UNIT-2

DISASTER RISK REDUCTION

(DRR)
 Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction
• The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (Sendai
Framework) was the first major agreement of the post-2015 development
agenda and provides Member States with concrete actions to protect
development gains from the risk of disaster.
• The Sendai Framework works hand in hand with the other 2030 Agenda
agreements, including The Paris Agreement on Climate Change, The Addis
Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development, the New Urban
Agenda, and ultimately the Sustainable Development Goals.
• The NDMP is consistent with the approaches promoted globally by the
United Nations, in particular the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk
Reduction 2015-2030 (hereafter “Sendai Framework”) adopted at the Third
UN World Conference in Sendai, Japan, on March 18, 2015 (UNISDR 2015)
as the successor instrument to the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015.
• It was endorsed by the UN General Assembly following the 2015 Third
UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR), and
advocates for:
• The substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods
and health and in the economic, physical, social, cultural and
environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and countries.
• It recognizes that the State has the primary role to reduce disaster risk but
that responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders including local
government, the private sector and other stakeholders.
• Two other major international agreements followed it in the same year: the
Sustainable Development Goals 2015 - 2030 in September, and the
UNCOP21 Climate Change agreement to combat human-induced climate
change in December. DRR is a common theme in these three global
agreements.
Objectives:
• SFDRR aims at achieving a substantial reduction of disaster risk and disaster
losses in lives, livelihoods and health; in the environmental, cultural, social,
physical-economic assets of people, communities, businesses over the next
15 years.
• The framework comprises of a set of standards, an all-encompassing
framework containing achievable targets and an instrument with a legal
basis for disaster risk reduction.
• The framework calls for the sharing of responsibility among the stakeholders
including the private sector, the government and the other stakeholders.
• It highlights the concerns on human health and well-being that are common
to disaster risk reduction, climate change and sustainable development.
High Priorities
• Understanding the disaster risk.
• Strengthening the governance of disaster risks for managing disaster risks.
• Investments in disaster risk reduction for resilience
• Improving the disaster preparedness to ensure effective response, recovery,
reconstruction and rehabilitation.
India’s Initiatives for DRR after signing Sendai Framework
• India released the first-ever National Disaster Management Plan, a
document based on the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
• The plan is based on the four priority themes of the Sendai Framework,
namely: understanding disaster risk, improving disaster risk governance,
investing in disaster risk reduction and disaster preparedness, early
warning, and building back better in the aftermath of a disaster.
• The plan has a regional approach, which will be beneficial not only for
disaster management but also for development planning.
• It is designed in such a way that it can be implemented in a scalable
manner in all phases of disaster management.
• It also identifies major activities such as early warning, information
dissemination, search and rescue, medical care, transportation, evacuation,
etc., to serve as a checklist for agencies responding to a disaster.
Disaster Management Cycle – Phases
Prevention : Activities aimed at trying to prevent future disasters occurring,
such as building dykes or a dam to control flooding.
Mitigation : Activities aimed at trying to mitigate the impact of a disaster if
prevention is not possible, such as building schools to be more earthquake
resistant.
 Preparedness : Activities aimed at trying to prepare communities for a
disaster, such as emergency drills or pre-stocking relief items in logistic hubs.
Disaster : An event that causes significant damage to people, property and
infrastructure.
Response : Activities aimed at understanding needs and responding to them,
including rapid assessments, provision of food and non-food items, provision
of water, sanitation and hygiene services, and health and shelter interventions.
In the immediate hours and days after a disaster, when search-and-rescue
activities are critical, it is most often local actors who are first to respond.
Information is often patchy and confused; there can be significant damage to
infrastructure, and large movements of people.
Recovery : Activities aimed at trying to return communities to normal life,
such as livelihoods development or formal education.
Recovery activities can start when the disaster has stabilized, and the affected
population has access to food and water and some form of transitional shelter.
This stage is sometimes divided into two : early recovery and medium-term
recovery.
Reconstruction : Activities aimed at rebuilding infrastructure and housing.
This can often take years and many activities may also blend back into
mitigation, such as retrofitting schools to make them more earthquake
resistant.
Disaster risk management includes sum total of all activities, programs and
measures which can be taken up before, during and after a disaster with the
purpose to avoid a disaster, reduce its impact or recover from its losses.
3- key stages of activities that are taken up within disaster risk management are
as follows :
Before a Disaster (Pre-disaster)
• Pre-disaster activities those which are taken to reduce human and property
losses caused by a potential hazard.
• For example, carrying out awareness campaigns, strengthening the existing
weak structures, preparation of the disaster management plans at household
and community level, etc.
• Such risk reduction measures taken under this stage are termed as mitigation
and preparedness activities.
