Disaster Management — UPSC Environment Notes

1. From Relief to Risk Reduction

Old approach: Until the 1990s disasters were handled as a relief subject by the Ministry of Agriculture, with Relief Codes and Calamity Relief Funds released after the event.

Turning points: The 1999 Odisha super cyclone, the 2001 Bhuj earthquake and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami led to the shift of the subject to the Ministry of Home Affairs (2002) and to the DM Act, 2005.

Constitutional position: 'Disaster management' is not named in any of the three lists; the DM Act draws on the Concurrent List entry 'social security and social insurance', while states remain the first responders.

2. Disaster Management (Amendment) Act, 2025

Passage: Introduced in Lok Sabha in August 2024; passed by Rajya Sabha on 25 March 2025 (with amendments) and finally by Lok Sabha on 27 March 2025.

Plans: NDMA and SDMAs now prepare the national and state disaster plans themselves (earlier the National and State Executive Committees prepared them and the authorities approved them).

Disaster databases: NDMA and SDMAs must maintain national and state databases covering risk assessment, fund allocation and expenditure, and preparedness and mitigation plans.

Urban Disaster Management Authorities (UDMAs): States may set them up for state capitals and cities with municipal corporations; chaired by the Municipal Commissioner, with the District Collector as vice-chairperson.

Statutory bodies: States may constitute a State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) under the law; the National Crisis Management Committee (chaired by the Cabinet Secretary) and the High Level Committee (which approves central assistance to states) become statutory.

3. Disaster Risk Financing

SDRMF and NDRMF: On the 15th Finance Commission's advice (2021–26), each state has a State Disaster Risk Management Fund split 80:20 between the response fund (SDRF) and the mitigation fund (SDMF); the national level mirrors this with NDRF and NDMF.

Response window uses: Within the response fund, money is earmarked for response and relief, recovery and reconstruction, and preparedness and capacity building.

Cost sharing: Centre and states share the state fund 75:25, and 90:10 for the north-eastern and Himalayan states; the national fund is fully central and tops up states in 'disasters of severe nature'.

Gaps: Insurance and risk-transfer tools (parametric insurance, catastrophe bonds) remain small in India, so most losses are still borne by households and governments.

4. Global Frameworks

Yokohama Strategy (1994) → Hyogo Framework (2005–2015) → Sendai Framework (2015–2030): the focus moved from managing disasters to managing risk.

Sendai's 7 targets include reducing deaths, affected people, economic loss and damage to critical infrastructure, more national and local DRR strategies (by 2020), more international cooperation, and greater access to multi-hazard early warning.

Early Warnings for All: A UN Secretary-General initiative (2022) to cover everyone on Earth with early-warning systems by 2027, led by WMO and UNDRR.

CDRI: Launched by India at the UN Climate Action Summit (September 2019), secretariat in New Delhi; a partnership of countries, UN agencies, development banks and the private sector, with more than 60 members as of 2026. Its Infrastructure for Resilient Island States (IRIS) initiative was launched at COP26.

Other Indian initiatives: PM's Ten-Point Agenda on DRR (Asian Ministerial Conference, New Delhi, 2016); the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar, announced every year on 23 January; and a G20 DRR Working Group created under India's 2023 presidency.

5. Practice

UPSC-style (Prelims): Under the 15th Finance Commission's framework, what share of a State Disaster Risk Management Fund goes to mitigation? (Answer: 20%).

UPSC-style (Mains): 'India's disaster spending still rewards response over prevention.' Examine in the light of the DM (Amendment) Act, 2025 and the new mitigation funds.

1. Tropical Cyclones over India

Seasons: Two peaks, pre-monsoon (April–June) and post-monsoon (October–December); the post-monsoon storms of the Bay of Bengal are usually the most destructive.

Bay vs Arabian Sea: The Bay of Bengal gets roughly four times as many cyclones as the Arabian Sea because of warmer water and remnants of Pacific typhoons; however, studies show the Arabian Sea is warming fast and producing more intense storms (e.g. Tauktae 2021, Biparjoy 2023).

Main killers: Storm surge (a rise of sea level pushed onshore by winds) causes most deaths, followed by extremely heavy rain and wind.

Naming: IMD, as RSMC New Delhi, names storms of the North Indian Ocean from a list contributed by the 13 member countries of the WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones (list adopted in 2020).

Warnings: IMD issues staged warnings (pre-cyclone watch, cyclone alert, cyclone warning, post-landfall outlook) with colour codes; alerts reach phones through NDMA's CAP-based SACHET system.

2. National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project (NCRMP)

Design: Implemented by NDMA under MHA with World Bank support; Phase I (2011) covered Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, Phase II (2015) covered Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and West Bengal.

Components: Last-mile early warning (sirens, Early Warning Dissemination Systems), multipurpose cyclone shelters, all-weather roads and bridges for evacuation, saline embankments and underground cabling.

