This document discusses disaster mitigation and management in India. It begins by defining what constitutes a disaster and provides examples of different types of natural and man-made disasters that occur in India. It then outlines the four phases of disaster management: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. For each phase, it provides details on the goals and activities involved. It also discusses the role of risk assessment and developing an integrated warning and response system to help manage disasters, with a focus on tropical cyclones. Overall, the document outlines India's vulnerability to various disasters and the framework for managing disasters in the country.

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DISASTER MITIGATION AND MANAGEMENT
M. Mayur,
Siddharth Institute of Engineering and Technology,
Puttur.
Abstract:
But, when the victims of the mysteries are
India is one of the most disaster prone the people then they need to know what the
countries of the world. It has had some of mysteries are and the impact the mysteries
the world’s most severe droughts, famines, can have on them.
cyclones, earthquakes, chemical disasters, This paper discusses how disaster can be
mid-air head-on air collisions, rail accidents, managed through awareness and suggests a
and road accidents. Disaster is a sudden, methodology to design an awareness
calamitous event bringing great damage, program with the help of the spatial
loss, and destruction and devastation to life component. But before discussing this let us
and property. In simple terms we can define discuss what a disaster is? What disaster
disaster as a hazard causing heavy loss to management is? How disasters can be
life, property and livelihood. This paper managed by spreading awareness about
deals with types of disasters and mitigation disasters? And what is the role of GIS in
and management methods at and after the disaster management?
time of disasters. Vulnerability, Hazards and
Risk reduction are the main key points What is a Disaster?
involved in Disasters. This paper deals with According to each, disaster is defined as
main aspects involved in each and every many ways, so, there is no particular
type of disaster for managing and mitigating definition for a Disaster.
their effects. GIS also plays an important Overall, disaster is defined as:
role in management of Disasters. The paper
deals with role of GIS in it and awareness  Disaster is a sudden, calamitous
programmes required for public to save event bringing great damage, loss,
themselves from disasters and importance of and destruction and devastation to
GIS in Disaster Management. life and property.
 WHO defines Disaster as "any
Introduction: occurrence that causes damage,
ecological disruption, loss of human
The earth has been an unstable proposition life, deterioration of health and
throughout its existence. Man who entered health services, on a scale sufficient
the scene has been exploring during his to warrant an extraordinary response
short existence to unravel the various from outside the affected community
mysteries which are mysteries till date. or area”.
These mysteries have been understood by
and confined to the intellectual community.

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But as a Civil Students, we can say as: A disaster may have the following main
features:-
It is a natural accident, which causes great
damage to life, property and Structures  Unpredictability,
which cannot be reused.  Unfamiliarity,
 Speed,
It may also be termed as “a serious  Urgency,
disruption of the functioning of society,  Uncertainty and
causing widespread human, material or  Threat
environmental losses which exceed the
ability of the affected society to cope using Vulnerability, Hazards and Risk are the
its own resources.” main key points when ever disaster
mitigation and management is considered.
Types of Disasters:
Disasters are simply defined as any over
helming ecological disruption which
disturbs environmental and economical
positions.
Disasters are mainly divided as two types:
 Natural Disasters and
 Artificial Disasters.
Artificial Disasters are also called as Man
Damages by Disasters: Made Disasters.
Natural Disasters:
Damages done by disasters are inevitable
and they cannot be reduced and predicted Disasters that are caused by Natural causes
and only method is to manage them and are called as Natural Disasters.
mitigate them. The damage caused by
disasters is immeasurable.  Earthquakes,
The damage caused by disasters depends on:  Landslides,
 Floods,
• Geographical location of place,
• Climate of the place,  River erosion,
• Type of Surface of Earth and
 Cyclones,
• Degree of Vulnerability.
 Tsunami,
This influences the mental, socio-economic,
political and cultural state of the affected  Forest Fires etc…
area.

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Artificial Disasters:  Decide where your family will
reunite if separated,
These are the disasters that are occurred due
to man made changes over the surface of the  Maintain emergency food, water,
Earth. medicine, first aid kit, tools, and
clothing.
 Nuclear Disasters,
During an Earthquake:
 Chemical Disasters,
 Take cover. Go under a table or
 Mine Disasters,
other sturdy furniture; kneel, sit,
 Biological Disasters. or stay close to the floor. Hold on
to furniture legs for balance. Be
These are an example of manmade disasters. prepared to move if your cover
moves.
Natural Disasters:  If no sturdy cover is nearby,
Earthquakes: kneel or sit close to the floor next
to a structurally sound interior
Earthquakes are nothing but any sudden wall. Place your hands on the
movement over the surface of the Earth floor for balance.
which shakes Earth vigorously that destroys
the structures resting on the Earth. Cyclone:
Cyclone is defined as:
Rapid inward
circulation of air masses about a low
pressure centre; circling counter clockwise
in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in
the southern.
• Keep watch on weather and listen to
radio or TV. Keep alert about the
community warning systems –
loudspeakers, bells, conches, drums
or any traditional warning system.
• Get to know the nearest cyclone
“We are not about to predict shelter / safe houses and the safest
earthquakes. As one door closes, another
route to reach these shelters,
opens. If we can’t predict earthquakes,
then let’s learn to live safely with them.” • Prepare a first aid kit, emergency
tools for saving ourselves, dry food.
The main safeties behind Earthquakes are:
 We should know safe spot in each During a Cyclone:
and every room of our house,
• Disconnect all electrical appliances

