Disaster manageMent

CONTINGENCY ACTION PLAN

Introduction

Natural calamities, of one description or the other, affect nations all over the world. Because of the large geographical size of the country, India often faces natural calamities like floods, cyclones and drought occurring fairly frequently in different parts of the country. At times, the same area is subjected to floods and drought situation in successive seasons or years. While not all natural calamities can be predicted and prevented, a state of preparedness and ability to respond quickly to a natural calamity can considerably mitigate loss of life and property and the human suffering and restore normalcy at the earliest. It is, therefore, of paramount importance that a plan of action for dealing with contingencies that arise in the wake of natural calamities is formulated and periodically updated.

Types of Natural Calamities

Different natural, calamities can be distinguished from each other in terms of their nature and extent of their impact. Calamities like earthquakes, hailstorms, avalanches, landslides, etc. occur quite suddenly but they are restricted in their impact in terms of time and space. Similarly, though floods and cyclones occur with some element of .warning yet their occurrence is confined in duration. Drought, on the other hand, spans over a much longer time-frame and its adverse impact on the economic activities and life of an area is of a more lasting nature. The measures required to meet the threats posed by different calamities, therefore, differ considerably in terms of disaster preparedness and amelioration of the economic and social life of the affected people.

Major and minor calamities

Natural calamities may be broadly grouped into major and minor types depending upon their potential to cause damage to human life and property. While natural calamities like earth-quakes, droughts, floods and cyclones could be regarded as major, hailstorms, avalanches, landslides, fire accidents, etc. whose impact is localized and intensity of the damage is much less can be categorized as minor calamities.

 Minor calamities like hailstorms, avalanches, landslides and fires also occur without any appreciable degree of forewarning and cause damage to properties and lives. However, areas prone to such disasters also could be identified and certain precautionary measures taken in the context of potential threat requiring general awareness and an ability to relate to a predefined system of appropriate responses on the part of the local administration.

LINKS:

•  Documents on Safe Construction Practice - Technical Advisory Group
•  Documents for WCDR - Government of India
•  Earthquake safe construction of masonry buildings
•  Zone III
•  Zone IV
•  Zone V
•  Earthquake Survival Pocket Guide - A ready reckoner for Home Dwellers  
•  Disaster Management in India "A Status Report " Lecture notes for One week Training of Practicing Architects NPCBAERM
•  An abstract on "State Level Sensitization Programme on Earthquake Risk " - School Safety Plan (Series1.0)   PDF File ZIP File
•  Disaster Management Curriculum in Training of various services
•  Inter-State Sharing of Resources for Disaster Management
•  Approaches and Achievements in Community Based Village Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation Planning
•  Development of State and District Disaster Management Plans
•  Development of City Disaster Management Plans under the Urban Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction Project
•  Model techno-legal regime for multi-hazard risk management in the States
•  Human Resource Development
•  Disaster Management in Education and training of Teachers & Students
•  School Awareness and Safety Programme
•  Building Search and Rescue Capabilities in the states
•  National Emergency Communication Plan   A presentation on "Disaster Management & Rural Development " CRF/NCCF Monitoring Performa MHA   Revised CRF/NCCF Norms Revised CRF/NCCF Norms-2007   Previous Years