CHAPTER 7

DISASTER MANAGEMENT:
THE DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE

7.1
Five Year Plan documents have, histori- Powered Committee on Disaster Management. An
cally, not included consideration of issues relating to
approach on planning for safe development needs
the management and mitigation of natural disasters.
to be set out in the light of these suggestions.
The traditional perception has been limited to the
idea of calamity relief, which is seen essentially as
7.4 This chapter reflects the considerations
a non-plan item of expenditure. However, the impact
outlined above. It briefly outlines the global
of major disasters cannot be mitigated by the
context and the Indian experience of disasters,
provision of immediate relief alone, which is the
sets out the institutional and financial
primary focus of calamity relief efforts. Disasters can
arrangements for disaster management and the
response towards these in the country, looks at
have devastating effects on the economy; they
directions for improvement, and concludes with
cause huge human and economic losses, and can
a strategy to facilitate planning for safe national
significantly set back development efforts of a region
development in the Tenth Plan period.
or a State. Two recent disasters, the Orissa Cyclone
and the Gujarat Earthquake, are cases in point.
With the kind of economic losses and
THE GLOBAL CONTEXT
developmental setbacks that the country has been
7.5 There has been an increase in the number of
suffering year after year, the development process
natural disasters over the past years, and with it,
needs to be sensitive towards disaster prevention
increasing losses on account of urbanisation and
and mitigation aspects. There is thus need to look at
population growth, as a result of which the impact of
disasters from a development perspective as well.
natural disasters is now felt to a larger extent.
According to the United Nations, in 2001 alone,
7.2 Further, although disaster management is not
natural disasters of medium to high range caused at
least 25,000 deaths around the world, more than
generally associated with plan financing, there are
double the previous year, and economic losses of
in fact a number of plan schemes in operation, such
around US $ 36 billion. These figures would be
as for drought proofing, afforestation, drinking water,
much higher, if the consequences of the many
etc., which deal with the prevention and mitigation of
smaller and unrecorded disasters that cause
the impact of natural disasters. Exter-nal assistance
significant losses at the local community level were
for post-disaster reconstruction and streamlining of
to be taken into account. Devastations in the
management structures also is a part of the Plan. A
aftermath of powerful earthquakes that struck
specific, centrally sponsored scheme on disaster
Gujarat, El Salvador and Peru; floods that ravaged
management also exists. The Plan thus already has
many countries in Africa, Asia and elsewhere;
a defined role in dealing with the subject.
droughts that plagued Central Asia including
Afghanistan, Africa and Central America; the
cyclone in Madagascar and Orissa; and floods in
7.3 Recently, expert bodies have dwelt on the role
Bolivia are global events in recent memory.
of the Planning Commission and the use of plan
However, what is disturbing is the knowledge that
funds in the context of disaster management.
these trends of destruction and devastation are on
Suggestions have been made in this regard by the
the rise instead of being kept in check.
Eleventh Finance Commission, and also the High
189

TENTH FIVE YEAR PLAN : 2002-07

7.6 Natural disasters are not bound by political

boundaries and have no social or economic considerations. They are borderless as they affect both
developing and developed countries. They are also
merciless, and as such the vulnerable tend to suffer
more at the impact of natural disasters. For
example, the developing countries are much more
seriously affected in terms of the loss of lives,
hardship borne by population and the percentage of
their GNP lost. Since 1991, two-third of the victims
of natural disasters were from developing countries,
while just 2 per cent were from highly developed
nations. Those living in developing countries and
especially those with limited resources tend to be
more adversely affected. With the alarming rise in
the natural disasters and vulnera-bility per se, the
world community is strengthening its efforts to cope
with it.

hazard zone and standards of safety maintained to

counter the effects. For instance, some people are
vulnerable to flood only because they live in a flood
prone area. Physical vulnerability also relates to the
technical capacity of buildings and structures to
resist the forces acting upon them during a hazard
event.
7.9 The extent to which a population is affec-ted by
a calamity does not purely lie in the physical
components of vulnerability, but is contextual also to
the prevailing social and economic conditions and
its consequential effect on human activities within a
given society. Research in areas affected by
earthquakes indicates that single parent families,
women, handicapped people, children and the aged
are particularly vulnerable social groups. The geophysical setting with unplanned and inadequate
developmental activity is a cause for increased
losses during disasters. In the case of India, the
contribution of over-population to high population
density, which in turn results in escalating losses,
deserves to be noted. This factor sometimes tends
to be as important as physical vulnerability
attributed to geography and infrastructure alone.

7.7 As a number of the most vulnerable regions

are in India, natural disaster management has
emerged as a high priority for the country.
Going beyond the historical focus on relief and
rehabilitation after the event, we now have to
look ahead and plan for disaster preparedness
and mitigation, in order that the periodic shocks
to our development efforts are minimized.