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and turn off gas. dangerous, especially after longer
• If the building starts crumbling, periods of heavy rainfall and damp
protect yourself with mattresses, rugs weather.
or blankets under a strong table or • If you are in areas susceptible to
bench or hold on to a solid fixture landslides and debris flows, consider
(e.g. a water pipe) leaving if it is safe to do so.
• Listen to your transistor radio for Remember that driving during an
updates and advice. intense storm can be hazardous. If
you remain at home, move to a
Floods: second story if possible. Staying out
of the path of a landslide or debris
• All your family members should flow saves lives.
know the safe route to nearest
shelter/ raised pucca house. After the Landslide:
• If your area is flood-prone, consider
• Stay away from the slide area. There
alternative building materials. Mud
may be danger of additional slides.
walls are more likely to be damaged
• Check for injured and trapped
during floods. You may consider
persons near the slide, without
making houses where the walls are
entering the direct slide area. Direct
made of local bricks up to the
rescuers to their locations.
highest known flood level with
• Help a neighbor who may require
cement pointing.
special assistance - infants, elderly
people, and people with disabilities.
During Floods:
Elderly people and people with
disabilities may require additional
• Drink boiled water.
assistance. People who care for them
• Keep your food covered, don’t take
or who have large families may need
heavy meals.
additional assistance in emergency
• Use raw tea, rice-water, tender
situations.
coconut-water, etc…
During a Landslide: Disaster management means:
Emergency management is the discipline
• Stay alert and awake. Many debris-
of dealing with and avoiding risks. It is a
flow fatalities occur when people are discipline that involves preparing for
sleeping. Listen to a Weather Radio disaster before it occurs, disaster response
or portable, battery-powered radio or (e.g., emergency evacuation, quarantine,
television for warnings of intense mass decontamination, etc.), and supporting,
rainfall. Be aware that intense, short and rebuilding society after natural or
human-made disasters have occurred. In
bursts of rain may be particularly
general, any Emergency Management is the

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continuous process by which all individuals, disasters when they occur. The mitigation
groups, and communities manage hazards in phase differs from the other phases because
an effort to avoid or ameliorate the impact of it focuses on long-term measures for
disasters resulting from the hazards. reducing or eliminating risk.
Effective Emergency Management relies on
thorough integration of emergency plans at Mitigative measures can be structural or
all levels of government and non- non-structural. Structural measures use
government involvement. technological solutions, like flood levees.
Non-structural measures include legislation,
Disaster management involves a cycle land-use planning and insurance. Mitigation
namely Emergency Cycle. is the most cost-efficient method for
reducing the impact of hazards; however it
Experts, such as Cuny, have long noted that the is not always suitable. Mitigation does
cycle of Emergency Management must include include providing regulations regarding
long-term work on infrastructure, public evacuation, sanctions against those who
awareness, and even human justice issues. refuse to obey the regulations (such as
mandatory evacuations), and communication
The process of Emergency Management of potential risks to the public. Some
involves four phases: structural mitigation measures may have
adverse effects on the ecosystem.
1. Mitigation
2. Preparedness A precursor activity to the mitigation is the
3. Response identification of risks. Physical risk
4. Recovery. assessment refers to the process of
identifying and evaluating hazards. The
hazard-specific risk (Rh) combines both the
probability and the level of impact of a
specific hazard. The equation below states
that the hazard multiplied by the
populations’ vulnerability to that hazard
produces a risk Catastrophe modeling. The
higher the risk, the more urgent that the
hazard specific vulnerabilities are targeted
by mitigation and preparedness efforts.
However, if there is no vulnerability there
will be no risk, e.g. an earthquake occurring
in a desert where nobody lives.
This is named as Emergency Management Preparedness:
Cycle since it works in a cyclic process.
Preparedness is a continuous cycle of
Mitigation:
planning, organizing, training, equipping,
exercising, evaluation and improvement
Mitigation efforts attempt to prevent
activities to ensure effective coordination
hazards from developing into disasters
and the enhancement of capabilities to
altogether, or to reduce the effects of