During a Disaster (Disaster Occurrence)
• These include initiatives taken to ensure that the needs and provisions of
victims are met and suffering is minimized. Activities taken under this stage
are called emergency response activities.
After a Disaster (Post-Disaster)
• There are initiatives taken in response to a disaster with a purpose to
achieve early recovery and rehabilitation of affected communities,
immediately after a disaster strikes.
• The Disaster Risk Management Cycle Diagram (DRMC) highlights the
range of initiatives which normally occur during both the Emergency
response and Recovery stages of a disaster.
• Some of these cut across both stages (such things as coordination and the
provision of ongoing assistance); whilst other activities are unique to each
stage (e.g. Early warning and evacuation during emergency response; and
reconstruction and economic and social recovery as part of recovery).
Disaster Response:
• Disaster response work includes any actions taken in the midst of or
immediately following an emergency, including efforts to save lives and to
prevent further property damage.
• Ideally, disaster response involves putting already established disaster
preparedness plans into motion. It’s what the public typically thinks of
when imagining a disaster : Flashing lights, evacuation, search and rescue
and sheltering victims.
• Healthcare and psychosocial intervention response starts here. The focus in
the response phase is on meeting the basic needs of the victims until
sustainable community has been achieved.
• A well-rehearsed emergency plan developed as part of the preparedness
phase enables efficient coordination of resources
Culture of Safety
• Major accidents are frequently traced to failures in the safety management
system, and investigations sometimes reveal that safety management
systems bear little relation to what goes on at the workplace.
• Safety management systems virtually exist in theory and not in practice.
• The organizations need to manage safety proactively in the same way as
the organization to manage their production activities.
• The cultural approach to safety means that safety cannot be assured simply
by introducing a safety management system alone.
• The cultural approach to safety is something to bring safety management
to life. This means that the right organizational culture is necessary to
make safety systems work.
• It is suggested that citizenship behaviours enhance the functioning of the
organization by contributing to the development of safety climate;
collective mindfulness and risk awareness for the creation of
organizational behaviour of safety.

3 Aspects of Safety Culture:

psychological aspects,
behavioral aspects
situational aspects of the safety culture.
• The behavioural aspect is concerned with “what people do” within the
organization which includes the safety-related activities, actions and
behaviours exhibited by employees.
• Situational aspects describe, “what the organization has for its policies,
operating procedures, management systems, control systems,
communication flows and workflow systems”.
• The psychological aspects can be described as how employees see and feel
their organization in the aspect of safety. This aspect is concerned with
individual and group values, attitudes and perception.
Safety climate:
• Psychological climate has been defined as referring to individuals
cognitively based descriptions of situational characteristics.
• Psychological climate as an experiential-based, multidimensional, and
enduring perceptual phenomenon which is widely shared by the members
of a given organizational unit.
Risk management
The second element in Cooper’s model is on situation aspects.
• The situation aspects described by Cooper as “what the organization has” in
respects of policies, procedures, regulation and the management .
• Apart from the documents and procedures that a highly reliable
organization should have collective mindfulness of danger.
Risk awareness
• Cooper defines behaviour aspects are concerned with “what people do”
within the organization, which includes the safety related activities, action
and behaviours exhibited by employees.
• The rationale for encourage risk awareness among employees is that it is
impossible to devising a set of safety rules to cover every situations
• The definition of organizational commitment is that it is the worker’s
attitudes about the entire work organization.
• The concept of organizational commitment has been taken to imply worker
attitudes and the concept of Organizational Citizenship Behaviours (OCB)
refers to commitment-related behaviors.
• It views as 3 dimensions:
• Affective commitment, which is the employee’s emotional attachment to
the organization.
• Continuance commitment, which refers to commitment to continue with the
organization because there are costs associating with leaving.
• Normative commitment, which is like a sense of duty or obligation to stay
with the company.
Prevention, Mitigation and Preparedness Community Based DRR:
• Communities are the first responders in case of a disaster
• CBDRR) should be the core of any risk reduction approach.
• Disaster risk reduction focuses more on reducing underlying risk,
encouraging preventive action before a disaster.
• Disaster risk management, in contrast, focuses on broader aspects of
disaster issues, from prevention and mitigation to relief, response, and
recovery.
• (CBDRM) is an approach that reduces vulnerabilities and strengthens
people’s capacity to cope with hazards, which seeks to:
 - Reduce vulnerabilities and increase capacities of vulnerable groups
and communities to cope with, prevent, or minimize loss and damage to life,
property, and the environment.
