disaster-country profile - india

The World Bank Institute Natural Disaster Risk Management Program

Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management Framework

Final Assignment

Author – Anshul Goel Course – CDRMF

1India

Total Area: 3,287,240 sq km1

Total Population: 1,169,610,0002

Population Distribution 3:Rural:72.2%Urban:27.8%

Population Growth Rate (01-07): 1.4%4

Poverty 5

Urban – 26%Rural - 28%

GDP (nominal): $1.367 trillion6

GDP Growth Rate (07-08): 9.0%7

GDP per capita (nominal): $1.1248

Sectoral Distribution of GDP:9

GDP-Agriculture: 17.2%GDP-Industry: 29.1%GDP-Service: 52.7%

Source : mapsof india.com

The Planning Commission after examining the earlier studies on the regionalization of the agricultural economy has recommended that agricultural planning be done on the basis of agro climatic regions. For resource development, the country has been broadly divided into fifteen agricultural regions based on agro climatic features, particularly soil type, climate including temperature and rainfall and its variation and water resources availability. Such diversity has both opportunities and challenges attached to it.

It is a well known fact that natural disasters strikes countries, both developed and developing, causing enormous destruction and creating human sufferings and producing negative impacts on national economies. Due to diverse geo-climatic conditions prevalent in different parts of the

1 Data of yr 2001: Excluding 120849sq km under dispute) as per Census India (Govt of India)2 As per the Population Commission of India3 As per the Population Commission of India4 India country overview September 2010 : World Bank5 India country overview September 2010 : World Bank6 IMF Data (2010) - Reports on selected countries and subjects (Wikipedia)7 IMF Data (2010) - Reports on selected countries and subjects (Wikipedia)8 IMF Data (2010) - Reports on selected countries and subjects (Wikipedia)9 Data of yr 2001: as per Census India (Govt of India)


globe, different types of natural disasters like floods, droughts, earthquakes, cyclones, landslides, volcanoes, etc. strikes according to the vulnerability of the area. India is considered as the world's most disaster prone country.10

About 54 per cent of the sub-continent’s landmass is vulnerable to earthquakes while about 4 crore hectares is vulnerable to periodic floods.11

Main Hazards. In the recent past it has witnessed devastating natural disasters like droughts, floods, cyclones, earthquakes, landslides, tsunami etc.

Indian agriculture is significantly dependent on monsoon as a source of irrigation. Any incident of low rainfall will directly cause drought. Historically speaking Rajasthan and Gujarat are most hit by drought which chokes the life out of the population leading to famine or migration. In the year 2002, 300 million were hit by drought in India.12

Indian river system is not optimally channelized to minimize the impact of floods. Like most civilizations the major population lives on banks of rivers thus open to risk of floods. Cosmopolitan like Mumbai or Delhi had recently suffered both by ways of losing lives and economic impact.

Map details the Disaster prone geographical regions Source : mapsof india.com

Cyclones majorly impact coastal areas like Orissa, Andra Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Kerela. They are formed due to change in pressure points in the ocean. A recent tropical cyclone named “Laila” caused loss of life and disrupted the crude oil output for some days.

India is placed is a very seismic sensitive point. It is regularly struck by quakes. These earth quakes further lead to land slides in Himalayan range causing acute loss of property and lives. This even makes the rehabilitation more challenging. 26th Jan, 2001 at Bhuj, Gujarat is still fresh in memories of the Indians.

Tamil Nadu woke up the crude reality of tsunami in 2004. It was caused due to sudden shifts tectonic plates (earth quakes Indonesia) causing formation of large waves subsequently engulfing coastal life of India and Sri Lanka. The Loss of life was estimated to be of 12000 and huge economic loss in terms of tourism and infrastructure.

10 Gupta, Dr. Alok (2000), Information Technology and Natural Disaster Management in India.11 Extract of chapter in 10th five yr plan - GOI12 BBC News


2TSUNAMI

SNAPSHOT

Trigger: The first and strongest earthquake occurred off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia on December 26, 2004. Earthquakes set off giant tsunami tidal waves of 3 to 10 meters.

Effected Areas: Extensive damage in the Union Territory (UT) of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the UT of Pondicherry.

Human Toll: According to Government reports 10,881 people in India lost their lives and 5,792 persons were reported missing with 6,913 injured.

