Disaster Risk Reduction and Preparedness
The legal and institutional spine
The Disaster Management Act 2005 answers most institutional questions:
- NDMA - National Disaster Management Authority, chaired by the Prime Minister; lays down policy, guidelines and the national plan.
- SDMA - state level, chaired by the Chief Minister; DDMA - district level, chaired by the District Magistrate or Collector.
- NIDM - training and research; NEC - National Executive Committee; NDRF - specialised response force; states raise their own SDRF.
- Nodal agencies: IMD for weather and cyclone warnings, CWC for flood forecasting, INCOIS for tsunami, GSI for landslides, FSI for forest fire.
Sendai Framework 2015-2030
The predecessor was the Hyogo Framework for Action (2005-2015). Sendai has four priorities: understanding disaster risk; strengthening disaster risk governance; investing in DRR for resilience; and enhancing preparedness for effective response and to Build Back Better. Its seven global targets aim to reduce mortality, affected people, economic loss and infrastructure damage, and to expand early warning and national strategies.
Preparedness in practice
HRVA (hazard, risk, vulnerability and capacity analysis) leads to a contingency plan, then early warning, mock drills, pre-positioned stocks listed on the India Disaster Resource Network, and an Incident Response System with a named Incident Commander. Preparedness is strictly pre-disaster: it converts the capacity term in the risk equation into a real, measurable number.
Worked example
A district is told to prepare for the monsoon. A weak answer lists relief items. A strong answer follows the chain: HRVA of flood-prone blocks, update the DDMA contingency plan, verify CWC forecasts and village-level warning dissemination, pre-position boats and relief camps, run a mock drill with NDRF or SDRF, assign IRS roles, and review after the season.
Traps
Describing Sendai as a relief fund; confusing NDMA (authority, policy) with NDRF (force, operations); writing that DRR begins after a disaster; forgetting that Hyogo preceded Sendai.