Disaster Management in India: Disaster Management in India: This book – “Disaster Management in India: Challenges and Strategies” - provides Challenges and Strategies a practical and realistic understanding of the evolving status of disaster management in India. The book discusses techno-legal systems for disaster management and their real-life effectiveness based upon the author’s own professional experience as well as available literature including studies, reviews and audits reports. A case study of the 2001 Bhuj Earthquake conducted by the author is at the nucleus of the book and provides a clear understanding on how interdependent sub-systems (social, organisational, infrastructure) can fail during sever incidents, and the consequences thereof. Lack of resources, lack of coordination, and poor communication are endemic to severely damaged disaster environments like the 2001 Bhuj earthquake and are very commonly seen across the world. What is more important for the future is that new methods are being evolved that overcome the potential risks posed by such initial conditions for improving organizational performance. Lessons from the 2001 Bhuj earthquake highlighted in this book are still relevant and provide directions for well-designed future interventions. The book critically examines performance status of disaster management in R. K. Dave, the post DM Act 2005 period and identifies many relevant issues and challenges – including development of effective institutions for disaster risk management. At the end, the book proposes intervention strategies for strengthening and improving disaster management systems keeping in mind the latest developments and best-practices suited to Indian conditions. Drawing on the author’s decades of experience both in the domains of disaster management and technology, the book PhD, MSHS, MBA, BE provides tips on - Emergency Operations Center design and development; Media integration into DM, emergency Resources Management systems development and Crowd management. D 700.00 Disaster Management in India_Hard Cover.indd 1 16/02/18 5:21 PM Copyright 2017, Dr. R. K. Dave All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper or broadcast. Published in India by Prowess Publishing YRK Towers, Thadikara Swamy Koil St, Alandur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600016 ISBN-10: 1-5457-2015-0 ISBN-13: 978-1-5457-2015-8 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Disaster Management in India.indd 4 1/10/18 5:08 PM TABLE OF CONTENTS Disclaimer .................................................ix Preface ....................................................xi About the Author ............................................xv About the Title .............................................xvii Chapter 1 Introduction and Overview. 1 Chapter 2 India’s Vulnerabilities to Disasters ..................... 20 Chapter 3 Early History of Disaster Management in India (Prior to the 2001 Bhuj Earthquake) ............ 39 Chapter 4 Early History of Disaster Management in Indian States (With Special Reference to Gujarat State before 2001 Bhuj Earthquake) ................................. 44 Chapter 5 A Case Study of the 26 January 2001 Bhuj Earthquake ..... 63 Chapter 6 Disaster Management in Gujarat State: A Paradigm Shift after the Bhuj Earthquake 2001 ........ 105 Chapter 7 Disaster Management in India: New Initiatives .......... 118 | vii | Disaster Management in India.indd 7 1/10/18 5:08 PM DISASTER MANAGEMENT IN INDIA: CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES Chapter 8 Performance of Disaster Management in India: Post Disaster Management Act 2005 ........... 138 Chapter 9 Issues and Challenges in Managing Disasters in India ..... 162 Chapter 10 Strategic Recommendations ....................... 182 Annexure-1: An Approach For Design, Operation and Management of Emergency Operations Center (EOC) ............... 273 Annexure-2: “Regional Emergency Resource Center (R-ERC) (Conceptual Approach). 283 Annexure-3: Role of Media in Disaster Management ............... 295 Annexure-4: Crowd Management Plan for Venues and Events of Mass Gathering in India (Focus – Shrines and Religious Events). 315 Abbreviations ............................................. 323 List of References .......................................... 331 | viii | Disaster Management in India.indd 8 1/10/18 5:08 PM CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW DISASTER MANAGEMENT – A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE According to the United Nations, in 2001 alone, natural disasters of “medium” to “high” range caused at least 25,000 deaths around the world, more than double the previous year, and economic losses amounted to around US$ 36 billion. These figures would be much higher, if the consequences of the many smaller and unrecorded disasters that caused significant losses at the local community level were to be taken into account. Devastations in the aftermath of powerful earthquakes that struck Gujarat, El Salvador and Peru; floods that ravaged many countries in Africa, Asia and elsewhere; droughts that plagued Central Asia including Afghanistan, Africa and Central America; the cyclone in Madagascar and Orissa; and floods in Bolivia are some of the major global events in recent memory. However, what is disturbing is the knowledge that these trends of destruction and devastation are on the rise instead of being kept in check. Natural disasters are not bound by political boundaries and have no social or economic criteria for their onslaught. They are borderless as they affect both developing and developed countries. They are also | 1 | Disaster Management in India.indd 1 1/10/18 5:08 PM DISASTER MANAGEMENT IN INDIA: CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES merciless, and as such the vulnerable tend to suffer more due to the impact of natural disasters. For example, the developing countries are much more seriously affected in terms of the loss of lives, hardship borne by the population, and the percentage of their GNP lost. Since 1991, two-thirds (or about 66%) of the victims of natural disasters were from developing countries, while just 2 per cent were from highly developed nations. According to the World Disaster Report (2000), by comparing total number of disasters in various locations, the effect of development on disaster becomes stark. On an average, 22.5 people die per reported disaster in highly developed nations, 145 die per disaster in nations with medium human development, while each disaster in low human developed nations claims an average of 1052 people! Reinsurance Company ‘Munich Re’ states that costs associated with natural disasters have gone up 14 fold since the 1950s. Each year from 1991 to 2000, an average of 211 million people were killed or affected by natural disasters – seven times greater than the figure for those killed or affected by conflicts and wars. Towards the end of the 1990s, the world counted some 25 million ‘environmental refugees’ - for the first time in human history more people had fled due to natural hazards than due to conflicts. The mitigation efforts are on an increase at international, national, and local levels with escalating number of natural disasters and the losses across the globe over the past years. There has been a constant endeavor by the Governments across the globe at all levels to provide safety to life and property of their citizens. With the alarming rise in the frequency of natural disasters and wide-spread vulnerability per se, the world community is strengthening its efforts to cope with and respond effectively to the challenges. United Nations is spearheading the concept of Disaster Management and has come out with the Millennium Declaration to strengthen global disaster reduction activities for the Twenty-first century. UN declaration states that - Disasters have a tremendous detrimental impact on efforts at all levels to eradicate global poverty; the impact of disasters remains a significant challenge to sustainable development. It further states that - Nations have the primary responsibility to protect the people | 2 | Disaster Management in India.indd 2 1/10/18 5:08 PM CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW and property in their territory from any hazards, and thus, it is vital to give high priority to disaster risk reduction in national policy, consistent with the capacities and the resources available to them. UN’s Hyogo Framework for Action (2005–2015): Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters with its expected outcomes, strategic goals, and priorities for action, as well as implementation strategies and associated follow-up, as a guiding framework for the next decade on disaster reduction, reinforces the importance of Disaster Management at all levels. The Sendai Framework (2015–2030), successor instrument to the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005–2015, aims at - 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. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (Sendai Framework) is the first major agreement of the post-2015 development agenda, with seven targets and four priorities for action. It was