the 20th century.

Australia’s emergency management processes embrace the concept of the

prepared community. The principal government agency in achieving this is
Emergency Management Australia.

ii.  Canada
Public Safety Canada is Canada’s national emergency management agency.
Each province is required to have legislature in place for dealing with
emergencies, as well as establish their own emergency management
agencies, typically called an “Emergency Measures Organization” (EMO),
which functions as the primalization with the municipal and federal level. They
also work with other levels of government, first responders, community
groups, the private sector (operators of critical infrastructure) and other
nations.

iii.  Germany[10]
In Germany the Federal Government controls the German disaster relief
(Katastrophenschutz) and civil protection(Zivilschutz) programs. The local units of
German fire department and the Technisches Hilfswerk (Federal Agency for
Technical Relief,) are part of these programs & The German Armed Forces
(Bundeswehr), the German Federal Police and the 16 state police forces
(Länderpolizei) all have been deployed for disaster relief operations.
iv.  New Zealand[11]
In New Zealand, responsibility for emergency management moves from local
to national depending on the nature of the emergency or risk reduction
program. Within each region, local governments are unified into 16 Civil
Defence Emergency Management Groups (CDEMGs). As local arrangements
are overwhelmed by an emergency, pre-existing mutual-support
arrangements are activated. As warranted, central government has the
authority to coordinate the response through the National Crisis Management
Centre (NCMC), operated by the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency
Management (MCDEM). These structures are defined by regulation and best
explained in The Guide to the National Civil Defence Emergency Management
Plan 2006, roughly equivalent to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management
Agency’s National Response Framework.

 v. Pakistan
Disaster management in Pakistan revolves around flood disasters with a
primary focus on rescue and relief. Within disaster management bodies in
Pakistan, there is a dearth of knowledge and information about hazard
identification, risk assessment and management, and linkages between
livelihoods and disaster preparedness. There are no long-term, inclusive and
coherent institutional arrangements to address disaster issues with a long-
term vision. Disasters are viewed in isolation from the processes of
mainstream development and poverty alleviation planning. Absence of a
central authority for integrated disaster management and lack of coordination
within and between disaster related organizations is responsible for effective
and efficient disaster management in the country. State-level disaster
preparedness and mitigation measures are heavily tilted towards structural
aspects and undermine non-structural elements such as the knowledge and
capacities of local people, and the related livelihood protection issues.[12]

vi.  United States

Disaster management  in the United States has utilized the functional All-
Hazards approach for over 20 years, in this approach emergency managers
develop processes (such as communication & warning or sheltering) rather
than developing single-hazard/threat focused plans (e.g., a tornado plan).
Processes then are mapped to the hazards, with the emergency manager
looking for gaps, overlaps, and conflicts between processes.

In the United States, all disastrous events are initially considered as local, with
local authorities usually a law enforcement agency having charge. However, if
the event becomes overwhelming to local government, state emergency
management becomes the controlling emergency management agency.
Under the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) is lead federal agency for emergency
management and supports, but does not override, state authority.
CONCLUSION
Some of the significant natural disasters in India over the last two decades are
as follows:

 1993 Latur earthquake. Killed 20,000, injured 30,000 and destroyed

about 52 villages.
 1999 Odisha cyclone. Killed almost 10,000, left over 2 million homeless
and disrupted 20 million lives.
 2001 Kutch earthquake. Killed 20,000, injured 1,67,000 and left over 6
lakh people homeless. Bhuj was devastated.
 2004 the Indian Ocean Tsunami affected over 2,200 kms of coastline,
killed over 15,000 people rendered lakhs of people homeless.
 2005 floods in Gujarat killed 123 because thankfully over 2,50,000 were
evacuated in time by helicopters of the Indian Air Force. The state
suffered losses of over Rs 8,000 crores.
 2005 Mumbai floods killed 5,000 people, more than 24,000 animal
carcasses disposed.
 2012, Uttarakhand was the victim of very similar flash floods. 38 people
were reported dead.
 2013 Uttarakhand. Not done counting. Toll  reports are ranging from
900 to 10,000.
And in all these disasters there has been loss of crores and crores of Indian
money. These incidents and disasters are sufficient to tell that what union and
states are doing when it come to disaster management. Our union and states
are complete failure in ensuring the safety or prevention from disaster.

Because of the failure in properly implementing the disaster management act,

we are facing a heavy loss of capital and human life over the years.

If we see the recent floods in uttarakhand then also we are able to see that
because of lack of proper management and preventive methods we lost
around 10,000 lives and a huge chunk of money invested as in capital form or
in infrastructure, which tells that we are complete failure on the economic front
of natural disaster also.

There is a huge lack of co ordination and the disaster management act, 2005
is only a paper law in India. There is a lack of seriousness towards the
disaster management which results in the heavy economic losses.
We cannot stop natural disasters but yes we can prevent them and we can
take appropriate measures for lowering the losses and saving the lives of
hundreds.

RELATION WITH LAW

 Disaster Management act, 2005
The Disaster Management Act, 2005 (No. 53 of 2005) was came into effect
on 12 December 2005. It received the assent of The President of India on 9
January 2006. It  has 11 chapters and 79 sections. The Act extends to the
whole of India. The Act provides for “the effective management of disasters
and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”
i.  The Act calls for the establishment of NDMA, with the Prime Minister of
India as chairperson. The NDMA have nine members including a Vice-
Chairperson. The NDMA is responsible for “laying down the policies, plans
and guidelines for disaster management” and to ensure “timely and effective
response to disaster”. It is responsible for laying “down guidelines to be
followed by the State Authorities in drawing up the State Plans”.

ii.  The Act enjoins the Central Government to Constitute a National Executive
Committee to assist the National Authority. This committee consists of
Secretaries to the Government of India in the Ministries of home, drinking
water supply, environment and forests, finance (expenditure), health, power,
agriculture, atomic energy, defence, rural development, science and
technology, space, telecommunication, urban development, and water
resources, with the Home secretary serving as the Chairperson, ex officio.
The Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, is
an ex officio member of the NEC.  The NEC under section of the Act is
responsible for the preparation of the National Disaster Management Plan for
the whole country and to ensure that it is “reviewed and updated annually”.

iii. This act mandate all the State Governments to establish a State Disaster
Management Authority (SDMA) on the framework of NDMA.

iv. This act also call for the establishment of District Disaster Management
Authority (DDMA) whose chair person will be the Collector or District
Magistrate or Deputy Commissioner of the district.

v.  The Act provides for constituting a NDRF “for the purpose of specialist
response to a threatening disaster situation or disaster” under a Director
General to be appointed by the Central Government.
vi.  The Act provides for civil and criminal liabilities for those who violate the
provision of the Act.

When it comes to the implementation of the National Disaster Act, 2005 it has
been slow, and slack. On 22 July 2013 Indian Supreme Court Justices A K
Patnaik and M Y Eqbal in response to a Public Interest Litigation which is filed
on after the failure of this so called management machinery issued notices to
the Governments of Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh,
Gujarat, Rajasthan Maharashtra and the Central government.

 The petitioner alleged that the non-implementation of the Disaster

Management Act by the Government of Uttarakhand endangered the
lives of citizens. He sought “reasonable ex-gratia assistance on account of
loss of life, damage to houses and for restoration of means of livelihood to
victims of flash floods in Uttarakhand under the Disaster Management Act”.