- Minimize human suffering
- Hasten recovery
• Based on past disasters, it has been found that communities become actively
involved in search and rescue, relief, and post-disaster recovery
• To enhance community participation before a disaster strikes, it is important
to focus on risk reduction issues, and therefore CBDRR has become
increasingly emphasized
• prevention measures aim to avoid the occurrence of disasters, which may not
be possible in the case of natural disasters, but the intensity and frequency of
disasters could be reduced through poverty alleviation and asset redistribution
plans and the provision of basic services such as education and health care
• Mitigation measures reduce and limit the impact of natural hazards on
elements of risk such as population, infrastructure, and properties
through structural measures such as bridges, protective dikes,
embankments, and safety building design and nonstructural measures
like community risk assessment, community risk reduction planning,
public awareness.
• Preparedness measures are developed in anticipation of future
disasters so that effective and appropriate actions are taken during
emergencies, including public awareness, evacuation, and emergency
management, search and rescue, immediate repair, restoration of
critical facilities and utilities, capacity assessment. non-food relief
assistance, and evacuation center management
People’s participation is important :
• Community members are the main actors, involved not only in the process
but its content.
Priorities are set for the most vulnerable groups, families, and people in the
community
• Participation from all sectors is required for disaster risk reduction, but
priority is given to the most vulnerable groups, in urban areas the poor or
informal settlers, in rural areas farmers, and indigenous people.
Risk reduction measures are community-specific :
• Measures provided for risk reduction are mainly community-specific,
which are identified after an analysis of the community’s disaster risk
(hazards, vulnerabilities, and capacities and perceptions of disaster risk).
Existing capacities and coping mechanism are recognized:
• The strength of CBDRR lies in the existing capacities and coping
mechanism of the community members.
Disaster risk reduction is linked with development:
• aim of CBDRR is to reduce people’s vulnerabilities by strengthening the
capacities of individuals, families, and communities.
Outsiders have supporting and facilitating roles :
• In CBDRR, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) support
community members, whereas the government role is integral to the
institutionalization of the CBDRR process. Partnerships with less
vulnerable groups and other communities are forged in the interest of
disaster risk reduction.
Structural and Nonstructural Measures
Structural measures:
• Any physical construction to reduce or avoid possible impacts of hazards,
or application of engineering techniques to achieve hazard-resistance and
resilience in structures or systems.
• Common structural measures for disaster risk reduction include dams,
flood levies, ocean wave barriers, earthquake-resistant construction, and
evacuation shelters.
Non-structural measures:
• Any measure not involving physical construction that uses knowledge,
practice or agreement to reduce risks and impacts, in particular through
policies and laws, public awareness raising, training and education
• Common non-structural measures include building codes, land use
planning laws and their enforcement, research and assessment, information
resources, and public awareness programmes.
Roles and Responsibilities of Community
Concept of Community:
• Community - common people - quality of having something in common to
a sense of common identity and characteristics’ underlie a community.
• Allen says: ‘community’ is a common group of people who live within the
territorial or administrative boundary of village or town. The identity of a
community depends on social events and institution.
• A group of individuals and households living at the same location and
having the same exposure to hazard, and share the same objectives and
goals towards disaster risk reduction
• Blaikie says: ‘community’ is not homogenous. Hence it is suggested that
the community and potential disaster risks must be understood through
community structure (social, political, economic, historical), ethnicity
(culture, belief structure, social relationship, social networks, socio-
economic dynamics), and ‘community decision making processes.
Response of members of community also varies as per their ethnicity,
gender, educational level, and socio-economic status.
Disaster Vulnerability in CBDM:
• Vulnerability is the characteristics of a person or a group in terms of their
capacities to anticipate, to resist and to recover from the impact of disasters.
• It can be understood in terms of the economic status, social discrimination,
and individual vulnerability. ‘Being vulnerable’ is ‘being prone to suffer
• However, all households in a community or all communities are not
equally vulnerable during flood studied the cyclone and reconstruction in
Andhra Pradesh.
• The impacts of disaster depend on capacity and adaptability with the
extreme event.
• The study on coastal region of West Bengal showed that if saline water
pollutes agricultural land, only farmers suffer because salt water intrusion
into field destroys their main livelihood.
Community needs:
• The disaster impact reduction depends on individual or family needs which
are directly influenced by coping strategies and social structures. So, the
needs vary with time.
• The needs of Andhra Pradesh Cyclone affected people were not met, even many
years after the disaster.
• The needs remained unmet because of inadequacy of materials, as well as socio-
economic and political vulnerability
• It was also found that the needs of socio-economic and politically vulnerable
community were not effectively assessed and addressed by government agencies.
Community Participation:
• Top-down disaster management efforts are insufficient to reduce the impact and
do not touch the bottom level communities.
• The government’s developmental programs remained insensitive and ineffective
in satisfying community needs.
