FY-2022

Country Report- INDIAVISITING RESEARCHER PROGRAMMEADRC COUNTERPART: MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS, INDIA
FY-2022

Disclaimer

This report was compiled by an ADRC visiting researcher (VR) from ADRC member countries.
The views expressed in the report do not necessarily reflect the views of the ADRC. The
boundaries and names shown and the designations used on the maps in the report also do not
imply official endorsement or acceptance by the ADRC.

1 | Page

INDEX
TopicIntroduction

Page Number
5-6

A. General Information about India

7

1. Country Name

7

2. Capital City

7

3. Official Languages

7

4. Constitutional Languages

7

5. Currency

7

6.

Time zone

7

7. Government

7

8. Head of the State

7

9. Head of the Government

7

10. Head of Disaster Management

7

11. Physical Features

8

12. Geology

9

13. Climate

9

14. Population

10

B. Disaster Risk Profile of India

11

2 | PageTopicPage Number

C. Hazards and Vulnerabilities in India

1. Natural Hazards

12-19

2. Human Induced Hazards

19-22

D. Recent Disasters in India (2018-22)

23-25

E. Institutional Framework

1. National Level

26-30

2. State Level

31

F. Disaster Risk Finance

32-33

G. National Initiatives on Disaster management in India

1. The Disaster Management Act 2004

34

2. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)

34-35

3. National Policy on Disaster Management 200935

4. National Disaster Management Plan 201936

5. Prime Minister’s Ten Point Agenda on Disaster Risk Reduction

36

6. National Disaster Management Guidelines

36-37

7. National Disaster Response Reserve (NDRR)

38

8. Aapada Mitra scheme

38

9. India Disaster Resource Network (IDRN)

38-39

3 | PageTopic10. Subhash Chandra Bose Aapada Prabandhan Puraskar

Page Number
39

H. Post 2015- Global Frameworks for DRR

1. Sendai Framework for DRR

40-43

2. Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and Disaster Resilience

43-45

3. COP21 Paris Agreement on Climate Change Action and Disaster
Risk Reduction

45-47

4. Coherence and Mutual Reinforcement—Thematic Area for DRR

48-50

5. India’s national initiatives relevant for DRR across the three
Global Frameworks

51-53

I.

Strengthening Disaster Risk Governance

54-55

1. Sendai Framework and Strengthening Disaster Risk Governance

55-56

2. Responsibility framework for Strengthening Disaster Risk
Governance

56-57

J.

International Cooperation

1. Participation in International Efforts

58

2. Accepting Foreign Assistance58

3. Accepting Multilateral Assistance59

4. Fostering Partnerships

59

References60

4 | Page

Introduction“INDIA is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history,
the grandmother of legend and the great grandmother of tradition. Our most valuable and most
instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.” — Mark Twain
India is one of the oldest civilizations in the world, spanning a period of more than 4000 years,
and witnessing the fusion of several customs and traditions, which are reflective of the rich culture
and heritage of the Country. This tradition boasts an unequalled heritage of art and craftsmanshipthat has been passed down from generation to generation.
The history of India gives a glimpse into the magnanimity of its evolution - from a Country
reeling under colonialism, to one of the leading economies in the global scenario. More thananything, the nationalistic fervour of the people is the contributing force behind the culmination ofsuch a development. This transformation of the nation instils a sense of national pride in the heartof every Indian within the Country and abroad.
India is a land of diversity with different religions, cultures, languages and regions. It is a fastdeveloping country and has made remarkable progress in science and technology, agriculture andindustry, education, health and other socio-economic fronts. India is now one of the leading
countries in information technology, biotechnology, nuclear energy, space exploration and otherfields. It is among the ten most industrialised nations in the world. The best-developed industries
are in software engineering, petrochemicals, electronics, and the production of building materials
and manufactures everything from ships and aeroplanes to computers, machines, software, tea,coffee, and spices. The jute, cotton, textile, silk, woodwork, jewellery and paper industries also
contribute to its development. Agriculture, with its allied sectors, is unquestionably the largest
livelihood provider in India, more so in the vast rural areas. It also contributes a significant figure to
the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Sustainable agriculture, in terms of food security, rural
employment, and environmentally sustainable technologies such as soil conservation, sustainable
natural resource management and biodiversity protection, are essential for holistic ruraldevelopment.
Indian culture, often labelled as an amalgamation of various cultures, spans across the Indian
subcontinent and has been influenced and shaped by a history that is several thousand years old.
India is also known for its ancient scriptures and philosophies, such as the Upanishads and Vedas.
Indian-origin religions Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism are all based on the concepts ofdharma and karma. The country also has a rich and varied cultural heritage, with various forms ofart, music, dance and literature. It is a vibrant democracy with the world's largest electorate and isalso a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth and other international organisations.

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Figure-1: Political Map of India

6 | Page

A. General Information about India:

1.

Country Name:

Republic of India; Bharat Ganrajya

2.

Capital City:New Delhi

3.

Official Languages:

English and Hindi

4.

Constitutional Languages:

22

5.

Currency:

Indian Rupee

6.

Time zone:

GMT+5:30 (IST)

7.

Government:

Parliamentary Republic

8.

Head of the State:

Hon’ble President of India

9.

Head of the Government

Hon’ble Prime Minister of India

10. Head of Disaster Management (Chairman, NDMA): Hon’ble Prime Minister of India

7 | Page11. Physical Features:
Geographical Area: 32,87,263 sq. km (seventh
The mainland comprises four regions,largest country in the world)
namely, the great Himalayan mountain
Latitude & Longitude: The mainland extends
zone, plains of the Ganga and the Indus, thebetween latitudes 8°4’ and 37°6’ north,desert region and the southern peninsula.
longitudes 68°7’ and 97°25’ east.
The Himalayans comprise three almost
Distance: from north to south is about 3,214
km between the extreme latitudes and about
parallel ranges interspersed with large.
2,933 km from east to west between theplateaus. and valleys, some of which, likeextreme longitudes.
the Kashmir and Kullu valleys, are fertile,
Land frontier of about 15,200 km. The total
extensive and of great scenic significance.
length of the coastline of the mainland,Some of the highest peaks in the world are
Lakshadweep Islands and Andaman and Nicobar
Islands is 7,516.6 km.
found in these ranges. The high altitudes
Bordering Countries: Afghanistan andallow travel only through a few passes,
Pakistan to the north-west, China, Bhutan andnotably the Jelep La and Nathan La on the
Nepal to the north, Myanmar to the far East andmain Indo-Tibet trade route through the
Bangladesh to the east. Sri Lanka is separated
Chumbi valley, north-east of Darjeeling andfrom India by a narrow channel of sea formed by
the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar.
Ship La in the Satluj valley, north-east of
Divided into six zones mainly north, south,
Kalpa (Kinnaur). The mountain wall extends
east, west, central and north- east zone and It
over a distance of about 2,400 km with ahas 28 states and 8 union territories.
varying depth of 240 to 320 km. In the east,
between India and Myanmar and India and Bangladesh, hill ranges are much lower. Garo, Khasi,
Jaintia and Naga Hills, running almost east-west, join the chain to Mizo and Rakhine Hills running
north-south.
The plains of the Ganga and the Indus, about 2,400 km long and 240 to 320 km broad, areformed by basins of three distinct river systems— the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra. They
are one of the world’s greatest stretches of flat alluvium and one of the most densely populatedareas on the earth. Between Yamuna at Delhi and the Bay of Bengal, nearly 1,600 km away, there
is a drop of only 200 metres in elevation.
The desert region can be divided into two parts— the ‘great desert’ and the ‘little desert’. The
great desert extends from the edge of the Rann of Kutch beyond the Luni river northward. The
whole of the Rajasthan-Sind frontier runs through this. The little desert extends from the Luni
between Jaisalmer and Jodhpur up to the northern west. Between the great and the little deserts
lies a barren zone, consisting of rocky land, cut up by limestone ridges.
The Peninsular Plateau is marked off from the plains of the Ganga and the Indus by a mass ofmountain and hill ranges varying from 460 to 1,220 metres in height. Prominent among these are
the Aravali, Vindhya, Satpura, Maikala and Ajanta. The Peninsula is flanked on one side by theEastern Ghats where the average elevation is about 610 metres and on the other by the Western
Ghats where it is generally from 915 to 1220 metres, rising in places to over 2,440 metres. Between
the Western Ghats and the Arabian sea lies a narrow coastal strip, while between the Eastern Ghats
and the Bay of Bengal, there is a broader coastal area. The southern point of the plateau is formedby the Nilgiri Hills where the Eastern and the Western Ghats meet. The Cardamom Hills lying beyond
may be regarded as a continuation of the Western Ghats.

8 | Page12. Geology:
The geological regions broadly follow
the physical features, and may be grouped
into three regions: The Himalayas and theirassociated group of mountains, the IndoGanga Plain, and the Peninsular Shield.
The Himalayan mountain belt to thenorth and the Naga-Lushai mountain in theeast, are the regions of mountain-building
movement. Most of this area, now
presenting some of the most magnificent
mountain scenery in the world, was undermarine conditions covered by an ocean
known as Tethys about 600 million (60crore) years ago. In a series of mountainbuilding movements commencing about 70
million (7 crore) years ago, the sediments
and the basement rocks rose to greatheights.

Source of map: Indian Journalof Geosciences, Volume 66, No.
4October - December, 2012; pp.
181-192, Article by A.B Roy

Figure-2: Geology of India

In the south of the Himalayas, there is a foreland basin known as Indo-Gangetic plains which
is highly fertile in nature and mainly consist of alluvium deposited by the rivers draining from theHimalayas and the peninsular regions. The Indo-Ganga plains separates the Himalayas in the northfrom the Peninsula in the south.
The peninsular region is shaped like an inverted triangle and considered a storehouse of
economic minerals for India. It is a region of relative stability and occasional seismic disturbances.
Highly metamorphosed rocks of the earliest periods, dating back as far as 380 crore years, occur inthe area; the rest being covered by the coastal-bearing Gondwana formations, lava flows belonging
to the Deccan Trap formation and younger sediments.
13. Climate:
The climate of India can broadly be classified as a tropical monsoon one. But, in spite of much of
the northern part of India lying beyond the tropical zone, the entire country has a tropical climate
marked by relatively high temperatures and dry winters. There are four seasons as designated by
the Indian Meteorological Department, namely:
a. Winter (December-February)b. Summer (March-June)c. South-west monsoon season (June-September)d. Post monsoon season (October-November)

9 | Page14. Population:
As per the Census of India 2011, the population of India stood at 1,210.9 million (623.3
million males and 587.6 million females) as on March 1, 2011. Out of this 833.7 million (68.9
percent) lived in rural areas and the rest 377.1 million (31.1 per cent) lived in urban areas. With apopulation of 1,028.7 million in 2001, the decadal growth rate of population in India between 2001
and 2011 was 17.7 per cent.
The population of India is estimated to have reached 1363.0 million in 2021 and is
projected to reach 1,522.3 million by 2036. As a consequence, the population density will increase
from 368 to 463 persons per square kilometre.

