An Introduction to Disaster Management

A VITAL PART OF DISASTER MANAGEMENT

• India with its vast population and unique geo-physical characteristics is one of the world’s most ‘disaster-prone’ countries.

• Natural hazards such as cyclones, earthquakes, drought, floods or landslides occur in different parts of India in varying intensity.

• This means that we are all ‘vulnerable’ in different degrees to disasters caused by these hazards.

Cont…

• On he East Coast, cyclones occur frequently.

• In the interior of the Plateau or in the Himalayas – earthquakes, and in the Ganga - Brahmaputra plain, floods are more common.

INDIA IS DISASTER-PRONE…

• OVER 55% OF THE LAND AREA IS VULNERABLE TO EARTHQUAKES 12% TO FLOODS

• 8% TO CYCLONES

• 70 % OF THE LAND UNDER CULTIVATION IS PRONE TO DROUGHT

Natural and Manmade disasters

• The selfless bounty of nature is a gift to mankind. It is an eternal source of sustenance: it gives us air, water and food, and of course a home to stay.

• For centuries though, Mother Nature has been combining its gifts with its often-inexplicable moods of destruction and fury.

Cont…• These times of turmoil over land and water, or

hazards often lead to disasters, with large losses to life, livelihood and property.

• Disasters are some times referred to as ‘calamities’.

• Common hazards faced by us in India are earthquakes, drought, floods, cyclones, landslides, forest fires, a large number of fire accidents, etc.

EARTHQUAKES

The Earth we live on is made up of large plates of land that float over an ocean of semi molten rock.

For thousands of years these plates have been constantly moving and shifting. (65 million years ago such shifting caused the Himalayas.)

These movements in the Earth’s crust cause earthquakes, when two plates collide with each other, releasing energy.

Earthquakes that occur under water, in the oceans, cause huge waves called tsunamis that have some times raced across the ocean at 8000 km/h. Earthquakes are more likely to occur along faults.

Delhi, our capital city lies near a fault, and is hence highly earthquake-prone. The fact that it is also densely populated and has crowded residential areas makes it more vulnerable to disaster.

Drought• A natural phenomenon, which happens when an area

receives lesser rainfall then expected, or in comparison to the normal rainfall levels for the area.

• It is a dry situation characterized by deficit rainfall, lack of water for household use or agriculture, or a deficiency of surface or sub-surface water leading to acute shortage of water.

• Environmental degradation is a major factor that increases the effects of drought.

• Deforestation, soil erosion (by wind and water), loss of bio-diversity and excessive use of ground or surface water result in drought.

• It causes large-scale starvation, loss of assets and livestock and death. Drought is a perennial feature in some states of India.

Cont…• Environmental degradation is a major factor that increases the effects of

drought. Deforestation, soil erosion (by wind and water), Important Terms

• 1. Normal rainfall: When the rainfall for the monsoon season of June to September for a place is within +/-19% of its long period average, it is categorised as normal. When the monsoon rainfall deficiency exceeds 19%, it is categorised as deficient or scanty.

• 2. Environmental degradation: in simple terms is the reduction or deterioration of environmental resources that harms us in many ways.

• 3. Bio-diversity: is the term for the variety of life and the natural processes of which living things are a part. This includes the living organisms and the genetic differences between them and the communities in which they occur. The concept of biodiversity represents the ways that life is organized and interacts on our planet. This balance or equilibrium is challenged by environmental degradation loss of bio-diversity and excessive use of ground or surface water result in drought. It causes large-scale starvation, loss of assets and livestock and death. Drought is a perennial feature in some states of India.

FLOODS• Floods are caused when water rises

above and beyond its normal place or course, causing areas to be submerged with water for prolonged or short periods of time.

• They are caused primarily due to the peculiarities of rainfall in the country, and are the most frequent and often most devastating disaster in India.

• While the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers cause the largest floods in India, other areas in the west, east and south also experience floods.

CYCLONES• A cyclone is a storm that occurs

due to a difference in temperature and pressure of air, over the warm waters of the Oceans.

