C HAPTER I
I NTRODUCTION
Every now and then disasters cause huge loss of life and property and
they damage the environment. Disasters affect negatively the sustainable
development in the affected societies and countries. Disasters are caused by
hazards which impact upon vulnerable people, infrastructure, assets and
environment.
As per Disaster Management Act, 2005 “Disaster means a catastrophe,
mishap, calamity or grave occurrence in any area, arising from natural or
man-made causes, or by accident or negligence which results in substantial
loss of life or human suffering or damage to, and destruction of property, or
damage to, or degradation of environment and is of such a nature or
magnitude as to be beyond the coping capacity of the community of the
affected areas.”
Types of Disasters:Broadly there are two types of disasters namely:(i)
Natural Disasters and
(ii)
Man-Made Disasters
(i) Natural Disasters:Natural disasters, which often sudden and intense, result in considerable
destruction. Injuries and deaths, disrupting normal life as well as the process of
development. Increasing population and various other socio-economic factors
have forced people to live in vulnerable areas. Natural Disasters are perceived to
be on increase in their magnitude, frequency and economic impact.
Types of Natural Disasters:
⇒ Wind and/or Water related Natural Disasters:Floods
Droughts
Cyclones
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Tsunami
⇒ Climate related Disasters:Heat and Cold waves
Global warming
Sea Level Rise
Ozone Depletion
⇒ Mountain area Disasters:Landslides
Snow avalanches
⇒ Geological Disasters:Earthquakes
Volcanic eruptions
(ii) Man – Made Disasters:Man – made Disasters could be defined as a man – made event, sudden or
progressive, which impacts with such severity that the affected community has to
respond by taking immediate and exceptional measures including help from
outside the community. These disasters could also be termed as human induced
disasters or of anthropogenic origin.
Types of Man – Made Disasters:
⇒ Accidents: - Road, Rail, Air, River, Sea, Transport of hazardous material,
Building Collapse.
⇒ Fires: - Buildings, coal mines, oil (exploration sites, refineries and storage
depots), forest fires.
⇒ Industrial
and
Technological
Mishaps:-
Leaks,
fires,
explosion,
sabotage, technical system failure, plant safety failure.
⇒ Nuclear Hazards: - Radioactive leaks, thefts, transportation, waste
disposal, Reactor melt down.
⇒ Warfare:- Conventional, Chemical, Biological and Nuclear.
⇒ Poisoning:- Food, Water, Supply
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⇒ Civil Conflicts:- Arson, sabotage, terrorist and other criminal activities.
⇒ Ecological:- Pollution (Air, Water, Noise), waste accumulation including
toxic waster, disease and epidemics, loss of biodiversity, loss of habitat,
deforestation, global warming, sea level rise, etc.
Disasters Management Plan
Necessity of District Disaster Management Plan
The vulnerability of New Delhi District warrants a proactive approach
towards development of a well thought plan to reduce disaster risk.
As the Indian National Capital, while Delhi has a special significance in
the national map; New Delhi District of Delhi has special significance in the
capitals map. Largely designed by Lutyens over twenty or so years, New
Delhi was chosen to replace Calcutta as the seat of the British Indian
government in 1912.
Housing the Rashtrapati Bhawan, Parliament and other important
ministerial, central and state government offices, it is an important and
nerve centre for political and administrative activities. Being the nerve centre
an incident of disastrous in nature will have ramifications across the country.
New Delhi also has some of the significant business establishments such as
Connaught Place. The National Museum that houses some of the most
important heritage our nation is also located in New Delhi.
Delhi, a zone IV area for seismic activity, is one of the most vulnerable
areas for Earthquake. A number of high – rise buildings in and around
Connaught Place which are not earthquake proof makes it more vulnerable
for damages in case of an earthquake. New Delhi also houses important
dignitaries such as President, Prime Minister, Cabinet and other Ministers,
bureaucrats and heads of many other departments. They have also been the
targets of terrorist attacks and the attack on Parliament reiterates that
terrorists go to any extent possible. In addition, New Delhi is also vulnerable
for Fire accidents. A number of fire accidents have been reported from the
high-rise buildings of Connaught Place since there is an increased amount of
pressure on the infrastructure such as electric cables and transformers where
as this infrastructure does not have the capacity to sustain that pressure/
load.
In the changing context of vulnerabilities and increasing threat from
natural and human made hazards, it is always better to be prepared than
wait for an incident of disastrous nature occur.
The Connaught place area has a large number of high rise buildings.
An earthquake of large magnitude may result in colossal damage. The whole
of the district is a likely target for terrorists. Areas like Presidential Estate
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and Embassy area in Chanakya Puri are high security zones where infiltration
will not be easy.
However Connaught Place is an area where thousands of people work
and thousands come and go daily. Therefore security in the area is very
difficult to maintain and hence the area becomes soft target for terrorists.