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B. Disaster Risk Profile of India:
India has been vulnerable, in varying degrees, to a large number of natural, as well as, humanmade disasters on account of its unique geo-climatic and socio- economic conditions. It is highly
vulnerable to floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes, landslides, avalanches and forest fires. Outof 36 states and union territories in the country, 27 of them are disaster prone. Almost 58.6 percent of the landmass is prone to earthquakes of moderate to very high intensity; over 40 million
hectares (12 per cent of land) are prone to floods and river erosion; of the 7,516 km long coastline,
close to 5,700 km is prone to cyclones and tsunamis; 68 per cent of the cultivable area is vulnerable
to drought and hilly areas are at risk from landslides and avalanches.
1. India is one of the ten most disaster prone countries of the world. The country is prone todisasters due to a number of factors like adverse Geo-climatic conditions, topographic features,
environmental degradation, population growth, urbanisation, industrialization, non-scientificdevelopment practices, etc. The factors accelerating the intensity and frequency of disasters are
responsible for the heavy toll of human lives and disrupting the life support system in the country.
As far as the vulnerability to disaster is concerned, the five distinctive regions of the country i.e.
Himalayan region, the alluvial plains, the hilly part of the peninsula, and the coastal zone havetheir own specific problems. While on one hand the Himalayan region is prone to disasters likeearthquakes and landslides, the plain is affected by floods almost every year. The desert part ofthe country is affected by droughts and famine while the coastal zone is susceptible to cyclones
and storms.
2. The natural geological setting of the country is the primary basic reason for its increased
vulnerability. The geo-tectonic features of the Himalayan region and adjacent alluvial plains makethe region susceptible to earthquakes, landslides, water erosion, etc. Though peninsular India isconsidered to be the most stable portions but occasional earthquakes in the region shows thatgeo- tectonic movements are still going on within its depth.
3. The tectonic features, characteristics of the Himalaya are prevalent in the alluvial plains of Indus,
Ganga and Brahmaputra too, as the rocks lying below the alluvial plains are just extensions of theHimalayan ranges only. Thus this region is also quite prone to seismic activities. As a result ofvarious major river systems flowing from Himalaya and huge quantities of sediment brought bythem, the area is also suffering from river channel siltation, resulting in frequent floods.
4. The western part of the country is hit very frequently by drought situations. If the Monsoon
worsens the situation spreads in other parts of the country too. The disturbance in the pressure
conditions over oceans, results in cyclones in coastal regions. The Geo-tectonic movements goingon in the ocean floor make the coastal region prone to tsunami disaster.
5. The extreme weather conditions, huge quantity of ice and snow stored in the glaciers, etc. areother natural factors which make the country prone to various forms of disasters.
6. Along with the natural factors discussed in the preceding text, various human induced activities
like increasing demographic pressure, deteriorating environmental conditions, deforestation,
unscientific development, faulty agricultural practices and grazing, unplanned urbanisation,
construction of large dams on river channels etc. are also responsible for accelerated impact andincrease in frequency of disasters in the country.

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C. Hazards and Vulnerabilities in India
1.Natural Hazards
a. Cyclone and Wind
India's long coastline of nearly 7,500 km consists of 5,400 km along the mainland, 132 km in
Lakshadweep and 1,900 km in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. About 10 percent of the World's
tropical cyclones affect the Indian coast. Of these, the majority have their initial genesis over the
Bay of Bengal and strike the east coast of India. On an average, five to six tropical cyclones form
every year, of which two or three could be severe. Cyclones occur frequently on both the west coastin the Arabian Sea and the east coast in the Bay of Bengal. More cyclones occur in the Bay of Bengal
than in the Arabian Sea. An analysis of the frequencies of cyclones on the East and West coasts ofIndia during 1891-2000 shows that nearly 308 cyclones (out of which 103 were severe) affected theEast Coast.
In India, tropical cyclones occur in the months of May-June and October-November. The cyclones
of severe intensity and frequency in the northern part of the Indian Ocean are bimodal in character,with their primary peak in November and secondary peak in May. The disaster potential isparticularly high at the me of landfall in the northern part of Indian Ocean (Bay of Bengal and theArabian Sea) due to the accompanying destructive wind, storm surges and torrential rainfall. Of
these, storm surges are the greatest killers of a cyclone, by which sea water inundates low lying
areas of coastal regions and causes heavy floods, erodes beaches and embankments, destroys
vegetation and reduces soil fertility.
The coastal states and union territories (UTs) in the country, encompassing 84 coastal districts which
are affected by tropical cyclones. Four states (Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West
Bengal) and one UT (Puducherry) on the east coast and one state (Gujarat) on the west coast arehighly vulnerable to cyclone disasters.
b. Flood
Floods affect an average area of around 7.5 million hectares per year. According to the National
Commission on Floods, the area susceptible to floods was estimated in 1980 to be around 40 million
hectares and it is possible to provide a reasonable degree of protection to nearly 80 per cent (32million ha). Riverine flooding is perhaps the most critical climate-related hazard in India. Floodcontrol is a key element of national policies for water resource management. The occurrence offloods and droughts is closely linked to the summer monsoon activity. Floods occur in almost all
river basins of the country. Heavy rainfall, inadequate capacity of rivers to carry the high flood
discharge, inadequate drainage to carry away the rainwater quickly to streams/rivers are the maincauses of floods. Ice jams or landslides blocking streams; and cyclones also cause floods. Out of 40
million hectares of the flood prone area in the country, on an average, floods affect an area ofaround 7.5 million hectares per year. Floods in the Indo-Gangetic-Brahmaputra plains are an annualfeature. On an average, a few hundred lives are lost, millions of people are rendered homeless,lakhs of hectares of crops are damaged, thousands of animals are affected (killed and injured). The
National Flood Control Programme was launched in 1954. Since then, sizable progress has been
made in the flood protection measures. The global climate change and the resultant increase in
extreme weather events will naturally worsen the uncertainties associated with floods.

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c. Urban Flood
The problem of urban flooding is a result of both natural factors and land-use changes brought
about by urban development. Urban flooding is significantly different from rural flooding asurbanisation leads to developed catchments which increases the flood peaks from 1.8 to 8 metresand flood volumes by up to 6 metres. Consequently, flooding occurs very quickly due to faster flow
times, sometimes in a matter of minutes. Urban flooding is caused by the combination of
meteorological, hydrological, and human factors. Due to land-use changes, flooding in urban areas
can happen very rapidly with large flows. The challenges of Urban Floods Disaster Management(UFDM) tend to be considerably different from that of flooding in other areas. Problems associatedwith urban floods range from relatively localised incidents to major incidents, resulting ininundation of some or large parts of urban areas for several hours to many days. The impact canvary from being limited to widespread. It may result in temporary relocation of people, dispersal ofanimals, damage to civic amenities, deterioration of water quality and risk of epidemics.
d. Earthquake
Nearly 59 per cent of India’s territory is prone to moderate to severe earthquakes. Three recent
major earthquakes affected Gujarat in January 2001, Jammu and Kashmir in October 2005 andSikkim in 2011. Many smaller- quakes have been occurring in various parts of India. Seven states inNorth East (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya), theAndaman and Nicobar Islands and part of eight other States/UTs (Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh,
Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Punjab and West Bengal) are in Seismic Zone V i.e., prone
to very high damage risk. Wide-spread losses—human and material, collapse of infrastructure andservices may be the major consequences of the earthquake. Hundreds of thousands may bedisplaced, often in remote mountainous areas in the North and North-East.
e. Tsunami
Tsunamis (Japanese for “harbour wave”), also known as a seismic sea wave, are a series of verylarge waves with extremely long wavelengths, in the deep ocean, the length from crest to crest may
be 100 km and more. It is usually generated by sudden displacements in the sea floor caused byearthquake, landslides, or volcanic activity. Most tsunamis, including the most destructive ones, aregenerated by large and shallow earthquakes which usually occur near geological plate boundaries,
or fault-lines, where geological plates collide. When the seafloor abruptly deforms the sudden
vertical displacements over large areas disturb the ocean's surface, displace water, and generate
tsunami waves. Since the wave height in the deep ocean will be only a few decimetres or less (i.e.,a few inches), tsunamis are not usually felt aboard ships. Nor are they visible from the air in the
open ocean. The waves could travel away from the triggering source with speeds exceeding 800
km/hr over very long distances. They could be extremely dangerous and damaging when they reachthe coast, because when the tsunami enters shallow water in coastal areas, the wave velocity will
decrease accompanied by an increase in wave height. In shallow waters, a large tsunami crest height
may rise rapidly by several metres even in excess of 30 m causing enormous destruction in a very
short time.

13 | PageAs seen on Indian Ocean shores in December 2004, tsunamis can cause massive death anddestruction. They are particularly dangerous close to their sources, where the first waves in thetsunami train can arrive within a few to tens of minutes of the triggering event. The earthquake andresulting tsunami in the Indian Ocean on 26 Dec 2004 had devastating effects on India. Many people
died and millions were displaced. The hardest hit areas were on the Southern coast and theAndaman and Nicobar Islands. Tsunamis have the potential of causing significant casualties,
widespread property damage, massive infrastructure loss and long-term negative economic
impacts. People caught in the path of a tsunami often have little chance of survival. People die fromdrowning or debris crushing them.
f.

Landslide

Landslides occur in the hilly regions of India such as the Himalaya, North-East India, the Nilgiris,
Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats. It is estimated that 30 percent of the World’s landslides occur inthe Himalayan ranges. The Himalayan range, which constitutes the youngest and most dominating
mountain system in the World, is not a single long landmass but comprises a series of sevencurvilinear parallel folds running along a grand arc for a total of 3 ,400 kilometres. Landslides arealso common in Western Ghat. In the Nilgiris, in 1978 alone, unprecedented rains in the region
triggered about one hundred landslides which caused severe damage to communication lines, tea
gardens and other cultivated crops. Scientific observations in north Sikkim and Garhwal regions in
the Himalayas clearly reveal that there is an average of two landslides per sq. km. The mean rate ofland loss is to the tune of 120 metre per km per year and annual soil loss is about 2500 tons per sq.
km. Landslides have been a major and widely spread natural disaster that often affect life andproperty, leading to major concern.
g. Snow avalanche
Avalanches are blocks 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 the Himalayas, avalanches
are common in Drass, Pir Panjal, 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 mostfrequently 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 J&K, Ladakh, HP and Uttarakhand, especially Tehri
Garhwal and Chamoli districts•

J&K and Ladakh – Higher reaches of Kashmir and Gurez valleys, Kargil, Ladakh and along someof the major roads•

HP – Chamba, Kullu-Spi and Kinnaur

14 | Page

h. Drought
To determine the beginning of drought, operational definitions specify the degree of departurefrom the long-term (usually at least 30 years) average of precipitation or some other climatic
variable. Broadly, drought is perceived as a sharply felt water deficit caused by variations in thenatural hydro-meteorological factors, agro-ecological conditions, moisture requirements of crops
under prevailing cropping choices (systems, patterns).
The World Meteorological Organisation considers drought as a slow creeping natural hazard that
occurs in part due to the natural climatic variability. Droughts affect vast areas of the country,transcending State boundaries. A third of the country is drought prone. Recurrent drought resultsin widespread adverse impact on people’s livelihoods and young children’s nutrition status. It
affects parts of Rajasthan (chronically), Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh (MP), Uttar Pradesh(UP), Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Andhra Pradesh. Drought is not uncommon in certain districts.
Droughts cause severe distress in the affected areas.
Drought is a phenomenon that is widely considered as a ‘creeping disaster’ whose onset, end, andseverity are difficult to determine. Unlike the suddenly occurring disasters, a drought may develop
very slowly over several months affecting a very large geographical area without causing little or no
structural damage. The impacts depend on natural conditions, socio-economic situation, and thekind of land and water resources as well as the use patterns in the affected region.
Mostly, the occurrence of droughts is a result of natural climate variability in all the drought-prone
regions and it usually exhibits a certain pattern of occurrence. While droughts are quite frequent inarid and semi-arid regions, it can occur even in humid regions blessed with abundant rainfall withlower frequency. The capacity to cope depends largely on the technical, institutional, political, andsocial mechanisms to manage the water resources anticipating the severity of the drought. Effective
mitigation measures must prevent a drought turning into a famine due to water and food shortages.
i.

Cold waves and Frost

Cold waves and frost are seasonal and localised hazards occurring only in the parts with severe
winter. Prolonged frost conditions and cold waves can damage certain frost -sensitive plants causing
crop loss. The susceptibility to frost varies widely across crops. The extent of damage caused by cold
waves depends on temperature, length of exposure, humidity levels, and the speed at whichfreezing temperature is reached. It is difficult to predict a definite temperature level up to whichcrops can tolerate cold waves/frost because many other factors also affect it. Cold waves can cause
death and injury to human beings, livestock and wildlife. Higher caloric intake is needed for all
animals, including humans to withstand exposure to cold and poor nutritional status can prove
deadly in extreme cold conditions. If a cold wave is accompanied by heavy and persistent snow,
grazing animals may be unable to get the requisite food. They may die of hypothermia fromprolonged exposure or starvation.

15 | Pagej.

Thunderstorm

Thunderstorms occur round the year in different parts of the country. However, their frequency andintensity is maximum in summer months (March to June). As the most important factor foroccurrence of thunderstorms is the intense heating of the atmosphere at surface level andmaximum heating takes place in summer months, the frequency of occurrence is maximum insummer months. A thunderstorm is said to have occurred, if the thunder is heard or lightning seen.
Usually the thunder can be heard up to 40 km from the source of origin. Thunderstorms fall in the
category of Meso-gamma weather systems with spatial extent of around 2~20 km and temporalscale of a few hours.
k. Squall
A squall is defined as a sudden increase of wind speed by at least 29 kmph (16 knots) with the speed
rising to 40 kmph (22 knots) or more and lasting for at least one minute. The frequency and intensity
of squall are maximum over eastern and northeastern states. Comparing different seasons, thefrequency of squall is maximum in the pre-monsoon season (March-May) in different parts of thecountry. However, there is a secondary maximum in the winter season over northwest India. The
intensity of squall is maximum in the month of May followed by April.
l.

