DISASTER PREPAREDNESS IN INDIA

93 Pages·2015·0.88 MB·English

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DISASTER PREPAREDNESS IN INDIA

MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE
(2015-16)

TWENTY FIFTH REPORT

SIXTEENTH LOK SABHA

LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT
NEW DELHI

1
T W E N T Y F I F T H R E P O R T

PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE
(2015-16)

(SIXTEENTH LOK SABHA)

DISASTER PREPA REDNESS IN INDIA

MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

Presented to Lok Sabha on: 10.12.2015

Laid in Rajya Sabha on: 10.12.2015

L O K S A B H A S E C R E T A R I A T
N E W D E L H I

December 2015/ Ahrahayana 1937 (Saka)

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CONTENTS

Pages

COMPOSITION OF THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE (2015-16) (iii)
COMPOSITION OF THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE (2014-15) (v)
COMPOSITION OF THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE (2013-14) (vii)
INTORUDCTION (ix)

REPORT
PART- I

I Introductory 1
II Legislative and Institutional Framework 3
National Executive Committee 5
III Planning of Disaster Preparedness 6
(i) Absence of National Plan for Disaster Management 6
(ii) State Plan for Disaster Management 7
(iii) National Disaster Management Guidelines 9
(iv) Demarcation of roles and responsibilities 10
IV National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) 11
(i) Delay in constitution of Advisory Committee of NDMA 12
(ii) Implementation of projects by NDMA 12
(iii) Manpower Management in NDMA 15
V Resource and Funding Arrangements 16
(i) State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) 16
(ii) National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) 18
(iii) National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) 20
(iv) National Disaster Response Reserve (NDRR) 21
VI Communication system for disaster preparedness 22
(i) National Database for Emergency Management (NDEM) 22
(ii) Airborne Laser Terrain Mapping And Digital Camera (ALTM- 23
DC) System
(iii) Disaster Management Synthetic Aperture Radar (DMSAR) 23
(iv) Satellite based communication network for disaster 24
management
(v) Doppler Weather Radars 25
(vi) Other Communication Networks 28
3
VII Response System in Disasters 29
(i) National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) & State Disaster 29
Response Force (SDRF)
(ii) Regional Response Centre 32
(iii) Civil Defence and Fire Service 32
(iv) Medical Preparedness 33

VIII Capacity Building 35
(i) National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) 36
(ii) Pilot project on capacity building in disaster management 38

IX Disaster Specific Observations 38
(i) Earthquakes 38
(ii) Floods 41
(iii) Cyclones and Tsunami 44
(iv) Droughts 49
(v) Forest Fire 51
(vi) Chemical Disaster 53
(vii) Biological Disasters 55
(viii) Radiological and Nuclear Emergencies 57
(ix) Heatwave Condition 59

PART – II
Observations/Recommendations 62

APPENDICES
I Glossary 85

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COMPOSITION OF THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE
(2015-16)

Prof. K.V. Thomas - Chairperson

MEMBERS

LOK SABHA

2. Shri S.S. Ahluwalia
3. Shri Sudip Bandyopadhyay
4. Shri Ranjit Singh Brahmpura
5. Shri Nishikant Dubey
6. Shri Gajanan Kirtikar
7. Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab
8. Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal "Nishank"
9. Shri Neiphiu Rio
10. Shri Dushyant Singh
11. Shri Janardan Singh Sigriwal
12. Dr. Kirit Somaiya
13. Shri Anurag Singh Thakur
14. Shri Shivkumar Udasi
15. Dr. P. Venugopal

RAJYA SABHA
16. Shri Naresh Agrawal
17. Shri Satyavrat Chaturvedi
18. Shri Anil Madhav Dave
19. Shri Vijay Goel
20. Shri Bhubaneswar Kalita
21. Shri Shantaram Naik
22. Shri Sukhendu Sekhar Roy