7.10 The continent of Asia is particularly vulner-able

to disaster strikes. Between the years 1991 to 2000
Asia has accounted for 83 per cent of the population
affected by disasters globally. While the number of
people affected in the rest of the world were

THE INDIAN EXPERIENCE

Regional Vulnerabilities

1,11,159, in Asia the number was 5,54,439. 1 Within

Asia, 24 per cent of deaths due to disasters occur in
India, on account of its size, population and
vulnerability. Floods and high winds account for 60
per cent of all disasters in India. While substantial
progress has been made in other sectors of human
development, there is need to do more towards
mitigating the effect of disasters.

7.8 Physical vulnerability relates to the physical

location of people, their proximity to the
Box 7.1
INDIAS KEY VULNERABILITIES
Coastal States, particularly in the East Coast and
Gujarat are vulnerable to cyclones.
4 crore hectare land mass is vulnerable to floods.

7.11 Many parts of the Indian sub-continent are

susceptible to different types of disasters owing to
the unique topographic and climatic characteristics.
About 54 per cent of the sub-continents landmass is
vulnerable to earthquakes while about 4 crore
hectares is vulnerable to periodic floods. The

68 per cent of net sown area is vulnerable to

drought.
55 per cent of total area is in Seismic Zones III V, and vulnerable to earthquakes.
Sub-Himalayan/Western Ghat is vulnerable to
landslides.

1. World Disasters Report, IFRC, 2001

190

DISASTER MANAGEMENT : THE DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE

decade 1990-2000, has been one of very high

disaster losses within the country, losses in the
Orissa Cyclone in 1999, and later, the Gujarat
Earthquake in 2001 alone amount to several thousand crore of Rupees, while the total expenditure on
relief and reconstruction in Gujarat alone has been

Box 7.2
Global Losses Through Natural Disasters
According to Reinsurance Company Munich
Re costs associated with natural disasters has
gone up 14 fold since the 1950s. Each year from
1991 to 2000, an average of 211 million people
were killed or affected by natural disasters seven times greater than the figure for those
killed or affected by conflict. Towards the end of
the 1990s, the world counted some 25 million
environmental refugees- for the first time more
people had fled natural hazards than conflict.

to the tune of Rs 11,500 crore.2

7.12 Similarly, the country has suffered four major
earthquakes in the span of last fifty years along with
a series of moderate intensity earthquakes that
have occurred at regular intervals. Since 1988, six
earthquakes have struck different parts of the
country. These caused considerable human and
property losses.

Source: World Disasters Report, 2001

7.14 Disasters may also reduce availability of new

investment, further constricting the growth of the
region. Besides, additional pressures may be
imposed on finances of the government through
investments in relief and rehabilitation work.

Table 7.1
Major Earthquakes in India, 1988-2001
Date

Location

Magnitude

August 21,1988

Bihar-Nepal Border

6.4

October 20,1991

Uttarkashi, Uttar Pradesh

6.6

September 30, 1993

Latur- Osmanabad,
Maharashtra

6.3

May 22, 1997

Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh

6.0

March 29, 1999

Chamoli, Uttar Pradesh

6.9

January 26,2001

Bhuj, Gujarat

7.7

7.15 In the recent earthquake in Gujarat, more

than 14,000 lives were lost, ten lakh houses
were damaged and the asset loss has been
indicated to be worth 15,000 crore. Tables 7.2
to 7.5 give an indication of the magnitude of the
damage and losses incurred by the country in
recent natural disasters.

Source : Indian Meteorological Department and US Geological Survey

7.16 The dimensions of the damage, as evident in

the tables and the diagram 7.1 emphasise the point
that natural disasters cause major setbacks to
development and it is the poorest and the weakest
that are the most vulnerable to disasters. Given the
high frequency with which one or the other part of
the country suffers due to disasters, mitigating the
impact of disasters must be an integral component
of our development planning and be part of our
poverty reduction strategy.

Economic Losses Due to Disasters

7.13 Disasters lead to enormous economic losses
that are both immediate as well as long term in
nature and demand additional revenues. Also, as an
immediate fall-out, disasters reduce revenues from
the affected region due to lower levels of economic
activity leading to loss of direct and indirect taxes. In
addition, unplanned budgetary allocation to disaster
recovery can hamper development interventions
and lead to unmet developmental targets.

INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
7.17 The country with its federal system of
Government has specific roles for the Central and
State Governments. However, the subject of
disaster management does not specifically find

2. As on 11-12-2000, Gujarat Earthquake : A Case Study,

NCDM, 2002, New Delhi

191

TENTH FIVE YEAR PLAN : 2002-07

Table 7.2
Damage due to Natural Disasters in India
Year

People affected
(Lakh)

Houses & buildings, partially or

totally, damaged

Amount of property
damage/loss
(Rs Crore)

1985

595.6

2,449,878

40.06

1986

550.0

2,049,277

30.74

1987

483.4

2,919,380

20.57

1988

101.5

242,533

40.63

1989

30.1

782,340

20.41

1990

31.7

1,019,930

10.71

1991

342.7

1,190,109

10.90

1992

190.9

570,969

20.05

1993

262.4

1,529,916

50.80

1994

235.3

1,051,223

10.83

1995

543.5

2,088,355

40.73

1996

549.9

2,376,693

50.43

1997

443.8

1,103,549

n.a.

