Preparing for a Disaster Resistant Nation: The Tribune India

RK Pachnanda

Former Director General of the National Disaster Force

The superstorm Cyclone Amvan recently caused widespread damage in eastern India, particularly West Bengal, and subsequent floods wreaked havoc in Assam, Bihar and Gujarat. India is vulnerable to disasters to varying degrees. More than 58.6% of the land area is subject to earthquakes; Over 12% of the land is subject to flooding; Approximately 5,700 km of the 7,516 km coastline is subject to cyclones and tsunamis and 68% of the arable area is vulnerable to drought. The hilly areas are at risk of landslides and avalanches and an increased risk of chemical, biological and nuclear emergencies.

Earlier, we did not have a true disaster response system. While India was celebrating the Republic Day in 2001, an earthquake rocked the Kutch region, causing massive damage. The tremors lasted only two minutes, but left nearly 20,000 dead and nearly 1.67 lakh wounded with over a million buildings destroyed. The ancient city of Bog is flattened to the ground. This earthquake changed India’s response to the disaster. The massive reconstruction effort by the state government, which was headed by Narendra Modi, helped rebuild Gujarat. The country has made disaster risk protection a priority and has established institutions such as the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA), the Seismological Research Institute and the Gujarat Institute for Disaster Management. A network of seismic stations has been set up around the clock to measure tremors, and now earthquake risk can be determined in less than two minutes. The GSDMA developed a Risk and Vulnerability Atlas, the first of its kind in the country, to assess vulnerability to natural disasters as well as chemical and industrial hazards.

In a short period, Gujarat has become one of the nation’s lowest risk investment destinations in terms of disaster preparedness. The Gujarat model served as a model for building a national response to diverse disasters. The government has formulated a multi-dimensional and multi-sectoral approach by taking measures to strengthen the legal, financial and institutional mechanisms to reduce disaster risk and build response, relief, reconstruction and recovery capacity across sectors.

India has been quick to embrace its priorities and align them with the Hyogo Framework for Action which reaffirms the need to build community resilience in the face of disasters. The National Disaster Management Act was enacted in 2005 and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was formed. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was established in 2006. This pure humanitarian force has responded quickly and professionally in saving lives and livelihoods and educating and preparing communities through national capacity building programs. In the past five years, early warning, information management and weather forecasting systems have been developed by the Indian National Center for Ocean Information Service which sends out alerts and continuous advisory services. The Indian Meteorological Department has revolutionized weather monitoring with the help of remote sensing technologies. The Indian Organization for Space Research (ISRO) has developed a comprehensive space system for disaster management. Community-based disaster risk management programs for millions of people living in remote and high-risk areas were organized to cope with the onslaught of disasters, reducing my transformation in the loss of life. The same operator has been implemented at the national, state and county levels. Public buildings at risk have been modernized and evacuation plans in place with the aim of minimizing loss of property and life. NDMA has done Yeoman’s job coordinating implementation and policy implementation with states and all stakeholders.

The challenges today are geo-climatic changes, increasing frequency and scale of disasters, new challenges in the form of urban floods, fire deaths, mine collapses, forest fires, uncontrolled urban development, increased deforestation, and rapid industrialization that leads to chemical and radiological accidents. India now has a sound disaster management plan, aligned with the Sendai Framework, and has built a robust disaster resilience and response architecture. In the past five years, India has paved the way forward by strengthening early warning systems, appropriate vulnerability mapping, community preparation and awareness as a power multiplier, enforcement of regulations in building safety, inclusion of disaster response, risk deduction and management in school curricula, capacity building for animal rescue, And the adoption of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for those with different capacities and the following good practices in other countries. The government responded immediately to the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, and provided immediate assistance. The NDRF was the first international rescue force to reach Nepal.

In the Asia-Pacific region, India has taken the lead on several fronts. Disaster risk reduction and response agreements in SAARC, BRICS, BIMSTEC, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Shanghai Cooperation Organization and South Pacific Island States, have been regularly hosted or organized at the request of India to institutionalize intercountry coordination, synergies For regional cooperation, sharing best practices, conducting joint exercises, risk assessment policy, disaster resilient infrastructure and early warning as well as research cooperation.

At the Asian Ministerial Conference, Prime Minister Modi unveiled the l0-point agenda on disaster risk reduction and proposed a “coalition on disaster resilient infrastructure” among partner countries. The plan will realize the vision, not only for a country that is resilient in the face of disasters, but also a neighborhood prepared for disasters. Given the efforts made in recent years, India, the second most populous country in the world, is rapidly building a resilient, integrated and sustainable structure by making Disaster risk reduction is part of its development planning.

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