Management of Disasters and Crisis Situations in India with Focus on the Poor
MANAGEMENT OF DISASTERS AND CRISIS SITUATIONS IN INDIA WITH FOCUS ON THE POOR Katar Singh and Vishwa Ballabh1,2,3
1. Introduction and Background Natural and man-made disasters have been a bane of India’s economy since time immemorial. In ancient Indian literature, there are references to natural disasters such as prolonged droughts, flash floods, hail storms, land slides, cyclones and forest fires. All those disasters were generally then attributed to planetary factors and evil spirits (Kanwar 2001: 3). According to the Kautilya 's Arthashastra, disaster management was a prime duty of the state. The state used to provide relief, when the distress conditions became acute (Sharma 2003: 3). According to the Indian Famine Commission (1888), droughts were the root cause of the devastating famines of the nineteenth century in India. In a nutshell, we could say that India was then and still is vulnerable to almost every type of natural disaster. About 60 % of the landmass in India is vulnerable to earthquakes; over 40 million hectares (ha) is prone to floods4; about 8 % of the total area is prone to cyclones; and about 68 % of the total area is susceptible to droughts. Eight thousand kilometer long coastline is prone to severe cyclonic formations. About 55 % of the total area lies in Seismic Zones III-V and is vulnerable to earthquakes. Sub-Himalayan regions and Western Ghats are vulnerable to land slides. (Kanwar 2001: 7, and GOI, 2004:32). Besides, man made disasters such as fires; air, road and rail accidents; industrial accidents; strikes and bandhs, civil commotion; and wars take a heavy toll of thousands of lives in the country every year. The vulnerability of India’s population, especially the poor, to both natural and man made disasters, has been increasing over time, with the increasing population densities, unplanned growth, urbanization, industrialization and other factors such as global warming, green house effect, social violence, terrorism, civil unrest
1. Introduction and Background Natural and man-made disasters have been a bane of India’s economy since time immemorial. In ancient Indian literature, there are references to natural disasters such as prolonged droughts, flash floods, hail storms, land slides, cyclones and forest fires. All those disasters were generally then attributed to planetary factors and evil spirits (Kanwar 2001: 3). According to the Kautilya 's Arthashastra, disaster management was a prime duty of the state. The state used to provide relief, when the distress conditions became acute (Sharma 2003: 3). According to the Indian Famine Commission (1888), droughts were the root cause of the devastating famines of the nineteenth century in India. In a nutshell, we could say that India was then and still is vulnerable to almost every type of natural disaster. About 60 % of the landmass in India is vulnerable to earthquakes; over 40 million hectares (ha) is prone to floods4; about 8 % of the total area is prone to cyclones; and about 68 % of the total area is susceptible to droughts. Eight thousand kilometer long coastline is prone to severe cyclonic formations. About 55 % of the total area lies in Seismic Zones III-V and is vulnerable to earthquakes. Sub-Himalayan regions and Western Ghats are vulnerable to land slides. (Kanwar 2001: 7, and GOI, 2004:32). Besides, man made disasters such as fires; air, road and rail accidents; industrial accidents; strikes and bandhs, civil commotion; and wars take a heavy toll of thousands of lives in the country every year. The vulnerability of India’s population, especially the poor, to both natural and man made disasters, has been increasing over time, with the increasing population densities, unplanned growth, urbanization, industrialization and other factors such as global warming, green house effect, social violence, terrorism, civil unrest
References: 25 ANNEXURE Table 2 Flood losses in Bihar as of July 24, 2004