1998

521.7

1,563,405

0.72

1999

501.7

3,104,064

1020.97

2000

594.34

2,736,355

800.00

2001

788.19

846,878

12000

Source : Annual Reports, NDM Division, Ministry of Agriculture

Table 7.3
Annual Damage due to Heavy Rains, Landslide and Floods
S.

Year

No

Districts

Villages Population Crop Area

affected affected
(No)

affected
(Lakh)

affected
(Lakh Ha.)

Houses

Human

Damaged life loss

(no.)
(no.)

1999

202

33,158

328.12

8.45

884,823

2000

200

29,964

416.24

34.79

2,736,355

2001

122

32,363

210.71

18.72

346,878

1,375

Estimated

Estimated of

loss
value of
value of Public
(no.) loss to houses
properties
(Rs. in crore)
(Rs. in crore)

3,861

0.72

3,048 102,121

631.25

389.72

195.57

676.05

834

Source : Annual Reports, Natural Disaster Management Division, Ministry of Agriculture

192

Cattle

21,269

DISASTER MANAGEMENT : THE DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE

Table 7.4
Damage due to Cyclone in Orissa in October 2000
Date of
Total no
occurrence of districts

Districts
affected

Villages
affected
(No)

Population Crop Area Houses

affected
affected Damaged
(Lakh)
(Lakh Ha)
(no.)

Human
life loss
(no.)

Cattle
loss
(no.)

17-18.10.99

30

5,181

37.47

1.58

331,580

199

10,578

29-30.10.99

30

12

14,643

129.22

18.43

1,828,532

9,887

444,531

Source : Annual Reports, Natural Disaster Management Division, Ministry of Agriculture

Table 7.5
Losses due to Droughts: 1999-2001
S.No

Year

Districts
affected

Villages
affected
(No)

1999

125

369.88

134.22

6.44

345.60

2000

110

54,883

378.14

367.00

371.87

541.67

2001

103

22,255

88.19

67.44

NA

34.28

TOTAL

338

77,138

Population
affected
(Lakh)

836.21

Damage to
crops area
(Lakh Ha)

568.66

Source: Annual Reports, Natural Disaster Management Division, Ministry of Agriculture

Figure 7.1
Cumulative Annualised
Flood Damage (Rs. in crore)

Source: Central Water Commission.

193

Estimated
value of
damaged crops
(Rs crore)

378.31

Cattle
population
affected
(in lakh)

921.55

TENTH FIVE YEAR PLAN : 2002-07

mention in any of the three lists in the 7th Schedule

of the Indian Constitution, where subjects under the
Central and State Governments as also subjects
that come under both are specified. On the legal
front, there is no enactment either of the Central or
of any State Government to deal with the
management of disasters of various types in a
comprehensive manner.

Ministries are assigned the responsibility of providing emergency support in case of disasters that fall
in their purview as indicated in Table 7.6.
Table 7.6
Ministries Responsible for Various
Categories of Disasters
Disaster

7.18 The country has an integrated adminis-trative

machinery for management of disasters at the
National, State, District and Sub-District levels. The
basic responsibility of undertaking rescue, relief and
rehabilitation measures in the event of natural
disasters, as at present, is that of the State Governments concerned. The Central Government supplements the efforts of the States by providing financial
and logistic support.

Natural Disasters
Management
(other than Drought)

Ministry of Home Affairs

Drought Relief

Ministry of Agriculture

Air Accidents

Ministry of Civil Aviation

Railway Accidents

Ministry of Railways

Chemical Disasters

Ministry of Environment &

Forests
Ministry of Health

Biological Disasters

Central Level

Nuclear Disasters

7.19
The dimensions of response at the level of
the Central Government are determined in accordance
with the existing policy of financing relief expenditure
and keeping in view the factors like:

(i)

Nodal Ministry

Department of Atomic
Energy

The following decision-making and standing

bodies
are
responsible
for
disaster
management at the Central level:

the gravity of a natural disaster;

(ii) the scale of the relief operation

necessary; and
(iii) the requirements of Central assistance
for augmenting financial resources
and logistic support at the disposal of
the State Government.

Union Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister.

Empowered Group of Ministers, headed by

the Deputy Prime Minister
National Crisis Management Committee
(NCMC), under the chairmanship of the
Cabinet Secretary.

Crisis Management Group (CMG): under the

chairmanship
of
the
Central
Relief
Commissioner comprising senior officers from
the various Ministries and other concerned
Departments which reviews contingency plans,
measures required for dealing with a natural
disaster, and co-ordinates the activities of the
Central Ministries and the State Governments
in relation to disaster preparedness response
and relief.