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prevent, protect against, respond to, recover The response phase includes the
from, and mitigate the effects of natural mobilization of the necessary emergency
disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man- services and first responders in the disaster
made disasters. area.
In the preparedness phase, emergency This is likely to introduce:
managers develop plans of action to manage
and counter their risks and take action to 1. firefighters
build the necessary capabilities needed to 2. police
implement such plans. Common 3. ambulance
preparedness measures include: 4. disaster relief
operation(military)
• Communication plans with easily 5. Non combatant evacuation
understandable terminology and operation
methods. 6. Special rescue teams
• Proper maintenance and training of
emergency services, including mass at the site of the disaster prone areas.
human resources such as community
emergency response teams. A well rehearsed emergency plan
• Development and exercise of developed as part of the preparedness
emergency population warning phase enables efficient coordination of
methods combined with emergency rescue. There is a need for both
shelters and evacuation plans. discipline (structure, doctrine, process)
• stockpiling, inventory, and maintain and agility (creativity, improvisation,
disaster supplies and equipment[8] adaptability) in responding to a disaster.
• Develop organizations of trained
volunteers among civilian Recovery:
populations. Professional emergency
workers are rapidly overwhelmed in The aim of the recovery phase is to
mass emergencies so trained; restore the affected area to its previous state.
organized, responsible volunteers are It differs from the response phase in its
extremely valuable. focus; recovery efforts are concerned with
issues and decisions that must be made after
Eg: Community Emergency Response immediate needs are addressed.
Teams, Red Cross, Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA). Recovery efforts are primarily concerned
with actions that involve rebuilding
Another aspect of preparedness is casualty destroyed property, re-employment, and the
prediction, the study of how many deaths or repair of other essential infrastructure.
injuries to expect for a given kind of event.
This gives planners an idea of what Efforts should be made to "build back
resources need to be in place to respond to a better", aiming to reduce the pre-disaster
particular kind of event. risks inherent in the community and
infrastructure.
Response:

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An important aspect of effective recovery first in India), the creation of a single
efforts is taking advantage of a ‘window of emergency telephone number, and the
opportunity’ establishment of standards for EMS staff,
equipment and training.
for the implementation of mitigative
measures that might otherwise be unpopular. 4Rs is a term used to describe the
emergency management cycle locally.
In the United States, the National Response
In New Zealand the four phases are
Plan dictates how the resources provided by known as:
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 will be
used in recovery efforts.
• Reduction = Mitigation
It is the Federal government that often
provides the most technical and financial • Readiness = Preparedness
assistance for recovery efforts in the United • Response
States.
• Recovery
India
Risk Assessment
In India, the role of emergency management
falls to National Disaster Management The evaluation of risk for a tropical cyclone
Authority of India, a government agency is a relatively straightforward process. A
subordinate to the Ministry of Home Affairs. hazard map should be prepared for any
In recent years there has been a shift in given year. The following information could
emphasis, from response and recovery to be used to estimate the probability of storms
strategic risk management and reduction, of cyclones of various intersections that may
and from a government-centered approach strike different parts of the county.
to decentralized community participation.
An agency within the Ministry of Science Analyses of climatologically
and Technology is also playing a role in this records to determine how often
• tropical cyclones have struck-
field, through bringing the academic
knowledge and research expertise of earth their intensities and locations.
scientists to the emergency management
History of wind strengths,
process.
frequencies, height and location of
• storm surges frequencies of
Recently the Government has formed the .
This group represents a public/private flooding.
partnership, funded primarily by a large
Information about tropical cyclone
India-based computer company , and aimed
occurrences in the past 50-100
at improving the general response of • years over the ocean adjoining the
communities to emergencies, in addition to
part of the country in question.
those incidents which might be described as
disasters. Some of the groups' early efforts
involve the provision of emergency a) An Integrated Warning/Response
management training for first responders (a System

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survival, property assets and
Specific preparedness measures to counter livelihoods of individual families
the impact of tropical cyclones may be and communities.
classified into two categories:
Those of long term or seasonal
nature, which need to be planned, b) Public Warning System
implemented and operationally
tested and co-coordinated by The three main objectives in a tropical
means of simulation exercise well cyclone warning are:
before a seasonal threat
To alert the people to the danger
commences. Among these are pre-
• by announcing the existence of a
• season co-ordination meetings at
threat due to a cyclone.
headquarters, district and local
levels, at which operational To identify the areas where people
contingency plans are reviewed will be actively threatened by
and amended, training and cyclone and where communities
•
community preparedness should monitor further warning
programs conducted and announcements, and
community lifelines.
To call the people to action by
Those of a short-term nature, recommending specific
which relate to a state of readiness preparedness activities, which may
to cut in once a contemporary • be part of, and integrated warning/
• cyclone threat is announced. response plan to protect vulnerable
Among these are domestic, resources.
vocational and animal husbandry
arrangements to safeguard the
Disaster management Team Cycle:

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Conclusion:
We cannot predict any of the disasters, but we can prevent them by mitigation and
management techniques.
So, to keep INDIA safe from all the disasters, we should have minimum knowledge about
disasters and their mitigation and management techniques.
Save greenery and Mother India from all the disasters.