Transcript Transforming Disasters into Opportunities

Transforming Disasters
into Opportunities
Experiences from India
P.G.Dhar Chakrabarti
Executive Director
National Institute of Disaster Management
Geneva
22nd November 2005
Disasters and Indian ethos
• Disasters integral part of living in India
• High profile disasters like earthquake, cyclone,
flood, landslide, avalanche take heavy toll of life
• Silent disasters like drought, starvation,
epidemics , infant mortality and maternal
mortality take even heavier toll of life
• Communities have learnt to cope with disasters,
but more often they are resigned to their fate
• Same attitude of fatalism seem to have pervaded
State policy or lack of it till nineties
Turning point:
4 major disasters between 1993-2004
• Latur Earthquake 1993: 9475 dead, 1 million
houses damaged, 8 million people affected
• Orissa Super Cyclone 1999: 10086 dead, 2
million houses damaged, 15 million affected
• Gujrat Earthquake 2001: 13805 dead, 1.8 million
houses damaged, 12 million people affected
• Indian Ocean Tsunami 2004: 12405 people
dead, 3.5 million houses damaged, 18 million
people affected
How disasters changed
policies and practices
• Earthquake resistant construction
LATUR’93
technology developed for nonengineered constructions with
community participation
• Multi-hazard zoning map of the
entire country prepared
• Disaster management plans prepared
for all the districts of Maharastra
• Early warning system for cyclone developed
•
Network of cyclone shelters constructed
• Emergency evacuation plans for
ORISSA’99
communities in coastal areas
•
Livelihood restoration integrated
in poverty alleviation program
•
High Powered Committee on disaster
management set up,
• National Committee on disaster under Prime Minister
• DRR shifted from Agriculture to Home Ministry
• 8 battalion strong National Disaster
Response Force sanctioned
GUJRAT’01
• Disaster management introduced
in curriculum of school education,
engineering, architecture, medicine
• New building standards in seismic zones
• National Institute of Disaster Management set up
•
Community based DRM program in 17 States
•
Disaster Management Bill 2005 introduced in
Parliament prescribing legal-institutional
framework of disaster management
• National Policy on Disaster Reduction
•
National Disaster Management
TSUNAMI’04
Authority set up
• Tsunami Early Warning system
approved for 50 million USD
• Emergency Operation Centre in National,
State and District Headquarters
• Nation wide Disaster Communication Plan
Test of new initiatives:
Kashmir earthquake 2005
• Quick response of rescue and evacuation
team, restricting casualties to 1150
• Relief materials mobilized and
STRONG
distributed with speed and efficiency
POINTS
• Immediate financial support announced
• Plan for intermediary and final shelter
finalized in less than two weeks
• Entire operation conducted without donor assistance
• Disaster could not be prevented despite warnings
• If the epicentre of the quake was a city like
Baramulla or Srinagar the losses of life
and property could be colossal
WEAKNESS
• Civilian response was very slow
• If the army had not responded
quickly the casualties could be more
• Community involvement in response
and reconstruction program was minimal
• State sponsored rescue and recovery operation
may be difficult to be replicated elsewhere
Unfinished agenda….
• India is finally putting up a legal and institutional system
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for disaster management in the country
But preventive and mitigation aspects continue to be weak
Community involvement and participation is rudimentary
EWS continues to be weak as Mumbai flood demonstrates
Hazard resistant building bye laws notified, but standard
of implementation is dismal everywhere
Strengthening of lifeline building a huge unattended task
Many metropolitan and mega cities are live hotspots