Disasters in India

India has faced some of the deadliest disasters in recent history. From natural disasters like earthquakes and floods to man-made disasters like the Bhopal gas tragedy, it is important to manage calamities with proper planning and mitigate these issues fast, reducing the loss of human lives and biodiversity. Disasters in India have founded the National Disaster Management Authority, an apex body that controls all disaster management-related tasks. 

Types of Disasters

There are two types of disasters:- 

• Natural Disasters
• Man-made or technological disasters

Natural Disasters

A natural disaster is an event that can result in injury, loss of assets and death too.

Examples of Natural Disasters are earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, tsunamis, cyclones, wildfires, pandemics etc.

Man-made and technological disasters

Human-caused disasters are the result of technical or human-caused risks. War, civil unrest, stampedes, fires, transport accidents, industrial accidents, conflicts, oil spills, terrorist attacks, and nuclear explosions/radiation are just a few examples.

Earthquakes in India:

• The Indian plate is shifting at a rate of around one centimetre per year towards the north and north-eastern directions, and its movement is constantly impeded by the Eurasian plate from the north.
• As a result, both plates are said to be locked together, resulting in energy accumulation at various periods in time. Extreme energy accumulation causes tension, which eventually leads to a sudden release of energy, generating earthquakes along the Himalayan arc.

Tsunami: 

• Tsunamis and earthquakes occur as a result of centuries of accumulated energy within the ground. A tsunami (‘Tsu means harbour in Japanese, and ‘nami’ means wave) is a succession of waves created by the displacement of a significant volume of water, usually an ocean.

Tropical Cyclone:

• Tropical cyclones are particularly dangerous to India’s coastal regions, resulting in frequent loss of life and property.
• Tropical cyclones are triggered by atmospheric disturbances in the vicinity of a low-pressure area, which are characterised by rapid and often destructive air circulation.
• Tropical cyclones and extratropical/temperate cyclones are the two types of cyclones classified geographically.

Floods:

• India is one of the world’s most flood-prone countries. The monsoon, highly silted river systems, and steep and extremely erodible mountains, notably those of the Himalayan ranges, are the principal causes of flooding in this country. A flood is defined as an overflow of water that submerges normally dry ground. Disasters in India are produced by a variety of variables, including topological, climatological/meteorological, and man-made factors.

Droughts:

• Droughts are consequences of the variability of climate. Though drought causes small structural damage and has a slow onset, it is considered a natural hazard. Drought in India is related to both water resource management and scarcity of rainfall.

Landslides:  

• It is the movement of a mass of rock, rubble, or soil down a slope when the shear stress exceeds the material’s shear strength.
• The Himalayas are thought to account for roughly 30% of all landslides in the world. The Himalayan Mountains are the world’s youngest and most powerful mountain range system.
• It occurs when a complicated field of forces (stress is a force per unit area) is working on a mass of rock or soil on a slope. It happens for a variety of reasons, including geological, morphological, physical, and human factors.

Disaster Management Act 

Disasters in India are more probable because of the expanding weaknesses identified with changing segment and financial conditions, impromptu urbanisation, advancement inside high-hazard zones, ecological debasement, environmental change, topographical risks, plagues and pandemics. 

The administration of disasters in India is represented legitimately by the Disaster Management Act 2005 and the rules given by the National Disaster Management Authority (a legal authority under the DM Act 2005), which are explicitly portrayed in the resulting areas.

Features of the Disaster Management Act

The Disaster Management Act 2005 is characterised by four features which are as follows –

• Creating and implementing Disaster management plans
• Spread awareness among people in disaster-prone areas 
• Recovery from disaster-prone zones
• Management and Coordination from the locals affected in the Disaster prone regions.

Steps should be taken under disaster management and planning

Ans: The various steps which should be taken under disaster management and planning should be 

• Defining objective: hazard and risk assessment
• Prevention planning: mitigation plans 
• Emergency assessment: response and recovery plans
• Allocation of resources: training program and infrastructure development.
• Post-disaster actions: relief fund and availability of food and medical attention.

Conclusion :

A disaster is an event that is beyond human control, and each nation needs to prepare for it. The disasters may be natural or man-made and can affect a small or large number of the population, as well as result in the destruction of property. India has several policies in place to deal with various disasters such as Earthquakes, Floods, Cyclones, Famines, etc. However, several additional guidelines and a disaster-resilient infrastructure need to be created for effective disaster management in India.