Dust Storm

The northwest India experiences convective dust storms called “aandhi” locally during the premonsoon season. The frequency of dust storms is maximum over the States of Rajasthan followed
by Haryana, Punjab and west UP. The dust storm mainly occurs in the pre-monsoon season and it ismaximum in the month of May in terms of frequency and intensity.
m. Lightning
Lightning is a high-current electric discharge that occurs in the earth's atmosphere and has a total
path length of the order of a few kilometres. The peak power and total energy in lightning are very
high, the peak power that is dissipated by a lightning discharge is on the order of 100 million was
per metre of channel and the peak channel temperature approaches 30,000 °C. Peak currents in alightning discharge range from several to hundreds of kilo amperes (kA), with typical value being 40
kA. Prediction of lightning as to the precise time and location is very difficult. In the atmosphere,
three types of discharges take place: a) Thundercloud (intra-cloud), b) One cloud to another (intercloud) and c) Cloud to ground (CG). Aircrafts can be hit by the first two while the third type takes atoll on life and property on the ground.
n. Cloudburst
A cloudburst is an extreme amount of precipitation in a short period, sometimes accompanied byhail and thunder, that can create flood conditions. It is not, as is sometimes understood, thebreaking open of a cloud resulting in the release of huge amounts of water. According to the IMD,
if rainfall of about 100 mm or above per hour is recorded over a place that is roughly less than 100
sq km area, it is classified as a cloudburst event. By this definition, 50 mm rainfall in half an hour

16 | Page

would also be classified as a cloudburst. To put this in perspective, India, in a normal year, gets
about 1160 mm annual rainfall. A cloudburst would therefore account for 10-12 percent of theannual rainfall of that area in just an hour. At times, a large amount of runoff from higher elevations
is mistakenly conflated with a cloudburst. They are difficult to forecast because they occur over a
very small area. Forecasts for a very small area are difficult to predict. However, using Doppler
radars it is possible to forecast the possibility of cloudbursts about six hours and sometimes 12-14
hours in advance.
However, cloudbursts are infrequent as they occur only via orographic li, i.e., occasionally when awarm air parcel mixes with cooler air, resulting in sudden condensation. Cloudbursts do happen inplains as well, but there is a greater probability of them occurring in mountainous zones; it has to
do with the terrain. Hilly terrains aid in heated air currents rising vertically upwards, thereby,
increasing the probability of a cloudburst situation. The rainfall itself does not result in the death ofpeople, though sometimes, the raindrops are big enough to hurt people in a sustained downpour.
It is the consequences of such heavy rain, especially in the hilly terrain, that causes death anddestruction. Landslides, flash floods, houses and establishments getting swept away and cave-ins
lead to the deaths. There is a paucity of past data on cloudbursts; in addition, since only some ofthem get counted – only those that result in death and destruction – there is a problem of accuracy
as well. Under global climate change scenarios, the frequency of high intensity rainfall events is
expected to increase and consequently frequency of cloudburst events may also increase.
o. Hailstorms
India is among the countries in the world with the highest frequency of hail. There are about 29 haildays per year of moderate to severe intensity. The hailstorm activity that occurs usually in themonths of April and May occurred during February-March in 2014. About 25% of total occurrencein the past recorded hailstones of 3-cm or more diameter. The hailstorms are mainly observed in
the winter and pre-monsoon seasons with virtually no events after the onset of the southwest
monsoon.
Hail is a solid, frozen form of precipitation that causes extensive damage to property and crop. Hot,
humid afternoon hours during the summer are the most congenial for development of hailstorms,
which usually form over a relatively small area and pass over within a very short period. At times, it
can cause considerable crop damage in brief spells lasting a few minutes. Hail is often associatedwith thunderstorm activity and changing weather fronts. This is formed in huge cumulonimbus
clouds, commonly known as thunderheads. The IPCC reports caution that there are indications thata warming climate would favour an increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme events suchas heat waves and precipitation extremes. Hail and thunderstorms are extreme forms of weather
events that deserve special attention in view of climate change.
p. Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF)
A Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) is a type of flood occurring when water dammed by a glacieror a moraine is released. When glaciers melt, they sometimes form lakes on mountaintops. The
water in these glacial lakes accumulates behind loose naturally formed ‘dams’ made of ice, sand,pebbles and ice residue. Glacial lake volumes vary, from several MCM to hundreds of MCM of water.
17 | Page

But these are inherently unstable and disturbances such as avalanches, falling boulders,
earthquakes, or even simply the accumulation of too much water can breach the ‘dam’, unleashingsudden, potentially disastrous floods in nearby communities. A catastrophic failure of the containing
ice or glacial sediment can release this water over periods of minutes to days. Peak flows as high as
15,000 cubic metres per second have been recorded in such events. GLOF events have killedthousands in many parts of the world and some of the largest events occurred in the Himalayas.
The Indian Himalayan Region (IHR), with geographical coverage of over 5.3 lakh kilometre square,
extends over 2,500 kilometres in length between the Indus and the Brahmaputra river systems.
While glacial lake hazards and glacial lake distributions are investigated in many glaciated regionsof the world, relatively, there has been less attention to these in the Indian Himalayas. In
physiographic terms, the IHR extends from the foothills in the south (Siwaliks) to Tibetan plateau in
the north (Trans - Himalaya). Three major geographical entities, the Himadri (Greater Himalaya),
Himachal (Lesser Himalaya) and the Siwaliks (Outer Himalaya), extending almost uninterrupted
throughout its length, are separated by major geological fault lines. The National Mission for
Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE), one of the eight missions under the National Action
Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) is dedicated to sustainable development of the region,
understanding climate change impacts and examining adaptation strategies for the region. The
Himalayan states /UTs include—J&K, Ladakh, HP, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh,
Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, and two partial hill states, namely Assam andWest Bengal.
The climatic change/variability in recent decades has made considerable impacts on the glacier
lifecycle in the Himalayan region. Scientific studies have noted glacier retreat occurring in most partsof the Hindu Kush Himalaya, which has given rise to the formation of numerous new glacial lakes.
Glacial lakes are an indirect indicator of glacier change and unstable lakes can present hazards todownstream locations. The Geological Survey of India (GSI) lists 9,575 glaciers in IHR, of which 267
are over 10 sq km. One of the pioneering regional glacial lake inventories has provided a qualitativeclassification of 251 glacial lakes greater than 0.01 sq km in area. These glacial lakes are present in
J&K, Ladakh, HP, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. Many of these glacial lakes present
moderate to severe risks to the downstream locations. The hazard of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood(GLOF) can get aggravated in case of cloud burst in the area.
In Sikkim Himalaya many glacial lakes are in the process of formation. There are high chances ofbursting of these lakes due to their formation in weak moraine structures. It may cause hugedevastation downstream in the case of bursting. The GLOF hazard from South Lhonak glacial lake,
located in the extreme North-western part and one of the fastest growing lakes in Sikkim Himalaya,
is of particular concern. The lake is rapidly increasing in its size in an extremely abnormal way due
to the melting of the South Lhonak glacier attached with the lake and addition melt water fromadjoining North Lhonak glacier and main Lhonak glacier. The study of past satellite data of Lhonak
glacier lake area revealed that the area of the lake has increased from 0.18 km2 in 1976 to 1.26 km2
by 2013. The abnormal growth of the volume of the lake greatly increases the risk of a GLOF event.
Based on the current inventory and recognising the risk of GLOF events in the IHR, the CWC ismonitoring 467 glacial lakes and water bodies with water spread area more than nearly 0.4 Sq.km.

18 | Page

q. Heat wave
Heat wave is a period of abnormally high temperatures that leads to physiological stress, whichsometimes can claim human life. The World Meteorological Organization defines a heat wave as
five or more consecutive days during which the daily maximum temperature exceeds the average
maximum temperature by five degrees Celsius. Different countries define heat waves differently incontext of their local conditions. Heat Waves typically occur between March and June, and in somerare cases even extend until July. Heat waves are more frequent over the Indo-Gangetic plains ofIndia. On an average, 5-6 heat wave events occur every year over the northern parts of the country.
In the northern plains of the country, dust in suspension occurs in many years for several days,
bringing minimum temperature much higher than normal and keeping the maximum temperaturearound or slightly above normal.
Higher daily peak temperatures and longer, more intense heat waves are becoming increasingly
frequent globally due to climate change. India too is feeling the impact of climate change in termsof increased instances of heat waves that are more intense in nature with each passing year andhave a devastating impact on human health thereby increasing the number of heat wave casualties.
The health impacts of Heat Waves typically involve dehydration, heat cramps, heat exhaustion
and/or heat stroke. This unusual and uncomfortable hot weather can impact human and animal
health. It can cause major disruption in community infrastructure such as power supply, public
transport and other essential services. Heat waves are considered a “silent disaster” as it develops
slowly.
2. Human Induced Hazards
a. Chemical (Industrial) Disasters
With rapid economic development, there has been a spread of industries from small to large acrossthe country. There is a relatively higher presence of the industrial sector along the west coast,
largely due to the proximity to raw materials and ports. The states with a very large number ofchemical industries are Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh (UP), Tamil Nadu (TN), Madhya
Pradesh, and Punjab. Due to the regional concentration of chemical companies in certain pockets,the chemical hazard has increased many folds. The growth of industries has led to an increase in
the risk of occurrence of incidents associated with hazardous chemicals (HAZCHEM) and hazardous
materials (HAZMAT). These events occur due to mishaps or failures in industry and negligence infollowing international codes and standards for chemical handling which affects the industrial
functioning, and productivity. While the common causes for chemical accidents are deficiencies insafety management systems or human errors, natural calamities or sabotage may also trigger such
accidents. Chemical/ industrial accidents are significant and have a long term impact on thecommunity and environment. It leads to injuries, pain, suffering, loss of lives, damage to property
and environment. Hence, a robust plan and mitigation measure needs to be adapted to overcome
the hazard. The suggestions from several industry associations have recommended theimplementation of the updated and relevant International Organization for Standardization (ISO)and Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) standards to production and

19 | Page

storage of chemicals. There are specific norms applicable to industries producing, storing or
handling hazardous chemicals.
b. Nuclear and Radiological Emergencies (NRE)
A nuclear disaster is construed as potentially a low probability event, however very high in damage
impact, could be caused by detonation of nuclear warhead or explosion of an Improvised Nuclear
Device (IND) with associated release of large amounts of devastative energy due to Blast, Thermal
and Radioactive material. Secondary effects occurring later might result in fall out of radioactive
dust. The nuclear and radiological emergencies could be due to accidents at operating nuclear
facilities/ incidents in the public domain that could potentially release radioactive materials. The
cause of these events could potentially arise from nuclear facility/ malicious acts of radioactivity
dispersal by explosion of Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD). The occurrence of these kinds ofemergencies could be of probability marginally higher but based on the scale of the accident/
incident, the potential impact of damage will be restricted to less domain.
Nuclear weapons, a major accident in a nuclear power plant or an accidental exposure of radiation,
due to accident with the radioactive material during transportation, faulty practices, andmechanical failure in a radiation facility can lead to nuclear or radiological emergency. Even thoughsuch situations may not arise easily, everyone needs to be prepared to face such emergencies. All
organisations dealing with nuclear and radiological material have an inherent culture of safety,
follow best safety practices in the sector, and they apply high standards to ensure minimum risk.
However, nuclear emergencies can still arise due to factors beyond the control of the operating
agencies from human error, system failure, sabotage, extreme natural events like earthquake,
cyclone, flood, tsunami or a combination of these. Such failures, even though of very low
probability, may lead to on-site or off- site emergencies. To counter this, proper emergency
preparedness plans must be in place so that there is minimum loss of life, livelihood, property, andimpact on the environment.
c. Biological and Public Health Emergencies (BPHE)
Disasters related to this sub-group are biological emergencies and epidemics, pest attacks, cattle
epidemics and food poisoning. Biological emergency is one caused due to natural outbreaks of
epidemics or intentional use of biological agents (viruses and microorganisms) or toxins throughdissemination of such agents in ways to harm human population, food crops and livestock to cause
outbreaks of diseases. This may happen through natural, accidental, or deliberate dispersal of such
harmful agents into food, water, air, soil or into plants, crops, or livestock. Apart from the naturaltransnational movement of the pathogenic organisms, their potential use as weapons of biological
warfare and bioterrorism has become far more important now than ever before. Along with nuclear
and chemical agents, many biological agents are now considered as capable of causing large-scalemortality and morbidity.
Handling exotic pathogens warrants suitable infrastructure, notably, high containment laboratories
of biosafety levels 3 and 4; recruitment of highly committed, dedicated and trained professionals;
continuous availability of diagnostic reagents; enhancement of skills at various echelons of healthprofessionals in early identification of such infections, investigation of outbreaks and institution of

