1. Impact of disasters
1. High Human and Economic Loss, around 2% of GDP of India is lost due to disasters.
2. Poor people are the worst affected.
3. It may not lead to inclusive growth
4. Increase in health hazards.
5. Unavailability of water for agricultural purposes.
6. Extreme events could disturb the drainage pattern of the cities
7. Schemes which provide for DRR
1. RKVY to take care of extreme weather events and JNNURM.
2. Most of the schemes of Rural Development could have significant impact in DRR
1. PMGSY Lifeline connectivity in challenging times.
2. IAY A small component of it can be used for those affected by disasters. Change in norms is required in IAY to incorporate DRR in the construction itself. A major weakness of IAY is the quality of housing.
3. RGNDWM provides potable water to all villages, in the event of disaster, a component is earmarked for emergency tube wells.
8. Post Disaster Impact Assessment and Funding Mechanism
3. Disaster Impact Assessment
4. It is the amount of direct loss associated with the disaster based on replacement value on current prices. Indirect loss is considered when the project was funded by multilateral agencies. The present method only covers the stock and not the flow.
5. It helps in assessing economic recovery plan and reconstruction program.
6. It also helps us in providing information about the impact on various sectors of economy.
4. Damage - It is defined as the total or partial destruction of physical assets existing in the affected areas- it helps in estimating reconstruction needs whereas Loss change in economic advantage due to damage, helps in assessing the socio-economic impact of the disaster.
5. In India, estimation of post disaster damage loss and need assessment and making an analysis of its impact on development is not a practice.
6. In the globalized economy, the impact of disaster may be felt not only the in the neighboring country but also those countries which are interlinked with the affected country.
9. Details of all disaster
7. Natural
7. Flood mainly due to concentration of heavy rainfall in 4 months, it mainly damages the crop.
8. Drought - due to failure of monsoon.
9. Cyclone , Earthquake , Landslide and Avalanches
10. Man Made Disasters - Forest Fires
10. Measurement of Disasters - In order to be prepared for any kind of the natural disasters in an area it is essential to understand the vulnerability of the area to different kinds of disasters and their magnitude
8. The geospatial technologies have an important role in developing strategies for disaster reduction as well managing the disasters. It can be broadly classified into
11. Satellite remote sensing based technologies
1. It facilitates the detection and early warning of disasters, especially those of meteorological origin.
1. The forest fires can be detected early and their spread can be monitored.
2. The images enable the mapping of flood affected areas and also track the direction of movement of tropical cyclones
2. The development of telecommunication technology using satellites allows transmission of disaster warning even to remote and inaccessible areas.
12. Geographical Information System (GIS)
3. GIS provides a set of tools and techniques to collect, manipulate, analyze, display spatial data in an organized manner.
11. DRR Techniques for effective poverty reduction
9. The presence of micro financing/micro credit in the Self Employment Programme. Therefore, it is a great tool of mitigation already available under the Scheme but not yet put to maximum use
10. Most of the works in MNREGA, pertain to soil and water shed management, minor irrigation works and flood control initiatives. Therefore, the list of eligible works clearly shows that MNREGA attempts to create assets which are helpful in mitigating natural disasters like drought, flood, cyclone
11. Under Land Development works( like tilling, ploughing, field bunding, contouring of individual fields) under MNRGEA with better gradient for drainage facilities should be allowed to be taken up by the concerned marginal farmers himself in his own field to ensure that water stagnation or flooding does not occur in his paddy field. If this activity is carried out by the respective farmers in their own fields during the summer months, there can be no better mitigation measure
12. What can be done to include DRR in Poverty Alleviation Schemes
13. Depending upon the type of calamity , severity of the damage to the houses is also related to the type of the dwelling unit/houses
14. Therefore, the DRR initiatives in the form of simple framed structure when, earth quake resistant design is incorporated in the type design of the IAY/PMGY housing schemes, the threat posed by earthquake, cyclone, flash flood, storm surges can be successfully over come. Also, the concept /practice of insuring the houses could be made mandatory to ensure replacement in case of destruction/damage.
Nalinesh Chand
