Disaster trends and types have witnessed serious change under the impact of climate change, urbanisation, industry and technology shifts coupled with large scale ecological modifications. While this is a global reality, Bharat’s uniqueness in both – its exposure to diverse risks because of different geo-physiographic as well as developmental settings, and also because of its large land area with undulating terrains in localising disaster resilience agenda. Past experiences of disasters and utilising lessons to improve, professional advancement promotion and mainstreaming of disaster management along with innovations and leadership on the lines of national leadership are some of the key determinants that appeared important in bringing ground improvements in disaster preparedness and response. Disasters like recent cyclones in Odisha and Gujarat, Silkyara tunnel rescue in Uttarakhand and COVID-19 as pan-Bharat examples are among the top list of success stories. However, the newer disaster types like forest fires, urban flooding, dams, particularly landslides and floods, under anthropogenic effects are adding to critical contexts for local resilience building.
Sharing Varied Experience
Since Bharat’s long experience in dealing with diverse disaster risks, particularly the change in approach towards pro-active and professional strategies, over the past ten years has brought it to global leadership in sharing not only knowledge and case studies but also extending support to global community in capacity development, research and emergency response during major disasters in other countries as well. Bharat’s global leadership in disaster management and climate actions are well evidenced through various mechanisms including G-20 presidency, BIMSTEC, COP-14 of UNCCD, UNFCCC COP focus on loss, damage and adaptation, and intense regional cooperation and bilateral support of Bharat to other nations including South-South cooperation. Aligned to the national leadership vision of Bharat as a Vishwa Guru, the domain of disaster management is placed uniquely and well. The following Sanskrit shloka befits appropriately in the context of disaster management capacity support globally.
प्रेरकः सूचकश्वैव वाचको दर्शकस्तथा ।
शिक्षको बोधकश्चैव षडेते गुरवः स्मृताः ॥
(The Guru is the one who inspires, informs, tells truth, guides, educates and helps in self-realisation)
Mitigating Disaster
Bharat’s disaster management has become a global example in several contexts. Bharat’s legal and institutional mechanisms, specialised disaster response force, integrated approach with climate actions and sustainability, one of the best internal ‘national financial mechanisms’ with rarest in the world – a disaster mitigation fund at national level, and allocations for response, capacity building are illustrated well. Promotion of global mechanisms like Coalition of Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), G20 working group on Disaster Management, and pro-active approach in supporting states, and also the other nations in disasters are part of the vision Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (world is a family)”. Bharat’s approach where a large number of civil society actors and private sectors, besides innovators, startups and the academic world feels highly motivated to address current and future disaster challenges, in addition to the national level programme of volunteers – Aapda Mitra, is also an innovation towards local strengthening.
Emerging Contours: Recent Disaster Lessons
The devastating floods in Chennai, Kerala, Wayanad landslide are a few of the examples in recent years to tell the other side of stories where proactive risk mitigation and preparedness strategies by the local administrations could have surely worked better in minimising damages and people’s sufferings. While the Central Government has left no stone unturned in helping the people and Governments of the State and districts in these disasters, but, this is important in view of the realisation of ‘there is no natural disaster’ and it is ‘our failure to mitigate the risk’ presents a disaster to us to face and challenge to response effectively on site. Effective and open, proactive collaboration between local, state and central authorities in case of an early warning to prepare better to meet such challenges would help work more effectively, is a key lesson from such disasters in the country and elsewhere.