Technical Organizations, such as the Indian

Meteorological Department (cyclone/earthquake), Central Water Commission (floods),

7.20
The Contingency Action Plan (CAP) identifies initiatives required to be taken by various
Central Ministries and Public Departments in the
wake of natural calamities. It sets down the
procedures and determines the focal points in the
administrative machinery to facilitate launching of
relief and rescue operations without delay.
7.21 The Ministry of Home Affairs is the nodal
Ministry for coordination of relief and response and
overall natural disaster management, and the
Department of Agriculture & Cooperation is the
nodal Ministry for drought management. Other
194

DISASTER MANAGEMENT : THE DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE

Building and Material Promotion Council (construction laws), Bureau of Indian Standards
(norms), Defence Research & Development
Organization (nuclear/biological), Directorate
General Civil Defence provide specific
technical support to coordination of disaster
response and management functions.

exercises coordinating and supervising powers over

all departments at the district level. Though it may
not be a common phenomenon, there exists by and
large in districts also a district level relief committee
consisting of officials and non- officials.
7.24 The 73rd and 74th constitutional amend-ments
recognise Panchayati Raj Institutions as Institutions
of self- government. The amendment has also laid
down necessary guidelines for the structure of their
composition, powers, functions, devolution of
finances, regular holding of elections and
reservation of seats for weaker sections including
women. These local bodies can be effective
instruments in tackling disasters through early
warning system, relief distribution, providing shelter
to the victims, medical assistance etc.

The setting up of a National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is being contemplated

by the Ministry of Home Affairs as the proposed
apex structure within the government for the
purpose. Amongst other major organisational
initiatives, it is proposed to:

(a) establish a specialised and earmarked

response team for dealing with
nuclear/ biological/chemical disasters;
(b) establish search and rescue teams in
each State;

7.25 Other than the national, state, district and local

levels, there are various institutional stake-holders
who are involved in disaster management at various
levels in the country. These include the police and
para-military forces, civil defence and home-guards,
fire services, ex-servicemen, non-government
organisations (NGOs), public and private sector
enterprises, media and HAM operators, all of whom
have important roles to play.

(c) strengthen communication systems in

the North Eastern Region.
State Government
7.22 The responsibility to cope with natural
disasters is essentially that of the State Government. The role of the Central Government is
supportive in terms of supplementation of physical
and financial resources. The Chief Secretary of the
State heads a state level committee which is in
overall charge of the relief operations in the State
and the Relief Commissioners who are in charge of
the relief and rehabilitation measures in the wake of
natural disasters in their States function under the
overall direction and control of the state level
committee. In many states, Secretary, Department
of Revenue, is also in-charge of relief. State
Governments usually have relief manuals and the
districts have their contingency plan that is updated
from time to time.

Armed Forces
7.26 The Indian Armed Forces are supposed to be
called upon to intervene and take on specific tasks
only when the situation is beyond the capability of
civil administration. In practice, the Armed Forces
are the core of the governments response capacity
and tend to be the first responders of the Government of India in a major disaster. Due to their ability
to organize action in adverse ground circumstances,
speed of operational response and the resources
and capabilities at their disposal, the Armed Forces
have historically played a major role in emergency
support functions such as communications, search
and rescue operations, health and medical facilities,
transportation, power, food and civil supplies, public
works and engineering, especially in the immediate
aftermath of disaster. Disaster management plans
should incorporate the role expected of them so that
the procedure for deploying them is smooth and
quick.

District and Local Level

7.23 The district administration is the focal point for
implementation of all governmental plans and
activities. The actual day-to-day function of administering relief is the responsibility of the Collector/
District Magistrate/Deputy Commissioner who

195

TENTH FIVE YEAR PLAN : 2002-07

room, with redundant communications and

data links to all State capitals. The
national command centre or operations
room needs to be manned on a 24-hour
basis by professionals to cater for instant
integrated response. There needs to be a
properly equipped operations room at the
State level as well.

External Linkages
7.27 The Government of India is a member of
various international organisations in the field of
disaster response and relief. While, as a policy, no
requests for assistance or appeals are made to the
international community in the event of a disaster,
assistance offered suo moto is accepted. Linkages
exist with the following organisations:

a)

UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), which has

been made responsible by UN
General Assembly mandate for all
international disaster response.

b)

United
Nations
Development
Programme (UNDP), responsible for
mitigation and prevention aspects of
disaster mana-gement.

c)

UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) System.

c)

Establishment of a national stand by, quick

reaction team composed of experienced
professionals, both military and civilian,
drawn from Central and State Government
staff to respond immediately by flying in a
matter of hours an experienced response
team to the locations when a disaster
strikes. This team can be organized and run
professionally on the same lines as the
United Nations Disaster Assessment and
Coordination (UNDAC) teams.