• It was also found that the lack of involvement of communities in government
planning created an attitude of dependency on the government
• Unless there is direct involvement of community in government decision
making process, the existing resources, the local needs, and the local
knowledge to reduce the impact of disaster cannot be understood.
• The survival strategies of local community members are combination of
knowledge and real world experience.
• local ways of flood risk management of coastal Asia, traditional drought
management mechanism in Sub-Saharan Africa, traditional paddy and
aquaculture in Bangladesh and many others activities have been highlighted
by the researchers.
• Tigg, community participation is the active involvement of the people in
decision making about the implementation process, programs, and projects
which affects them
• Blaikie - communities at the grass-roots level are unable to share their
challenges with the government. So, participatory mechanism could be a
way of sharing their knowledge and related to disaster management
challenges.
• Arnstein - community participation as ‘the redistribution of power that
enables the have-not citizens, presently excluded from political and
economic processes to be deliberately included in the future.
- eight levels of community involvement
• Levels of non-participation
- Manipulation
- Therapy
• The objective of this is not to enable people to participate in planning and
decision making, but to enable power holders to ‘educate’ the participants
• Levels of tokenism
- Informing
- Consultation
- Placation
• (informing and consultation) allow ‘have-not’ to be hear but not to speak.
‘Placation’ is a higher level of tokenism, where ground rules allow ‘have
not’ to advice in decision making. But power holders have right to decide,
whether the advice should be accepted or not
• Level of citizen power :
- Partnership
- Delegated Power
- Citizen Control.
• These citizens have power to participate in decision making
Panchayati Raj Institutions/Urban Local Bodies (PRIs/ULBs
• As Local Government in Disaster Management In India, after the 73 rd
Constitution Amendment Act, the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) have
become an opportunity and instrument for people from the grassroots level
to directly join in the decentralized decision making processes.
• PRIs provide a platform to discuss local developmental problems and
community needs, and PRIs are also able to mobilize people and resources
to meet the needs of the community.
• According to him West Bengal has the longest experience of functioning of
three tiers Panchayati Raj Institutions and the structure has been working
for flood disaster management
• It recognized that people’s participation and involvement in Gram Sansad
Sabha help to identify the vulnerable community and potential disaster and
its preparedness.
• Though PRIs are working for local level developmental planning, many
time voices of villagers have not been recognized.
• Though Gram Sansad Sabha and PRIs are often politicized, the Gram
Panchayat member who belongs to the village has reciprocity with the
villagers.
• There is an argument that the Gram Panchayat member, from a socially
deprived community may not have enough voice in the Gram Panchayat.
• But, during Gram Sansad Sabha, the members of community share their
needs and problems with PRIs
• As Gram Panchayat member belongs to the village, the existing reciprocity
between Gram Panchayat member and the community may lead to PRI
decision’s that are favourable to the community.

Disaster management – 3 phases:

Phase – 1 – tasks to be performed by 3-tier panchayat bodies for
preparedness planning:
Gram panchayat:
• Convening meetings of ward members to ensure information reached
people through all media modes.
• Medical sanitation requirements relief camps
• Arrangements of disconnecting lines during winds/gales
Block / panchayat samitis:
• Supervise preparedness of gram panchayat
• Consolidate village wise information on items listed under gram panchayat
• Procure & keep rescue materials including boats ready.
Zilla parishads:
• For pre-disaster, the district collector should have meeting of all district
heads of sectional, departments and members of zilla parishads for
preparedness.
• To identify & enlist NGO who are useful in extending help during disasters.
• All the members of crisis management group (cmg) should be asked to
keep their personal in full preparedness at all levels down the line.
Phase – 2 – tasks to be performed by panchayat for rescue & relief before
and during the impact disasters:
• At on-set warning of disaster, the gram panchayat leaders with help of
district & panchayat samite level officers should start preparedness for
countering disaster
• Establishment of temporary shelters relief camps should start immediately.
• Volunteers and task forces should be kept in full readiness to take rescue
operations at shortest notice.
Panchayat samitis:
• With final warning of disaster, to identify the villages likely to affected and
send teams of task forces / volunteers to the villages to supervise counter
disaster measures.
• Arrange and assists gram panchayat to establish temporary shelters / relief
camps.
• Supervise the rescue and relief activities along with district level officers.
Zilla parishads:
• In on-set of disaster, monitor the situation, identify the panchayat samite
and villages most likely to be affected and issue warnings at close intervals
to all concerned.
• Monitor the rescue and relief operations at the village level.
• Activate the CMG & put them on job assisting panchayart samite and
village panchayat for taking counter disaster measures.
Phase – 3 – Reconstruction and long term planning:
Gram panchayat:
• Assist in the identification of the victims of the disaster & eligible for
various types of compensations and assist in the distribution.