SECRETARIAT

1. Shri A.K. Singh - Additional Secretary
2. Shri A.K. Yadav - Deputy Secretary

iii
COMPOSITION OF THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE
(2014-15)
Prof. K.V. Thomas - Chairperson
MEMBERS

LOK SABHA

2. Shri S.S. Ahluwalia
3. Shri Sudip Bandyopadhyay
4. Shri Ranjit Singh Brahmpura
5. Shri Nishikant Dubey
6. Shri Gajanan Kirtikar
7. Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab
8. Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal "Nishank"
9. Shri Neiphiu Rio
10. Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy
11. Shri Janardan Singh Sigriwal
12. Shri Jayant Sinha
13. Dr. Kirit Somaiya
14. Shri Anurag Thakur
15*. Vacant

RAJYA SABHA

16. Shri Satyavrat Chaturvedi
17. Shri Vijay Goel
18. Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya
19. Shri Bhubaneswar Kalita
20. Shri Shantaram Naik
21. Shri Sukhendu Sekhar Roy
22. Shri Ramchandra Prasad Singh

* Vacant vice Dr. M. Thambidurai who has been chosen as Hon'ble Deputy Speaker, Lok Sabha and has since resigned from the
membership of the Committee.

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COMPOSITION OF THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE
(2013-14)
Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi - Chairman

MEMBERS
LOK SABHA

2. Shri Anandrao Adsul
3. Dr. Baliram
4. Shri Ramen Deka
5. Shri Sandeep Dikshit
6. Dr. M. Thambi Durai
7. Shri T.K.S. Elangovan
8. Shri Jayaprakash Hegde
9. Dr. Sanjay Jaiswal
10 Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab
11. Shri Abhijit Mukherjee
12. Shri Sanjay Brijkishorlal Nirupam
13. Shri Ashok Tanwar
†14. Shri Ajay Maken
15. Shri Dharmendra Yadav
RAJYA SABHA

16. Shri Prasanta Chatterjee
17. Shri Prakash Javadekar
‡18. Shri Ashwani Kumar
19. Shri Satish Chandra Misra
§20. Dr. V. Maitreyan
21. Shri N.K. Singh
22. Smt. Ambika Soni

† Elected w.e.f. 14th August, 2013 vice Dr. Girija Vyas appointed as Minister of Housing, Urban
Development & Poverty Alleviation w.e.f. 17th June, 2013.

‡ Elected w.e.f. 3rd September, 2013 vice Dr. V. Maitreyan ceased to be a Member upon his retirement as
a Member of Rajya Sabha w.e.f. 24th July, 2013.

§ Elected w.e.f. 3rd September, 2013 vice Dr. E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan appointed as Minister of State
for Commerce and Industry w.e.f. 17th June, 2013.
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INTRODUCTION

I, the Chairman, Public Accounts Committee (2015-16) having been authorised
by the Committee, do present this Twenty Fifth Report (Sixteenth Lok Sabha) on
'Disaster Preparedness in India' based on C&AG Report No. 3 of 2013 (Performance
Audit), Union Government related to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

2. The above-mentioned Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India
was laid on the Table of the House on 23rd April, 2013.

3. The Public Accounts Committee (2013-14) took up the subject for detailed
examination and report. The Committee took evidence of the representatives of the
Ministry of Home Affairs on the subject at their sitting held on 1st July, 2013. As the
examination of the subject could not be completed due to paucity of time, the Public
Accounts Committee (2014-15) re-selected the subject to continue the examination and
took evidence of the representatives of the Ministry of Home Affairs at their sitting held
on 9th December, 2014. As the Report on the subject could not be finalised, the PAC
(2015-16) reselected the subject to continue the examination and present a Report
based on the earlier evidences taken by their predecessor Committees. Accordingly a
Draft Report was prepared and placed before the Committee for their consideration.
The Committee considered and adopted this Draft Report at their sitting held on 7th
September, 2015. The Minutes of the Sittings are appended to the Report.