• It is accompanied by strong gales and lashing rain, and tidal waves that cause floods in coastal areas.

• A cyclone can carry the power to destroy concrete buildings, blow away a cement roof, uproot trees, and wash away homes in villages.

MANMADE DISASTERS• Results major accidents or inadvertent as well

deliberate actions of individuals, groups or governments.

• For example terrorists may blow up a train or building with explosives.

• Manmade disasters could be nuclear (The nuclear attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in 1945). Nuclear weapons when used cause a lot of destruction through the generation of heat, fire and radiation.

• Biological disasters can be caused by preserving and releasing germs of deadly diseases such as small pox, jaundice etc, or by polluting water with such germs in a particular area.

• The use of Anthrax by terrorists to eliminate people in the USA in 2002 could be called a biological weapon.

Cont…• Manmade disasters could also be caused by the misuse or spread of dangerous

chemicals. The release of Methyl Iso-Cyanate or MIC, a lethal gas in Bhopal in 1984 in an industrial accident caused the death of many persons almost instantly.

• Almost two decades later, people are still suffering from the after effects of this disaster. More common manmade disasters are major fires, land, air or water accidents caused by collisions, breakdown, etc., and collapse of bridges and buildings.

• Manmade disasters are preventable. For instance, by adhering to rules that govern the way a building must be constructed (these are called Building Bye Laws, and are issued by the Government), we could ensure that it is strong and durable.

• Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaties are agreements made internationally by countries, mutually agreeing not to develop nuclear weapons for mass destruction.

• Further, by adhering conscientiously to safety measures in industries, accidents that cause suffering could be prevented.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

• The range of activities designed to mitigate the effects of disasters and emergency situations and to provide a framework for helping people at-risk to avoid or recover from the impact of the disaster.

• Managing disasters includes steps to be taken prior to, during, and after the disaster, and involve preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery.

NATURE AND DIMENSION OF THE DISASTER

• Hazards as a central concern;

• The dynamics of disaster agents;

• A global typology of hazards; and

• A reconfigured development focus.

1. Hazards as a Central Concern

• The number, types and impact of disaster are on the increase, as are the factors – be they natural phenomena, or chemical and technological changes – that cause then.

• These even threaten life, livelihood and the socio-economic and political structuring of states.

2. They Dynamics of Interrelated Disasters

• Hazard may be the results of ‘synchronous failures of global social, economic and biophysical systems arising from diverse yet interacting stresses’.

• Floods have had an adverse impact upon people’s livelihood and have led to poverty, unrest and eventually violence

3. A Typology of Hazards• The first concern those events in which the direct impact is

local, e.g. the Kashmir earthquake.

• While acknowledging that even ostensibly local events may have far more extensive and far-reaching social, economic and political effects, their immediate impacts are normally within a relatively confined space, e.g. a population centre.

• The second disaster-genre spills across regional borders. Floods often generate this sort of impact, though over the last two decades, the impact of chemical spills, burning of forests for agricultural land.

4. A Reconfigured Development Focus• The belief that development and disaster prevention,

preparedness and even responses should be closely integrated conceptually and practically has been a major preoccupation for more than three decades now.

• Development programmes and projects are not scrutinized in terms of the potential hazards that they might create, and conversely disaster response and preparedness – let alone transition and recovery – programmes are rarely assessed in terms of their potential development linkages.

PRINCIPLES OF THE DISASTER MANAGEMENT

• It should be a continuous process. • It should reduce the unknown in a problematic

situation. • Plan must evoke appropriate action. • Plan must foresee what is likely to happen. • Plan must be based on valid knowledge. • Plan must focus on general principles. • Plan should serve as an educational activity. • Plan for overcoming resistance. • Plan must be tested.

FLOOD CONTROL• India is highly vulnerable to floods and every year Ganga and

Brahmputra basins experience floods affecting states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam and Orissa on regular basis.

• The result has been the formation of a downward spiral consisting of:

1. An increasing exposure to damage and destruction wrought by the natural forces of flooding on human development.

2. The forces of flooding being amplified by development activity insensitive to the dynamics of flooding.

What is a Flood?