• Enforce the minimum code or specifications for the construction of
individual houses, community & government buildings other physical
structure.
• Organize the village level task force or volunteers & train them in counter
disaster measures.
Panchayat samiti:
• Assist gram panchayat in identification of persons eligible for different
types of compensation & its distribution.
• Assist in the formulation of long term mitigation planning and its
integration with the development plan of the panchayat samite and the
district.
• Assist and execute repair and reconstruction activities.
Zilla parishads:
• Planning and implementation of rehabilitation of affected people, repair &
reconstruction of damaged houses, physical infrastructure are return to
normal economic activity including farming
• The long term mitigation plan should integrate normal development plan
in such manner protective & preventive measures against the disaster
adhered in implementation of all development projects under every sector.
• Compensation of loss of lives, properties of individuals should also begin.
Role of Urban Local Bodies
Tasks:
• Keeping unauthorized persons out of the disaster area in order to prevent
looting and decreasing congestion hampering rescue efforts, and preventing
persons from being injured in the wreckage.
• Disbursing large amounts of donations
• Disposing unclaimed valuables and merchandise found in the rubble.
• Acquiring and allocating unusual resources
• Sharing and collecting information on what agencies have responded to and
what resources have they dispatched.
• Generating and sharing predictions about weather conditions; and
Obtaining information on how to deal with specific hazardous chemicals
According to the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
(UN/ISDR):
several key parties that play major roles in the disaster management
process.
- local governments
- national governments
- regional institutions
- NGOs, Corporations
- Media and scientific communities
Communities:
It is most vulnerable are the key stakeholders in disaster management. These are
most vital to people-centered early warning systems. Their input into system
design and their ability to respond ultimately determine the extent of risk
associated with natural hazards.
Key issues:
• The vulnerable communities need to be aware of hazards and potential
negative impacts to which they are exposed and be able to take specific
actions to minimize the threat of loss or damage.
• The most essential determinant of the selection of the disasters on which
system should focus is the geographical location of such communities.
Local Governments
• it need to have considerable knowledge of the hazards to which their
communities are exposed. Thus, the local governments must be actively
involved in the design and maintenance of early warning systems.
• It should also have capacity to instruct or engage the local population in a
manner that increases their safety and reduces the potential loss of
resources on which the community depends
National Governments
• It is responsible for policies and frameworks that facilitate early warning.
• They are also responsible for the technical systems necessary for the
preparation and issuance of timely and effective hazard warnings for their
respective countries.
• The national government should ensure that warnings and related
responses are directed towards the most vulnerable populations through
the design of holistic disaster response and early warning frameworks that
address the specific needs of the related micro- and macro-level actors.
National Disaster Management Authority
• It consist of the Chairperson and such number of other members, not
exceeding nine, as may be prescribed by the Central Government and,
unless the rules otherwise provide.
• Prime Minister of India, who shall be the Chairperson of the National
Authority, ex officio
• other members, not exceeding nine, to be nominated by the Chairperson of
the National Authority.
• The Chairperson of the National Authority may designate one of the
members nominated under clause
(a) of sub-section
(b) to be the Vice-Chairperson of the National Authority.
Power & functions:
• Subject to the provisions of this Act, the National Authority shall have the
responsibility for laying down the policies, plans and guidelines for disaster
management for ensuring timely and effective response to disaster.
• Without prejudice to generality of the provisions contained in sub-section (1),the
National Authority may
- lay down policies on disaster management
- approve plans prepared by the Ministries or Departments of the
Government of India in accordance with the National Plan
- coordinate the enforcement and implementation of the policy and plan
for disaster management.
- recommend provision of funds for the purpose of mitigation
• The Chairperson of the National Authority shall, in the case of emergency, have
power to exercise all or any of the powers of the National Authority but exercise
of such powers shall be subject to ex post facto ratification by the National
Authority
State Disaster Management Authority
• It consist of the Chairperson and such number of other members, not
exceeding nine, as may be prescribed by the State Government and, unless
the rules otherwise provide.
• Members:
- The Chief Minister of the State, who shall be Chairperson, ex officio;
- other members, not exceeding eight, to be nominated by the
Chairperson of the State
- the Chairperson of the State Executive Committee, ex officio.
• The Chairperson of the State Authority may designate one of the members
nominated under clause (b) of sub-section (2) to be the Vice-Chairperson of
the State Authority
• The Chairperson of the State Executive Committee shall be the Chief
Executive Officer of the State Authority, ex officio:
• Provided that in the case of a Union territory having Legislative Assembly,
except the Union territory of Delhi, the Chief Minister shall be the
Chairperson of the Authority established under this section and in case of
other Union territories, the Lieutenant Governor or the Administrator shall
be the Chairperson of that Authority
• Provided further that the Lieutenant Governor of the Union territory of
Delhi shall be the Chairperson and the Chief Minister thereof shall be the
Vice- Chairperson of the State Authority.
