Lok Sabha Question No. 2678 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-16
Subject: Strengthening Disaster Management
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Smt. Bharti Pardhi, Dr. Shrikant Eknath Shinde, Shri Ravindra Dattaram Waikar, Shri Vishaldada Prakashbapu Patil, Shri Shrirang Appa Chandu Barne, Shri Naresh Ganpat Mhaske

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2678

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 16 TH  DECEMBER, 2025/ AGRAHAYANA 25, 1947 (SAKA)

## STRENGTHENING DISASTER MANAGEMENT

2678.

SHRI VISHALDADA PRAKASHBAPU PATIL:

SHRI NARESH GANPAT MHASKE:

SMT. BHARTI PARDHI:

SHRI RAVINDRA DATTARAM WAIKAR:

SHRI SHRIRANG APPA CHANDU BARNE:

DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the Government  has  strengthened  the National Disaster Response  Force  (NDRF)  and  SDRFs  with  advanced  rescue  equipment, communication tools and specialised disaster response training, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether early warning systems, emergency communication networks and community alert systems have been modernised to handle floods, earthquakes and urban disasters, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether State and district administrations are being trained in disaster preparedness, mock drills and hazard mapping, if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government has integrated drone surveillance, real-time flood monitoring and GIS-based disaster modelling into NDMA operations, if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether the se initiatives have improved India's resilience and response capacity during natural and man-made disasters, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI NITYANAND RAI)

(a): National Disaster Response  Force  (NDRF)  is  procuring/using the equipments  in  disaster  situation as per authorization and  holding of equipment as well as operational requirement of Force. Further, based on the operational  scenario  and  in  light  of  recent  operations  conducted  at  the national  and  international  level,  the  equipments  are  being  upgraded  in accordance with the operational debriefs and the suggestions provided by the  rescuers  involved  in  the  operations.  NDRF  has  also  established  an Research and Development (R&D) Cell for the assessment of equipment and for  updating  it  from  time  to  time  as  per  operational  requirements.  New equipment authorization is also received periodically based on operational needs.

Procurement of equipments in the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) falls in the domain of the concerned State/UTs.

National  Institute  of  Disaster  Management  (NIDM)  has  been  conducting training  programs  on  regular  basis  on  allied  subjects  such  as  Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear &  Explosives (CBRNE)  Disaster Risk Reduction  and  Response  (DRR&R)  and  Psychosocial  Care  in  Disaster Management for NDRF and SDRF. Five such specialized and thematic courses have been conducted for the officials  from NDRF and SDRF. Additionally  the

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 2678 FOR 16.12.2025

officials  from  NDRF  and  SDRF  are  also  nominated  to  attend  the  training programs and comprehensive courses conducted by NIDM. NIDM has trained approximately 200 officials from NDRF  and  SDRF  since 2022-23 till 11.12.2025.

(b): National  Disaster  Management  Authority  (NDMA)  has  implemented 'Common Alerting  Protocol  (CAP)'  based  Integrated  Alert  System  on  Pan India basis for dissemination of alerts pertaining to various disasters. The Alerts are being disseminated in geo-targeted manner and also, in regional vernacular.  The  project  integrates  five  Forecast  and  Warning  Agencies namely India Meteorological Department (IMD), Central Water Commission (CWC),  Indian  National  Centre  for  Ocean  Information  Services  (INCOIS), Defence Geoinformatics Research Establishment (DGRE) and Forest Survey of  India  (FSI)  with  State  Disaster  Management  Authorities  (SDMA's)  of  all States/UTs. The Alerts are currently being disseminated through SMS, Mobile App, Sachet Public Portal, GAGAN & NaVIC Satellite terminals and RSS feed. Further, As a non-structural measure of flood management, CWC issues shortrange  flood  forecasts  with  a  lead  time  up  to  24  hrs  to  concerned  State Governments  at  identified  locations.  CWC  also  issues  inflow  forecasts  to identified reservoirs for proper reservoir regulation. Presently, flood forecasts

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 2678 FOR 16.12.2025

are issued by CWC at 350 stations (150 Inflow Forecast Stations + 200 Level Forecast Stations) as per Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). The network has been established in consultation with State Govt/Project authorities. CWC is providing Seven-day advisory flood forecast on its web portal https://aff.india-water.gov.in/  through  pan  India  rainfall-based  mathematical modelling for major river basins of the country.

