People Led District Disaster Management
People led District Disaster Management
Soon after the Orissa Cyclone and thereafter the Gujarat earthquake the Government of India prioritized a national policy on disaster management and advocated a change of direction from a post disaster reactive approach to a proactive stance before the occurrence of disasters, provided a new legal framework and greater harmonization of disaster management efforts. The policy set forth principles (including significant community role and active civil society participation), objectives (including emphasis on prevention, DRR and promoting regional and national cooperation), strategies and provisions for promoting inter-sectoral complementarities.
The Disaster Management Act 2005, mandates National, States and district authorities to develop policy, guidelines, plans for proper implementation of Disaster management plans to reduce adverse impact on communities and to facilitate timely and effective response. It stresses upon inclusion of mitigation, preparedness and DRR measures into development. As a result SDMAs in various states initiated development of district disaster management plans. However, some plans were merely a collection of contact phone numbers of important authorities and departments from the district. There were significant gaps in these operational plans mainly due to non availability of a standard framework, lack of expertise and dedicated resources. Lack of community participation and that of relevant stakeholders in the preparation process has resulted in lack of ownership among intended users and beneficiaries.
Disasters tend to happen to people at risk. People are at risk because they are vulnerable to hazards. This vulnerability can be best reduced by increasing people’s capacities to deal with underlying social, cultural and physical factors.
The key to successful disaster management plan is to ensure involvement of people who are victims and who are at risk or could be potential victims. If
Soon after the Orissa Cyclone and thereafter the Gujarat earthquake the Government of India prioritized a national policy on disaster management and advocated a change of direction from a post disaster reactive approach to a proactive stance before the occurrence of disasters, provided a new legal framework and greater harmonization of disaster management efforts. The policy set forth principles (including significant community role and active civil society participation), objectives (including emphasis on prevention, DRR and promoting regional and national cooperation), strategies and provisions for promoting inter-sectoral complementarities.
The Disaster Management Act 2005, mandates National, States and district authorities to develop policy, guidelines, plans for proper implementation of Disaster management plans to reduce adverse impact on communities and to facilitate timely and effective response. It stresses upon inclusion of mitigation, preparedness and DRR measures into development. As a result SDMAs in various states initiated development of district disaster management plans. However, some plans were merely a collection of contact phone numbers of important authorities and departments from the district. There were significant gaps in these operational plans mainly due to non availability of a standard framework, lack of expertise and dedicated resources. Lack of community participation and that of relevant stakeholders in the preparation process has resulted in lack of ownership among intended users and beneficiaries.
Disasters tend to happen to people at risk. People are at risk because they are vulnerable to hazards. This vulnerability can be best reduced by increasing people’s capacities to deal with underlying social, cultural and physical factors.
The key to successful disaster management plan is to ensure involvement of people who are victims and who are at risk or could be potential victims. If