Maha Bharat: Episode 10

What is the Disaster Management Act?

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2020 has been a year that has seen India deal with multiple disasters. First, the Coronavirus reached India. Then came Cyclone Amphan, followed by Cyclone Nisarga. While 2020 has been a tough year so far, this is not the first time that Indians are dealing with disasters — be it man-made or natural. The question is what tool does India have to deal with disasters of any kind? Since 2005, we’ve been using the Disaster Management Act to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters. We tell you how the Act works and why we need it.

Show Notes

All clips and voices used in this podcast are owned by the original creators.

Links to clips used in this episode —

Full Transcript of Episode 10 –

Around 3 lakh COVID-19 cases so far, 10,000 deaths and 4 lockdowns – India is still dealing with this disaster.

[We hear the voice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing the nation-wide lock down]

The coronavirus pandemic is a health and biological disaster and at the moment, every country, like us, is trying to fight it in its own way.  

But, in the middle of this pandemic, while India was dealing with one disaster, a few more occured. Cyclone Amphan and Nisarga.

[We hear news clips about the cyclones]

We have just reached the halfway mark of 2020, who knows what is in store for us, the rest of the year?

Of course, this is not the first time that India is facing disasters. 

[We hear several news clips about cyclones, earthquakes, landslides and floods.]

So, how does India deal with disasters? Do we have a plan, a rulebook (niyam ki kitaab) or manual that tells us what to do when a disaster strikes? 

That’s what we are going to talk about in this episode: Since 2005, India has used the Disaster Management Act as a rulebook to face disasters. So, what is this act all about?

First, the act recommends that a National Disaster Management Authority – N-D-M-A – be set up. India has done this and the NDMA and has been functioning since 2005. 

The NDMA is the central, top-most authority on disaster management in India. It is headed by the Prime Minister, aur yeh Ministry of Home Affairs ke andar/antargat aata hai. The NDMA creates legal policies for disaster management, and approves the plans made by other ministries. It also drafts guidelines that the state authorities follow while making their plans.

For this, NDMA is also helped by the National Executive Committee (NEC). This is a group of people representing different ministries — defence, atomic energy, health, power, rural development, etc. 

This committee acts as an advisory to the NDMA (Salahkaar). The NEC is not a part of the NDMA, but it helps the NDMA form policies and laws. It also makes sure that these laws are implemented. 

Also under the NDMA is the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). Whenever you hear about rescue teams rushing to the site of a cyclone, you can assume that these are members of the NDRF. 

Like in this case –

[We hear a news clip about the members of NDRF at work]

At the state level, we have a similar disaster management authority called the SDMAs – the State Disaster Management Authority. These teams execute a disaster management plan in their individual states (aapda prabnadhan yojna ko apne apne rajyo mein lagoo karte hai). They adhere to the rules of the disaster management act. 

Just like the NDRF, there is also a State Disaster Response Force, working to rescue victims. Similarly, a State Executive Committee works with the SDMAs.

Aise hi, under the SDMA is the District Disaster Management Authority, which responds to disasters at the local level.

Okay, so now we know about the NDMA and the agencies under the NDMA. How are they supposed to work? Basically, the DM act lays out three steps of disaster management. 

Pehla – mitigation – which means reducing the risk of a disaster (jhokhim/risk kam karna), doosra, response, and teesra, relief after the disaster (aapada ke baad ki madad).

Let’s talk about the first step: disaster mitigation. 

Often, many disasters cannot be prevented at all – especially natural disasters. In this case, the job of the NDMA is to reduce the impact and the damage (vinaash) caused by the disaster. This is what we mean when we say mitigation of disasters. 

For example, under the NDMA, the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project works to improve tracking and forecasting systems (anuman sudharne ke liye) in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Similarly, the National Flood Risk Mitigation Project makes sure in flood-risk areas (un kshtero mein jahan baad ka khatra hai), there are enough resources.

Doosra step: disaster response at the site of disaster. The National Disaster Response Force works when disaster hits. Like we saw, the NDRF provides special response (vishesh sahara) to disaster situations. They help remove debris, provide first response to victims (victims ko prathmik chikitsa dete hai), and distribute relief material (madad ke liye saaman).