d)

Creation of urban search and rescue

capacity at all levels, by establishing a
fully equipped Search and Rescue unit, as
part of the fire service in all State capitals,
with trained staff and modern equipment
such as thermal imagers, acoustic
detection devices etc. This is of immediate
rele-vance since a major weakness
exposed in the Gujarat earthquake was a
lack of specialised urban search and
rescue capability in India.

e)

Media policy geared to handling the growing phenomenon of real time television
reporting, which generates enormous
political pressures on a government to
respond rapidly and efficiently. This needs
attention since the effect is going to
increase, not decrease in future.

f)

Closer interface with and better understanding of the international system for
disaster response, and putting in place,
systems for dealing with international
assistance once it comes in e.g., customs,
immigration, foreign policy implications
etc. A greater appreciation is needed of
the speed and automation of modern international response to a natural disaster.
Closer interaction is required between of

Streamlining Institutional Arrangements for

Disaster Response
7.28 Institutional arrangements for disaster
response are the heart of disaster management
systems. There is no dearth of personnel, both
civilian and military, experienced in handling
situations arising out of natural disasters. However,
there certainly is a pressing need for improvement
and strengthening of existing institutional arrangements and systems in this regard to make the initial
response to a disaster more effective and professional. Most of the resources and expertise needed
already exist with the Government. What needs to
be streamlined is how they should be integrated,
trained and deployed. Some of the areas where
improvement is urgently needed are:
a)

Integrated planning for disasters, including

the integration of relevant Armed Forces
formations into disaster management
planning at all levels from District to State
and Central Government.

b)

Setting up of a modern, permanent

national command centre or operations
196

DISASTER MANAGEMENT : THE DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE

the Ministry of External Affairs and the

relevant
inter-national
agencies
concerned with disaster response.
g)

Standard procedures for dealing with

domestic humanitarian and relief assistance from non-government sources.
Procedures and systems need to be set
out to avoid confusion and ensure best
utilisation of the assistance being offered,
just as in the case of systems for
international assistance.

h)

Modern unified legislation for disaster

management. In view of the current division
of responsibilities between the State and
Central Government into state, central and
concurrent lists, there is a need to create a
body of legislation dealing with response to
natural disasters and other emergencies,
clearly delineating responsi-bilities and
powers of each entity and specifying what
powers or actions would need to be
triggered on declaration of a disaster by the
Government of India or a State Government.
This legislation should also incorporate the
current legislation dealing with chemical
emergencies that has been created by the
Ministry of Environment so that all
emergencies are dealt with under one law.
The legislation should include clear
definitions of what constitutes a disaster at a
national level.

damaged capital works should ordinarily be met

from the normal budgetary heads, except when it is
to be incurred as part of providing immediate relief,
such as restoration of drinking water sources or
provision of shelters etc., or restoration of
communication links for facilitating relief operations.
The amount of annual contribution to the CRF of
each State for each of the financial years 2000-01
to 2004-05 is as indicated by the Finance
Commission. Of the total contribution indicated, the
Government of India contributes 75 per cent of the
total yearly allocation in the form of a non-plan
grant, and the balance amount is contributed by the
State Government concerned. A total of Rs.
11,007.59 crore was provi-ded for the Calamity
Relief Fund from 2000-05.

7.30 Pursuant to the recommendations of the

Eleventh Finance Commission, apart from the
CRF, a National Calamity Contingency Fund
(NCCF) Scheme came into force with effect
from the financial year 2000-01 and would be
operative till the end of the financial year 200405. NCCF is intended to cover natural
calamities like cyclone, drought, earthquake,
fire, flood and hailstorm, which are considered
to be of severe nature requiring expenditure by
the State Government in excess of the
balances available in its own Calamity Relief
Fund. The assistance from NCCF is available
only for immediate relief and rehabilitation. Any
recons-truction of assets or restoration of
damaged capital should be financed through reallocation of Plan funds. There is need for
defining the arrangements in this regard.

FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS
Financing of Relief Expenditures
7.29 The policy arrangements for meeting relief
expenditure related to natural disasters are, by and
large, based on the recommendations of successive
finance commissions. The two main windows
presently open for meeting such expenditures are
the Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) and National
Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF). The Calamity
Relief Fund is used for meeting the expenditure for
providing immediate relief to the victims of cyclone,
drought, earthquake, fire, flood and hailstorm.
Expenditure on restoration of

7.31 The initial corpus of the National Fund is

Rs.500 crore, provided by the Government of
India. This fund is required to be recouped by
levy of special surcharge for a limited period on
central taxes. An amount of about Rs.2,300
crore has already been released to States from
NCCF. A list of items and norms of expenditure
for assistance chargeable to CRF/NCCF in the
wake of natural calamities is prescribed in
detail from time to time.