20 | Pagespecific control measures. Current system of surveillance and mechanism to control the outbreakof endemic diseases are through the National Programme for Surveillance of Communicable
Diseases.
Natural outbreaks of disease may become epidemics and assume disastrous proportions if notcontained in the initial stages. Pest infestations have recurred as major disasters for the agrarian
economy of India since immemorial. Locust swarms coming from Central Asia used to be a major
cause for concern. Besides such consolidated events, infestation of localised pests is a threat toplant as well as human life. A major factor responsible for deterioration and the loss of food grains,
their products and the economic losses besides health hazards is the contamination caused byrodents and insects. Pest control is achieved primarily through chemical methods subject to safety
standards and regulatory norms for the safe use of such chemicals.
d. Accidents – Rail, Air, Road and Water
The fast pace of development brings with it increasing frequency of various types of accidents as
more and more people are involved in diverse economic activities. The number of air accidents,
cases of boat capsizing, building collapses, fires in built environments – residential, commercial andindustrial, festival related incidents involving large number of people, forest fires, emergencies inmines (flooding, collapse, etc.), oil spills, rail accidents, road accidents, stampedes, transportationof hazardous material (HAZMAT) related accidents etc . are increasing. While all these are mattersof utmost concern, not all of them fall within the purview of the NDMP. Certain specific agencies
such as the Indian Coast Guard have the primary responsibility of addressing incidents of oil spills
and ships in the coastal waters. While the cases of fires in the built environment and forests areincluded in the plan, local authorities address them in accordance with the relevant emergency
management systems. The primary way to reduce risks is through mainstreaming risk reduction indevelopment and governance. As part of the overall DRR plan, systems for disaster preparedness
and response are being strengthened at all levels, which in turn will help in reducing the number ofaccidents and improve the capacity to respond.
e. Emergencies Associated with Mass Gatherings
Throughout the country, frequently, there are various kinds of events that attract crowds large andsmall, at varying types and styles of venue. The degree and quality of preparedness to cope withexpected or unforeseen emergencies arising from such events vary greatly. Inadequate planning
can increase risks associated with insufficient or ineffective spectator management or service
provision. The evidence lies in the large number of public events where multiple injuries, illness anddeaths have occurred. Emergencies and disastrous incidents associated with mass gatherings is aworld-wide phenomenon.
During festivals or events attracting mass gathering - railways, roadways and airways etc. may
experience unexpected temporary surge in number of people at such locations. Agencies
responsible for operation and management at such places would need to include “crowding” and‘crowd behaviour’ as hazard risk while formulating strategic plans for public safety. Accordingly, it
will be necessary to pay attention to implementing special arrangements necessary for managing
the crowds and crowd behaviour.

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f.

Fire in Built Environment

Fires can start due to human activities or from natural causes. Forest fires can start from either
natural causes or human activity or from a combination of both. The most common fires are theresidential and non-residential structural fires caused usually by human activities. Most industrial
and chemical fires are triggered by human activity. They are sometimes caused by human errors,
faulty designs, or mechanical failures. Fire can also be the secondary effect of a disaster like anearthquake. Secondary fires after a disaster like earthquakes constitute a substantial and heavy risk.
Damage to natural gas systems during an earthquake can lead to major fires and explosions.
Damages to electrical systems during a disaster can ignite major fires. The growth of fire-services in
the country has been on an ad- hoc basis and needs to be professionalised. Varying risk scenarios
need different types of equipment. The risk varies with geographical location such as hilly area,
coastal-area, desert–area, and with different types of residential (medium/ low-rise/ high-rise)buildings, industrial, commercial area or a combination of these. There is considerable need for skill
upgrade of the staff and modernization of the entire fire service system.
g. Forest Fire
India is one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world having nearly seven lakh square
kilometres of forest cover. Increasing human interference is a major cause for the incidents of theforest fires. Despite its natural and essential roles, fire has negative consequences when it conflicts
with the public interest. Examples of negative impacts include loss of homes, property and criticalinfrastructure, damage to domestic watersheds and destruction of commercially valuable timber.
Smoke from forest fires can also interfere with road and air transport, inhibit tourism, and cause
serious public health problems. It is also a threat to human settlements dwelling within or adjacentto the forests.
Forest fires in India are generally ground fires. As per Forest Survey of India (FSI), which has been
conducting field investigations since 1965, human activities trigger nearly 95 per cent of the forest
fires in India. Forest fire is a major cause of injury and loss to forests. Area affected by forest fires
annually is nearly 35 million hectares. In general, all over the world the main causes of forest fires
are anthropogenic. The data on forest fires in India is very weak and needs to be improved. FSI's
1995 data considers nearly 50 per cent of the forest areas as fire prone with 43 percent havingoccasional fire incidents. According to this assessment, very high, high, and frequent forest fires
occur in 0.84 per cent, 0.14 percent and 5.16 percent of the forest areas respectively. The stateswith frequent occurrence of forest fires are: 1) Andhra Pradesh 2) Himachal Pradesh 3) Karnataka
4) Manipur 5) Madhya Pradesh 6) Nagaland 7) Orissa 8) Rajasthan 9) Telangana 10) Uttar Pradesh
and 11) Uttarakhand. The moist deciduous forest is the most vulnerable to fire in India. Nearly 15
percent of this ecosystem is frequently disturbed by fire and 60 percent is occasionally affected. In
the case of wet/semi— evergreen forests, fire occurs somewhat frequently in nine per cent, andoccasionally in additional 40 per cent. In the North-Eastern region of India, recurrent fires annuallyaffect up to 50 per cent of the forests. The coniferous forests in the Himalayan region are also very
fire prone with many wildfires occurring during the winter drought. The proportion of the forest
areas prone to forest fire ranges greatly across different states.

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D. Recent Significant Disasters in India (2018-2022)
1. Disaster that occurred in India during 2018:•

May: Indian dust storms (North India)•

May: Nipah Virus outbreak in Kerala•

August: Kerala floods•

September: Kolkata bridge collapse•

October: Amritsar train disaster2. Disaster that occurred in India during 2019:•

February: Seemanchal Express derailment (Bihar)•

February: Delhi hotel fire•February: Bandipur wildfire•

March: Mumbai bridge collapse•

March: Dharwad building collapse•

May–June: Heat wave India•

May: Surat fire•

June: Bihar encephalitis outbreak•

June: IAF An-32 crash (Arunachal Pradesh)•

June: Kullu bus accident (Himachal Pradesh)•

July: Tiware dam failure (Maharashtra)•

July-August: Floods (Kerala & Gujarat)•

September: Pune flood•

December: Delhi factory fire

3. Disaster that occurred in India during 2020:•

January-present: COVID-19 pandemic•

June: Locust infestation India•

May: Visakhapatnam gas leak•

May: Aurangabad railway accident (Maharashtra)

23 | Page

•

May: Cyclone Amphan•

May: Uttarakhand forest fires•

May: Assam gas and oil leak•May - August: Assam floods•

June: Cyclone Nisarga•

June: Dahej chemical plant explosion•

August: Kerala floods•

August: Vijayawada fire•August: Srisailam hydroelectric power plant fire•August: Tariq Garden building collapse in Mumbai•

October: Hyderabad floods•

November: Ahmedabad chemical factory blast•

November: Cyclone Nivar•

November: Cyclone Burevi•

December: Eluru outbreak (Andhra Pradesh)

4. Disaster that occurred in India during 2021:•

January – present: COVID-19 pandemic•

January: Shivamogga quarry explosion•

February: Uttarakhand flood•

February: Sidhi bus accident (Madhya Pradesh)•

March: Mumbai hospital fire•

April: Virar-Mumbai hospital fire•

May: Bharuch hospital fire•

May: Cyclone Tauktae•

May: Cyclone Yaas•

July: Maharashtra floods•

September: Saurashtra floods

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•

September Cyclones Gulab and Shaheen•

November: South India floods•

December: Cyclone Jawad

5. Disaster that occurred in India during 2022:•

January – present: COVID-19 pandemic•

January: Vaishno Devi Temple stampede•

January: Surat gas leak•

January: Bikaner-Guwahati train accident (West Bengal)•

April: Trikut cable car accident (Jharkhand)•

May: Cyclone Asani•

May: Delhi fire•

May: Northeast floods•

June: Hapur chemical plant explosion•

June: Mumbai building collapse•

June: Manipur landslide•

July: Amarnath floods (Cloudburst)•

October: Uttarakhand avalanche•

October: Kanpur road accident•

October: Bhadohi fire (Uttar Pradesh)•

October: Morbi bridge collapse (Gujarat)

25 | Page

E. Institutional Framework
1. 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
regarding disaster management. The NDMA is the agency responsible for the approval of
the NDMP and facilitating its implementation. Figure 3 below provides a schematic view ofthe basic institutional structure for DM at national level.

Figure-3: National-level disaster management - Basic institutional framework

26 | Page

In most cases, state governments will be carrying out disaster management with the central
government playing a supporting role. Generally, the central agencies will participate on the requestfrom the state government. Within each state, there is a separate institutional framework fordisaster management at the state-level.
The DM Act of 2005 provides for the setting up of Disaster Management Authorities (DMA) at
national (NDMA), the state (SDMA) and the district (DDMA) levels. The role, composition and therole of the key decision-making bodies for disaster management at national level are briefly
described in the Table below. The extent of involvement of central agencies will depend on the type,scale, and administrative spread of the disaster. If the situation requires the direct assistance fromthe central government or the deployment of central agencies, the central government will provide
all necessary support.

Key National-Level Decision-Making Bodies for Disaster Management
Name

1

2

CabinetCommittee on
Security (CCS)National Crisis
Management
Committee(NCMC)

Composition

Prime Minister,
Minister of Defence,
Minister of Finance,
Minister of Home
Affairs, and Minister ofExternal Affairs

Vital role
• Evaluation from a national security
perspective, if an incident has potentiallysecurity implications• Oversee all aspects of preparedness,
mitigation and management of Chemical,
Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN)
emergencies and of disasters with security
implications• Review risks of CBRN emergencies from me
to me, giving directions for measuresconsidered necessary for disasterprevention, mitigation, preparedness andeffective response• Cabinet Secretary• Oversee the Command, Control and(Chairperson)
Coordination of the disaster response• Secretaries of• Give direction to the Crisis Management
Ministries/
Group as deemed necessary
Departments and• Give direction for specific actions to faceagencies with specificcrisis situations
DM responsibilities• Lay down policies, plans and guidelines fordisaster management

3

National• Prime Minister(Chairperson)
DisasterManagement • Members (notexceeding nine,
Authority
nominated by the(NDMA)
Chairperson)• Coordinate their enforcement andimplementation throughout the country• Approve the NDMP and the DM plans of therespective Ministries and Departments ofGovernment of India• Lay down guidelines for disastermanagement to be followed by the different
Central Ministries, Departments and theState Governments

27 | Page

• Union Home
Secretary(Chairperson)

4

National
Executive
Committee(NEC)• Secretaries to the
GOI in the Ministries/
Departments ofAgriculture, Atomic
Energy, Defence,
Drinking Water andsanitation,
Environment, Forests
and Climate Change
Finance(Expenditure), Healthand Family Welfare,Power, Rural
Development,
Science andTechnology, Space,
Telecommunications,
Urban Development,
Water Resources,
River Development
and Ganga
Rejuvenation, The
Chief of theIntegrated Defence
Staff of the Chiefs ofStaff Committee, ex
officio as members.