Economic Impact: Overall damages are estimated to be $574.5 million, and losses are estimated to be $448.3 million. Whilst the largest proportion of the damages are concentrated in fisheries, housing and infrastructure, material private asset damages related to coastal fisheries, agriculture and micro enterprise livelihoods have been incorporated into the respective sectors.13

As per the preliminary report on damage and need assessment study conducted by United Nations, Asian Development Bank and World Bank following is the impact of tsunami disaster.

Summary of Damages and Losses ($million)

Tsunami impact zone highlighted in red

State wise Damage and Losses Effect on livelihoods

Damages Losses Total

Andhra Pradesh

29.7 15 44.7 21.2

Kerela 61.7 39.1 100.8 36.3

Tamil Nadu 437.8 377.2 815 358.3

Pondicherry 45.3 6.5 51.8 5.9

Total 574.5 448.3 1022.8 421.7

13 Excerpts from “India Post Tsunami Recovery Program: Preliminary Damage & Needs Assessment” by ADB, UN, WB.


Social Impact:The disaster has devastated communities with its high toll of human lives, injuries, adverse effect on family networks, homes and livelihood. There are long term consequences for families torn by the death or disability of a member, such as for widows, single parents and their children, orphans, children separated from their families, the elderly and the disabled.

Environmental Impacts. The tsunami affected about 2,260 km of coastline, causing extensive damage to the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, and more localized damage to the coasts of Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. The tsunami has had a number of primary impacts, including: i) the generation of debris and rubble; ii) erosion or accretion in numerous places along the coast as well as associated sedimentation of lagoons and waterways; iii) salinization of agricultural land and of ground and surface freshwater resources, and deposition of sea-bed organic deposits on land; iv) impacts on fishery resources, including aquaculture, and v) impact on coconut and other plantations.

Sector wise damage and losses in $ millionsSector Wise Damage and Losses

Fisheries was major industry which took hit because of Tsunami.

Damages Losses Total

Housing 193.1 35.4 228.5

Health & Education 10.7 12.9 23.6

Agriculture & Livestock 15.1 22.4 37.5

Fisheries 229.6 338.2 567.8

Livelihoods (microenterprises & others)

20 37.5 57.5

Rural & Mun Infrastructure 28 1.6 29.6

Transportation 35.2 0.3 35.5

Coastal Protection 42.8 0 42.8

Total 574.5 448.3 1022.8

Housing: The tsunami fully or partially damaged more than 150,000 housing units in the three states and Pondicherry causing estimated damages of Rs. 994.0 crore ($228.5 million). However, reconstruction costs are estimated to be much higher, mostly due to envisaged upgrading of the damaged housing from kachcha (temporary) to pucca (permanent) and cyclone resistant structures.

Health and Education: In Tamil Nadu, a few government schools, hospitals and health centers inthe districts of Nagapattinam, Cuddalore and Kanniyakumari were damaged badly, and there wasloss of equipment and amenities in many more health facilities

Agriculture and livestock: The damage to the agricultural sector, though not significant in overall terms, has had a great impact on the livelihoods of small and marginal agricultural landholders, especially poor women. Damage is mainly confined to the destruction of standing crops like paddy, groundnut, coconut, cashew, mango, banana, ragi (millet) and vegetables.


Fisheries: As per the crude estimates tsunami destroyed or damaged nearly 5,000 mechanized boats; a total of 7,933 fiber-reinforced plastic boats/vallams; about 24,580 motorized boats and 35,483 wooden catamarans. In addition, 2,342 outboard motors were damaged or lost. This is a conservative figure which is can increase substantially after revision.Rural infrastructure: Though the tsunami was very destructive in terms of damage tohousing and fishing boats, there was little infrastructure in the worst hit shore/beach fishingcommunities.

Transportation: More than 100 km of national highways, state highways and district roads, including six bridge sections, were damaged by the tsunami.

Coastal protection: About 28 km out of a total of 300 km of rubble mound seawalls (RMS) were damaged by the tsunami. Many existing flood banks near the mouths of rivers were also damaged, especially in Nagapattinam district.


3DISASTER MANAGEMENT:INDIA

Disaster management can be defined as the body of policy and administrative decisions and operational activities which pertain to the various stages of a disaster at all levels. Broadly disaster management can be divided into pre-disaster and post-disaster contexts. There are three key stages of activity that are taken up within disaster management. They are:

1. Before a disaster strikes (pre-disaster): Activities taken to reduce human and property losses caused by the hazard and ensure that these losses are also minimized when the disaster strikes. Risk reduction activities are taken under this stage and they are termed as mitigation and preparedness activities.2. During a disaster (disaster occurrence). Activities taken to ensure that the needs and provisions of victims are met and suffering is minimized. Activities taken under this stage are called as emergency response activities3. After a disaster (post-disaster) Activities taken to achieve early recovery and does not expose the earlier vulnerable conditions. Activities taken are called as response & recovery activities.