Other areas like India gate, government offices can be targets too. These
areas thus but have security in each buildings. The residential areas in the
district house the most prominent people on the scene of Indian politics.
There are also the houses of some of the most financially influential people in
the city. These areas have their own security provisions managed by the
RWAs. Fire in Connaught circus is a frequent phenomenon. Flash floods etc
may also create problems. Under such circumstances, a planned approach
towards disaster risk management can help in reducing risks to a significant
level.
A Disasters Management Plan made at District level:
⇒ Provides for hazard identification and risk analysis,
⇒ Indicates basic information about the resources, demography, existing
organizational set up, administrative facilities at District level,
⇒ Lists preparedness and mitigation measures and response mechanisms,
⇒ Defines specific roles and responsibilities for various actors at various levels
and
⇒ Ensures networking/coordination with media, NGOs, international agencies
and other stakeholders.
A Disasters Management Plan facilitates the following:
⇒ Clarifying Authority, Responsibility and Relationships:- Clarifying as to who is
responsible for ensuring that the work gets done, distributing and decision
making authority among the team members and the existing organizational
units, and establishing formal lines of communication.
⇒ Obtaining Resources:- Obtaining funds, personnel, supplies and equipment
necessary for doing the project activities.
⇒ Establishing the Control System:- Determining the nature of information,
which is necessary for carrying out activities, identifying sources of such
information and setting up reporting systems for the project.
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⇒ Directing
and
controlling:-
Motivating
project
staff,
executing
project
activities, and obtaining information for control and taking corrective action as
necessary.
⇒ Monitoring, Evaluation and Updation:- The plan needs to be monitored from
time to time and updated.
Changing Context of Disaster Management
It’s a common belief of both administrative officers and the public that
disaster management starts with distribution of relief materials and ends with
restoration of the damaged infrastructures. But in actual situation, instead of
waiting for a disaster to manage it, one should start preparations well in
advance so that when a hazard comes, it will not trigger as a disaster.
Interestingly, even the phase of rescue and relief should be with a
developmental touch. Also it is to be remembered that none of these steps in
disaster management cycle are watertight compartments.
There is a paradigm shift from the charity approach of disaster
management to a professional way of handling it. The Community Based
Disaster Management laboratory of India, Orissa, could be a model for the
same.
Disaster Management Cycle includes the following:⇒ Prevention:- Preventing or avoiding the adverse impact of hazards.
Examples: prevention programmes (Dyke construction, controlled
burning).
⇒ Mitigation:- Minimising or reducing the impacts of Disaster. Examples:
building codes and zoning, vulnerability analysis, public education.
⇒ Preparedness:- Planning how to respond. Examples: Preparedness
plans, emergency exercises like mock drills, training, warning systems.
⇒ Response:- Efforts to minimise the hazards created by a Disaster.
Examples: Search and Rescue, emergency relief.
⇒ Recovery: Returning the community to an acceptable level of living.
Example: Temporary housing, grants, medical care.
Prevention
Prevention activities aim to reduce the probability of Disaster
occurrence through measures meant to avoid its adverse effects. In many
disaster prone countries, the severity of disasters vary from year to year, but
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the disasters are seasonal and to that extent predictable. In those instances,
technologies may be present or must be sought to address the issue of
Disasters prevention. These technologies exist for seasonal and predicable
Disasters such as typhoons, hurricane, and floods. Examples of such
technologies are wind-resistant housing technologies to prevent typhoon
damage; and dyke, dam and embankment construction to prevent and
control flood. Disasters covering large areas that involve heavy
environmental degradation are quite challenging to prevent.
Mitigation
Mitigation activities aim to reduce the impacts or effects of
unavoidable disasters. Mitigation measures include building codes,
vulnerability analyses updates, zoning and land use management, building
use regulations and safety codes, preventive health care, and public
awareness and education, Some specific examples of mitigation
activities:⇒ Strengthening buildings or incorporation of hazard resistance
structures to render them more resistant against typhoons, floods
and earthquakes.
⇒ Changing agricultural crop cycles so that it matures and are
harvested before flood or typhoon season.
⇒ Restriction of activities in high-risk areas
⇒ Economic diversification to allow losses in one sector to be offset by
increased output in other areas.
Both Mitigation and Prevention depend on the incorporation of
appropriate
measures
in
national,
regional
and
community
development planning. Its effectiveness also depends on the
availability of information on hazards, emerging risks, and the counter
measures to be taken. It also includes the shaping of public polices
and plans that either modify the causes of disasters or mitigate their
effects on people, property, and infrastructure.