197

TENTH FIVE YEAR PLAN : 2002-07

common response and preparedness mechanisms

on the basis of a series of consultations with a number of government, non-government, national and
international agencies and media organisations. An
important recommendation of the Committee was
that at least 10 per cent of plan funds at the
national, state and district levels be earmarked and
apportioned for schemes which specifically address
areas such as prevention, reduction, preparedness
and mitigation of disasters.

Financing of Disaster Management Through

Five Year Plans
7.32 Although not specifically addressed in Five
Year Plan documents in the past, the Government of
India has a long history of using funds from the Plan
for mitigating natural disasters. Funds are provided
under Plan schemes i.e., various schemes of
Government of India, such as for drinking water,
employment generation, inputs for agriculture and
flood control measures etc. There are also facilities
for rescheduling short-term loans taken for agriculture purposes upon certification by the District/State
administration. Central Governments assets/
infrastructure are to be repaired/rectified by the
respective Ministry/Department of Government of
India. Besides this, at the occurrence of a calamity
of great magnitude, funds flow from donors, both
local and international, for relief and rehabilitation,
and in few cases for long-term preparedness/
preventive measures. Funds for the latter purposes
are also available from multilateral funding agencies
such as the World Bank. These form part of the
State Plan.

7.35 The Eleventh Finance Commission too paid

detailed attention to the issue of disaster management and, in its chapter on calamity relief, came
out with a number of recommendations, of which the
following have a direct bearing on the Plan:
(a) Expenditure on restoration of infrastructure and other capital assets, except those
that are intrinsically connected with relief
operations and connectivity with the
affected area and population, should be
met from the plan funds on priority basis.
(b) Medium and long-term measures be
devised by the concerned Ministries of the
Government of India, the State Governments and the Planning Commission to
reduce, and if possible, eliminate, the
occurrences of these calamities by
undertaking developmental works.

7.33 There are also a number of important ongoing

schemes that specifically help reduce disaster
vulnerability. Some of these are: Integrated
Wasteland Development Programme (IWDP),
Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP), Desert
Development Programme (DDP), Flood Control
Programmes, National Afforestation & Ecodevelopment Programme (NA&ED), Accelerated
Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP), Crop
Insurance, Sampurn Grameen Rozgar Yojana
(SGRY), Food for Work etc.

(c)

Initiatives Proposed by Various Bodies

Regarding Financing Under the Plan

The Planning Commission, in consultation

with the State Governments and concerned Ministries, should be able to identify
works of a capital nature to prevent the
recurrence of specific calamities. These
works may be funded under the Plan.

PLANNING FOR SAFE NATIONAL

DEVELOPMENT

7.34 References have recently been made to the

role of the Plan in disaster management by the High
Power Committee (HPC) on Disaster Mana-gement,
as well as by the Eleventh Finance Commission.
The HPC was constituted in 1999 and submitted its
Report in October 2001. The HPC took an overview
of all recent disasters (natural as well as manmade)
in the country and identified

7.36 Development programmes that go into promoting

development at the local level have been left to the
general exercise of planning. Measures need also to
be taken to integrate disaster mitigation efforts at the
local level with the general exercise of planning, and a
more supportive environment created for initiatives
towards managing of disasters
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DISASTER MANAGEMENT : THE DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE

at all levels: national, state, district and local. The

future blue-print for disaster management in India
rests on the premise that in todays society while
hazards, both natural or otherwise, are inevitable,
the disasters that follow need not be so and the
society can be prepared to cope with them
effectively whenever they occur. The need of the
hour is to chalk out a multi-pronged strategy for total
risk
management,
comprising
prevention,
preparedness, response and recovery on the one
hand, and initiate development efforts aimed
towards risk reduction and mitigation, on the other.
Only then can we look forward to sustainable
development.

management system; at the same time,

dedicated research activities should be
encouraged, in all frontier areas related to
disasters like biological, space applications, information technology, nuclear
radiation etc., for a continuous flow of high
quality basic information for sound
disaster management planning,
(d) Establishing Linkages between all knowledge-based institutions: A National
Disaster Knowledge Network, tuned to the
felt needs of a multitude of users like
disaster managers, decision makers,
community etc., must be developed as the
network of networks to cover natural,
manmade and biological disasters in all
their varied dimensions,

Disaster Prevention And Preparedness

Measures
Information and Research Network

Capacity Building, Training & Education

7.37 Disaster prevention is intrinsically linked to

preventive planning. Some of the important
steps in this regard are:

7.38 Personnel involved in the exercise have to

draw upon knowledge of best practices and
resources available to them. Information and training on ways to better respond to and mitigate
disasters to the responders go a long way in
building the capacity and resilience of the country to
reduce and prevent disasters. Training is an integral
part of capacity building as trained personnel
respond much better to different disasters and
appreciate the need for preventive measures. The
directions in this regard are:

(a) Introduction of a comprehensive

process of vulnerability analysis and
objective risk assessment.
(b) Building a robust and sound information
database: A comprehensive database of
the land use, demography, infrastructure
developed at the national, state and local
levels along with current information on
climate, weather and man-made structures is crucial in planning, warning and
assessment of disasters. In addition,
resource inventories of governmental and
non-governmental
systems
including
personnel and equipment help in efficient
mobilisation and optimisation of response
measures.
(c)

(a)

Creating state-of-the-art infrastructure:

The entire disaster mitigation game plan
must necessarily be anchored to frontline
research and development in a holistic
mode. State-of-the art technologies available worldwide need to be made available
in India for upgradation of the disaster
199

The
multi-sectoral
and
multi-hazard
prevention based approach to disaster
management requires specific profes-sional
inputs. Professional training in disaster
management should be built into the existing
pedagogic
research
and
edu-cation.
Specialised
courses
for
disaster
management may be developed by
universities and professional teaching
institutions, and disaster management
should be treated as a distinct academic and
professional discipline, something that the
American education system has done
successfully. In addition to separate
diploma/degree courses in disaster management, the subject needs to be discussed

TENTH FIVE YEAR PLAN : 2002-07

and taught as a specific component in

professional and specialised courses
like medicine, nursing, engineering,
environ-mental sciences, architecture,
and town and country planning.

community response in the event of a

disaster, which can help save valuable
lives.
7.39 Capacity building for effective disaster
management therefore needs to be grounded and
linked to the community and local level responders on
the one hand and also to the institutional mechanism
of the State and the Nation on the other.

(b) The focus towards preventive disaster

management and development of a
national ethos of prevention calls for an
awareness generation at all levels. An
appropriate component of disaster awareness at the school level will help increase
awareness among children and, in many
cases, parents and other family members
through these children. Curriculum development with a focus towards dissemination of disaster related information on a
sustained basis, covering junior, middle
and high schools may be worked out by
the different school boards in the country.
(c)

Community Level Initiatives

7.40 The goal of any disaster management initiative
is to build a disaster resistant/resilient com-munity
equipped with safer living and sustainable
livelihoods to serve its own development purposes.
The community is also the first responder in any
disaster situation, thereby emphasising the need for
community level initiatives in managing disasters. To
encourage such initiatives, the follow-ing are
required:

Training facilities for government personnel involved in disaster management are

conducted at the national level by the
National Centre for Disaster Management
(NCDM) at the Indian Institute of Public
Administration, in New Delhi which functions as the nodal institution in the country
for training, research and documentation
of disasters. At the State level, disaster
management cells operating within the
State Administrative Training Institutes
(ATIs) provide the necessary training.
Presently, 24 ATIs have dedicated faculties. There is a need for strengthening
specialised training, including training of
personnel in disaster response.

(a) Creating awareness through disaster

education and training and information
dissemination are necessary steps for
empowering the community to cope
with disasters.
(b) Community based approach followed
by most NGOs and Community Based
Organisations (CBOs) should be
incorporated
in
the
disaster
management system as an effective
vehicle of com-munity participation.
(c) Within a vulnerable community, there
exist groups that are more vulnerable
like women and children, aged and
infirm and physically challenged
people who need special care and
attention especially during disaster
situations. Efforts are required for
identifying such vulnerable groups and
providing special assistance in terms
of evacuation, relief, aid and medical
attention to them in disaster situations.

(d) Capacity building should not be limited to

professionals and personnel involved in
disaster management but should also
focus on building the knowledge, attitude
and skills of a community to cope with the
effects of disasters. Identification and
training of volunteers from the community
towards first response measures as well
as mitigation measures is an urgent
imperative. A programme of periodic drills
should be introduced in vulnerable areas
to enable prompt and appropriate

7.41
Management of disasters should therefore
be an interface between a community effort to
mitigate and prevent disasters as also an effort from
200

DISASTER MANAGEMENT : THE DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE

the government machinery to buttress and

support popular initiatives.

7.44 Sustainability is the key word in the

development process. Development activities that
do not consider the disaster loss perspective fail to
be sustainable. The compounded costs of disasters
relating to loss of life, loss of assets, economic
activities, and cost of reconstruction of not only
assets but of lives can scarcely be borne by any
community or nation. Therefore, all development
schemes in vulnerable areas should include a
disaster mitigation analysis, whereby the feasibility
of a project is assessed with respect to vulnerability
of the area and the mitigation measures required for
sustainability.
Environmental
protection,
afforestation
programmes,
pollution
control,
construction of earthquake resistant structures etc.,
should therefore have high priority within the plans.