Power & Functions:
• Subject to the provisions of this Act, a State Authority shall have the
responsibility for laying down policies and plans for disaster management in the
State.
• Without prejudice to the generality of provisions contained in sub-section (1)the
State Authority may:
- lay down the State disaster management policy
- approve the State Plan in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the
National Authority
- approve the disaster management plans prepared by the departments of the
Government of the State
• The Chairperson of the State Authority shall, in the case of emergency, have
power to exercise all or any of the powers of the State Authority but the exercise
of such powers shall be subject to ex post facto ratification of the State
Authority.
District Disaster Management Authority
• It consist of the Chairperson and such number of other members, not
exceeding seven, as may be prescribed by the State Government, and
unless the rules otherwise provide.
• it shall consist of the following, namely:
- the Collector or District Magistrate or Deputy Commissioner, as the
case may be, of the district who shall be Chairperson, ex officio
- the elected representative of the local authority who shall be the c
o- Chairperson, ex officio
- Provided that in the Tribal Areas, as referred to in the Sixth
Schedule to the Constitution, the Chief Executive Member of the
district council e autonomous district, shall be the co-Chairperson, ex
officio
 - the Chief Executive Officer of the District Authority, ex officio
- the Superintendent of Police, ex officio
- the Chief Medical Officer of the district, ex officio
- not exceeding two other district level officers, to be appointed by
the State Government.
• In any district where zila parishad exists, the Chairperson thereof shall be
the co-Chairperson of the District Authority.
• The State Government shall appoint an officer not below the rank of
Additional Collector or Additional District Magistrate or Additional
Deputy Commissioner, as the case may be, of the district to be the Chief
Executive Officer of the District Authority to exercise such powers and
perform such functions as may be prescribed by the State Government and
such other powers and functions as may be delegated to him by the District
Authority. Towers and functions of District Authority
Power & Functions:
• The District Authority shall act as the district planning, coordinating and implementing
body for disaster management and take all measures for the purposes of disaster
management in the district in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the National
Authority and the State Authority.
• Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of sub-section (1), the District
Authority may
- pepare a disaster management plan including district response plan for the
district
- coordinate and monitor the implementation of the National Policy, State
Policy, National Plan, State Plan and District Plan.
- ensure that the guidelines for prevention of disasters, mitigation of its effects,
preparedness and response measures as laid down by the national authority & state
authority are followed by all departments of government at district level and local
authorities in the district.
Early Warning System

• To describe the provision of information on an emerging dangerous

circumstances where that information can enable action in advance to
reduce the risks involved.
• An Early Warning System (EWS) can be defined as a set of capacities
needed to generate and disseminate timely and meaningful warning
information of the possible extreme events or disasters (e.g. floods,
drought, fire, earthquake and tsunamis) that threatens people‘s lives.
• The purpose of this information is to enable individuals, communities and
organizations threatened to prepare and act appropriately and in sufficient
time to reduce the possibility of harm, loss or risk
Elements:
• Risk Knowledge : Risk assessment provides essential information to set
priorities for mitigation and prevention strategies and designing early
warning systems.
• Monitoring and Predicting : Systems with monitoring and predicting
capabilities provide timely estimates of the potential risk faced by
communities, economies and the environment.
• Disseminating Information : Communication systems are needed for
delivering warning messages to the potentially affected locations to alert
local and regional governmental agencies. The messages need to be
reliable, synthetic and simple to be understood by authorities and public.
• Response : Coordination, good governance and appropriate action plans are
a key point in effective early warning. Likewise, public awareness and
education are critical aspects of disaster mitigation
• Early warning information needs to be communicated in people friendly
manner in such a way that facilitates decision-making and timely action of
response organizations and vulnerable groups.
Needs of EWS:
• Early Warning for disaster reduction is a legitimate matter of public policy
at the highest national levels for two main reasons
- public safety, and the protection of human lives
- the protection of the nation‘s resource base and productive assets
(infrastructure and private property or investments) to ensure long term
development and economic growth. Conversely, by reducing the
impact of disasters, a government avoids the financial and political-
burden of massive rehabilitation costs.
• Investing in early warning and other measures of disaster reduction is
neither simple nor inexpensive, but the benefits of doing so, and the costs of
failing to, are considerable.
Communication of Early Warning Information
• An effective early warning system needs an effective communication
system. Early warning communication systems are made of two main
components.