Preparedness
The goal of Disaster preparedness is to achieve a satisfactory level of
readiness to respond to any disaster in order to save lives, minimize
disaster damage, and enhance disaster response operations. Preparedness
includes planning exercises that strengthen the capacity of governments,
organization, and communities. These measures can be described as a
readiness to deal with Disasters and can be strengthened by having
response mechanisms and procedures, rehearsals, public education and
building early warning systems.
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Preparedness can also ensure that strategic reserves of food,
equipment, water, medicines and other essentials are maintained in case
of national or local catastrophes. Preparedness measures include:
preparedness plans; emergency exercises/drills; warning systems;
emergency communications systems; evacuations plans and training;
resource inventories; emergency personnel/contact lists; mutual aid
agreements; and public information/education. Preparedness actions
depend on the incorporation of appropriate measures in national and
regional development plans. In addition, their effectiveness depends on
the availability of information on hazards, emerging risks and the counter
measures to be taken and on the degree to which government agencies,
non-governmental organizations and the general public are able to make
use of the information.
Response
The aim of disaster response is to provide immediate assistance to
maintain life, improve health and support the morale of the affected
population. Such assistance may range from providing specific but limited
aid, such as assisting refugees with transport, temporary shelter and food, to
establishing semi-permanent settlement in camps and other locations. It may
also involve initial repairs to damaged infrastructure. The focus in the
response phase is on meeting the basic needs of the people until more
permanent and sustainable solutions can be found. Humanitarian
organizations are often strongly present in this activity.
Recovery
As the disaster is brought under control, the affected population or
community will gain their capability of undertaking a growing number of
activities aimed at restoring their lives and the infrastructure that supports
them. There is no distinct point at which immediate response changes into
recovery and then into long-term sustainable development. There will be
many opportunities during the recovery period t enhance prevention and
increase preparedness, thus reducing vulnerability. Ideally, there should be a
smooth transition from recovery to on-going.
Taking all this in to consideration the Government of Delhi, District
New Delhi plans to organise a series of initiatives for better disaster
management in the district with the cooperation of all line departments,
Voluntary organizations, National and International NGOs and more over the
local residents. The erstwhile Relief and Rehabilitation section under the
revenue department has started functioning as the
department of Disaster
Management as well as a separate District Disaster Management Committee
has been constituted under the Deputy Commissioner of the District to look
after disaster management activities.
Disaster management is a cycle in which relief is just a fetter for
better development. If disasters are handled professionally with the
perspective of a long term development and sustainability the quantity of
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relief required could be reduced to half. The over all disaster management
activity should be with a developmental touch.
Preparation of this document is another milestone achieved by the
district administration. This document, the District Disaster Management Plan
(DDMP) is expected to act as a ready reference guide, manifesto of disaster
management in District New Delhi as well as an imperative for the
sustainable development of the district.
Objectives of Planning
The basic objectives of the District
document of New Delhi are as follows:
Disaster
Management
Plan
Institutionalization of disaster management in district administration
Encouraging a culture of disaster preparedness in the district
Vulnerability
process
reduction
and
disaster
mitigation
through
better
planning
Creation of the best Govt. mechanism to handle any unprecedented events
Instant response and effective decision making in disasters
Better coordination of relief and rehabilitation in the aftermath of a disaster
Better coordination of all line departments in disaster management
Encouraging and
management
empowering
the
local
community
to
own
disaster
Preparation and Updation of Plan
Disaster management plan shall be the document owned by the
respective district administration as well as all stakeholders of disaster
management. It is neither a confidential document nor restricted to any
particular section or department in the administration. The basic under laying
principal of disaster management is that it has to be part of all departments
and none can fold fingers against it.
The district Disaster Management Plan is the sum and substance of the
Horizontal and the Vertical disaster management plans in the district.
Horizontal plans included the specific plans prepared by line departments
such as Delhi Police, Delhi Fire Service, NDMC, Delhi Civil Defence,
Department of Food and Civil Supplies, Central Public Works Departments etc
where as the Vertical plan includes Sub Divisional Plans, Community Plans,
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School/Hospital plans and all other logical units’ plan at the lower level and
State disaster management plans and National disaster management plans at
the higher level.
Responsibility for Development of the District Disaster Management
Plan (DDMP)
Considering the above fact, responsibility of preparation of plan
ultimately rests with the District Disaster Management Committee (DDMC) or
the person / sub committee appointed by the DDMC in the district. The first
plan is to be prepared by the DDMC and after discussion in the DDMC, which
is the high powered committee of disaster management in the district; it has
to be approved by the Chairman of the DDMC.
Review and Updating of Plan
The same procedure is to be followed in updating of the plan
document. The District plan is to be updated biannually or at least annually
by the District Disaster Management Committee or the sub committee
appointed by the DDMC. In order to update the document, plans of all
Vertical and Horizontal plans are to be collected by the DDMC and
incorporated to the District Plan.
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