• Secretaries in the• To assist the NDMA in the discharge of its
functions• Preparation of the National Plan
• Coordinate and monitor the implementationof the National Policy• Monitor the implementation of the National
Plan and the plans prepared by the
Ministries or Departments of theGovernment of India• Direct any department or agency of theGovt. to make available to the NDMA or
SDMAs such men, material or resources as
are available with it for emergency response,
rescue and relief• Ensure compliance of the directions issued
by the Central Government• Coordinate response in the event of any
threatening disaster situation or disaster• Direct the relevant Ministries/ Departmentsof the GOI, the State Governments and theSDMAs regarding measures to be taken in
response to any specific threatening disastersituation or disaster.
• Coordinate with relevant Central Ministries/
Departments/ Agencies which are expected
to assist the affected State as per protocols
and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)• Coordinate with the Armed Forces, Central
Ministry of External
Armed Police Forces (CAPF), the National
Affairs, Earth
Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and other
Sciences, Human
uniformed services which comprise the GOI’s
Resource
response to aid the State authorities
Development, Mines,
Shipping, Road
• Coordinate with all relevant specialised
Transport andscientific institutions/ agencies responsible
Highways, Chairman,
for providing early warning and monitoring
Central Water
Coordinate with SDRF, civil defence
Commission andvolunteers, home guards and fire services,
Secretary, NDMA are
through the relevant administrative
special invitees to thedepartments of the State Governments
meetings of the NEC.

5

National• Specially trained
Disasterforce headed by a
Response Force
Director General.
(NDRF)
Structured like

• A specialist response force that can be
deployed in a threatening disaster situation
or disaster.

28 | Page

paramilitary forces• Assist the relevant State Government/
for rapid deployment
District Administration in the event of an
imminent hazard event or in its aftermath

6

National
Institute ofDisasterManagement(NIDM)• Human resource development and capacity
building for disaster management within theUnion Home Minister;
broad policies and guidelines laid down by
Vice Chairman, NDMA;
the NDMA
Members including• Design, develop and implement training
Secretaries of various
programmes
nodal Ministries and• Undertake research
Departments of• Formulate and implement a comprehensive
Government of India
human resource development planand State Governments•
Provide assistance in national policy
and heads of national
formulation, assist other research andlevels scientific,
training institutes, state governments andresearch and technicalother organisations for successfullyorganisations, besides
discharging their responsibilities
eminent scholars,• Develop educational materials forscientists anddissemination
practitioners.
• Promote awareness generation

From time to time, the central government notifies hazard-specific nodal ministries tofunction as the lead agency in managing specific disasters. Below is the current list ofdisaster-specific nodal ministries notified by GOI.

Nodal Ministry for Management/ Mitigation of Different Disasters
SN

Disaster

Nodal Ministry/ Department

1

Accident- Air (Civil Aviation)

2

Accident-Rail

Ministry of Railways

3

Accident-Road

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways

4

Avalanche

5Biological Emergencies

6Cold-Wave

7

Cyclone/ Tornado

Ministry of Civil Aviation

Ministry of Defence (MOD) – Border Road Organization(BRO)
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MHFW)
Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MAFW)
Ministry of Earth Sciences (MOES)

29 | Page

Nodal Ministry for Management/ Mitigation of Different Disasters
8

Drought

Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MAFW)

9Earthquake

Ministry of Earth Sciences (MOES)

10

Flood

11

Flood-Urban

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MHUA)

12

Forest Fire

Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change(MEFCC)

13

Frost

Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MAFW)

14

Hailstorm

Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MAFW)

15

Industrial and Chemical

Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change(MEFCC)16

Landslide17

Nuclear and Radiological18

Oil Spills

Ministry of Defence (MOD) – Indian Coast Guard (ICG)

19

Pest Attack

Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MAFW)

20

TsunamiMinistry of Earth Sciences (MOES)

Ministry of Jal Shakti (MOJS)Ministry of Mines (MOM)
Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)30 | Page

2. State Level

Figure-4: State-level disaster management - Basic institutional framework
As per the DM Act of 2005, each state in India/ Union Territory (UT) shall have its own
institutional framework for disaster management. Each State/UT will have one nodal department
for coordination of disaster management, referred hereafter as DM department (DMD), although
the name and department is not the same in each State/UT. Among other things, the DM Act
mandates that each State/UT shall take necessary steps for the preparation of State/UT DM plans,
integration of measures for prevention of disasters or mitigation into State/UT development plans,
allocation of funds, and establish EWS. Depending on specific situations and needs, the State/UTshall also assist the Central Government and central agencies in various aspects of DM. Each stateshall prepare its own State Disaster Management Plan.
The DM Act mandates the setting up of a State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) and asimilar system in each Union Territory. At the district level, the District Disaster Management
Authority (DDMA), the District Collector or District Magistrate or the Deputy Commissioner, as
applicable, will be responsible for overall coordination of the disaster management efforts andplanning. Figure -4 provides a schematic view of the typical state-level institutional framework. The
figure represents merely the institutional pathways for coordination, decision -making andcommunication for disaster management and does not imply any chain of command.

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F. Disaster Risk Finance in India
Over the years, the disaster risk has increased both in terms of incidence and in terms of economic
impact. The financial and economic consequences of disasters can be mitigated through financial
management tools and available physical risk reduction measures (OECD, 2012). In India, since long
the Finance Commissions have been addressing this important aspect of financing for disasters.
The financing of disaster relief has been an important aspect of federal fiscal relations. There are
significant variations in the disaster profiles of different states and wide regional disparities in termsof levels of economic development. This implies that the coping capacity of a majority of the states
to deal with disasters on their own is inadequate. This is compounded by the fact that the poorer
states are often the most disaster prone. The financing of disaster relief has, as a result, come to be
firmly accepted as a joint endeavour of the Central and State Governments.
The recent Fifteenth (XV) Finance Commission has acknowledged the expanding field of disastermanagement. It has taken a very holistic and comprehensive approach in creating a financial
structure that will take note of various layers, phases, aspects and dimensions of Disaster
Management in India. The commission has submitted two reports for Disaster Risk Management,
one for the year 2020-21 and final report for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26.
The successive Finance commissions up to XIV FC followed an expenditure based approach
determining allocation of funds for Disaster Management to State Governments. The XV FC adopted
a new method which is the combination of a) Capacity (reflected through past experiences); b) Risk
Exposure (area and population) and c) Hazard & Vulnerability (disaster risk index).
There are two funds, namely National Disaster Risk Management Fund (NDRMF) and State Disaster
Risk Management Fund (SDRMF) at the National Level and State Level respectively. The NDRMF
further consists of National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) and National Disaster Mitigation Fund(NDMF) and similarly the SDRMF consists of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and State Disaster
Mitigation Fund (SDMF) respectively. From the total earmarked grants for Disaster management for
both National & State Corpus 20% is earmarked for Mitigation and remaining 80% for response
fund. The response fund has been further apportioned into three windows:a) Response & Relief (40%)● 40% of NDRMF/SDRMF is allocated for response & relief from disastersb) Recovery & Reconstruction (30%)● To focus on recovery after the disaster● To re-build assets and livelihoodsc) Preparedness & Capacity building (10%)● Needed for States to be essentially prepared for Disasters to respond effectively● Allocation to support SDMAs, SIDM, training & capacity building activities and emergency
response facilities

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The budget distribution table for the National Disaster Risk Management Fund (NDRMF) andState Disaster Risk Management Fund (SDRMF)

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G. National Initiatives on Disaster management in India
1. The Disaster Management Act 2004
On 23 December 2005, the Government of India took a defining step by enacting the Disaster
Management Act, 2005, which envisaged the creation of the National Disaster Management
Authority (NDMA), headed by the Prime Minister, State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs)
headed by the Chief Ministers, and District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs) headed by
the District Collector or District Magistrate or Deputy Commissioner as the case may be, tospearhead and adopt a holistic and integrated approach to DM. The Act lays down institutional,
legal, financial and coordination mechanisms at the National, State, District and Local levels. These
institutions are not parallel structures and will work in close harmony. There has been a paradigm
shift, from the erstwhile relief-centric response to a proactive prevention, mitigation andpreparedness-driven approach for conserving developmental gains and to minimise loss of life,
livelihood and property.
2. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)
The Disaster Management Act has statutory provisions for the constitution of National Disaster
Response Force (NDRF) for the purpose of specialised response to natural and man-made disasters.
Accordingly, in 2006 NDRF was constituted with 8 Battalions. At present, NDRF has a strength of 16
Battalions with each Battalion consisting of 1149 personnel.
This Force functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs which has been vested with its control,
direction and general superintendence. This is a multi-disciplinary, multi-skilled, high-tech force forall types of disasters capable of insertion by air, sea and land. All the 16 battalions are equipped andtrained for all natural disasters including combating nuclear, biological and chemical disasters.
Each battalion has 18 self-contained specialist search and rescue teams of 45 personnel each
including engineers, technicians, electricians, dog squads and medical/paramedics. These NDRF
battalions are located at 16 different locations in the country based on the vulnerability profile andfurther the teams are placed at another 57 locations called Regional Response Centres (RRCs) andTemporary Platoon Locations (TPLs) to cut down the response time for their deployment during adisaster. During the preparedness period/in a threatening disaster situation, proactive deploymentof this force is carried out in consultation with State authorities.
NDRF has proved its importance by striving to achieve the vision of a safer and disaster-resilient
India with its motto of ‘Saving lives and beyond’ by conducting highly skilled rescue and relief
operations, regular and intensive training and re-training, familiarisation exercises within the areaof responsibility of respective NDRF Battalions, carrying out mock drills and joint exercises with thevarious stakeholders.

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Figure-5: NDRF locations in India

NDRF is uniquely the world’s largest stand-alone, dedicated disaster response force trained andequipped with international standards. The NDRF teams have the experience of carrying out
response and relief operations in India and also at international levels like in the case of relief
operations in Japan (2011) and Nepal (2015).
3. National Policy on Disaster Management 2009
The National Policy has been prepared after due deliberations and keeping in view the National
Vision which is ‘to build a safe and disaster-resilient India by developing a holistic, proactive, multidisaster and technology-driven strategy for Disaster Management. This is achieved through aculture of prevention, mitigation and preparedness to generate a prompt and efficient response at
the time of disasters. The entire process centre-stages the community and provides momentum
and sustenance through the collective efforts of all government agencies and Non-Governmental
Organisations’.
In order to translate this Vision into policy and plans, the NDMA has adopted a mission-mode
approach involving a number of initiatives with the help of various institutions operating at national,
state and local levels. The central ministries, states and other stakeholders have been involved in
the participatory and consultative process of evolving policies and guidelines.
This Policy framework is also in conformity with the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction,
the Rio Declaration, the Millennium Development Goals and the Hyogo Framework 2005-2015.

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4. National Disaster Management Plan 2019
The hazard and vulnerability profile of India is now well known. India's proneness to multiple
disasters caused by natural and human induced factors aggravated by climate change impacts posemany threats and challenges for communities and agencies involved in management of disasters.
With the enactment of Disaster Management Act 2005 and adoption of National Policy on Disaster
Management 2009, Government of India has established improved institutional arrangements and
DRR mechanisms to deal with any threatening disaster situation or disaster.
The National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) provides a framework and direction to thegovernment agencies for all phases of the disaster management cycle. The NDMP is a “dynamic
document” in the sense that it will be periodically improved keeping up with the emerging global
best practices and knowledge base in disaster management. It is in accordance with the provisionsof the DM Act 2005, the guidance given in the National Policy on Disaster Management (NPDM)
2009, and the established national practices.
The NDMP recognizes the need to minimise, if not eliminate, any ambiguity in the responsibility
framework. It, therefore, specifies who is responsible for what at different stages of managing
disasters. It is meant to be implemented in a flexible and scalable manner in all phases of disastermanagement:
a.
b.
c.
d.