Strengthening of Plan Activities

7.42 Given the pervasive nature of disasters and the
widespread havoc caused by some of them,
planned expenditure on disaster mitigation and
prevention measures in addition to the CRF is
required. The Central Sector Scheme of Natural
Disaster Management Programmes has been
implemented since 1993-94 by the Department of
Agriculture and Co-operation with the objective to
focus on disaster preparedness with emphasis on
mitigation and preparedness measures for enhanced capability to reduce the adverse impact of
disasters. The major activities undertaken within this
scheme include the setting up of the National
Centre for Disaster Management (NCDM) at the
Indian Institute of Public Administration, creation of
24 disaster management faculties in 23 states,
research and consultancy services, documentation
of major disaster events and forging regional
cooperation. The Eighth Plan allocation of Rs 6.30
crore for this scheme was increased to Rs. 16.32
crore in the Ninth Plan. Within this scheme, NCDM
has conducted over 50 training programmes,
training more than 1000 people, while 24 disaster
management centres with dedicated faculty have
been established in the states. Over 4000 people
have been trained at the State level. In addition,
some important publications and audio-visual
training modules have been prepared and
documentation of disaster events has been done.

7.45 The aim of a mitigation strategy is to reduce

losses in the event of a future occurrence of a
hazard. Structural mitigation may comprise
construction of individual disaster resistant structures like retrofitted or earthquake-resistant
buildings or creation of structures whose function is
primarily disaster protection like flood control
structures, dykes, levees, infiltration dams etc.

7.46 Mitigation measures on individual structures can be achieved by design standards,

building codes and performance specifications.
Building codes, critical front-line defence for
achieving stronger engineered structures, need
to be drawn up in accordance with the
vulnerability of the area and implemented
through appropriate techno-legal measures.
7.47 Mitigation measures need to be considered in land use and site planning activities.
Constructions in hazardous areas like flood
plains or steep soft slopes are more vulnerable
to disasters. Necessary mitigation measures
need to be built into the design and costing of
development projects.

7.43 Though limited in scope and outlays, the

Scheme has made an impact on the training and
research activities in the country. Creation of faculties in disaster management in all 28 states is
proposed to be taken up in the Tenth Plan in
addition to community mobilisation, human resource
development, establishment of Control Rooms and
forging international cooperation in disaster
management. There is also an urgent need for
strengthening the disaster management pedagogy
by creating disaster management faculties in
universities, rural development institutes and other
organisations of premier research.

7.48 Insurance is a potentially important miti-gation

measure in disaster-prone areas as it brings quality
in the infrastructure & consciousness and a culture
of safety by its insistence on following building
codes, norms, guidelines, quality materials
201

TENTH FIVE YEAR PLAN : 2002-07

in construction etc. Disaster insurance mostly

works under the premise of higher the risk
higher the premium, lesser the risk lesser the
premium, thus creating awareness towards
vulnerable areas and motivating people to
settle in relatively safer areas.

of dedicated trained, skilled personnel, make

provision for specialised equipments, efficient communication network, and relevant, intelligent and
easily accessible database. There is also a need to
consider creation of a plan scheme in each state
basically to meet the minimum requirements for
strengthening communications and emergency
control rooms, thereby improving coordination and
response to disasters. No new institutional structures need be created in such a scheme.

THE PATH AHEAD

7.49 For addressing natural calamities such as
floods and drought, there already exist a number of
plan schemes under which a lot is being done and
can be done. State Governments need to make full
use of the existing plan schemes and give priority to
implementation of such schemes that will help in
overcoming the conditions created by the calamity.
In some cases this implies possible diversion of the
funds from other schemes to those schemes the
implementation of which will help meeting the situation. There may also be need in a crisis situation for
certain re-appropriations/reallocations among the
different departments.

7.52 In particular, with regard to major dis-asters, it

is also necessary for disaster mitigation components
to be built into all development projects. In order to
save larger outlays on reconstruction and
rehabilitation subsequently, a mechanism would
need to be worked out for allowing components that
specifically help projects coming up in highly
disaster prone areas withstand the impact of natural
disasters as part of approved project cost for
projects financed under the Plan.
7.53 The message for the Tenth Plan is that in order to
move
towards
safer
national
development,
development projects should be sensitive towards
disaster mitigation. With the kind of economic losses
and developmental setbacks that the country has been
suffering year after year, it makes good eco-nomic
sense to spend a little extra today in a planned way on
steps and components that can help in prevention and
mitigation of disasters, than be forced to spend many
multiples more later on resto-ration and rehabilitation.
The design of development projects and the process
of development should take the aspect of disaster
reduction and mitigation within its ambit; otherwise, the
development ceases to be sustainable and eventually
causes more hardship and loss to the nation.

7.50 The Planning Commission will aim at

responding quickly to the needs of the Central
Ministries/Departments/States in matters relating to
the Plan for meeting situations arising out of natural
disasters, by enabling adjustment of schemes to
meet the requirements as far as possible. A mechanism will be evolved to take expeditious decisions
on proposals which involve transfer of funds from
one scheme to another, or any other change which
involves departure from the existing schemes/
pattern of assistance, new schemes and relaxation
in procedures, etc. in the case of natural disasters.
7.51 As the first responder in any disaster situation,
however, each State needs to build a team

202