Lok Sabha Question No. 1397 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-09
Subject: Response to Natural Disasters
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. 1397

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 9 TH  DECEMBER, 2025/ AGRAHAYANA 18, 1947 (SAKA)

## RESPONSE TO NATURAL DISASTERS

1397.  SHRI NARESH GANPAT MHASKE:

SMT. BHARTI PARDHI:

DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

SHRI VISHALDADA PRAKASHBAPU PATIL:

SHRI RAVINDRA DATTARAM WAIKAR:

SHRI SHRIRANG APPA CHANDU BARNE:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has assessed the preparedness of urban local bodies, police, and emergency services in responding to natural disasters such as floods, cyclones, and heatwaves in cities across the country;
- (b)  the  steps taken in the last three years to strengthen early warning systems,  emergency  response  infrastructure,  and  evacuation  plans  for urban populations;
- (c)  whether  the  Government  has  implemented  or  plans  to  implement technology-driven solutions, such as integrated command centres, realtime monitoring, and mobile alert systems, to improve disaster response in cities;
- (d)  the  measures  undertaken  to  train  personnel  and  sensitize  citizens regarding disaster preparedness and safety protocols in urban areas;
- (e) whether any gaps or challenges have been identified in coordination between  central  agencies,  State  Governments  and  urban  local  bodies during disaster response; and
- (f) the longterm strategies planned to ensure that India's urban centres are resilient, safe and equipped to handle emergencies efficiently, if so, the corrective steps proposed?

## ANSWER

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

(a  to  f)  There  are  well-established  institutional  mechanisms  at  the National, State and District levels in the country to develop appropriate preparedness and prompt response mechanisms for effective management  of  natural  disasters.  Disaster  Management  Act  2005 articulates the mainstreaming of Disaster Management in development plans. As per the National Policy on Disaster Management (NPDM), the primary  responsibility  for  disaster  management  including  disbursal  of relief  assistance  on  ground  level,  rests  with  the  State  Government concerned.

The State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) is responsible for the preparation of Disaster Management Plan of its State, after consultation with  local  authorities,  district  authorities  and  having  regard  to  the National Plan (NDMP) and guideline laid down by the National Authority. The District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) is responsible for the preparation of its District Plan, after consultation with local authorities, and having regard to the National Plan (NDMP) and the State Plan, which is to be approved by the State Authority.

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 1397 FOR 09.12.2025

Hon'ble Prime Minister launched country's first National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) in June 2016. The plan was revised in the year 2019  in  consultation  with  all  stakeholders.  The  revised  NDMP  brings together all sectors, ministries and departments at the Central and State level  as  well  as  district  level  functionaries  and  define  their  respective roles and responsibilities in disaster risk reduction.

Government of India has launched a scheme namely, Common Alerting Protocol  (CAP)  based  Integrated  Alert  System  (SACHET)  to  facilitate dissemination of warnings/alerts about impending hazards to geographically  referenced  population,  in  vernacular  languages  over various  communication media like SMS,  TV/Radio broadcast, Railways, Mobile application, social media, satellite terminals, etc.

CAP Platform integrates all alert generating agencies viz. India Meteorological  Department  (IMD),  Central  Water  Commission  (CWC), Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Defence Geo-informatics  Research  Establishment  (DGRE),  Geological  Survey  of India  (GSI)  and  Forest  Survey  of  India  (FSI)  with  all  State  Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs).

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 1397 FOR 09.12.2025

This system has been successfully used in recent disasters with more than 11,000 crore SMS alerts disseminated so far. This scheme is State of the Art and a 'Make in India' initiative.

For  preparedness  and  capacity  building  the  Central  Government  has implemented several programmes/schemes such as Emergency Response Support  System,  Common  Alerting  Protocol,  Up-scaling  AapdaMitra Scheme,  YuvaApadaMitra  Scheme  etc.  across  all  States  and  Union Territories.  Yuva  Aapda  Mitra  Scheme  (YAMS)  involves  training  of volunteers  from  National  Cadet  Core  (NCC),  National  Service  Scheme (NSS), Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) and Bharat Scouts & Guides (BS&G) in disaster response.

Various key disaster  risk  mitigation  programmes,  through  the  National Disaster  Mitigation  Fund  (NDMF)  for  mitigating  different  hazards  like landslide,  GLOF,  Coastal  and  River  Erosion,  Forest  fire,  Lightening, Earthquake etc., are also in different stages of implementation.

Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  has  set  up  the  Integrated  Control  Room  for Emergency  Response  (ICR-ER)  as  disaster  management  control  room, which is a state-of-the-art infrastructure, disaster-resilient facility. The objective  of  ICR-ER is to  enable  near  real-time  information  reception,

strategic-level monitoring, situational awareness, and effective decisionmaking  related  to  preparedness  and  response  activities.  ICR-ER  is monitoring and coordinating response with States/Central agencies and functions  24*7.  ICRER  was  inaugurated  by  the  Hon'ble  Union  Home Minister on 16th June 2025. All states emergency operations center and disaster response agencies are connected with ICR-ER.

Ministry of Home Affairs in coordination with National Disaster Management  Authority  (NDMA)  has  undertaken  several  measures  to strengthen  disaster  preparedness  and  response  mechanisms  with  a strong emphasis on awareness generation, community outreach and risk reduction.

NDMA has issued 38 guidelines  on  various  thematic  and  cross-cutting issues to standardise preparedness and response practices across the country.  NDMA  also  the  conducts  State  and  Multi-State  Level  Mock Exercises on various hazards as per the vulnerability profile in close coordination with States and UTs. Regular social-media campaigns are also run  to  inform,  educate  and  sensitise  the  public  about  preparedness measures before disasters, necessary precautions during disasters and appropriate actions in the post-disaster phase.

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 1397 FOR 09.12.2025

National  Disaster  Response  Force  (NDRF)  has  conducted  3110  School Safety  Programmes  during  this  year  to  create  awareness  among  the school children about disaster precautions to be taken, do's and don'ts during disaster.

Ministry of Home Affairs coordinates with NDMA, NDRF, Armed Forces, line  ministries  and  States  to  mobilize  teams,  equipment  and  other resources for quick rescue and relief operations in order to facilitate to Inter Agency coordination.

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