4. For facility of reference and convenience, the Observations and
Recommendations of the Committee have been printed in thick type and form Part- II of
the Report.

5. The Committee thank their predecessor Committees for taking oral evidence and
obtaining information on the subject.

6. The Committee would like to express their thanks to the representatives of the
Ministry of Home Affairs for tendering evidence before them and furnishing the requisite
information to the Committee in connection with the examination of the subject.

7. The Committee place on record their appreciation of the assistance rendered to
them in the matter by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

NEW DELHI; PROF. K.V. THOMAS
9 December,2015 Chairperson,
18 Agrahayana, 1937 (Saka) Public Accounts Committee

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REPORT

PART– I

I. INTRODUCTORY

1. A disaster is an event or series of events, which give rise to casualties and
damage or loss of property, infrastructure, environment, essential services or means of
livelihood on a scale that is beyond the normal coping capacity of the affected
community. Disasters disrupt progress and destroy the developmental efforts, often
pushing nations, in their quest for progress, back by several decades. Thus, efficient
management of disasters, rather than mere response to their occurrence, has received
increased attention both within India and abroad.

2. The Disaster Management Act, 2005 defined disaster as a "catastrophe, mishap,
calamity or grave occurrence in any area, arising from natural or manmade causes, or
by accident or negligence which results in substantial loss of life or human suffering or
damage to, and destruction of, property, or damage to, or degradation of, environment,
and is of such a nature or magnitude as to be beyond the coping capacity of the
community of the affected area." Thus, Disaster Management (DM) is a continuous and
integrated process of
 Planning, organizing, coordinating and implementing measures which are
necessary or expedient for prevention of any disaster;
 Mitigation or reduction of any disaster or its severity or consequences;
 Capacity building to deal with any disaster;
 Prompt response to any threatening disaster situation or disaster;
 Assessing the severity or magnitude of any disaster;
 Evacuation, rescue and relief; and,
 Rehabilitation and reconstruction.

3. Disaster Preparedness includes organizational activities which ensure that the
systems, procedure and resources required to confront a disaster are available in order
to provide timely assistance to those affected, using existing mechanisms wherever
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possible e.g. training, creation of awareness, establishment of disaster plans,
evacuation plans, pre-positioning of stocks, early warning mechanism, strengthening
indigenous knowledge, etc. In recent years, the concept of Disaster Preparedness has
emerged as an umbrella concept including risk assessment, disaster prevention and
disaster mitigation. It also involves analysis of disaster response as it provides a useful
testing of preparedness.

4. India is one of the most disaster prone countries in the world. This is largely due
to its geo-climatic conditions combined with high population density and other socio
economic factors. India is vulnerable, in varying degrees, to a large number of natural
as well as man-made disasters. The risk of excessive damage of lives and property in
the event of disaster is high due to spread of population and tendency of people to go
back to areas prone to such disasters. Increased vulnerability to disaster risks can be
related to expanding population, urbanization and industrialization, development within
high-risk zones, environmental degradation and climatic changes. Increase in terrorism
around the globe has also contributed to higher risks.

5. According to the Audit Report, the world over Disaster Preparedness or Disaster
Risk Reduction (DRR) is becoming the most prominent theme for Disaster
Management. It is not possible to eliminate the possibility of disasters. However, with
due care and proper preparation, the risks and damages from disasters can be reduced
considerably. India is prone to various natural and manmade disasters. The Country
has faced several devastating disasters including earthquakes, tsunamis and river
floods in recent years. Accordingly India was one of the pioneering countries to
establish a three level disaster management institutional set up. Considerable time has
elapsed since the enactment of the DM Act in 2005. Governments at the central and
state level have initiated various mitigation projects. There are also several
internationally aided projects for disaster risk reduction being carried out in the Country.
Institutional set ups at the national, state and district levels have been formed. The
nodal ministries responsible for DRR work have been designated for various manmade
and natural disasters. Therefore, it is the right time to assess the level of preparation in
the country to manage disasters.