(c): State and District administrations are regularly being trained in Disaster preparedness through Mock exercises by NDRF. NDRF has conducted total 6505 Mock exercises from 2011 to 2025. Further, in addition to it various initiatives undertaken in this regard by NDMA for disaster preparedness and response mechanism during natural disaster are enumerated below:-

(i).    NDMA has been actively facilitating the conduct of State and Multi State Level Mock Exercises on various hazards as per their vulnerability profile like Floods, Landslides, Earthquakes, Cyclones and Chemical (Industrial) disasters etc. in close co-ordination with States and Union Territories.

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 2678 FOR 16.12.2025

(ii).    NDMA is also conducting Multi State level Mock Exercises based on Geo-Climatic conditions for ensuring greater coordination amongst neighbouring States during disasters.

(iii).   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/UTs to respond effectively to any disaster situation.

(iv).    NDMA shares feedback with concerned State / UT  after successful conduct of each Mock Exercise, highlighting best practices and  gaps  identified  to  improve  their  preparedness  and  build  their capacities  in  order  to  achieve  the  goal  of  making  India  a  disaster resilient country. Apart from it NDMA takes following steps to improve preparedness and response:

- Pre-Monsoon/Pre-Season Meetings
- Alert Dissemination.
- Regular Weather & Hazard Warnings.
- Inter-Agency Coordination.

Further, NIDM has been conducting training programmes in collaboration with stakeholders from states from Administrative Training Institute (ATIs), State Institute of Rural Developments (SIRDs), District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs) and State Disaster Management  Authorities  (SDMAs).  NIDM  follows  a  well-defined  and systematic procedure for inviting nominations in its training programmes, ensuring inclusiveness and balanced participation from states. As part of this process, NIDM formally calls for nominations of senior and middle level officials from these states-level agencies. This broad  outreach  enables  the  institute  to  engage  a  wide  spectrum  of professionals from states in the field of disaster management. Since the year 2022-2023 till 11.12.2025, NIDM has conducted 392 Face-toFace  training  programs  with  33  states  and  UTs  in  which  21376 participants  were  trained  and  242994  participants  through  1075 webinars.

(d): Central  Water  Commission  (CWC)  maintains  1543  flood  monitoring stations and has installed sensor based data acquisition & satellite based transmission system (Telemetry stations) at 1121 locations across major river  basins,  including  Ganga,  Brahmaputra, and Godavari  etc, for  hourly

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 2678 FOR 16.12.2025

monitoring of river water levels during flood monitoring period to support flood forecasting and disaster mitigation. These stations utilize advanced technologies, such as INSAT satellite-based communication and GSM/GPRS systems, to ensure near-real-time data transmission under diverse weather conditions,  enabling  timely  and  informed  decision-making.  To  enhance system  reliability,  CWC  is  taking  help  of  Centre  for  Development  of Telematics (C-DoT) to conduct a detailed study of the telemetry system and provide recommendations for a more resilient and efficient framework. Over the next five years, CWC  plans  to upgrade  its  network  based  on recommendations of C-DOT. During flood season 2025 (till 30 th  November 2025),  a  total  of  11687  forecasts  (6541  level  forecasts  and    5146  inflow forecasts) were issued throughout the country out of which 11203 forecasts were within limit with an accuracy of 95.86%.

(e) The proactive measures taken by the community, public representatives, functionaries  of  the  line  departments,  administration  and  the  disaster management authorities in a coordinated manner as a team achieved 'Zero Casualty Goal' during the cyclone Biparjoy.

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