• Communication infrastructure hardware that must be reliable and robust,
especially during the natural disasters.
• Appropriate and effective interactions among the main actors of the early
warning process such as the scientific community, stakeholders, decision
makers, the public, and the media
• Many communication tools are currently available for warning
dissemination such as Short Message Service (SMS) (cellular phone text
messaging), email, radio, TV, and web service. Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) is a key element in early warning.
• ICT plays an important role in disaster communication and dissemination
of information to organizations in charge of responding to warnings and to
the public during and after a disaster.
• Redundancy of communication systems is essential for disaster
management, while emergency power supplies and back-up systems are
critical in order to avoid the collapse of communication systems after
disasters occur.
Community Based Early Warning System
• Early warning systems have limitations in terms of saving lives if they are
not combined with ‘people-centered’ networks. To be effective, early
warning systems must be understandable, trusted by and relevant to the
communities that they serve.
• Warnings will have little value unless they reach the people most at risk,
who need to be trained to respond appropriately to an approaching hazard
• It is based on a "people-centered" approach that empowers individuals and
communities threatened by hazards to act in sufficient time and in an
appropriate manner in a bid to reduce the possibility of personal injury, loss
of life, damage to property, environment and loss of livelihood
Relevance of indigenous knowledge
• It is knowledge that people in given community have developed over time
and continuous to develop. It is based on experience, often tested over
centuries of use, adapted to local culture and environment dynamic and
changing.
• Indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) comprise knowledge systems that
have within various societies' independent of, and prior to, the advent of
the modern scientific knowledge system.
• Indigenous knowledge can help to meet the broader objectives of society,
for instance conserving the environment, developing sustainable
agriculture and ensuring food security, while its protection encourages the
maintenance of traditional practices nd lifestyles.
• Indigenous knowledge has played a huge role in providing cumulative
wisdom passed on from generation to generation.
• Indigenous knowledge incorporates all aspects of life spirituality, history,
cultural practices, social interactions, language, healing.
• Indigenous knowledge refers to the understandings, skills and philosophies
developed by societies with long histories of interaction with their natural
Surroundings.
• For rural and indigenous peoples, local knowledge informs decision-
making about fundamental aspects of day-to-day life.
• Disaster Reduction Hyperbase (DRH) initiative has given due importance
Indigenous Knowledge, and elaborated the concept Transferable
Indigenous (Transferable Indigenous Knowledge), as traditional art
disaster reduction that indigenous specific region(s) but having potential to
applied other regions having time-tested reliability
Criteria:
• Understandable users
• Provides core knowledge with flexibility for local adaptation for
implementation.
• Uses local knowledge and skills, and materials based on local ecology.
• Some of events organized and publications brought out:
- 2007-08 by UNISDR
- Kyoto university
- European Commission
- DRH Asia
- SEEDS (Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development
Society)
• Transferable indigenous knowledge meeting in delhi- feb 2007: initial
discussion and case study experience sharing.
• Indigenous knowledge workshop in july 2008 in Kyoto university: policy
discussion on thematic indigenous knowledge sectors.
Appropriate Technology:
• Appropriate Technology (AT) implementation should foster community
empowerment and sustainability.
• Successful implementation requires community engagement throughout
conceptualization, development, technology implementation, assessment and
impact evaluation. Development professionals should be sensitive to socio-
cultural context and respect local knowledge, part of the Indigenous Knowledge
Systems (IKS).
• IKS developed prior to modern scientific knowledge systems (MSKS), which
followed colonization and "western" education. IKS are diverse, spanning
ancient India, China, and the African continent
Application of Information Technology in Disaster Management:
The changing trends have opened up a large number of scientific and
technological resources and skills to reduce disaster risk.
- GIS and Remote Sensing
- internet
GIS (Geographic Information System)
• GIS provides a tool for effective and efficient storage and manipulation of
remotely sensed data and other spatial and non-spatial data types for both
scientific management and policy oriented information.
• This can be used to facilitate measurement, mapping, monitoring and
modelling of variety of data types related to natural phenomenon
Remote Sensing:
• Remote sensing makes observation of any object from a distance and
without coming into actual contact. Remote sensing can gather data much
faster than ground based observation, can cover large area at one time to
give a synoptic view.
Drought:
• GIS and Remote Sensing can be used in drought relief management such
as early warnings of drought conditions will help to plan out the strategies
to organize relief work.
• Satellite data may be used to target potential ground water sites for taking
up well-digging programmers.
Earthquake:
GIS and Remote Sensing can be used for preparing seismic hazards maps in
order to assess the exact nature risks.
Floods:
Satellite data can be effectively used for mapping and monitoring the flood
inundated areas, flood damage assessment, flood hazard zoning and post-
flood survey of rivers configuration and protection works.