Aakhri step hai disaster recovery. The NDMA oversees (dekh-rekh) the recovery of victims of national disasters. This is where the State and National Disaster Response Fund comes into the picture. The states provide funds from the State Disaster Response Fund for the recovery of lives and infrastructure. The National Disaster Response Fund helps the SDRF when it runs out of money.

[We hear the voice of Piyush Goyal speaking in the Parliament]

Here, the current Railway Minister Piyush Goyal announced the relief offered to farmers from the Response Fund. This was a part of the annual budget of 2019. 

The NDMA has been successful in managing a number of disasters in the past – for instance, the Cyclone Fani, that made landfall on the coast of Odisha last year.

[We hear a news clip about the Cyclone Fani]

Cyclone Fani is the strongest tropical cyclone to hit Odisha in 20 years. Before this, the Odisha cyclone of 1999 was the only cyclone to cause this much damage. However, because of mitigation and preparation efforts by the NDMA as well as the SDMA of Odisha, the impact was reduced. It implemented an efficient early warning system and evacuated nearly 1.2 million (12 lakh) people (aashray tak pahuchaya gaya).

Chalo maanlo, suppose there was no Disaster Management Act in India. What would happen? 

Sabse pehle, there would be no uniform rescue and recovery in places of disaster. Any available agency would rush to help – NGOs, civilians, police. But what about areas in which these are not available? Relief would eventually come, very slowly and sometimes, not at all. Many lives would be lost. 

Dusri baat – there would be no organization to hold accountable. The NDMA is answerable (javabdaar) to the country in the event of disaster. Without the disaster management act, no single institution would be held responsible, leading to chaos.

This is a very important reason for why this kind of an act is necessary.

Now, I told you when I started this episode that India has been using this act since 2005. But what happened before 2005?

[We hear news clips about an earthquake and cyclone in India]

Many of these disasters happened before there was a proper Disaster Management System in India. 

In fact, during the British Era, disaster management was mainly relief-based (madad/raahat pe aadharit). A calamity or disaster occured and relief materials were delivered. You can imagine that this was probably not a very effective strategy. The British did this because they governed with a Laissez-Faire (लाज़्ज़े फेर – laa-zey fare) ya “let it be” (rehne do) policy. This policy means that they believed problems would solve themselves without government intervention. 

After Independence, there was a slow change in disaster management. The focus was mainly on food scarcity (anaj ki kamee) and famine. A Scarcity Relief Division was made under the Ministry of Agriculture to manage disasters. Up until this point, disaster management referred simply to providing relief. In each state, the Relief Commissioners were appointed to do this job. 

In 1984, a devastating man-made disaster finally opened the government’s eyes to the need for a better disaster management system.

[We hear the voice of a news anchor telling us about the Union Carbide leak in Bhopal]

After the Bhopal Gas Tragedy in 1984, the government realized the devastating impact left by disasters. It introduced a number of acts  – like the Environment Protection Act of 1986. It also set up Crisis Groups at the central, state and district levels. In the 90s, under the Ministry of Agriculture a disaster management cell was formed. 

A number of disasters took place during this time – the Latur Earthquake of ‘93, Malpa (मल्पा) Landslide of ‘98, Orissa Super Cyclone of ‘99, the BhujEarthquake of 2001. 

[We hear a news clip about the Bhuj Earthquake of 2001]

It was obvious that more needed to be done to prevent and manage disasters. Just providing financial aid and relief was not enough.

Clearly, the existing Disaster Management System was not effective. In 2001, the Bhuj Earthquake left behind a devastating impact. This was the final warning for the central government. 

The authorities realized that the disaster management system needs to focus on reducing damage in the first place. (nuksaan ko kam karna) 

A committee was formed under Mr. J.C Pant, the secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture. There was now a shift from relief to response. In 2002, this committee was brought under the Ministry of Home Affairs. 

Finally, in 2005, the Disaster Management Act was passed. 

[We hear a news clip about the DMA rules on COVID-19]

We can see how the DMA act is working at present, during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. 

In March this year, the Central Government declared COVID-19 a national disaster.

The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi imposed a 21-day lockdown on 25th March. He invoked the Disaster Management Act.  This is the first time that the Disaster Management Act of 2005 is being invoked across India.