Mitigation (prevention and risk reduction),
Preparedness,
Response andRecovery (immediate restoration and build -back better)
5. Prime Minister’s Ten Point Agenda on Disaster Risk Reduction

a. All development sectors must imbibe the principles of disaster risk management.
b. Risk coverage must include all, starting from Poor households to Small & Medium Enterprises
to Multinational corporations to Nation states.
c. Women’s leadership and greater involvement should be central to disaster risk management.
d. Invest in risk mapping globally to improve global understanding of Nature and disaster risks.
e. Leverage technology to enhance the efficiency of disaster risk management efforts.
f. Develop a network of universities to work on disaster-related issues.
g. Utilise the opportunities provided by social media and mobile technologies for disaster risk
reduction.
h. Build on local capacity and initiative to enhance disaster risk reduction.
i. Make use of every opportunity to learn from disasters and, to achieve that, there must be
studies on the lessons after every disaster.
j. Bring about greater cohesion in international response to disasters.
6. National Disaster Management Guidelines
The preparation of national guidelines for various disasters and cross-cutting issues constitutes animportant component of the mandate entrusted to the National Disaster Management Authority
under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. On the basis of these guidelines, plans are prepared byvarious Ministries at the Centre and the States.
The intent of these guidelines is to develop a holistic, coordinated, proactive and technology driven
strategy for management of the specific disasters through a culture of prevention, mitigation andpreparedness to generate a prompt and effective response in the event of an emergency.
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i. National Guidelines for Preparation of Action plan – Prevention and Management of Cold Wave
and Frost 2021
ii. Guideline for Earthquake Safety of Building from National Building Code of India 2016
iii. Cool Roof: House Owners’ Guide to alternate roof cooling solutions
iv. Guidelines for Utilisation of Resources under India Disaster Resource Network (IDRN)
v. Guidelines on Management of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs)
vi. Compendium of Task Force Report on NDMA Guidelines on Management of Glacial Lake
Outburst Floods (GLOFs)
vii. Summary for Policy Makers on NDMA Guidelines on Management of GLOFs
viii. Guidelines for Preparation of Action Plan - Prevention and Management of Heat Wave
ix. Landslide Risk Management Strategy
x. Guidelines on Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction
xi. Guidelines on Temporary Shelters for Disaster-Affected Families
xii. Guidelines on Prevention & Management of Thunderstorm & Lightning/ Squall/ Dust/ Hailstorm& Strong Winds
xiii. Guidelines on Boat Safety
xiv. Guidelines on Cultural Heritage Sites and Precincts
xv. Guidelines on Museums
xvi. Guidelines on Minimum Standards of Relief
xvii. Guidelines on Hospital Safetyxviii. Guidelines on School Safety Policy
xix. Guidelines on Seismic Retrofitting of Deficient Buildings and Structures.
xx. Guidelines on Scaling, Type of Equipment and Training of Fire Services
xxi. Guidelines on National Disaster Management Information and Communication System
xxii. Guidelines on Management of Droughtxxiii. Guidelines on Management of Urban Flooding
xxiv. Guidelines on Management of Dead in the Aftermath of Disasterxxv. Guidelines on Management of Tsunamis
xxvi. Guidelines on Incident Response System
xxvii. Guidelines on Psycho-Social Support and Mental Health Services in Disasters
xxviii. Guidelines on Management of Landslides and Snow Avalanches
xxix. Guidelines on Management of Nuclear and Radiological Emergencies
xxx. Guidelines on Management of Biological Disasters
xxxi. Guidelines on Management of Cyclones
xxxii. Guidelines on Management of Floods
xxxiii. Guidelines on Medical Preparedness and Mass Casualty Management
xxxiv. Guidelines on Preparation of State Disaster Management Plans
xxxv. Guidelines on Chemical Disasters
xxxvi. Guidelines on Management of Earthquakes

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7. National Disaster Response Reserve (NDRR)

A revolving fund of Rs.250 crores was recommended by the 13th Finance Commission tomeet the immediate need for relief equipment and material after a disaster by the creationof a National Disaster Response Reserve (NDRR).
● The National Disaster Response Reserve (NDRR) was created to mitigate the sufferingsof the victims of disasters that are beyond the coping capacity of the States.
● The State / UT are responsible for distributing relief materials to replenish theinventory in NDRR so that tents, food, medicines, blankets, temporary shelters, andlighting equipment become available for use.
● In plain areas, NDRR is focused on stocks of essential relief equipment to meet theneeds of at least 2,50,000 people, while in the hilly areas, stores are intended to meetthe needs of at least 1,50,000 people.
8. Aapada Mitra scheme
The Government of India has been implementing a scheme namely Aapada Mitra for Training ofCommunity Volunteers in Disaster Response since May 2016 with a focus on training of 6000
community volunteers (200 volunteers per district) in disaster response in selected 30 most floodprone districts of 25 States of India.
The scheme aims to provide the community volunteers with the skills that they would need torespond to their community’s immediate needs in the aftermath of a disaster thereby enablingthem to undertake basic relief and rescue tasks during emergency situations such as floods, flashfloods and urban flooding.
The objectives of the scheme are:● Development and Standardization of training modules at National Level;● Development of Information Knowledge Management System at National level linked toStates/UTs;● Training institutions to be empanelled by respective States/UTs at the State/UT level;● To train 6000 community volunteers in life saving skills of disaster response (flood relief andrescue), coordination, assistance, and provide personal protective equipment and emergency
responder kits;● To create a Community Emergency Stockpile/Reserve at the district/block level containing
essential light search and rescue equipment, medical first aid kits, etc;To disseminate training
and education tools developed under the project to more flood prone districts in subsequent
phases of the scheme.
9. India Disaster Resource Network (IDRN)

India Disaster Resource Network (IDRN) is a nation-wide electronic inventory of resourcesthat enlists equipment and human resources, collated from districts, states and national
level line departments and agencies. It is a web based platform, for managing the inventoryof equipment, skilled human resources and critical supplies for emergency response.
Primary focus of IDRN portal is to enable the decision makers to find answers on availability

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of equipment and human resources required to combat any emergency situation. This
database will also enable them to assess the level of preparedness for specific disasters.

Figure-6: IDRN Diagram

The online inventory of resources is hosted in the National Informatics Centre (NIC), New
Delhi. Only the authorised Government officers have the access to uploaded data in the
portal and the district authorities are the officials for facilitating data collection andupdation. Data is monitored and maintained at the central level by National Institute ofDisaster Management (NIDM). Besides, NIDM is responsible for the overall administrationof the portal. District Collectors/Magistrate are the authorised officials to get the latest
information about disaster management resources available with various line
departments/agencies and uploaded in the portal, using services of District Informatics
Officers.
10. Subhash Chandra Bose Aapada Prabandhan Puraskar

In order to encourage innovation and recognise the exceptional contributions oforganisations and individuals to disaster risk management in the country, the Governmentof India has instituted an annual national award for excellence in disaster management in
the name of our great freedom fighter Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. The first award wasannounced on his birth anniversary on 23 January 2019 and has been presented every year
since then.

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H. Post 2015- Global Frameworks for DRR
The Post-2015 goals and agenda are set forth in the three landmark global agreements
reached in 2015 – the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (Sendai, Japan, March
2015), Sustainable Development Goals (UN General Assembly, New York, September 2015)
and Climate Change Agreement (Conference Of Parties, COP21, Paris, December 2015). The
three documents set the stage for future global actions on DRR, sustainable development andclimate change. These three agreements have created a rare but significant opportunity tobuild coherence across different areas having several shared or overlapping concerns. Taken
together, these frameworks represent a nearly complete agenda for building resilience, asthat requires action spanning development, humanitarian, climate change impacts anddisaster risk reduction. India is committed to these global frameworks and the government ofIndia has taken various measures for realisation of the goals through involvement ofgovernment, private sector and the non-government organisations. The agreements
represent a major turning point in the global efforts to tackle existing and future challenges inall countries. Specific emphasis is apparent to support resilience-building measures, and a shift
away from managing crises to proactively reducing their risks. The agreements have varying
degrees of emphasis on sustainable development, DRR, resilience and climate change. An
important element in the Sendai Framework is to mutually reinforce with the other post-2015
global agendas by deliberately pursuing coherence across and integration of DRR, sustainable
development, responses to climate change and resilience. In keeping with the global trends
and priorities, the NDMP has also been restructured to ensure coherence and mutual
reinforcement of the national initiatives in the domains of DRR, sustainable development andthe responses to meet challenges of global climate change.
1. Sendai Framework for DRR
The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 was adopted at the Third UN
World Conference in Sendai, Japan, on March 18, 2015. It is the outcome of stakeholder
consultations initiated in March 2012 and intergovernmental negotiations from July 2014 toMarch 2015, supported by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction at the requestof the UN General Assembly. The foreword to the Sendai Framework describes it as “thesuccessor instrument” to the Hyogo Framework for Acon (HFA) 2005-2015: Building theResilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters. The Sendai Framework for DRR (SFDRR or
Sendai Framework), the first international agreement adopted within the context of the post2015 development agenda, marks a definitive shift globally towards comprehensive disasterrisk management aimed at disaster risk reduction and increasing disaster resilience going far
beyond disaster management. This approach calls for setting the overall goal as that ofpreventing new and reducing existing disaster risk through the implementation of integrated
measures. The goal now is on DRR as the expected outcome, seng goals on preventing thecreation of new risks, reducing the existing ones, and strengthening overall disaster resilience.
In addition, the scope of DRR has been broadened significantly to focus on both natural and

40 | Pagehuman induced hazards including various related environmental, technological and biologicalhazards and risks. The Sendai Framework acknowledges the interlinkages between climatechange and disaster risks. Disasters that tend to be exacerbated by climate change are
increasing in frequency and intensity.
The SFDRR is a non-binding agreement, which the signatory nations, including India, willattempt to comply with on a voluntary basis. India will make all efforts to contribute to therealisation of the global targets by following the recommendations in the Sendai Framework
and by adopting globally accepted best practices. Building on the Hyogo Framework for Action,
the outcome that Sendai Framework aims to achieve globally over a span of 15 years by 2030
is the “substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods, and health and in
the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses,
communities and countries.” To attain the expected outcome, Sendai Framework seeks topursue the following goal: “Prevent new and reduce existing disaster risk through theimplementation of integrated and inclusive economic, structural, legal, social, health, cultural,
educational, environmental, technological, political and institutional measures that preventand reduce hazard exposure and vulnerability to disaster, increase preparedness for response
and recovery, and thus strengthen resilience.”
In the domain of disaster management, the Sendai Framework provides the way forward forthe period ending in 2030. There are some major departures in the Sendai Framework:●
For the first me the goals are defined in terms of outcome -based targets
instead of focusing on sets of activities and actions.
●
It places governments at the centre of disaster risk reduction with theframework emphasising the need to strengthen the disaster risk governance.
●
There is a significant shift from earlier emphasis on disaster management toaddressing disaster risk management itself by focusing on the underlying drivers ofrisk.
●
It places almost equal importance on all kinds of disasters and not only on thosearising from natural hazards.
●
In addition to social vulnerability, it pays considerable attention toenvironmental aspects through a strong recognition that the implementation of
integrated environmental and natural resource management approaches is needed fordisaster reduction●
Disaster risk reduction, more than before, is seen as a policy concern that cuts
across many sectors, including health and education.
As per the Sendai Framework, it is necessary to address existing challenges and prepare for
future ones by focusing on monitoring, assessing, and understanding disaster risk and sharing
relevant information. The framework notes that, to cope with disasters, it is “urgent andcritical to anticipate, plan for and reduce disaster risk”. It requires the strengthening ofdisaster risk governance and coordination across various institutions and sectors. It requires

41 | Page

the full and meaningful participation of relevant stakeholders at different levels. It is necessary
to invest in economic, social, health, cultural and educational resilience at all levels. It requires
investments in research and the use of technology to enhance multi-hazard Early Warning
Systems (EWS), preparedness, response, recovery, rehabilitation, and reconstruction.
a. Four Priorities
The four priorities for action under the Sendai Framework are:i. Understanding disaster riskii. Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster riskiii. Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience
iv. Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and to “Build Back Beer” inrecovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction
a. Seven Targets
India is a signatory to the Sendai Framework for a 15-year, voluntary, non-binding agreement
which recognizes that the State has the primary role to reduce disaster risk, but that
responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders including local government, theprivate sector and other stakeholders. India will make its contribution in achieving the sevenglobal targets set by the Sendai Framework (Fig-7)

Figure-7: Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction - 7 Global Targets