Landslides:
Landslide zonation map comprise a map demarcating the stretches or area of
varying degree of anticipated slope stability or instability. The map has an
inbuilt element of forecasting and is hence of probabilistic nature
Search and Rescue
• GIS can be used in carrying out search and rescue operations in a more
effective manner by identifying areas that are disasters prone and zoning
them accordingly to risk magnitudes.
Internet:
• In the present era of electronic communication, the internet provides a
useful platform for mitigation communications.
• Launching of a well defined web site is a very cost-effective means of
making an intra-national and international presence felt.
• It provides a new and potentially revolutionary option for the rapid,
automatic, and global dissemination of disaster information
Warning and Forecasting System:
An advance system of forecasting, monitoring and issuing early warnings
plays the most significant role in determining whether a natural hazard will
assume disastrous proportions or not.
Indian Meteorological Department (IMD):
• IMD provides cyclone warnings from the Area Cyclone Warning Centers
(ACWCS). It has developed the necessary infrastructure to originate and
disseminate the cyclone warnings at appropriate levels. It has made
operational a satellite based communication system called Cyclone
Warning Dissemination System for direct dissemination of cyclone
warnings to the cyclone prone coastal areas.
• IMD runs operationally a Limited-area Analysis and Forecast System
(LAFS), based on an Optimal Interpretation (OI) analysis and a limited
area Primitive Equation (PE) model, to provide numerical guidance
National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA):
• Long term drought proofing programs on the natural resources of the
district have been greatly helped by the use of satellite data obtained by
NRSA.
Seismological Observations:
• Seismological observations in the country are made through national
network of 36 seismic stations operated by the IMD, which is the nodal
agency. These stations have collected data over long periods of time.
Warning System for Drought:
• The National Agricultural Drought Assessment and Management
System(NADAMS) has been developed by the Department of Space for
the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, and is primarily based on
monitoring of vegetation status through National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) Advanced Very High Resolution (AVHR) data
Flood Forecasting
• Flood forecasts and warnings are issued by the Central Water Commission
(CWC) Ministry of Water Resources. These are used for alerting the public
and for taking appropriate measures by concerned administrative and state
engineering agencies in the flood hazard mitigation.
Cyclone Tracking:
• Information on cyclone warnings is furnished on a real-time basis to the
control room set up in the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India.
• High-power Cyclone Detection Radars (CDRs) that are installed along the
coastal belt of India have proved to be a very useful tool to the cyclone
warning work. These radars locate and track approaching Tropical
Cyclones within a range of 400 km.
Local Resources:
Local resources play a crucial role in disaster management, as they are
readily available and can be mobilized quickly during emergency situations.
Leveraging local resources in disaster management helps build resilience,
enhances response capabilities, and fosters community ownership and
involvement.
Early Warning Systems:
• Local communities often have valuable knowledge of natural signs and
indicators that precede certain disasters such as floods, earthquakes, or
storms.
• Utilizing this indigenous knowledge can help in developing effective early
warning systems, enabling communities to take timely action and evacuate
if necessary.
Community-Based Disaster Preparedness:
• Local resources can be harnessed to conduct community-based disaster
preparedness training.
Search and Rescue Operations:
• During disasters, immediate search and rescue efforts are critical to saving
lives. Local resources, including volunteers with knowledge of the terrain
and familiarity with affected areas, can complement and support
professional responders in these operations.
Shelter and Infrastructure:
• Local materials and construction techniques can be used to build
emergency shelters and temporary infrastructure for displaced
communities.
Food and Water Supply:
• Local agriculture and food resources can be vital in providing immediate
relief after a disaster. Mobilizing local farmers and food producers can help
ensure a steady supply of food and water to affected populations.
Communication Networks:
• Local communication channels, such as community radios, can serve as
effective tools for disseminating vital information during disasters, especially
when conventional communication infrastructure may be disrupted.
Community Support and Resilience:
• Local resources foster a sense of community ownership and resilience. When
communities are actively involved in disaster management efforts, they tend
to respond more effectively, support each other, and recover faster in the
aftermath of a disaster.
Cultural Knowledge and Coping Mechanisms:
• Local cultures often have coping mechanisms and rituals to deal with the
psychological and emotional impacts of disasters.
Resource Allocation and Distribution:
• Local knowledge can aid in identifying vulnerable populations and ensure
that resources and aid are distributed equitably and efficiently based on the
needs of different community groups.
Post-Disaster Recovery and Reconstruction:
• After a disaster, local resources can be utilized in the process of rebuilding
and reconstruction. Local artesian, craftsmen, and builders can contribute
to rebuilding efforts, ensuring that the process aligns with cultural norms
and practices