Odisha model: Village cyclone shelters run by community committees, regular drills and zero-casualty evacuation planning turned cyclones like Phailin (2013) and Fani (2019) into low-death events.

Natural defences: Mangroves (Sundarbans, Bhitarkanika) and coastal shelterbelts (casuarina) reduce wind and surge; their loss raises risk.

3. River Floods

Hotspots: The Brahmaputra and Ganga basins (Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal) account for most flood damage; the Kosi is called the 'Sorrow of Bihar' for shifting its course.

Causes: Intense monsoon rain, cloudbursts, siltation of river beds, breach of embankments, encroachment of floodplains, poorly timed dam releases and, in the hills, landslide-dammed rivers.

Structural vs non-structural: Embankments and dams can give a false sense of security; non-structural tools include flood-plain zoning (a model bill was circulated in 1975 but few states adopted it), flood forecasting by CWC, and flood insurance.

4. Urban Flooding

Examples: Mumbai (July 2005), Chennai (December 2015), Hyderabad (October 2020) and repeated waterlogging in Bengaluru, Delhi and Gurugram.

Causes: Paved surfaces that stop infiltration, encroached lakes and stormwater drains, drains choked with solid waste, and short spells of very heavy rain that exceed drain design capacity.

Response: NDMA's Urban Flooding guidelines (2010) treat it as a distinct disaster; solutions include ward-level flood maps, restored lakes, 'sponge city' design (permeable pavements, bioswales) and real-time flood warning networks in cities such as Mumbai and Chennai.

5. Practice

UPSC-style (Mains): Why do Bay of Bengal cyclones cause far fewer deaths today than in 1999, while urban floods cause rising losses? Suggest measures.

1. Landslides: Causes

Natural triggers: Intense or prolonged rainfall (the main trigger in India), cloudbursts, earthquakes, river undercutting of slopes and freeze–thaw in high mountains.

Human factors: Road cutting without slope protection, blasting for tunnels and hydropower, quarrying, deforestation, unplanned construction on steep slopes and blocked natural drainage.

Geology: The Himalayas are young, tectonically active and highly fractured; the Western Ghats have hard rock under thick, loose lateritic soil that slides when saturated.

Mapping: GSI's National Landslide Susceptibility Mapping and the ISRO–NRSC Landslide Atlas of India (2023) identify the most exposed districts, many of them in Uttarakhand, Kerala and the north-east.

2. Case Studies

Kedarnath (June 2013): Extreme rain plus the breach of the moraine-dammed Chorabari lake sent debris flows down the Mandakini valley; thousands died, many of them pilgrims.

Chamoli (February 2021): A massive rock-and-ice avalanche in the Rishiganga valley produced a flood that destroyed the Rishiganga project and damaged the Tapovan–Vishnugad hydropower project.

Joshimath (January 2023): Land subsidence cracked hundreds of houses in a town built on old landslide debris, raising questions about construction, drainage and tunnelling.

Sikkim GLOF (October 2023): South Lhonak Lake in north Sikkim burst on the night of 3–4 October; the flood in the Teesta washed away the dam of the 1,200 MW Teesta III project at Chungthang, killed dozens including Army personnel and damaged towns downstream.

Wayanad (30 July 2024): After extremely heavy rain, a series of landslides and debris flows hit Mundakkai, Chooralmala and Punchirimattom in Kerala; it was one of India's deadliest landslide disasters, with more than 200 confirmed deaths and many people missing.

3. GLOFs

Mechanism: Retreating glaciers leave lakes dammed by loose moraine or ice; an avalanche, landslide, earthquake or heavy rain can trigger a sudden breach, releasing a wall of water and debris.

Response: NDMA's GLOF guidelines (2020) call for inventories of glacial lakes, risk ranking, early-warning stations and lake-lowering (siphoning or controlled outlets); after 2023, NDMA sent expert teams to assess high-risk lakes in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and other Himalayan states.

4. Mitigation and Governance

Measures: Hazard zonation maps used in land-use planning, slope stabilisation (retaining walls, rock bolts, drainage), bio-engineering with grasses and shrubs, rain-threshold early warning and carrying-capacity limits for hill towns and pilgrim routes.

Western Ghats debate: The Gadgil panel (2011) proposed wide Ecologically Sensitive Areas; the Kasturirangan group (2013) proposed about 37% of the Ghats as ESA. After Wayanad, the debate on quarrying and construction controls revived.

5. Practice

UPSC-style (Mains): 'Himalayan disasters are increasingly man-made.' Discuss with reference to Kedarnath, Joshimath and the 2023 Sikkim GLOF.

1. Why India Shakes

Himalayan collision: The Indian plate moves north by a few centimetres a year into Eurasia; strain builds on thrust faults such as the Main Frontal, Main Boundary and Main Central Thrusts.

Seismic gap: The central Himalaya has not had a great earthquake for centuries and is considered a 'seismic gap' where a very large event is possible.