• A flood occurs when water flows or rises above and beyond its normal place or course.

• The danger this causes to people and buildings is called the flood hazard.

Causes of Large Floods• Prolonged, heavy and wide spread monsoons;• Avulsion and channel shift;• River bed aggradations due to siltation and

damming of rivers;• Back flooding and seawater flooding;• Reduction in the water carrying capacity and• Failure of natural and man made dams.

Measures for Flood Mitigation

1. Structural

• Dams and reservoirs;

• Embankments, flood walls, sea wall;

• Natural detention basin;

• Channel improvement;

• Drainage improvement and

• Diversion of flood waters.

2. Non – Structural• Flood Plain Management;

• Flood proofing including disaster preparedness and response planning;

• Flood forecasting and warning;

• Disaster Relief and

• Flood fighting including Public Health Measures.

FLOOD PREPAREDNESS• Floods, which are a natural hazard, need not

become a disaster, if we are prepared to deal with them.

• Each one of us must be involved in the process of preparedness, creation of awareness and the working of skilled emergency response teams.

• This would reduce loss of life and minimise human suffering.

BEFORE FLOODING OCCURS

• First aid kit with extra medication for snakebite and diarrhea.

• Strong ropes for tying things. • A radio, torch and spare batteries • Stocks of fresh water, dry food (chana, mudi, gur, biscuits,

etc.), salt and sugar, kerosene, candles and matchboxes. • Water-proof bags to store clothing and valuables • Umbrellas and bamboo sticks (to protect you from

snakes). • If in rural areas, identify areas that are higher than the

surroundings, or get your community to build an earthen mound to locate cattle, etc in the event of a flood.

DROUGHT MANAGEMENT• Drought is a natural phenomenon, which

happens when an area receives lesser rainfall than expected, or in comparison to the normal rainfall levels for the area.

• It is a dry situation characterized by deficit rainfall, lack of water for household use or agriculture, or a deficiency of surface or sub-surface water leading to acute shortage of water.

What is Drought?• The word drought instantly brings images of dry, parched

land, no rainfall, crop-failures, starvation and bad living conditions to our mind.

• In simple terms, drought is a condition of acute scarcity of water, food, fodder and employment due to scanty rainfall in an area.

• Crop failure is a serious consequence of drought.

How does drought affect us?

• Shortage of water, fodder, food and employment.

• Drought affects Farmers• Drought affects Poor Families• Drought affects Women• It affects people living in desert land• It affects employment• Drought affects Children

CYCLONES

• A cyclone is a region of low atmospheric pressure, which occurs in the hot oceans of temperate and tropical latitudes.

• Cyclones occur due to a combination of warm sea temperature, high relative humidity and atmospheric instability.

Causes of Tropical Cyclones • A warm sea temperature in excess of 26 degrees

centigrade to a depth 60 m. which provides abundant water vapors in the air by evaporation.

• High relative humidity of the atmosphere to a height of above 7000 m facilitates condensation of water vapors into water droplets and clouds; releases heat energy thereby inducing a drop in pressure.

• Atmospheric instability encourages formation of massive vertical cumulus cloud convection with condensation of rising air over ocean.

INTER-LINKING OF RIVERS

• The Periyar Project, Parambikulam-Aliyar Project, Kurnool-Cudappah Canal and the Telugu-Ganga Project are some of the examples of inter-basin water transfers executed in south India in the 19th and 20th centuries.

• Telugu-Ganga Project brings the Krishna waters from the Srisailam reservoir through an open canal to Somasila reservoir in the Pennar valley.

• By agreement among the Riparian States 12 thousand metric cubic metres (TMC) of water will be delivered to Tamil Nadu to increase the water supply to Chennai.

Cont…

• Similarly in Himachal Pradesh, inter sub-basin transfers in the Indus basin and the Rajasthan Canal are some of the projects executed in the 19th and 20th centuries.

• Executed both in the southern and northern parts of our country these projects have been highly beneficial and have not caused any noticeable environmental damage.