Globally, forest fires, wind and dust-storms are new disaster focuses due to the increasing trends. Heat-wave is another global menace linked to climate change impacts which is now a known contributor of significant mortality, and a critical concern for Bharat too. Urban floods have become common globally, in general, and in particular in most of the important cities of South Asia including in Bharat. Urban floods have become regular impediments to economic and social continuity causing damage and losses to infrastructure systems as well. Emphasis on promotion of manufacturing, formulation, processing, other industrial and energy sectors including hydrogen economy, calls for greater investment in safety and emergency preparedness in workplace and handling. Over the recent decade, devastating fires and related incidents including in critical facilities like – hospitals, schools, office buildings, low economy colonies and small and medium industries have brought in a lateral focus on fire disasters. Traffic and drowning deaths while not focused adequately but if the numbers brought together would call for significant focus and towards concerted actions. Cloudburst and flash floods were common in hilly areas but in recent decades their intensities, frequency and consequent devastations have become much more evident. Glacial-lake floods (GLOF) and landslide floods (LLOF) are also the challenges which sought attention for research based policy and location actions towards proactive risk mitigation and preparedness. Equally, human induced disasters besides industrial ones, are stampede and, hence, crowd and large congregation management is an emerging key area in disaster management too.
The global emphasis on Loss & Damage under the COP meetings of UNFCCC where Bharat’s role has been instrumental, needs to bring ‘understanding and reduction of vulnerability – physical, social, environmental and systemic’ at the core focus of disaster management, as witnessed by the damages our infrastructure systems, like roads, bridges, industrial systems, and communities in the affected areas have faced. The floods of 2023 and 2024 are bringing such issues as critical considerations for further improving our understanding and actions for localising disaster resilience and preparedness. Landscape and river basin based approach, concern to peri-urban ecosystems and landscape, new methods for understanding disaster related impacts of major developmental projects in anticipation, blending traditional and conventional techniques with newer once and artificial intelligence, are the cross-sectional contexts from the disaster lessons of major disasters in the recent past.
Preparing for Safe Future: Post-2030 Agenda
Bharat is among few nations which considers the disaster safety of citizens and addressing climate related hazards concerns as critical in the journey to be a developed nation by 2047. The recently proposed amendment bill on Disaster Management Act, the two major emphasis, i.e. effective database system on disaster related issues, and urban disaster management authority, demonstrate the real time strategic decisions which would also empower state and local administrations but brings greater responsibility and accountability as well. Bharat’s national disaster management plan was the first to align with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR). SFDRR and the other global goals like Paris Agreement and SDGs are going to end by 2030 but this is the time to develop a clear vision and action plan for post-2030 contexts and yardsticks for disaster response, preparedness and risk mitigation. Besides the National Authority (NDMA), Institutes (NDIM Delhi and Vijayawada) and Specialized Response Force (NDRF) the Government of India in the Ministry of Science & Technology has established an Integrated Centre on Adaptation and DRR (ICARS) at the Noida campus of IIT Roorkee, to help bring strategic research and knowledge integration support to policy processes and capacity building towards professional advances in disaster management. A huge investment in improving Bharat’s fire management system is on the way, considering fire as a major challenge in public and property safety.
Research-Policy-Planning-Practice Interface
Recognizing that it needs continuous feedback linkages between the top-down approach and the bottom-up approach to strengthen further the flow of policy guidance and proactive translation and contextualization at local level, Bharat’s national strategy has been of empowering state governments in all possible means including the most important – financial resources. The 14th Finance Commission brought significant changes in providing funds to states to enable systems including 24×7 hours operational state and district Emergency Operation Centres to translate the centrally issued early warnings in form of locally understandable and actionable narrations including regarding possible impacts of a likely disaster and to trigger proactive – locally and contextually relevant actions.
The 15th Finance Commission further established disaster mitigation funds and re-recreated the Disaster Risk Management Funds for which the Central Government also issued the guidelines regarding INR 220,000 crores allocated for Disaster Management with the States’ share being INR 160,000 crores. This allocation includes, for Response (40%), Disaster Mitigation (20%), Capacity Building (10%) and Recovery and Reconstruction (30%). As the responsibility regarding pro-active preparedness and response primarily lies with the State governments and Central Government has an advisory and assisting role, states have been given greater opportunities as well and some of the states have demonstrated it well too. However, research outcomes focused on guidance and pro-active actions from the central government in case of a disaster situation have always been on the cards. A huge investment of efforts towards enabling the key sectors of development in understanding and planning for their disaster risk-resilience has been the first item in the well quoted Prime Minister’s ten point agenda. Risk and vulnerability mapping from disaster and climate extreme point of view have been undertaken and are being updated as per the needs of the time. Bharat’s approach of having expert committees on disaster management in all levels of the governance including the constitution of the apex authority on disaster management and the institute has demonstrated this foresightedness by bringing in the expertise of research, science, policy, ground level practices to enable the lessons of disasters and the past experiences are not wasted.
