Disaster Management

Disaster Management can be defined as the organization and management of resources and responsibilities for dealing with all humanitarian aspects of emergencies, in particular preparedness, response and recovery in order to lessen the impact of disasters.

 

For India, the major hazards are earthquakes, landslides, drought, cyclones, floods, forest fires, fire accidents etc. Rapid growth in the population rate has certainly triggered the level of disasters. Natural disasters can only be mitigated but the man-made disasters can be prevented to a certain limit. India has taken many steps and has formed many organizations in order to mitigate, reduce and avoid the hazards of the disasters.

In India, the role of emergency management falls within the jurisdiction of the national disaster management authority of India (NDMA), which is doing a great job in reducing the hazardous impacts of the disaster and is operating from a government-centered approach to decentralized community participation.

But it needs much more sustained efforts to come out with a well-thought out strategy and response to minimize the colossal damage caused by disasters whenever a calamity has struck, for instance tsunami and Uttarakhand floods in recent times. We have not been able to mount adequate rescue and rehabilitation efforts to effectively deal with the situation.

Types of Disasters

There are two majorly two types of disasters:

1.  Natural disasters

2.  Man-made disasters

Natural disasters are the disasters caused due to natural reasons which are beyond the control of humans including floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and volcano eruptions that have immediate impacts on human lives.

Man-made disasters also known as the complex emergencies are the disasters caused due to major accidents like fires, the breakdown of authority, looting and attacks, including conflict situations and war.

Disaster management is a continuous phenomenon of mitigating the impact of the disasters. Disaster management calls for collective and co-ordinated efforts. A number of activities need to be undertaken in the event of disaster. These include co-ordination, command and control, rapid assessment of damage, restoration of power, tele-communication and surface transport, deployment of search and rescue teams, medicals and Para-medical teams, arrangements for drinking water and food material, setting up of temporary shelters, sanitation and hygiene identification and earmarking of resources, last but not the least, maintenance of law and order is equally important.

The most vulnerable sections in these disasters are the poor. Hence it is necessary to mobilize them towards preparedness for any emergency. Quick and timely response is the essence in providing immediate relief and rescue operations, to save human lives and mitigate miseries as soon as possible.

India has set up many departments and organizations for the same i.e. National disaster management authority (ndma), national remote sensing centre (nrsc), central water commission (cwc) etc. And due to the presence of so many authorities it is not feasible for all of them to take steps in a single direction.

Conclusion

Disaster management has assumed great importance in recent times. To handle any unforeseen situation efficiently, we need to be well-equipped with latest technologies. It cannot avert the outbreak of disaster, but can mitigate its impact to a large extent.