Cont…• Present Proposals

Mahanadi (Manibhadra – Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) link,

Godavari (Inchampalli Low Dam) – Krishna link,

Godavari (Inchampalli) – Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) link,

Godavari (Polavaram) – Krishna (Vijayawada) link,

Krishna (Almatti) – Pennar link,

Krishna (Srisailam)- Pennar link,

Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) – Pennar (Somasila) link,

Pennar (Somasila) –Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link,

Cauvery (Kattalsi)- Vaigai-Gundar link,

Ken-Belwa link,

Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal link,

Par-Tapti-Narmada link,

Damanganga-Pinjal link,

Bedti-Varda link,

Netravati-Hemavati link and

Pamba-Achankovil-Vaippar link.

Benefits of Inter-Linking of Rivers

• greatly reduce the regional imbalance in the availability of water in different river basins.

• Surplus water which flows waste to the sea would be fruitfully utilized.

• the inter-linking of rivers will provide additional irrigation benefits to 35 million hectares (Mha) -25 Mha from surface water and an additional 10 Mha from increased ground water recharge- which will be over and above the ultimate irrigation potential of 140 Mha envisaged from the conventional irrigation projects.

• Construction of storage dams as proposed will considerably reduce the severity of floods and the resultant damages.

Cont…• Water supply in Chennai is being increased from Sri

sailam on the Krishna river which is 500 km away. A major part of the future requirements of big cities will have to be met from long-distance inter-basin transfer of water.

• In the link proposals under study, water supply to Mumbai and Delhi and many other villages and habitations enroute the link canals are proposed to be raised.

ROLE OF ARMED FORCES• The Indian Armed Forces are supposed to be called upon to intervene and

take on specific tasks only when the situation is beyond the capability of civil administration.

• In practice, the Armed Forces are the core of the government’s response capacity and tend to be the first responders of the Government of India in a major disaster.

• Due to their ability to organize action in adverse ground circumstances, speed of operational response and the resources and capabilities at their disposal.

• The Armed Forces have historically played a major role in emergency support functions such as communications, search and rescue operations, health and medical facilities, transportation, power, food and civil supplies, public works and engineering, especially in the immediate aftermath of disaster.

ROLE OF OTHER AGENCIES IN DISASTERS

1. Technical cooperation agencies

2. Bilateral agencies

3. Multilateral development banks

1. Technical cooperation agencies

• The OAS support institution-building, research, planning, and project formulation as requested.

• Their financial impact and their political or technical leverage are limited.

• But their contribution to natural hazard assessment and mitigation in regional and sectoral planning, project identification, and prefeasibility studies is important.

Cont…

• Support for national planning institutions• Support for pilot projects• Support for establishing an information base• Linkage with relief and reconstruction efforts• Hazards assessment in sector planning• Inclusion of financial and economic aspects of hazards in

project preparation methods• Case studies of project design principles or components

aimed at natural hazard mitigation

2. Bilateral agencies

• AID, CIDA, and the members of the OECD Development Assistance Committee provide funds for projects as well as for technical cooperation.

• Most bilateral funds are concessional, and financial returns are less important to these agencies than to the development banks. They can exert considerable leverage over projects they fund.

3. Multilateral Development Banks

• The World Bank and the regional development banks, fund development projects but are also increasingly involved in sector policies, institutional strengthening, program lending, and structural adjustment.

• The dominant factors that shape their lending programs are the financial and economic soundness of an investment and the creditworthiness of the borrowing institutions. Within these parameters they can significantly influence hazard mitigation issues.

BOMB THREAT PLANNING• There were 474 incidents involving the placement of hoax

devices. • Thirty-seven percent were preceded by a threatening note,

letter, or telephone call to the establishment or individual target.

• Financial institutions received some type of threat before the incident 72 percent of the time and commercial / retail establishments 58 percent of the time.

• Offices were warned 29 percent of the time, academic facilities 30 percent, and residential property owners were warned 18 percent of the time.

Purpose of a Bomb Threat • To create an atmosphere of anxiety and panic

• Advance planning to handle such a threat, the call may result in panic.

• Personal injury and property damage

• To destruction of the facility and the surrounding area.