Excerpts from GOI-UNDP study “Hazards, Disaster and Your Community”

Disaster Management Act 2005. The Act lays down institutional, legal, financial and coordinationmechanisms at the National, State, District and Local levels. The new institutional framework is expected tousher in a paradigm shift in DM from relief-centric approach to a proactive regime that lays greateremphasis on preparedness, prevention and mitigation.• National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) - the apex body for disaster management, isheaded by the Prime Minister and has the responsibility for laying down policies, plans and guidelines for DM and coordinating their enforcement and implementation for ensuring timely and effective response to disasters.


• National Executive Committee (NEC) - The NEC is the executive committee of the NDMA, and ismandated to assist the NDMA in the discharge of its functions and also ensure compliance of thedirections issued by the Central Government. The NEC is to coordinate the response in the event of any threatening disaster situation or disaster. The NEC will monitor the implementation of guidelines issued by NDMA. • State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) - It will, inter alia approve the State Plan in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the NDMA, coordinate the implementation of the State Plan, recommend provision of funds for mitigation and preparedness measures and review the developmental plans of the different Departments of the State to ensure the integration of prevention, preparedness and mitigation measures. • District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) - The DDMA will act as the planning, coordinating and implementing body for DM at the District level and take all necessary measures for the purposes of DM in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the NDMA and SDMA. • Local Authorities - These bodies will ensure capacity building of their officers and employees for managing disasters, carry out relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction activities in the affected areas and will prepare DM Plans in consonance with the guidelines of the NDMA, SDMAs and DDMAs.• National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) - The major responsibilities, capacity development along with training, research, documentation and development of a National level information base. It will network with other knowledge-based institutions and function within the broad policies and guidelines laid down by the NDMA. • National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) - For the purpose of specialised response to a threatening disaster situation or disasters/emergencies both natural and man-made origin. • Mitigation Reserves - These reserves are intended to augment the resources at the State level.Mitigation reserves will be placed at the disposal of the NDRF for enhancing their emergencyresponse capabilities for assisting the State Governments during a disaster or disaster-like situation.

Over and above the existing structures like Cabinet Committee on Management of Natural Calamities (CCMNC), Cabinet Committee on Security(CCS), National Crisis Management Committee(NCMC) and High Level committee (HLC) to name a few.

Unlike man-made disasters, natural hazards like floods, earthquakes, and cyclones cannot be avoided. However, with mitigation measures along with proper planning of developmental work in the risk prone area, these hazards can be prevented from turning into disasters. A multi-pronged approach needs to be adopted to undertake mitigation measures: • Building mitigation measures into all development projects.• Initiating of National level mitigation projects by the NDMA, in high priority areas, with the help of the Central Ministries and Departments concerned and the States.• Encouraging and assisting State level mitigation projects in accordance with the guidelines.• Indigenous knowledge on disaster and coping mechanisms adopted by various States will be given due weightage with special focus on protection of heritage structures.

Risk Assessment and Vulnerability Mapping: Hazard zonation, mapping and vulnerability analysis in a multi-hazard framework will be carried out utilising Geographic Information System (GIS) based databases such as the National Database for Emergency Management (NDEM) and National


Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). As a first step towards addressing disaster vulnerabilities, Central Ministries and Departments, National agencies, knowledge-based institutions and DM authorities at the State and District levels need to carry out risk and vulnerability assessment of all disaster prone areas. Hazard zonation mapping and vulnerability analysis based on GIS and remote sensing data, needs to mandatorily include a ground check component. Hazard and Consequence Mapping on GIS platforms will be prepared for all chemical accident prone districts.

Preparedness Role of Central Ministries and Departments, and States States/UTs have to accord the highest priority to building up their own DM capabilities. Plans at all levels will be made in consonance with the guidelines and provisions in the DM Act, 2005.