Professionalising Disaster Management
It has been a global challenge especially in both the South and other developing and least developed nations of the world that disaster management, except in emergency response in some cases, lacks professionally competent experts at local levels to carry out assessments, planning and coordination of disaster management functions. Bharat’s strategy brought in a significant focus in professional capacity building in different domains of disaster management including the S&T, social and policy-planning domains along with the initiatives of systematic approach to curriculum development and training. Bharat is supporting several countries of the world in the area of capacity building in disaster management backed by research, science and knowledge integration based endeavours.
Minimising Damages
Looking at the changing contours and diversity of disaster types emerging with technological advances along with unprecedented anthropogenic and landscape changes, the professional advances should not be a static but must be a dynamic approach. In view of post-2030 preparedness, this is critical to anticipate and proactively prepare to deal with newer types of disaster risks which will significantly help in minimising damages and losses. Expertise availability at local levels and in the domains of state’s endeavour requires greater focus, for which the Central Government has facilitated significant fiscal resources as well.
Local and Regional Emphasis
The key to future disaster management effectiveness lies in localising the resilience agenda. The global and national policy regime has matured enough but the translation of these in action terms at States and particularly by the local Governments – districts, urban local bodies, Panchayats and industrial areas, showed highly undulating terrains. For prudent futuristic disaster management, State’s emphasis on establishing and improving professionally equipped systems are inevitable. The concept of ‘golden hours’ is also very important for local level preparedness to alert and safeguard the people from disasters. Examples like the cyclones in Odisha and Gujarat and the Siklyara tunnel cases demonstrate the principles of zero tolerance which should now become a universal aim. However, a network of experts, volunteers including Apda Mitra, states own schemes, civil defence, ex-servicemen, private sector and government at district and City levels have been recommended in the National Human Resource Plan for Disaster Management. Similar networks at the State level can also strengthen the State’s authority on disaster management by bringing in professional advances and ground understandings. Some of the examples may include – preparation of sectoral disaster management plans and heat action plans for the cities in the states, which are further to be audited seriously for their actionability. The State Government of Sikkim has recently established a Sikkim Commission on Glacial Hazards to study various researches and ground realities and to come up with local specific solutions for disaster reduction and preparedness. On the Central Government’s call, some of the State Governments have taken up developing and upgrading their State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), which would certainly add to regional and local strengthening with contextual and socio-cultural understanding.
Integrating Strengths and Opportunities
Disaster, the word itself, is indicative of unprecedented or severe challenge in size or intensity. Climate change is a known contributor along with landscape and ecological changes – planned or unplanned, to increasing frequency and intensity of disasters. Bharat’s proneness to earthquake risk creates a sleeping explosion risk as there is no effective early warning to earthquakes. Fire risks have multiplied in cities and industrial systems with change of high and cold temperature peaks, and changes in materials, technologies, and living standards. Resources of nature like water and other renewable bioresources are limited in the light of growing needs and, hence, contribute to increasing vulnerability of social systems. COVID-19’s lessons are also followed up by smaller scale but significant disease outbreaks and add health the disaster risks critical matrix. Thus, the planning and actions, and concerned preparedness to respond to disasters at local levels and also to extend support to disaster affected people outside the nation has to comprehend more proactively to focus equally or even more on risk reduction and professional capacity building investments. A recent example of Bharat’s new intervention is the study of National Highways, road infrastructure vulnerability to climate and disaster risks and to improve design and construction standards through the national high climate adaptation policy. As perceived, Bharat’s recently evolved approach has provided greater benefits not only to the people in the country but also as an excellent example for the world that should further strengthen with local contextualisation and actions.
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