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India with its vast population and unique geophysical characteristics is one of the worlds 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.
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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
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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 Earths 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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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 subsurface 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.
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.
INTER-LINKING OF RIVERS
The Periyar Project, Parambikulam-Aliyar Project, KurnoolCudappah 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 rst 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).
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.
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.
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.
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.