Forecasting and Early Warning SystemsIt is most essential to establish, upgrade and modernise the forecasting and early-warning systems for all types of disasters. The nodal agencies responsible for monitoring and carrying out surveillance, for specific natural disasters, will identify technological gaps and formulate projects for their upgradation, in a time- ound manner. All States should provide to the India Meteorological Department, the required infrastructure for upgradation/ establishment of meteorological observation systems. Partnerships with the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), Pacific Tsunami Warning System and other regional and global institutions may also be considered. ICT tools need to be used for data receptions, forecasting and timely dissemination.

Communications and Information Technology (IT) SupportThe basic communications and ITsupport requirements for disaster management correspond to the following three levels:• Decision makers and disaster managers at all levels.• Real time dissemination of advance warnings and information to the authorities concerned at various levels and the threatened community. For dissemination of advance warning and information, broadcasting mediums such as television and radio shall be used significantly as they have higher geographical reach. For coastal and hilly regions, the network of the Meteorological Department may be used.• Last mile connectivity at the disaster site for control and conduct of rescue and relief operations.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) & Public-Private Partnership(PPP)Historically, the corporate sector has been supporting disaster relief and rehabilitation activities. However, the involvement of corporate entities in disaster risk reduction activities is not significant. Corporate entities should redefine their business continuity plan to factor in hazards, risks and vulnerabilities. They should also create value in innovative social investments in the community. PPP between the Government and private sector would also be encouraged to leverage the strengths of the latter in disaster management. The NDMA and SDMAs need to network with the corporate entities to strengthen and formalise their role in the DM process for ensuring safety of the communities.


4 Strengths & Weaknesses

The excerpt clearly shows the geographic disparity in terms of Disaster Management.

Disaster occur throughout the globe but the below graphic clearly shows that loss of life is primarily happening in lower half of the globe.India is a high risk zone when comes disasters.

Disaster management policy and act are in place and institutional level contributions are under way, we need to review and do Gap analysis with respect to impacts and preparedness.

Strengths:

• Promptness is actions and responsibility defined in the policy for disaster management.

• Suitable level authorization reduce bottle necks in relief an rehabilitation.

• Effective financial management at pre-disaster stage has made India self reliance financially

Weaknesses:

• Early warning mechanisms are not effectively disseminating the information and triggers.

• Need assessment and tailor made measures require quick and deep understanding of the people and economy, which due to large geography becomes challenge

• corruption and loopholes in relief distribution system ensure the effort are futile


5Recommendations

The policy makers can play a very vital role for fulfillment of the objectives outlined above. The following areas should be considered as key elements for development actions14:

1. To help create the legislative instruments in the State for framing of Disaster Management Policy.2. Capacity building and strengthening of institutional arrangements at all levels to address risk reduction as an ongoing function, including disaster reduction related legislation, covering land- use regulation, building codes and reinforced links to environmental protection. Capacity building at State level needs to include the development of an integrated disaster risk management plan that covers areas of risk assessment, early warning systems, training programmes, as well as emergency response management, recovery resources, including the strengthening of community based organizations. It also includes the increased capacity and sectoral synergies for sustainable management of forest and water-resources.3. Development of public educational programmes and campaigns on the relationships between sustainable development, natural hazards, vulnerabilities and disaster to enhance disaster reduction measures. The process starts in schools with educational programmes including curricula revision, teachers training and development of resource centres. It needs to expand to all levels of society by training efforts, with special emphasis on professionals and community based leaders and organizations.4. Creating and implementing comprehensive urban development strategies and land use plans, which provide a number of opportunities to mitigate damages caused by hazards. As location is the key factor, which determines the level of risk associated with a hazard, land- use plans and mapping should be used as tools to identify the most suitable usage for vulnerable areas (e.g., location of buildings, roads, power plants, storage of fuels). Local governments need to play an increasing role with regard to factors such as building standards, land and property markets, land and housing taxation, planning processes and infrastructure construction and management.5. Legally mandate building codes: - To improve resistance to the effects of natural hazards, better building practices are essential. Until there are building codes with the force of law, they will not be taken seriously by the construction industry. Such codes must incorporate modern technical standards.6. Enforce codes effectively:- Legally mandating codes is not enough; they must be enforced. Great care should be exercised in selecting the enforcement system for the codes, since some are easier to ignore, manipulate, or corrupt than others.7. To help develop techno-financial regime.- Allotment of some percentage development funds for disaster mitigation.- To earmark some percentage of Local Area Development Funds for retrofitting of lifeline buildings (like schools, hospitals etc.).

14 Arya, Karath and Agarwal, Excerpts from “Hazards, Disaster and your community”


disaster-country profile - india

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