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i. Substantially reduce global disaster mortality by 2030, aiming to lower the averageper 100,000 global mortality rates in the decade 2020–2030 compared to the period
2005– 2015;
ii. Substantially reduce the number of affected people globally by 2030, aiming to lower
the average global figure per 100,000 in the decade 2020–2030 compared to theperiod 2005–2015;
iii. Reduce direct disaster economic loss in relation to global gross domestic product(GDP) by 2030;
iv. Substantially reduce disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption ofbasic services, among them health and educational facilities, including throughdeveloping their resilience by 2030;
v. Substantially increase the number of countries with national and local disaster risk
reduction strategies by 2020;
vi. Substantially enhance international cooperation to developing countries throughadequate and sustainable support to complement their national actions for
implementation of the present Framework by 2030;
vii. Substantially increase the availability of and access to multi-hazard early warning
systems and disaster risk information and assessments to people by 2030.
On 2 February 2017, the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the Report of theOpen-ended Intergovernmental Expert Working Group (OIEWG) on Indicators andTerminology Related to Disaster Risk Reduction and the recommendations forindicators and terminology relating to disaster risk reduction (UNISDR 2016). The
report of OIEWG is meant to help countries operationalise the 38 global indicators formeasuring the progress towards realising global targets for DRR along with targets ofother major Post-2015 global frameworks. The list as applicable to India will be used
to monitor the progress of Ministries / Departments and States/ UTs towards
achievement of targets set under the framework, by way of periodic reporting. As partof this effort, all ministries, departments, states and UTs will compile data inaccordance with the indicators for the baseline period of 2005 to 2015 and on an
ongoing basis from 2015 onwards.
2. Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and Disaster Resilience
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the UN General Assembly on
25 September 2015, consisting of 17 Global Goals (Fig-8) and 169 targets, are auniversal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people
enjoy peace and prosperity. The 17 Goals build on the successes of the Millennium

43 | PageDevelopment Goals (MDGs), while including new areas such as climate change,
economic inequality, innovation, sustainable consumption, peace and justice, among
other priorities. The goals are interconnected – often the key to success on one will
involve tackling issues more commonly associated with another.
Sustainable development (SD) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) are closely interlinked.
A single major disaster or “shock” incident (i.e. a rapid onset disaster like anearthquake, storm, tsunami or landslide) can undo hard-won development progressand set back development by years. A “stress” incident (i.e. a slow onset disaster likedrought, sea level rise, and salinity intrusion into groundwater stocks) can also cause
long-term socio-economic harm. Climate change aggravates impacts from both natural
hazards and human-induced vulnerabilities by acting as a threat multiplier. Driven byclimate change, there is an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather
events (including storms, droughts, heat waves and cold “snaps”). Such events multiply
the risks that people living in areas prone to natural hazards already face.

Figure-8: Seventeen Sustainable Development Goals

The possibilities of attaining SDGs are jeopardised because disasters undermine
economic growth and social progress. No country or sector is immune to the impactsof natural hazards, many of which – the hydro-meteorological – are increasing infrequency and intensity due to the impacts of climate change. While necessary andcrucial, preparing for disasters is not enough, to realise the transformative potential of
the agenda for SDGs, all stakeholders recognize that DRR needs to be its integral core.
Progress in implementing the Sendai Framework contributes to the progress of
attaining SDGs. In turn, the progress on the SDGs helps to substantially build resilience
to disasters. There are several targets across the 17 SDGs that are related to DRR.
Conversely, all seven global DRR targets of the Sendai Framework are critical for theachievement of the SDGs.

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Figure-9: Coherence and mutual reinforcement of SDGs and Sendai Framework

Resilience is acknowledged both explicitly and implicitly in the SDG targets. The vision
set out in the SDGs – for people, planet, prosperity and peace – will inevitably fail ifshocks and stresses are not addressed. The pledge that ‘no one will be left behind’requires a specific focus on the poorest and most vulnerable people, which is a key
challenge: up to 325 million extremely poor people are likely to be living in the 49 mosthazard prone countries by 2030. A focus on strengthening resilience can protect
development gains and ensure people have the resources and capacities to better
reduce, prevent, anticipate, absorb and adapt to a range of shocks, stresses, risks anduncertainties. Fig-9 depicts how the coherence and mutual reinforcement of the SDGs
and Sendai Framework are reflected in outcomes and targets.
3. COP21 Paris Agreement on Climate Change Action and Disaster Risk
Reduction
The Paris Agreement was adopted on 12 December 2015 at the Twenty-first session of
the Conference of the Pares (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Paris from 30 November to 13 December 2015. The
agreement builds upon the UNFCCC and brings together all nations into a common
cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects,
with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so (Fig-10). The agreement
aims at “holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C
above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to
1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, recognizing that this would significantly reduce therisks and impacts of climate change”. Article-7 dwells on establishing “the global goalon adaptation of enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing
vulnerability to climate change”

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Figure-10: Main elements of the COP21, Paris Agreement on Climate Change

The major goals adopted in the agreement are:i) A consensus on adopting the long-term goal of keeping the increase in global
average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levelsii) Aim to limit the increase to 1.5°C, since this would significantly reduce risks and theimpacts of climate changeiii) Accepting the need for global emissions to peak as soon as possible, recognisingthat this will take longer for developing countries andiv) To undertake rapid reductions of emissions in accordance with the best available
science
There is significant convergence between the problems that disaster risk reduction andclimate change adaptation seek to address (Fig-11). The regions already exposed toclimate-related hazards and effects will be at greater risk due to a projected increasein the frequency and/or intensity of those hazards and effects because of global
climate change.

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Figure-11: Common concerns of climate change adaptation

The agreement aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts ofclimate change. To reach these ambitious goals, appropriate financial flows, a newtechnology framework and an enhanced capacity building framework will be put inplace, thus supporting action by developing countries and the most vulnerable
countries, in line with their own national objectives. The agreement also provides forenhanced transparency of action and support through a more robust transparency
framework. It requires all signatories to make the best efforts through “Nationally
Determined Contributions” (NDC) and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead.
The NDC includes requirements that all Pares report regularly on their emissions andon their implementation efforts. In 2018, Parties will take stock of the collective efforts
in relation to progress towards the goal set in the Paris Agreement and to inform the
preparation of NDCs. There will also be a global stock-taking every five years to assess
the collective progress towards achieving the purpose of the Agreement and to informfurther individual actions by Parties. The agreement entered into force on 4 November
2016, thirty days after the date on which at least 55 Parties to the Convention
accounting in total for at least an estimated 55% of the total global greenhouse gas
emissions have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval oraccession with the depositary. India has ratified the agreement and submitted her NDC
along with the plan for mitigation and adaptation strategies and actions. India iscommitted to engaging actively in multilateral negotiations under the UNFCCC in apositive, creative and forward-looking manner. India’s objective is to establish aneffective, cooperative and equitable global architecture under the UNFCCC based on
climate justice and the principles of equity and common but differentiatedresponsibilities and respective capabilities.
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4. Coherence and Mutual Reinforcement—Thematic Area for DRR
The presence of risk multipliers is a threat to the success of all development
frameworks and coping with risks is a central to sustainable development. Given thechanges in human demographics and trends in development, impact of climate change(which disproportionately affects the poorest and most vulnerable people), andincreasing exposure to disaster risks, there has never been a greater need to enhancecoherence and coordination among all the major global initiatives to reduce risks,vulnerability to hazards and enhance resilience. This coherence will serve tostrengthen existing frameworks to cope with risks and enhance the resilience formultiple hazards. It will promote governance systems to manage disaster risks
aggravated by climate change impacts and make development resilient to various
disaster risks.
Effective reduction of losses and risks from natural hazards and climate extremes
requires integrated actions at different levels of governance. One of the greatest
challenges is creating institutional convergence that integrates global goals emanatingfrom these agreements. Disaster risk reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation(CCA) are part of key agendas being considered in all these recent global agreements.
All three agreements share a common aim of making development sustainable. Strong
commitment to ambitious goals and accelerated implementation of theseinternational agreements must be a global priority. Given the complementaries
between the post - 2015 agendas, leveraging the total impact of these instruments
creates shared value. Efforts must be deployed to ensure that each of them do notbuild in “policy risks' or, contradictory policies, that generate more - rather than less risk in development. Taken together, the different priorities, targets and actions in thethree frameworks constitute a more comprehensive resilience agenda than when
implemented independently without mutual reinforcement because building
resilience requires action that spans the multiple domains of development,
humanitarian initiatives, responding to climate change and disaster risk reduction.
On 2 February 2017, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution A/71/644, whichstates the necessary indicators to measure global progress in reducing loss attributed
to disasters. Through collection of the information of these indicators, UN Member
States can measure their progress in disaster risk reduction efforts by 2030 against theseven global targets defined in the Sendai Framework, including: mortality, persons
affected, economic loss, and damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic
services. Synergies with the monitoring of these international frameworks are alreadyrecognised by the international community. The UN Statistical Commission has
adopted indicators developed by the Inter Agency and Expert Group on the Sustainable
Development Goals, and this process is closely coordinated with the Sendai

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Framework. A global indicator framework has been adopted by the UN General
Assembly on July 6, 2017.
The NDMP has tried to envisage coherence across the national efforts for DRR,
sustainable development, and the actions in response to climate change (mitigation
and adaptation). The NDMP identifies mutually reinforcing measures in these threedomains. The mainstreaming of DRR can be synchronised with the initiatives forsustainable development and the steps taken to address climate change impacts as aninherent part of the development agenda. Many of the additional challenges emerging
from climate change impacts that act as hazard risk multipliers and must be integrated
into the implementation of the NDMP.

Figure-12: Post-2015 Global Frameworks—Coherence and Mutual Reinforcement within National Efforts

Ideas on ensuring coherence and mutual reinforcement across the global frameworks
on development, disasters and responding to climate change covering almost every
aspect of society and all sectors of economy are at an early and incipient phase.
Enhancing resilience is the overarching theme as far as disaster risk reduction isconcerned. All these discussions make it quite clear that these tasks cannot be
separated from the mainstreaming of risk reduction although it is an idea that predates
the concepts of coherence and mutual reinforcement across the global frameworks.
The ideas of coherence and reinforcement across frameworks expand the scope ofmainstreaming beyond how it was envisaged earlier (Fig-12). The ways in which
coherence and mutual reinforcement are envisaged for SDGs and Sendai Framework
is depicted in Fig-13. Similarly, that for SDGs and COP21 Paris Agreement on climatechange actions is depicted in Fig-14. The measures envisaged for ensuring coherence
and reinforcement will be discussed in the chapter on mainstreaming.

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Figure-13: Envisaging coherence and Mutual Reinforcement of SDGs and Sendai Framework

Figure-14: Envisaging coherence and mutual reinforcement of SDGs and COP21 for climate change actions

50 | Page

5. India’s national initiatives relevant for DRR across the three Global Frameworks
SN

1

2

Sendai –Sustainable

COP21 – Paris

National Initiatives

GlobalDevelopment

Agreement on

Relevant to DRR

Targets

Goals

Climate Change

Substantiallyreduce global
disastermortality by
2030 (20202030
compared to
2005-2015)

SDG 1, 2, 11,13● Changes in thepattern of extreme
events require
enhanced disaster
resilience andadaptation● Addressing GACC
risks is crucial for
eliminating poverty
and reducing
economic losses
from disasters

Multiple schemes andinitiatives for DRR,
economicdevelopment, GACC
mitigation andadaptation.

Substantiallyreduce thenumber ofdisasteraffected
people by2030 (20202030
compared to
2005-2015)

SDG 1, 11, 13

Stresses the need foraccelerated action tobuild resiliencethrough risk-sensitiveplanning andimplementation of
DRR● Allocation of
resources and funds
for disasterprevention and todevelop capacities
for DRR● Strengthening of the
DRR at all levels● Promoting disaster
resilientdevelopment● Mainstreaming DRR
and adaptation to
GACC indevelopment

The Paris Agreement
aims to hold global
average temperature
increase to well below
2°C above preindustrial levels and to
pursue efforts to limit
it to 1.5°C, recognizingthat this would
significantly reduce
the risks and impacts

National commitment
to DRR evident fromthe PM Ten Point
Agenda for DRR
National commitments
for mitigation of andadaptation to GACC as
per Intended Nationally
Determined
Contributions (INDC)

Substantially SDG 1, 11
reduce direct
disastereconomic loss
3

51 | Page

of climate change
Substantiallyreducedamage tocriticalinfrastructureanddisruption ofbasic services(health,education,etc.)

SDG 1, 4, 9, 11 Global adaptation
goals for enhancing
adaptive capacity,strengthening
resilience andreducing vulnerability
to ensure adequate
adaptation responsein the context of the
global temperature
goal

Enhance the resilienceof national healthsystems by integrating
DRR into primary,secondary and tertiary
health care, and bypromoting andenhancing training
capacities in the field of
disaster medicine. The
substantial reduction ofdisaster damage tocritical infrastructureand disruption of basic
services is essential toensure healthy lives
and promote wellbeing.