Handling a Bomb Threat

• Telephone Threats

• Written Threats

• Mail and Package Bombs

1. Telephone Threats • Keep the caller on the line and attempt to get as much information as

possible. Ask for the message to be repeated to confirm it. If possible, record the message.

• If the caller does not indicate the location of the bomb or the time of possible detonation, ask for this information.

• Inform the caller that the building is occupied and the detonation of a bomb could result in death or serious injury to many innocent people.

• Pay particular attention to background noises which may give a clue as to the location of the caller.

• Listen closely to the voice (male or female), voice quality (calm or excited), accents, and speech impediments. Immediately after the caller hangs up, report the call to the person designated by management to receive such information. Law enforcement personnel will want to talk first-hand with the person who received the call.

• Report the threat immediately to the appropriate agencies, such as the police or fire department or FBI.

2. Written Threats• While written messages are usually associated with generalized

threats and extortion attempts, a written warning of a specific device may occasionally be received. It should never be ignored. When a written threat is received, the procedures listed below should be followed:

• Save all materials, including any envelope or container. Once the message is recognized as a bomb threat, further unnecessary handling should be avoided.

• Every possible effort must be made to retain evidence, such as fingerprints, handwriting or typewriting, paper, and postal marks, which are essential to tracing the threat and identifying the writer.

3. Mail and Package Bombs • Excessive postage• Incorrect titles• Titles but no names • Misspellings of common words • Oily stains or discoloration• No return address • Excessive weight • A rigid envelope • Lopsided or an uneven envelope • A strange odor • Protruding wires or tinfoil• Foreign mail, air mail, and special delivery• Restrictive markings, such as confidential and personal • Hand written or poorly typed messages• Visual distractions • Excessive securing material, such as masking tape and string

LAND USE PLANNING

• Land use planning densely populated residential areas should be separated far away from industrial areas. A buffer zone (green belt) should separate the industrial and the residential zone.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LANDUSE ZONING REGULATIONS

• u/s 73(f) of Model Town & Country Planning Act, 1960; OR

• u/s 143(f) of Model Regional and Town Planning and Development Law; OR

• u/s 181(f) of Model Urban & Regional Planning and Development Law

• All these from UDPFI Guidelines (Revised) as may be applicable in the respective states under the existing provisions of Town & Country Planning Legislation as and when Master Plan / Development Plan of different cities / town / areas are formulated. However, these zoning regulations are to be implemented through the provisions of Development Control Regulations/ Building Bye-Laws, wherever the Master Plan is not in existence or not formulated.

Classification of urban land uses

• Level I For Perspective Plans

• Level II For Development Plans

• Level III For Layouts of Projects/Schemes

1. Perspective Plan

• It is a policy document, need not show many details of a specific land use and may only show the main use which could be, say, residential or commercial.

2. DEVELOPMENT PLAN

• It is a comprehensive plan indicating use of each parcel of land, there is a need to show more details of a specific land use. It has to indicate for the land designated as, say, commercial, the further details as to which land is for retail commercial, or for wholesale trade or forgo-downs.

3. Layouts of Projects/Schemes

• In the case of layouts of projects of a shopping centre further details shall be necessary, indicating which block of retail commercial is for, say, cloth or electronics or vegetables.

OBJECTIVES OF LAND USE ZONING• To provide regulations for development of a particular area to

serve the desired purpose efficiently and to preserve its character.

• For guiding the use of land and protection of public health, welfare and safety.

• Provisions for the use of premises /property and limitations upon shape, size and type of buildings that are constructed or occupy the land.

• Protects residential areas from harmful invasions of other uses like industrial use and commercial use.

State Perspective Plan/Regional Plan

• While formulating Perspective Plan / Regional Plan, Development Plan (Master Plan/Zonal Development Plan) for any notified area, the proposals should indicate, Natural hazard prone areas with the type and extent of likely hazards.

Earthquake Prone Areas• Area liable to liquefaction has greater risk.

• Those hilly areas which are identified to have poor slope stability conditions and where landslides could be triggered by earthquake or where due to prior saturated conditions, mud flow could be initiated by earthquakes and where avalanches could be triggered by earthquake will be specially risk prone.