Is act ko lagoo karne mein, Government ke taraf se explanation ye tha ki, this is a disaster that has affected almost all parts of India. So, it must be dealt with on a central level. As you know, the Disaster management act allows the centre to implement national disaster plans through the state authorities, in a uniform manner. 

The states will also be able to provide relief funds in the areas that require it. Logic ye tha ki invoking the Disaster Management act will lead to better coordination between the centre and the states.

For the past few months, we’ve all witnessed the Central Government announce a number of economic and social policies to tackle the pandemic. All of these have been done under the advisory of the NDMA. 

The NDMA has issued advisories on many orders, such as the extension of the lockdown, guidelines to reopen manufacturing industries, Do’s and Don’ts for workers and healthcare professionals. 

What else does the NDMA do to contain the impact of the Pandemic? (pandemic ke prabhaav ko kam karne ke liye)

Remember the response funds I told you about at the national and state levels? In March, the Ministry of Home Affairs allowed the States to use resources from the State Disaster Response Fund, to arrange for relief shelters for migrant labourers .

[We hear a news clip about the SDRF funds used]

Now, one thing you may have noticed is that some states are following slightly different rules for managing a disaster than the rest.

For example, if you’re in Maharashtra, it’s likely that you’re following different rules than someone in Karnataka. 

So, if the Disaster Management Act is imposed nationally, (rashtriya star par ghoshit kiya hai), why is there a difference? 

This is because the Disaster Management act enables the states to formulate individual State Disaster Management Plans. This is done after an analysis of risk in every state.(har ek rajya ki stithi ko dekhte hue)

This is why you’ll see that some states have invoked the Epidemic Diseases act of 1897 as well as other public health acts. For instance, to fight the pandemic, Tamil Nadu invoked the Tamil Nadu Public Health Act. 

Even Kerala which saw the first case of a COVID-19 patient in India, did something similar

[We hear the voice of Rajdeep Sardesai explain how Kerala fought the COVID-19 pandemic]

In addition to the guidelines of the NDMA, Kerala issued ‘Kerala Epidemic Diseases Ordinance 2020’.

The vision behind the Disaster Management Act was to build a safer and stronger country. But it has not always been successful.

In many cases, the NDMA has fallen short (kam pad gayi), leading to death and damage. The Uttarakhand floods of 2013 is an example. Rescue missions for the victims of the flood didn’t reach until at least a day after the impact. 

[We hear a news report about the Uttarakhan floods.]

In the past, audit reports have shown that the NDMA had no information or control over the disaster management work carried out at the state levels. Moreover, between 2010 and 2015,the NDMA had been running without an advisory committee.

While the Disaster Management act mentions all the policies required to tackle a biological disaster like COVID-19 Pandemic, the NDMA has not followed all of them. For instance – the Disaster Management Act mandates the formation of a fixed national plan. But there is still no such plan to deal with this pandemic.

This plan, mandated under section 12 of the DMA, is supposed to put out the minimum standard for food, shelter, and drinking water. but no such plan is in sight, yet. This was also pointed out by Kapil Sibal —

[We hear the voice of Kapil Sibal explaining the minimum standard]

So, how can the disaster management system in India improve? There have been studies and reports that have some important recommendations —

For instance, it’s important for there to be a link between government bodies and the scientific and technical institutions. This is to build a holistic approach to disaster management.

The present plan has a deficient early warning system. An early warning system can save thousands of lives by evacuation. This report suggests undertaking hazard-profiling of the states and developing efficient early warning systems.

To ensure effective disaster management the authority should also encourage large-scale research projects in this field. 

While there is a long way to go before India has a perfect disaster management system, the DM act has built a strong foundation (buniyad) so far. 

That’s all for this episode. I hope this leaves you with a clearer idea of how a disaster is dealt with in India, especially in the difficult times that we’re all going through. 

I’ll be back next week with a brand new episode of Maha Bharat.

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Credits

Narrated by – Dhruv Rathee
Producer – Gaurav Vaz
Research help – Archana Nathan and Gaurav Vaz
Written by – Anushka Mukherjee

Title Track Design – Abhijith Nath
Audio Production – Madhav Ayachit