Lok Sabha Question No. 5293 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-04-05
Subject: Posibility of Earthquake
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: S. Muniswamy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LOK SABHA

## MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 5293 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 5 TH  APRIL, 2023

## POSIBILITY OF EARTHQUAKE

## 5293.        SHRI S. MUNISWAMY:

Will the Minister of Earth Sciences be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the steps/ precautions taken by the disaster management department for possible earthquakes;
- (b) whether the Government enacted the National Disaster Management Act to spearhead and implement a holistic and integrated approach for disaster management;
- (c) if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether  the  Government  is  working  inline  with  the  Act,  the  State  Government  and organizations like the Rashtriya Life Saving Society (India) to come to the rescue of people during disasters, if so, the details in this regard;
- (e) whether  there  are  any  scholarships  to  students  seeking  research  and  development  in seismology, if so, the details thereof;
- (f) if  not,  whether  the  Government  is  likely  to  take  a  fresh  look  in  view  of  frequent earthquakes in the country; and
- (g) if so, the details in this regard?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

- (a) The details of steps/precautions taken by NDMA  in  this regard is enclosed at Annexure.
- (b) & (c)   Government enacted the Disaster Management (DM) Act, 2005 for holistic, integrated and effective approach for Disaster Management. As per the provisions under the DM Act, 2005, the actions taken with regard to holistic and integrated approach to Disaster Management are enclosed at Annexure A.
- (d) Yes  Sir,  as  per  DM  Act  2005,  State  Government  have  prepared  their  Disaster Management plan to effectively prepare, mitigate and respond to any disaster situation. Organization like State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), AapdaMitra and other first responders immediately start the Search and rescue operation during any Disaster.

NDMA implemented  the  Pilot  Scheme  of  Aapda  Mitra  covering  30  districts  of  25 States and trained 5513 volunteers in disaster response (flood) with the basic skills so that  they  can  respond  to  their  community's  immediate  needs  in  the  aftermath  of  a disaster such as floods, flash-floods, urban flooding and to undertake basic relief and rescue  tasks.  Based  on  the  success  of  Pilot  Scheme  as  well  as  request  from  the States/UTs to up-scale the Scheme in more districts and train more volunteers, NDMA is implementing Up-scaling of Aapda Mitra Scheme covering 350 districts (across all States/UTs) highly prone to flood, landslide, cyclone and earthquake to train 1,00,000 community volunteers in disaster response by March, 2024. So far, 71873 volunteers have been trained.

- (e) Apart  from  various  National  level  examinations  for  research  fellowships,  Scientific ministries  including  Ministry  of  Earth  Sciences  do  offer  research  fellowships  in  the contemporary areas of Science including Seismology and allied fields through research projects to encourage students seeking career in the field of Seismological research.
- (f) NDMA is concerned about the frequent earthquakes in the country and therefore, from time to time conducts several awareness and sensitization programmes as well as mock exercises.
- (g) An earthquake risk mitigation programme is being currently prepared.

The Institutional Mechanism  was  established by Government of India through Disaster Management Act, 2005 to mitigate disasters in the country.

1. NDMA has been actively facilitating  the  conduct  of State and  Multi  State  Level    Mock Exercises on various hazards like Earthquakes, Floods, Landslides, Cyclones and Chemical (Industrial)  disasters  in  close  co-ordination  with States  and  UTs.  These  Mock  Exercises consists  of  an  Orientation  & Coordination  Conference,  Table  Top  Exercise  and  Physical Mock  Exercises during which first responders, various stakeholders and resources including Early Warning Agencies, CAPFs, NDRF and Armed Forces are    mobilized   across   the State / UTs.

Integrated Mock  Exercises  provide  an  optimal,  cost-effective means  for  generating awareness about   the   Incident   Response System-Incident  Response Team construct, and for  building  capacity  of  States  /  Union Territories  (UTs)  to  respond  effectively  to  any disaster situation.