• Special risky areas have to be determined specifically for the planning area under consideration through special studies to be carried out by geologists and geo-technical engineers.

Cyclone Prone Areas

• Those areas likely to be subjected to heavy rain induced floods or to flooding by seawater under the conditions of storm surge, are especially risky.

• 2) Areas under those where special risk has to be identified by special contour survey of the planning area under consideration and study of the past flooding and storm surge history of the area.

Flood Prone Areas

• These are in river plains (unprotected and protected by bunds) are indicated in the Flood Atlas of India prepared by the Central Water Commission and reproduced on larger scale in the state wise maps in the Vulnerability Atlas of India.

• Besides, other areas can be flooded under conditions of heavy intensity rains, inundation in depressions, backflow in drains, inadequate drainage, failure of protection works, etc. These have to be identified through local contour survey and study of the flood history of the planning area

Land Slide Prone Areas

1. Geological/Topographic Factors/Parameters

2. Triggering Factors

1. Geological/Topographic Factors/Parameters

• Geomorphology, Drainage, Slope angle, slope aspect and slope morphology,

• Land use, Soil texture and depth, Rock weathering

Triggering Factors

• Rainfall, Earthquake, Anthropogenic

NUCLEAR, BIOLOGICAL, AND CHEMICAL WARFARE THREAT (NBC THREAT)

• Four third world states have nuclear weapons. • Chemical warfare agents are being produced and

stockpiled. • Biological warfare programs are being established. • Virtually all NBC weapons states have deep strike

capabilities through ballistic missile programs. • These factors increase the likelihood of NBC weapons

use in conflicts between third world states.

1. BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS

• BW is the use of

(i) Pathogens

(ii) Toxins as weapons.

(i) Pathogens• Pathogens include bacteria and viruses which

cause diseases such as anthrax, cholera, and plague.

• Pathogens as weapons would be used against strategic targets such as food supplies, troops concentrations, and population centers to create panic and disrupt mobilization plans.

(ii) Toxins• Toxins are poisons produced by pathogens,

and by snakes, spiders, sea creatures and plants.

• BW researchers can now produce some toxins through chemical processes or through genetic engineering.

• Toxins are faster acting and more stable than live pathogens and could be used against tactical targets.

• Biological warfare agents include anthrax, plague, cholera, smallpox, tularemia, Q fever, ricin, and botulinum toxin.

CHEMICAL WEAPONS • Blood agents interfere with the transfer of

oxygen, suffocating the victim. Hydrogen cyanide is a blood agent which kills quickly and dissipates quickly.

• Choking agents damage the lungs.

• Blister agents cause painful blisters on the skin and are especially damaging when inhaled.

• Nerve agents attack the nervous system, causing difficulty in breathing, nausea, dim vision, convulsions, and death.

FOREST FIRES

• The behaviour of forest fire depends upon three parameters: fuel, weather, and topography.

FOREST FIRES IN INDIA

• Humans have long used fire as a forest management tool, whether for hunting, to clear land for agriculture, to promote the growth of fodder for grazing livestock, or to facilitate their collection of non-timber forest products (NTFP).

Forest Fires and Ecosystem Services (ES)

• Forest fires that are deliberately set to gain specific ecosystem services (ES) are a tool to reduce degradation as perceived by the beneficiary of these services, while on the other hand, the same fires may be considered by foresters, ecologists, and forest managers, to cause forest degradation.

Toward a Framework for Integrated Forest Fire Management

• According to the Indian Forest Act of 1927 setting fires is a punishable offence and it is mandatory for all forest dwellers to assist in the prevention of fire.

• The National Forest Policy of 1988 has the same spirit although it lays greater emphasis on the use of modern fire prevention tools while continuing to stress the involvement of local communities in the prevention of fires.

ACCIDENTS IN COAL MINES• Coal is an important mineral in India. Besides being the

main source of fuel in power plants, it is also used in household cooking throughout the country.

• The coal industry employs over 600,000 miners and other workers. Safety in the Indian coal mines is therefore a very important issue.

