Introduction:

Various disasters like earthquake, landslides, volcanic eruptions, fires, flood and cyclones are natural
hazards that kill thousands of people and destroy billions of dollars of habitat and property each year.
With the tropical climate and unstable land forms, coupled with deforestation, unplanned growth
proliferation non-engineered constructions which make the disaster-prone areas mere vulnerable, tardy
communication, poor or no budgetary allocation for disaster prevention, developing countries suffer more
or less chronically by natural disasters
India has been traditionally vulnerable to natural disasters on account of
its unique geo-climatic conditions. Floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes and
landslides have been a recurrent phenomena.
About 60% of the landmass is prone to earthquakes of various intensities; over 40 million hectares is
prone to floods; about 8% of the total area is prone to cyclones and 68% of the area is susceptible to
drought.
In the decade 1990-2000, an average of about 4344 people lost their lives and about 30 million people
were affected by disasters every year. The loss in terms of private, community and public assets has been
astronomical
India has been very vulnerable to natural hazards and calamities. The Bhuj
earthquake accounted for 13805 deaths, the super cyclone in Orissa accounted for
9885 deaths.
At the global level, there has been considerable concern over natural
disasters. Even as substantial scientific and material progress is made, the loss of
lives and property due to disasters has not decreased. In fact, the human toll and
economic losses have mounted.Over the past couple of years, the Government of India have brought
about a paradigm shift in the approach to disaster management.
The steps being taken by the Government covers institutional mechanisms, disaster prevention strategy,
early warning system, disaster mitigation, preparedness and response and human resource
development.Lets see in detail about the role of government/non-government agencies in disaster
management in further pages
Main types of Disasters
Drought:

Drought is the single most important weather- related natural disaster often aggravated by human action.
Drought's beginning is subtle, its progress is insidious and its effects can be devastating. Drought may
start any time, last indefinitely and attain many degrees of severity
drought is a frequent phenomenon over many parts of India. In India, thirty three percent of the area
receives less than 750mm rainfall and is chronically drought-prone, and thirty five percent of the area with
750-1125mm rainfall is also subject to drought once in four to five years.
Thus, 68 percent of the total sown area covering about 142 million hectares are vulnerable to drought
conditions. India has faced three major droughts in this century- 1904-1905,1965-66 and 1986-87. The
1987 drought had a lasting impact on one-third of the country.
Cyclone
The intense tropical storms are known in different part of the world by different names. In the Pacific
ocean, they are called 'typhoons', in the Indian ocean they are called 'cyclones' and over North Atlantic,
they are called 'hurricane'.
Among various natural calamaties, tropical cyclones are known to claim a higher share of deaths and
distruction world over. Records show that about 80 tropical cyclones form over the globe every year. India
has a vast coast line which is frequently affected by tropical cyclones causing heavy loss of human lives
and property.
Cyclones occurs usually between April and May (called pre-monsoon cyclonic storms) and between
October and December (called post-monsoon cyclonic storms). While cyclonic storms can't be prevented,
the loss of lives and damage to the properties can be mitigated if prompt action is taken after receiving
timely warnings.
Flood
India is the worst flood-affected country in the world after Bangladesh and accounts for one-fifth of the
global death count due to floods. About 40 million hectares or nearly 1/8th of India's geographical area is
flood-prone. An estimated 8 million hectares of land are affected annually. The cropped area affected
annually ranges from 3.5 million ha during normal floods to 10 million ha during worst flood.
Earthquake
Earthquakes are caused by the abrupt release of strain that has built up in the earth's crust. Most zones
of maximum earthquake intensity and frequency occur at the boundaries between the moving plates that
form the crust of the earth.

Volcanic Eruption
Many times precursors of volcanic eruptions have been observed in various areas of volcanic activity.
Ground deformations, changes in the compositions of gases emitting from volcanic vents, changes in the
temperatures of fumaroles, hot springs and crater lakes as well as earth tremors are preceding volcanic
eruptions. Thermal infrared remote sensing has been applied for volcanic hazard assessment.
Landslides
Aerial photographs and large-scale satellite images have been used to locate the areas with the incidence
of landslide. Higher spatial resolution and stereo imaging capability of IRS -IC and -1D enable further
refining the location and monitoring of landslides.
A number of studies have been carried out in India using satellite data and aerial photographs to develop
appropriate methodologies for terrain classification and preparation of maps showing landslide hazards in
the Garhwal Himalayan region, Nilagiri hills in south India and in Sikkim forest area. Such studies have
been carried out using mostly aerial photographs because of their high resolution enabling contour
mapping with intervals of better than 2m in height.

Role of Government functionaries in Disaster Management

Disaster management is a multidisciplinary activity involving a number of a number of
Departments/agencies spanning across all sectors of development.
The Government of India is working with the State Governments to restructure the Departments of Relief
& Rehabilitation into Departments of Disaster Management with an enhanced area of responsibility to
include mitigation and preparedness apart from their present responsibilities of relief and rehabilitation.
The changeover has already happened in 11 States/UTs - Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar,
Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan Tamil Nadu, Uttaranchal, Nagaland, Andaman & Nicobar Administration,
Sikkim and Lakshadweep. The change is under process in other States.
Similarly, sub-divisional and Block/Taluka level Disaster Management
Committees are also being constituted. At the village level Disaster Management
Committees and Disaster Management Teams are being constituted.
Each village in multi-hazard prone district will have a Disaster Management Plan. The process of drafting
the plans at all levels has already begun. The Disaster Management

Committee which draws up the plans consists of elected representatives at the

village level, local authorities; Government functionaries including
doctors/paramedics of primary health centres located in the village, primary school
teachers etc.
The plan encompasses prevention, mitigation and preparedness
measures. The Disaster Management Teams at the village level will consist of
members of youth organisations like Nehru Yuvak Kendra and other nongovernmental
organisations as well as able bodied volunteers from the village.
The teams are provided basic training in evacuation, evacuation, search and
rescue, first aid trauma counseling etc. The Disaster Management Committee will
review the disaster management plan at least once in a year.

It would also generate awareness among the people in the village about dos and donts for specific
hazards depending on the vulnerability of the village. A large number of
village level Disaster Management Committees and Disaster Management Teams
have already been constituted.