Disaster Management: A quintessential topic in UPSC Preparation

The topic of Disaster Management has gained immense significance in the Civil Services Examination owing to the following reasons: the number of both manmade and natural disasters India has suffered over a long period of time and the need to develop an effective mechanism to tackle it. According to the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, Disaster management is defined as the organisation and management of resources and responsibilities for dealing with all humanitarian aspects of emergencies, in particular preparedness, response and recovery in order to lessen the impact of disasters.

 

The Uttarakhand disaster of 2013 has been the worst natural disaster since the 2004 Tsunami which resulted in the loss of a huge number of lives. Thousands of individuals were surmised dead and about 70,000 of them were reported to be missing post disaster relief operations which projects that the disaster management scenario in India has to be ameliorated. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) constituted in 2006 is the apex body which deals with all types of disasters, natural or man-made. Though many policies have been framed by the NDMA, very few have been implemented and many of the projects still remain pending. There is an urgency on the part of NDMA to structure its planning and address the dearth of disaster management experts who play a vital role in formulating emergency action plans and work in accordance with the Disaster Management Act of 2005.

In the video titled “Disaster Management 1.1 Unacademy” below, Dr. Roman Saini deals with the introduction to Disaster Management, definitions of Disaster Management, types of disasters, increase in the number of natural disasters and its impact on the environment, major disasters in India, vulnerability profile of India etc.

Part 2 of the video on Disaster Management focuses on primary climatic events, secondary events, impact of disasters on vulnerable and poor communities, regions in India and their vulnerabilities, Disaster management cycle, tackling disaster etc.

 

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