• However, there has been no significant statistical analysis of the safety records of Indian coal mines.

• There are two broad categories of mines in India: Open Cast and Underground. The accident records classify the location of accident as underground, open cast and surface.

• While the first two categories represent accidents occurring inside the two types of mines, respectively, the third category represents mining-related accidents occurring above the surface in the vicinity of either type of mine.

• Accordingly, for the present analysis, we use a variable named ‘type’ which can have three possible values: underground (ug), opencast (oc) and surface (su).

What are the important causes of accidents ?

• ‘roof/side fall’ is the most important one for accidents in underground mines, followed by ‘haulage’.

• In open cast mines, ‘dumper’ is the most important cause of accidents. ‘other transport machinery’, ‘other machinery’ and ‘miscellaneous’ are also significant causes.

• In surface, except ‘roof / side fall’, more or less all other causes are important. ‘other transport machinery’, ‘other machinery’ and ‘fall of objects’ appear to be consistent sources of fatal accidents across all the companies.

TERRORISM

• Terrorism is the use of force or violence against persons or property for purposes of intimidation, coercion or ransom.

Terrorist Goals

• Loss of critical resources;

• Disruption of vital services;

• Disruption of the economy;

• Individual and mass panic.

Types of Terrorism• Civil Disorders – A form of collective violence

interfering with the peace, security, and normal functioning of the community.

• Political Terrorism – Violent criminal behavior designed primarily to generate fear in the community, or substantial segment of it, for political purposes.

• Non-Political Terrorism – Terrorism that is not aimed at political purposes but which exhibits “conscious design to create and maintain high degree of fear for coercive purposes, but the end is individual or collective gain rather than the achievement of a political objective.”

• Quasi-Terrorism – The activities incidental to the commission of crimes of violence that are similar in form and method to genuine terrorism but which nevertheless lack its essential ingredient.

It is not the main purpose of the quasi-terrorists to induce terror in the immediate victim as in the case of genuine terrorism, but the quasi-terrorist uses the modalities and techniques of the genuine terrorist and produces similar consequences and reaction.

• Limited Political Terrorism – Genuine political terrorism is characterized by a revolutionary approach; limited political terrorism refers to “acts of terrorism which are committed for ideological or political motives but which are not part of a concerted campaign to capture control of the State.

• Official or State Terrorism –"referring to nations whose rule is based upon fear and oppression that reach similar to terrorism or such proportions.” It may also be referred to as Structural Terrorism defined broadly as terrorist acts carried out by governments in pursuit of political objectives, often as part of their foreign policy.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

• Emergencies do not just appear one day, rather, they exist throughout time and have a life cycle of occurrence, and hence the management strategy should match the phases of an emergency in order to mitigate, prepare, respond and recover from its effects.

• Emergency management requires a close working partnership among levels of the government (national, state, district and taluk), the private sector (business and industry, voluntary organizations) and the general public.

Emergency Management Cycle

• Response

• Recovery

• Mitigation

• Preparedness

1. Response• Response - occurs during and

immediately following a disaster. They are designed to provide emergency assistance to victims of the event and reduce the likelihood of secondary damage

2. Recovery

• Recovery - the final phase of the emergency management cycle. It continues until all systems return to normal, or near normal. Short-term recovery returns vital life support systems to minimum operating standards. Long-term recovery from a disaster may go on for years until the entire disaster area is completely redeveloped; either as it was in the past or for entirely new purposes that is less disaster prone.

3. Mitigation• Mitigation – activities, which actually

eliminate or reduce the vulnerability or chance of occurrence or the effects of a disaster.

4. Preparedness• Preparedness - planning how to respond

in case an emergency or disaster occurs and working to increase resources available to respond effectively.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT CYCLE

DISASTER MANAGEMENT BUREAU (DMB) ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

DISASTER MANAGEMENT SCHEMES

1. Government Initiatives in Disaster Management

2. Financial Arrangements

1. Government Initiatives in Disaster Management

• National Disaster Framework covering institutional mechanisms, disaster prevention strategy, early warning system, disaster mitigation, preparedness and response and human resource development.

