Chapter 7: Disaster Management

1 Chapter 7: Disaster Management Introduction Natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, droughts, landslides, etc. are caused due to natural disturbances but manmade disasters occur mainly due to human negligence or interference. Most of the natural calamities occur quite suddenly without any forewarning. Although some disasters such as floods and cyclones can be predicted in advance, these warnings are often inadequate to take precautionary measures. However, natural calamities like droughts are long lasting and have prolonged adverse impacts. The threats posed by different disasters require protection measures, which differ considerably in terms of preparedness and amelioration of affected areas and people. Calamities could be either major as earthquakes, floods etc.

2 , causing great damage to human life and property or minor, as hailstorms, landslides and fire accidents etc., causing relatively less damage. Over the years, many regions in India have faced the natural calamities of varied degree and scale. Of the 35 states and union territories in the country, 22 are Disaster -prone. Floods are a regular feature of Eastern India where the Himalayan Rivers inundate large parts of its catchment areas, uprooting houses, disrupting livelihoods and damaging infrastructure. The flood hazards are compounded by the problems of sediment deposition, drainage congestion and synchronisation of river floods with storm surges in the coastal plains. Major rivers causing floods in different regions of India are Brahmputra and Ganges in the Indo-Gangetic plains, Narmada and Tapi in the Northwest region, and Mahanadi, Krishna and Kaveri in Central India and Deccan region.

3 Droughts are the natural disasters caused by lack of water in the region. This can be result of less rainfall, which happens mainly due to large- scale deforestation, excessive use of water resources, like wells, etc lead to water shortage. In India, 28 percent of total cultivable area is drought-prone. In 2001, more than eight states suffered the impacts of severe droughts. Analysis of rainfall behaviour for the past 100 years reveals that the frequency of occurrence of below-normal rainfall in arid, semi-arid, and sub-humid areas is 54 to 57 per cent, while severe and rare droughts occur once every eight to nine years in arid and semi-arid zones. Of all natural hazards, earthquakes seem the most terrifying as they inflict tremendous damage within seconds.

4 Tremors and surface faulting are often just the forerunners of secondary damage, such as fires, floods (caused by dam bursts), landslides quick soil and Tsunamis. About 57 per cent of geographical area of India is earthquake-prone. The fragile Himalayan mountain ranges are extremely vulnerable to earthquakes (and landslides and avalanches). The seismic zoning map divides India into five seismic zones, namely, Zone I, Zone II, Zone III, Zone IV and Zone V, in increasing order of severity of earthquakes where Zone V and Zone I are the seismically most and least active regions, respectively. With regard to cyclones, about five to six tropical cyclones form in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea every year, of which two or three are severe and lash the densely populated coastal areas causing severe damage.

5 The states most exposed to cyclone-related hazards, including strong winds, floods and storm surges, are West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu along the Bay of Bengal. Along the Arabian Sea on the west coast, the Gujarat and Maharashtra coasts are most vulnerable. Around 80 per cent of India s geographical area is vulnerable to various disasters as well as other localised hazards. About 76 lakh hectares of land, 37 lakh hectares of crops and over thousands of lives are lost every year due to floods in the country. The super cyclone in Orissa killed over 10,000 people in 1999, and around 16000 people perished in Kutch (Gujarat) due to an earthquake in 2001. Recently (December, 2004), the Indian coastline was badly hit by the Tsunami triggered by an earthquake of magnitude on the Richter scale.

6 The total loss in India due to disasters in the year 2003 was estimated more than Rs 700 crores. Natural disasters that have occurred in the country during 1990-2005, population affected and the loss of property incurred are given in Table Table : Natural Disasters in India during 1990-2005 Type of Disaster (Year) Location/Area Affected Population (in million)Loss of human Lives (No.) Loss of Crops and Public Property (Rs. Billion) Cyclone (May, 1990) Andhra Pradesh 928 Earthquake (Oct, 1991) Uttarkashi, Uttar Pradesh 768 Cyclone (Nov, 1992) Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka 497 Flood (June-Sept, 1993) 12 States of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Tripura, Mizoram and Maharashtra were affected by floods 1643 Earthquake(30 Sep, 1993)Marathwada in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh 7611 Cyclone (Dec, 1993) Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry - - Cyclone (1999) Orissa - 10000 - Earthquake (Jan 2001) Gujrat, Kutch - 16000 - Tsunami (Dec 2004) Tamil Nadu, Kerela, Andhra Pradesh, Pondichery, West Bengal, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Orissa 10000 Flood (July 2005) Maharashtra (Konkan Region) 900 Source.

7 CSO (1997) and NIUA (2000), Indiastat 2005 Disasters in Maharashtra Maharashtra is prone to various disasters such as drought, floods, cyclones, earthquake and accidents. While low rainfall areas of the state are under the constant risk of droughts, high rainfall zones of eastern and western Maharashtra are prone to flash floods and landslides. The Koyna reservoir and surroundings fall under the high risk of earthquake hazards. Similarly, Industrial belt of Pune, Mumbai and Nashik are prone to the risk of accident and industrial hazards. Other disasters like fire and road accidents occur in congested areas lacking proper infrastructure. The state has suffered huge losses, both direct and indirect, caused by various disasters. For example, the infamous Latur earthquake of 1993, resulted in the loss of several thousands of human and animal lives.

8 In addition, it caused damage to entire infrastructure such as buildings, roads, railways, pipelines, and electricity network, etc. In order to avoid such losses due to disasters, the GoM has established a 214mechanism for Disaster preparedness and mitigation by integrating science and technology with communication network facilitates. Many areas of the State have faced droughts for consecutive years, which damaged agriculture and caused water shortage in more than 20,000 villages. Floods, though, are not a regular phenomenon, took 180 lives in 1996 and, more recently, in July 2005, about 900 people died in the Konkan Region due heavy rainfall of about 37 inches.

9 Box and Table give an account of Disaster vulnerability and district-wise vulnerability of the state, respectively. Floods and Droughts In Maharashtra, floods mainly result from damage to the dam embankments, release of excessive water from dams, improper storm-water drainage systems and unplanned urbanisation. Increased migration and rising population due to urbanisation exert tremendous pressure on the existing storm-water drains in the cities. Floods in the urban areas occur due to following reasons. The drainage systems in many cities are inadequate and have become obsolete. For example, Mumbai s drainage system was built more than 75 years ago. Considering the growth of city during this period, and the damage that has occurred, the system falls short of needs.

10 The problems in drainage system are aggravated because of the large number of new buildings and construction activities in the cities. The growth of slums and unauthorised settlements along the drainage system has reduced the width of the natural water streams. Many unauthorised cattle-sheds and waste dealer shops are built near the nullahs, which increased accumulation of solid waste and other garbage into them, thus, making it difficult for the authorities to clean them periodically. The gutters in coastal towns are mostly below the sea level, which aggravates the problems of drainage during high tides. Rains during this period flood these cities with rainwater, which takes time to recede, adding to the havoc and disrupting the entire traffic system.