2. The  details  of  physical  mock  exercise  as  well  as  online  IRS  Training  and Table  Top Exercises  (TTEx)  conducted  on  earthquake  scenario  during  2020,  2021,  2022  and  2023 (upto 31 Mar 2023) is given in Annexure-B.
3. As  per  the  Revised  SOP  for  issuing  Alerts  and  electronic  messaging  in  the events  of Disaster  situation  issued  by  DM  Division,  MHA  order  No.  40-3/2015- DM-I  (A)  dated 15.12.2017  and  updated  SOP  for  responding  of  Natural Disasters  order  No.  32-35/2003 NDM-II dated 22.03.2021 response lies with   MHA. As per this SOP MHA has been made responsible  to  issues  alerts  and electronic  messages  to  all  Stake  Holders  in  the  event  of Disaster Situations  and NDMA is also in the list of recipient.
4. NDMA  has  developed  following  guidelines to  reduce  earthquake  and  Tsunami  risk, and  minimize the impact, loss of lives, and damage to property caused by Earthquakes.
- i. Management of Earthquake (2007)
- ii. Management of Tsunamis (2010)
- iii. Home Owner's Guide for Earthquake & Cyclone safety (2019)
- iv. A  Primer  on  Rapid  Visual  Screening  (RVS)  Consolidating  Earthquake  Safety Assessment Efforts in India (2020)
- v. Simplified Guidelines for Earthquake Safety (2021)
- vi. Above mentioned guidelines can be accessed through https://ndma.gov.in/Governance/Guidelines
5. To reduce the losses, following are earthquake mitigation projects  that  NDMA has completed or is currently working on:
- i. R&D projects  such  as  'Probabilistic  Seismic  Hazard  Assessment  Map',  Seismic Design of Pipelines-Code of Practice, Guidelines on Performance-Based Design, and 'Detailing of New Structures - Steel Buildings'.
- ii. Earthquake Disaster Risk Index (2019), available on NDMA's website: https://ndma.gov.in/Resources/Reports-Studies
- iii. Resource Mapping of Earthquake engineering faculties in Engineering / Architect Colleges
- iv. Compendium  of  Traditional  Earthquake  Resilient  Construction  Practices  for Knowledge  Sharing  and  Disaster  Risk  Reduction:  Promotion  of  Traditional Construction Practices (ongoing)
- v. Development  of  Teaching  Resource  Materials  on  Earthquake  Engineering  for Undergraduate Courses in Engineering/ Architects Colleges for Technical Education (ongoing)
- vi. Bihar,  Uttar  Pradesh,  and  Uttarakhand  earthquake  Scenario Development  for Awareness Campaign (ongoing)
- vii. Pilot Project to improve earthquake Resiliency of Masonry Lifeline Structures and upcoming constructions (Ongoing)
- viii. Comprehensive National Earthquake Risk Mitigation Programme (CNERMP)- In Pipeline
6.  NDMA  runs  awareness  generation  campaigns  on  various  disasters  including  Earthquake, throughout  the  year,  from  time  to  time,  through  TV,  Radio  and  Social  Media  to  inform, educate  and  to  make  the  public  aware  about  preparedness  before  disaster,  precautions  and safeguards during a disaster and post disaster scenarios.  These awareness generation campaigns  include  do's  &  don'ts  in  the  form  of  short  films,  messages,  etc.  In  addition, NDMA also arranges Panel Discussion/ Talks with experts on DD News on various disasters including Earthquake and issues a Newsletter to all stakeholders digitally.