• National Crisis Management Committee and Crisis Management Group.

• National Committee on Disaster Management.

• Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) for each state.

2. Financial Arrangements(i) Financing of Relief Expenditures• The Calamity Relief Fund is used for meeting the

expenditure for providing immediate relief to the victims of cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire, flood and hailstorm

• National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) Scheme to cover natural calamities like cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire, flood and hailstorm, which are considered to be of severe nature requiring expenditure by the State Government in excess of the balances available in its own Calamity Relief Fund.

• NCCF is available only for immediate relief and rehabilitation.

(ii) Financing of Disaster Management through Five Year Plans

• Funds are provided under Plan schemes i.e., various schemes of Government of India, such as for drinking water, employment generation, inputs for agriculture and flood control

measures etc. • Integrated Wasteland Development Programme (IWDP), • Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP), • Desert Development Programme (DDP), • Flood Control Programmes, • National Afforestation & Ecodevelopment Programme

(NA&ED), • Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP), • Crop Insurance, Sampurn Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES (SOPs)

Definition of SOPs• Standard Operating Procedures (or Emergency

Procedures) are documents where the activities of a specific person or organization to face a specific situation (in this case the impact of a hazard) are described in a clear, logical, sequential and methodical manner. The terms standard operating procedure and emergency procedure will be used interchangeably.

Objectives of SOPs

• To describe the components of a standard operating procedure for disaster preparedness and response.

• To clearly distinguish and standardize the roles and responsibilities for different stakeholders in disaster preparedness and response.

• To provide action checklists for key staff members for different levels of disasters

• To provide a base template for developing SOPs for different disasters/ industries

• To make the understanding easier to design, write, understand, revise, use, execute, evaluate and update for disaster managers and disaster management organisations.

AVALANCHES• Avalanches can be anything falling down the side of a

mountain. Snow avalanches can be dangerous because of the power of the snow falling. They can happen at almost any snow covered mountain at any time.

• An avalanche is a flow of snow down a mountainside, though rock slides and debris flows are also sometimes called avalanches.

• As avalanches move down the slope they may entrain snow from the snow pack and grow in size. The snow may also mix with the air and form a powder cloud. An avalanche with a powder cloud is known as a powder snow avalanche.

TYPES OF AVALANCHES

• Powder Avalanche• Wet Avalanche• Slab Avalanche• Cornice• Pyroclastic Flow• Rock Avalanche

1. Powder Avalanche

• A mass of loosely packed snow that begins with a piece of falling rock or ice. The largest and most destructive is a powder avalanche. A piece of falling ice or rock starts a mass of loose snow sliding down the mountain.

2. Wet Avalanche

• A flow of snow, ice, rock, and other material that occurs as a result of thawing. The second type is a wet avalanche. These occur mostly late in the snow season when the snowpack is deep and the thaw is just beginning.

3. Slab Avalanche

• A mass of snow, ice and possibly other material caused when a large slab of snow breaks free from the layers beneath. A slab avalanche is most deadly. The weight of a skier is enough to break a slab away from the layers beneath.

4. Cornice

• An overhanging mass of snow, ice, or rock usually on a ridge. Wind can also blow snow into a huge, dense drift or cornice on the crest of a ridge.

5. Pyroclastic Flow

• A flow of hot gases, soot, and lava formed by volcanic action. This gray cloud is one of the most lethal forms of avalanches in the world. It comes out of an erupting volcano. It's much like a snow avalanche though no snow is involved.

6. Rock Avalanche

• A mass of boulders, rocks, and other material that slides down an incline riding on a layer of smaller rocks. Rock avalanches are the strangest of nature's forces. Giant boulders "float" on tons of solid rock.

How people can control avalanches?

• People can control avalanches by planting trees in the starting zones of the avalanches, the areas were avalanches start. Other people put large snow fences in the starting zones. Both of these ways keep the snow in place.

• People who live or work near an avalanche path sometimes build walls of rock, earth, or concrete into the run out zone of the avalanche. Just remember, avalanches can happen at any time.