Substantially
increasedisaster risk
reduction
strategies

SDG 1, 3, 6,
11, 13

Addressing GACC risks
that are crucial for
reducing economic
losses from disasters
along with a wellintegrated approachto adaptation,
sustainable
development,
environmental
management anddisaster risk reduction● NAPCC for mitigationof and adaptation to
GACC● National Mission on
Sustainable
Agriculture (NMSA)● National Initiative on
Climate Resilient
Agriculture (NICRA)

6

Substantially
increaseinternational
cooperation
tocomplement
national
actions

Close
international
cooperationto achieve
SDGs

Firm commitments bycountries to the global
response to GACC
based on INDCs andinternational
cooperation forachieving the COP21
goals

India is a pro-active
member in theimplementation of the
Post-2015 and otherglobal frameworks

SDG 3, 137

Substantially
increase theavailability ofand access toEmphasis on
improving early
warning systems, risk
assessment andNational investments
to improve the early
warning andinformation systems in

4

5

52 | Pagemulti- hazard
early warning
systems anddisaster risk
information
andassessments

management

different sectors andfor multi-hazards

Note: All the central ministries have specific responsibilities in accordance withachieving the national targets relevant to the global frameworks.

53 | Page

I. Strengthening Disaster Risk Governance
Strengthening disaster risk governance is considered a cornerstone of the efforts tounderstand, reduce and manage risks in global practices (UNDP 2015). Governanceencompasses the exercise of political, economic and administrative authority in the
management of a country’s affairs at various levels. It comprises mechanisms, processes
and institutions through which groups articulate their interest, exercise their legal rights,
meet their obligations and mediate their differences. Governance transcends government.
It goes beyond governmental systems and powers by encouraging pro -active citizen
engagement. Risk governance encompasses the full range of risks recognized by humansocieties, including health and medical, safety and security, and environmental risks, suchas hazards and disasters.
The concept of governance has its origins partly in the recognition that many functions
carried out by public entities are now provided by several governmental as well as privatesector or civil society entities. Such systems rely on the development and diffusion ofvarious types of norms such as state regulation, self-regulation and market mechanisms. It
may also rely on other processes such as negotiation, participation, and engagement, whichfacilitate collective decision making and action. Disaster governance is nested within andinfluenced by overarching societal governance systems and various aspects such as statecivil society relationships, economic organisation, and societal transitions have implications
for disaster governance. Governance arrangements and stakeholder participation could
vary across different disaster phases, adding to the complexity of governance challenges.
Risk-spreading mechanisms, including insurance and reinsurance, are integral parts ofdisaster governance.
UNDP describes disaster risk governance as:"The way in which public authorities, civil servants, media, private sector, and civil society
at community, national and regional levels cooperate in order to manage and reduce
disaster and climate related risks. This means ensuring that sufficient levels of capacity andresources are made available to prevent, prepare for, manage and recover from disasters.
It also entails mechanisms, institutions and processes for citizens to articulate theirinterests, exercise their legal rights and obligations, and mediate their differences." (UNDP2013)
UNISDR defines it as:“The system of institutions, mechanisms, policy and legal frameworks and otherarrangements to guide, coordinate and oversee disaster risk reduction and related areas ofpolicy.” (UNISDR 2016)
The concept has evolved considerably, and the current thinking acknowledges that one
cannot separate governance of disaster risk from the governance of other types of risks,

54 | Page

including those associated with global climate change, environmental degradation,
financial crises, and conflict situations (UNDP 2015). From the mid-2000’s onwards,
governance was commonly accepted as the crux of DRR, with comprehensive efforts
underway to increase the DRR capacity of national and local institutions; to strengthen
policy, legal and planning frameworks; to develop human and financial capacities; and topromote multi-stakeholder and multi-disciplinary approaches. Effectiveness of disastergovernance can be judged from stakeholder participation, collaboration, accountability andtransparency. There is now greater emphasis on accountability, transparency,
responsiveness to the needs of those most at risk, and ensuring the rule of law/compliancewith adequate legal provisions. These are of crucial importance in fostering development
and promotion risk reduction.
The capacity of relevant individual actors and organisations comes into play when DRR
policies – at various levels from the top to boom – are implemented. Participation, rule oflaw, transparency, responsiveness, consensus orientation, equity, effectiveness, efficiency,
accountability and strategic vision are key factors when implementing a governancestructure aimed at sustainable development and disaster risk reduction (UNDP 2004).
1. Sendai Framework and Strengthening Disaster Risk Governance
The Sendai Framework emphasises the importance of governance at different levels for aneffective and efficient management of disaster risk. Effective risk governance requires clear
vision, plans, competence, guidance, and coordination within and across sectors, as well as
participation of relevant stakeholders, as discussed earlier. Strengthening disaster risk
governance is necessary to foster collaboration and partnerships for the implementation ofdisaster risk reduction and sustainable development. The Sendai Framework lays emphasison the following to strengthen disaster risk governance:a. Mainstream and integrate disaster risk reduction within and across all sectors
and promote the coherence and development of relevant laws, regulations, and public
policies. It must guide both the public and private sectors through the legal frameworkthat clearly spells out the roles and responsibilities. It must address disaster risk inpublicly owned, managed, or regulated services and infrastructures. It must encourage
actions by persons, households, communities, and businesses. It has to enhance
relevant mechanisms and initiatives for disaster risk transparency. It must put in place
coordination and organisational structures.
b. Adopt and implement disaster risk reduction strategies and plans, acrossdifferent levels (local to national) and timescales, aimed at preventing the creation ofrisk, the reduction of existing risk and the strengthening resilience – economic, social,health and environmental.
c. Carry out assessment of the technical, financial and administrative disaster risk
management capacity to deal with the identified risks at different levels

55 | Page

d. Promote necessary mechanisms and incentives to ensure high levels ofcompliance with the safety-enhancing provisions of sectoral laws and regulations,
including those addressing land use, urban planning, building codes65, environment,
resource management, health and safety standards, and update them, where needed,
for better disaster risk management
e. Develop and strengthen mechanisms to periodically review and assess the
progress on various DM plans as well as encourage institutional debates, including by
parliamentarians and relevant officials, on DRR plans
f. Assign clear roles and tasks to community representatives within disaster risk
management institutions and processes and decision-making through relevant legal
frameworks, and undertake comprehensive public and community consultations
during the development of such laws and regulations to support their implementationg. Establish and strengthen government coordination forums composed of
relevant stakeholders at the national and local levels, such as national and local
platforms for disaster risk reduction.
h. Empower local authorities, as appropriate, through regulatory and financial
mechanisms to work and coordinate with civil society, communities and indigenous
peoples and migrants in disaster risk management at the local level.
i. Work with parliamentarians for disaster risk reduction by developing or
amending relevant legislation and setting budget allocations.
j. Promote the development of quality standards, such as certifications andawards for disaster risk management, with the participation of the private sector, civilsociety, professional associations, scientific organisations and the United Nations.
k. Formulate relevant public policies and laws aimed at addressing issues of
prevention or relocation, where possible, of human settlements in disaster risk-pronezones.
2. Responsibility Framework for Strengthening Disaster Risk Governance
Based on these considerations, and the increased emphasis globally on strengthening
disaster risk governance to reduce disaster risk and to build resilience, the major tasks,
agencies of the central and state government are presented in a responsibility framework.
India currently has in place many institutions dedicated to disaster reduction, response, andfor disaster risk governance at the centre and within the states at various levels from local
to the state. However, there is wide variation in the functioning, structure, and capabilities.
To strengthen disaster governance, a DM Cell will be established in each Central Ministry
and a nodal officer, not below the rank of Joint Secretary will be appointed.
The National Disaster Management Plan seeks to strengthen the entire system of disasterrisk governance in the country using the framework presented here. It envisages theimplementation of various measures across the country over the short, medium, and long-56 | Pageterm, ending by 2022, 2027, 2030 respectively. Many of these are highly ambitious given
the extremely uneven level of institutional arrangements across various states and districtsin the country. Based on the current status of implementation of the DM Plans, each central
Ministry, Department, and the State Government will restructure the respective DM Plans
into these me frames for implementation while preparing plans or revising existing ones.
The responsibility framework has six thematic areas in which central and state governments
must take actions to strengthen disaster risk governance:a. Mainstream and integrate DRR and Institutional Strengthening
b. Capacity Development, Empower Local Authorities and Strengthen Coordination
Mechanismc. Promote Participatory Approaches, Partnerships and Networks
d. Work with Elected Representatives
e. Grievance Redress Mechanism
f. Promote Quality Standards, Certifications, and Awards

57 | Page

J. International Cooperation
1. Participation in International Efforts
India plays an active role in global initiatives on disaster management. India is a signatory
to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and is committed to achieve thepriories and the objectives through systemic and institutional efforts. With muldimensional initiatives and expertise, India remains committed to playing a leading role instrengthening regional and international cooperation efforts in mitigating and reducing theeffects from disasters.
India is one of the participating countries and works closely with the UNISDR. The United
Nation Disaster Management Team in India comprises of UN agencies such as Food andAgriculture Organization, International Labour Organization, United Nations Development
Programme, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, United
Nations Population Fund, United Nations High Commission for Refugees, United Nations
Children’s Fund, World Food Programme, and World Health Organization. India isparticipating in the Global Facility for Disaster Risk Reduction programme. India is one of
the founding members of the Asian Disaster Reduction Centre. India has agreements withseveral countries for cooperation in the field of disaster management. India has beenworking closely with many countries for the exchange of ideas and expertise in disastermanagement.
2. Accepting Foreign Assistance
As a matter of policy, the Government of India does not issue any appeal for foreignassistance in the wake of a disaster. However, if the national government of anothercountry voluntarily offers assistance as a goodwill gesture in solidarity with the disastervictims, the decision on acceptance of all such offers vests solely with the Central
Government. The primary responsibility for reviewing such foreign offers of assistance rests
with the Ministry of External Affairs which will consult and coordinate with the Ministry ofHome Affairs.
All offers of assistance from foreign governments will be routed through the Ministry ofExternal Affairs. Offers of assistance in-kind, including technical assistance, emergency
rescue teams, reconstruction assistance, etc. will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, inconsultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs, which will assess the requirements basedon inputs from the concerned State governments.
In the case of contributions from NRIs, PIOs and foreign non -governmental bodies such as
Foundations, etc. such donations may be accepted through the Prime Minister’s and Chief
Minister’s relief funds. All other donations from foreign non-governmental entities to
Indian non-governmental entities must be compliant with extant regulations, including theForeign Contribution (Regulation) Act 2010.
58 | Page

3. Accepting Multilateral AssistanceIn the case of an offer of assistance from UN Agencies, the Government of India will
evaluate and consider all such offers on its merits. If accepted, GOI will issue directions to
the respective Ministry or State Government to coordinate with the concerned UN agency.
India will permit UN agencies and international NGOs already operating in the country at
the time of the disaster event to continue rendering their humanitarian assistance topeople in the affected area in coordination with the relevant Central
Ministries/Departments and the State Government in accordance with applicable norms
and protocols.
4. Fostering Partnerships
India is keen to share expertise and work with other countries in the areas of disastermanagement. India can play a major role for capacity building in the Asia Pacific region andis looking forward to building sustained regional and international partnerships under the
Sendai Framework. India is committed to work with countries in the region and beyond inbuilding resilient nations and communities, against disasters. India is looking forward toengaging with the international community in providing humanitarian assistance to othercountries in need.

59 | Page

REFERENCES
1. India Year book 2022
2. NIDM, India Country report
3. http://www.nidm.gov.in/
4. http://www.ndma.gov.in
5. http://www.india.gov.in
6. http://www.censusindia.gov.in
7. NDMP 2019
8. https://knowdisaster.com

9. http://en.wikipedia.org
10. http://www.mati.gov.in
11. YOJANA magazine
12. Disaster Management in India, MHA report
13. www.imd.gov.in
14. https://data.worldbank.org/
15. Indian Journal of Geosciences, Volume 66, No. 4 October - December, 2012; pp. 181-192,
Article by A.B Roy
16. http://www.mospi.gov.in

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ADRC Counterpart
Disaster Management Division
Ministry of Home Affairs
Government of India
NDCC-II New Delhi
Website: www.ndmindia.nic.in(Country Report prepared by Sh. Pravin Bhagwantrao Dhat, Assistant Commandant, National
Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, Visiting
Researcher, 2022, ADRC, Kobe, Japan.)61 | Page