- (i) National Policy on Disaster Management 2009 was released on 18 th January 2010. It portrays a paradigm shift from erstwhile 'Response-Centric' approach to the holistic management of disasters with emphasis on Prevention, Preparedness and Mitigation.
- (ii) The first National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) was prepared in May, 2016. The same was revised after extensive consultations in November, 2019. The revised plan  includes  new  hazards  (Thunderstorm,  Lightning,  Squall,  Dust  Storm,  and Strong  Wind,  Cloudburst  and  Hailstorms,  Glacial  Lake  Outburst  Flood  (GLOF), Heat wave, Biological and Public Health  Emergencies  (BPHE) /  Forest Fire)  etc. New chapters on Coherence and Mutual Reinforcement for DRR of the Post-2015 Global  Frameworks  /  Social  Inclusion  /  Mainstreaming  DRR  have  been  included and  it  also  includes  Climate  Change  Risk  Management  as  new  thematic  area  for climate risk informed DRR.  The NDMP -2019 has delineated time bound actions for all concerned Ministries/Departments/Agencies and other stakeholders in order to match it with timelines of Sendai Framework for DRR. The Plan has been shared with  Central  Ministries  /  Departments,  all  States  /  UTs  and  other  stakeholders  so that  they  develop  their  plans  and  strategies  accordingly  to  match  the  timelines  of NDMP 2019 to achieve the Sendai targets as also for mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction.
- (iii)       Disaster Management Plan (DMP) of Ministries/ Departments of Govt of India are reviewed  and  comments  are  sent  on  them.  DMP  of  Ministries/  Departments  are considered for approval if it satisfies the necessary requirements.
- (iv) NDMA has issued 33 guidelines on various thematic and cross-cutting subjects of disasters,  including  Guidelines  on  preparation  of State Disaster  Management  Plan (SDMP).  The  guidelines  contain  roles  and  responsibilities  of  all  stakeholders including actions to be taken by them to manage disaster risks due to these disasters. List of Guidelines is attached.
- (v) NDMA  prepared Model Framework for Preparation of District Disaster Management  Plan  (DDMP)  in  June,  2014  to  facilitate  preparation  of  DDMP  at District level in the State.
- (vi)        NDMA prepared  a  template  for  preparation  of  Disaster  Management  Plan  by  the Central Ministries / Departments and it regularly holds discussions', meetings with the Ministries / Departments to discuss their disaster management preparedness.

## Details of guidelines issued by NDMA

|   S. No. | National Disaster Management Guidelines on                                                                                     | Month and year of preparation/ release   |
|----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Management of Earthquakes                                                                                                      | April 2007                               |
|        2 | Management of Chemical Disasters (Industrial)                                                                                  | April 2007                               |
|        3 | Preparation of State Disaster Management Plans                                                                                 | July 2007                                |
|        4 | Medical Preparedness and Mass Casualty Management                                                                              | October 2007                             |
|        5 | Management of Floods                                                                                                           | January 2008                             |
|        6 | Management of Cyclones                                                                                                         | April 2008                               |
|        7 | Management of Biological Disasters                                                                                             | July 2008                                |
|        8 | Management of Nuclear and Radiological Emergencies                                                                             | February 2009                            |
|        9 | Management of Landslides and Snow Avalanches                                                                                   | June 2009                                |
|       10 | Management of Chemical (Terrorism) Disasters                                                                                   | June 2009                                |
|       11 | Psycho-social support and mental health services in disasters                                                                  | December 2009                            |
|       12 | Incident Response System                                                                                                       | July 2010                                |
|       13 | Management of Tsunamis                                                                                                         | August 2010                              |
|       14 | Management of the Dead in the aftermath of Disasters                                                                           | August 2010                              |
|       15 | Management of Urban Flooding                                                                                                   | September 2010                           |
|       16 | Management of Drought                                                                                                          | September 2010                           |
|       17 | National Disaster Management Information and Communication System                                                              | February 2012                            |
|       18 | Scaling, Type of Equipment and Training of Fire Services                                                                       | April 2012                               |
|       19 | Seismic Retrofitting of Deficient Buildings and Structures                                                                     | June 2014                                |
|       20 | School Safety Policy                                                                                                           | Feb 2016                                 |
|       21 | Hospital Safety                                                                                                                | Feb 2016                                 |
|       22 | Minimum Standards of Relief                                                                                                    | Feb 2016                                 |
|       23 | Museums                                                                                                                        | May 2017                                 |
|       24 | Cultural Heritage Sites and Precincts                                                                                          | September 2017                           |
|       25 | Boat Safety                                                                                                                    | September 2017                           |
|       26 | Preparation of Action Plan - Prevention and Management of Thunderstorm & Lightening / Squall/ Dust/ Hailstorm and Strong Winds | March 2019                               |
|       27 | Temporary Shelters for Disaster - Affected Families                                                                            | September 2019                           |
|       28 | Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction                                                                                   | September 2019                           |
|       29 | Landslide Risk Management Strategy                                                                                             | September 2019                           |
|       30 | Preparation of Action Plan - Prevention and Management of Heat Wave (Revised Guidelines).                                      | October 2019                             |
|       31 | Management of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods                                                                                     | October 2020                             |
|       32 | National Guidelines for Preparation of Action Plan - Prevention and Management of cold Wave and Frost                          | June 2021                                |
|       33 | Simplified Guideline for Earthquake Safety of Building from National Building Code of India 2016                               | September, 2021                          |