Peninsular quakes: The 'stable' shield also has intraplate quakes (Latur 1993, Jabalpur 1997) and reservoir-induced seismicity (Koyna 1967).

Andaman–Sumatra subduction zone: The source of the 2004 Mw 9.1 earthquake and tsunami, and the main tsunami threat to India along with the Makran zone off Pakistan–Iran.

2. Seismic Zoning and Building Codes

Zones II–V: Zone V (very high risk) covers the north-east, Jammu and Kashmir, parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the Rann of Kutch, north Bihar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; Zone II is the least risky.

2025–26 revision episode: BIS notified a revised code, IS 1893 (Part 1):2025, in November 2025 with a new highest-risk Zone VI along the Himalayan arc, but withdrew it in March 2026 after objections over consultation and costs; as of March 2026 the 2016 code (Zones II–V) remains operative.

Codes: IS 1893 (seismic design loads), IS 13920 (ductile detailing of concrete) and IS 4326 (earthquake-resistant masonry); the National Building Code makes them part of building rules, but enforcement through municipal bye-laws is weak.

Key principle: 'Earthquakes don't kill, buildings do' — most deaths come from collapsing non-engineered masonry and soft-storey buildings, so retrofitting schools and hospitals is a priority.

3. Monitoring and Early Warning

National Center for Seismology (MoES): Runs the national seismic network and reports earthquake parameters; earthquakes cannot be predicted, but on-site early warning can give seconds of notice (e.g. Uttarakhand's IIT Roorkee-developed system and 'BhuDEV' app).

Tsunami warning: The Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre at INCOIS (operational since 2007) uses seismic stations, bottom-pressure recorders and tide gauges, and also serves as a Tsunami Service Provider for the Indian Ocean under UNESCO-IOC.

Tsunami Ready: A UNESCO-IOC community recognition programme; Venkatraipur and Noliasahi in Odisha were the first Indian villages recognised (2020).

4. Lessons and International Response

Bhuj (26 January 2001): Its reconstruction, with owner-driven rebuilding and new building rules, is seen as a model of 'build back better'.

Humanitarian assistance: India sent NDRF and relief to Nepal (2015, Operation Maitri), Türkiye and Syria (2023, Operation Dost) and Myanmar (2025, Operation Brahma), reinforcing its 'first responder' role in the region.

5. Practice

UPSC-style (Prelims): Which institution hosts India's tsunami early warning centre? (Answer: INCOIS, Hyderabad, under the Ministry of Earth Sciences).

1. Why Community-Based DRR

Golden hour: Most people rescued from collapsed buildings or floods are saved by neighbours within the first hours, before outside teams arrive.

Local knowledge: Communities know safe routes, vulnerable households and traditional warning signs; Sendai calls for an 'all-of-society' approach.

Tools: Village disaster management plans, hazard–vulnerability–capacity mapping, mock drills, task forces for warning, rescue, first aid and shelter management.

2. Indian Programmes

Aapda Mitra: An NDMA scheme to train community volunteers in response skills; piloted in 2016 in 30 flood-prone districts and later scaled up to hundreds of the most hazard-prone districts.

School and hospital safety: NDMA's School Safety Policy guidelines (2016) and hospital safety guidelines call for structural audits, evacuation plans and drills.

Volunteer networks: NCC, NSS, Nehru Yuva Kendra, Civil Defence and Home Guards supplement NDRF and SDRF; Kerala's fishermen became celebrated rescuers in the 2018 floods.

Panchayats: Disaster plans integrated with Gram Panchayat Development Plans and MGNREGA works (ponds, embankments, plantations) give local ownership.

3. 'Everyday' and Emerging Hazards

Lightning: One of the biggest natural killers in India each year, mostly of farmers in open fields in states such as Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh; IITM Pune's Damini app warns of strikes nearby. It is not in the national list of notified disasters.

Heat and cold: Heatwaves are covered in a separate topic; cold wave and frost are notified disasters, affecting north India's homeless and crops.

Drought: A slow-onset disaster handled by the Ministry of Agriculture; the Manual for Drought Management (2016, updated later) uses indicators such as rainfall deficit, vegetation index, soil moisture and crop sowing to declare drought.

Industrial and biological: Chemical disasters (Bhopal 1984, Vizag gas leak 2020) fall under MoEFCC, and epidemics (COVID-19 was managed under the DM Act) under the Health Ministry.

4. Inclusion and Climate Adaptation

Vulnerable groups: Women face higher death rates in many disasters (restricted mobility, caregiving roles), so plans need separate toilets in shelters, women volunteers and disability-accessible warnings.

DRR–climate link: Most disasters in India are hydro-meteorological, so state action plans on climate change and disaster plans should share risk data, funding and local adaptation measures.

5. Practice

UPSC-style (Mains): 'Communities are the first responders.' Discuss the role of community-based disaster management in India with examples.