## Annexure-B

The  details  of  physical  mock  exercise  as  well  as  online  IRS  Training  and  Table  Top Exercises  (TTEx)  conducted on  earthquake  scenario  during  the  last  three  years  i.e. 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023 (upto 31 Mar 2023) are as given below:

Year : 2020

|   S. No. | Date                     | Name of Disaster                  | State/Districts                  |
|----------|--------------------------|-----------------------------------|----------------------------------|
|        1 | 12 Feb 20                | State Level ME on Earthquake      | Arunachal Pradesh                |
|        2 | 09 July 20               | Earthquake (Preparatory Exercise) | Haryana (15 Distts Participated) |
|        3 | 20 July 20               | Earthquake                        | J&K                              |
|        4 | 11 Aug 20                | Earthquake                        | Mizoram                          |
|        5 | 28 Aug 20                | Earthquake                        | Delhi                            |
|        6 | 09 Sep 20                | Earthquake                        | Tripura                          |
|        7 | 10Sep 20                 | Earthquake                        | Meghalaya (All Distts& State HQ) |
|        8 | 22 Sep 20                | Earthquake                        | Nagaland                         |
|        9 | 25 Sep 20                | Earthquake                        | Manipur                          |
|       10 | 25 Nov 20                | Earthquake                        | Sikkim                           |
|       11 | 04 Dec 20                | Earthquake                        | Assam                            |
|       12 | 10 Dec 20                | Earthquake                        | Chandigarh                       |
|       13 | 12 Dec 20                | Earthquake                        | Ladakh                           |
|       14 | 15 Jan 21                | Earthquake                        | Uttarakhand                      |
|       15 | 28 Jan 21                | Earthquake                        | Gujarat                          |
|       16 | 11 Feb 21                | Earthquake                        | Arunachal Pradesh                |
|       17 | 10 Mar 21                | Earthquake                        | J&K                              |
|       18 | 03 Nov 2021              | Earthquake                        | Mizoram (11 Districts)           |
|       19 | 03 Dec 2021              | Earthquake                        | Tripura (All 08 Districts)       |
|       20 | 10 Dec 2021              | Earthquake                        | Andaman Nicobar (02 Districts)   |
|       21 | 04 Jan 2022              | Earthquake                        | Jammu& Kashmir (20 Districts)    |
|       22 | 10 Feb 2022              | Earthquake                        | Arunachal Pradesh (25 Districts) |
|       23 | 23 Feb 2022              | Earthquake                        | Meghalaya (12 Districts)         |
|       24 | 25 Feb 2022              | Earthquake                        | Nagaland (12 Districts)          |
|       25 | 10 March 2022 (physical) | Earthquake                        | Sikkim (All Districts)           |
|       26 | 16 March 2022            | Earthquake                        | Ladakh (02 Districts)            |
|       27 | 25 March 2022            | Earthquake                        | Haryana (22 Districts)           |

|   28 | 21 Apr 2022 (Physical)   | Earthquake   | Manipur (All Districts)                                         |
|------|--------------------------|--------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
|   29 | 08 Sep 2022 (Physical)   | Earthquake   | Ladakh (02 Districts)                                           |
|   30 | 20 Oct 2022 (Physical)   | Earthquake   | Tripura (08 Districts)                                          |
|   31 | 17 Nov 2022 (Physical)   | Earthquake   | Multi State Mock Exercise (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam & Nagaland) |
|   32 | 24.01.2023 (Online)      | Earthquake   | Sikkim (06 Districts)                                           |
|   33 | 02 Feb 23 (Physical)     | Earthquake   | Mizoram (09 Districts)                                          |
|   34 | 22-24 Mar 23 (Physical)  | Earthquake   | Multi State Mock Exercise (Delhi NCR, Uttar Pradesh & Haryana)  |

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