Strategies for disaster management planning, priority setting for preparedness strategies in agricultural production system, livestock and fisheries, formulation of a disaster risk reduction plan.

 

Disaster Management refers to how we can protect or preserve maximum number of lives and property during a natural disaster. Disaster management plans are multi-layered and are aimed to address such issues as floods, hurricanes, fires, and even mass failure of utilities or the rapid spread of disease. India has been traditionally vulnerable to the natural disasters on the account of its unique geo-climatic conditions. Floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes and landslides would have been a recurrent phenomena. About 59% of the landmass is prone to earthquakes of various intensities; over 40 million hectares is prone to floods; about 8% of the total area is prone to cyclones and 69% of the area is susceptible to drought. In the decade 1990-2000, an average of about 4344 people lost their lives and about 30 million people were affected by disasters every year.

The loss in terms of private, community and public assets has been astronomical. At the global level, there has been considerable concern over natural disasters. Even as substantial scientific and material progress is made, the loss of lives and property due to disasters has not decreased. In fact, the human toll and economic losses have mounted up. It was in this background that the United Nations General Assembly, in 1989, declared the decade 1990-2000 as the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction with the objective to reduce loss of lives and property and restrict socio-economic damage through concerted international action, was specially certified in developing countries.

The super cyclone in Odissa in October, 1999 and the Bhuj earthquake in Gujarat in January, 2001 underscored the need to adopt a multi-dimensional endeavour involving diverse scientific, engineering, financial and social processes; the need to adopt multi disciplinary and multi-sectoral approach and incorporation of risk reduction in the developmental plans and strategies.

Over the past 2 years, the Government of India have brought about a paradigm shift in the approach to disaster management. The new approach proceeds from the conviction that development cannot be sustainable unless disaster mitigation is built into the development process. Another corner stone of the approach is that mitigation has to be multi-disciplinary spanning across all sectors of development. The new policy also emanates from the belief that investments in mitigation are much more cost effective than expenditure on relief and rehabilitation.

Disaster management occupies an important place in this country's policy framework as it is the poor and the under-privileged who are worst affected on account of calamities/disasters.

The steps being taken by the Government emanate from the approach outlined above. The approach has been translated into a National Disaster Framework  covering institutional mechanisms, disaster prevention strategy, early warning system, disaster mitigation, preparedness and response and human resource development.

The expected inputs, areas of intervention and agencies to be involved at the National, State and district levels have been identified and listed in the roadmap. This roadmap has been shared with all the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations. Ministries and Departments of Government of India, and the State Governments/Union Territory Administrations have been advised to develop their respective roadmaps taking the national roadmap as a broad guideline. There is, therefore, now a common strategy underpinning the action being taken by all the participating organisations/stakeholders.

Disaster Management Plan               

PM Narendra Modi released the first Disaster Management Plan of India on 1 June 2016 that seeks to provide a framework and direction to government agencies for prevention, mitigation and management of disasters. This is the first national plan since enactment of the Disaster Management Act of 2005.^[1]

Act

The Disaster Management Act, 2005 (23 December 2005), was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 28 November, and by the Lok Sabha, on 12 December 2005. It received the assent of The President of India on 9 January 2006.

Authority

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is an agency of the Ministry of Home Affairs whose primary purpose is to coordinate response to natural or man-made disasters and for capacity-building in disaster resiliency and crisis response. NDMA was established through the Disaster Management Act enacted by the Government of India in December 2005. The Prime Minister is the ex-officio chairperson of NDMA. The agency is responsible for framing policies, laying down guidelines and best-practices and coordinating with the State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs).management

Disaster Management in Agriculture

 Introduction

Human vulnerability to disasters is an age-old phenomenon. Disasters play havoc with people’s lives. Their aftermath results in death, destruction, misery and trauma. The unique geoclimatic conditions of our country make this region vulnerable to natural disasters. There are varied reasons for occurrence of disasters. Modernisation and industrialisation have disrupted the natural resource balance. This, alongwith alarming increase in population, depletion of resources, lack of knowledge and skills and rising economic disparities are considered to be mainly responsible for the vulnerability of society to these catastrophies. The situation, though more or less similar globally, is quite distressing in countries of South Asia, such as India. The long history of disasters, and the resulting sufferings, are reasons enough to ponder over their manageability.

One of the major repercussions that disasters have, is on agriculture. A substantial part of the population depends on agriculture for its livelihood. Agricultural activity is adversely affected by any unforeseen weather changes or variations in physical conditions. This gets accentuated in case of cyclones, floods and droughts resulting in disruption of people’s livelihood and adding to the risk, damage and stress of disasters. Drought is a perennial feature, 16 per cent of India’s total area is drought prone and approximately, 50 million people are annually affected by droughts. About 68 per cent of total sown area of the country is susceptible to drought at one time or other. Under this latest dispensation, another ‘sub-humid’ category, having an adverse water balance, has been added to arid and semi-arid category. The drought of 1987-88 was one of the worst in India. Drought situations had also affected about 11 states, in 1999-2000.

Food losses due to pests, disease, wild animals, insects and weeds are considerable, about 35 per cent of world crop production is lost in spite of pesticide and control programmes. Insect outbreaks are generally the result of a combination of temperature, monoculture of crops, introduction of plants to new locations, weather pattern, and migration (ecological factors). In India, locust infestation-prone areas are—Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Some lessons learnt from drought of 2000 in Rajasthan:

·         There should be a specific policy for drought prone areas. 

·         Disaster Management Policy has to be area-specific and forecasting should be dependable and timely. 

·         Relief must be timely.

·         Proper crop planning/land use planning should be done. 

·         Fodder banks should be created. 

Occupational diversification should be made available.

Disaster management has presently evoked a methodological approach that focuses on systematic observations, their analysis and dissemination of likely events to 2 structure informed application of resources in time. The most critical goal of disaster management activity is to reach out to the people promptly in the remotest areas and reduce vulnerability to disasters. This calls for a multipronged strategy involving the government at various levels, international agencies, non-governmental organisations, community based organisations, and the panchayati raj institutions to put together resources and efforts in managing disasters.

The world over, any measure, be it preparedness, mitigation, relief or rehabilitation in the wake of disasters, is primarily regarded as the responsibility of the government. But despite the vast resources at its command and the power to take necessary steps, due to the range of activities involved, the government needs to involve other key stakeholders in this exercise. While long-term preventive and preparedness measures are taken up, the unprecedented nature of the disasters calls for nationwide response mechanisms with clear-cut assignment of roles and functions by various institutions at the central, state and district levels. This, alongwith other initiatives, forging efforts with international agencies, non-governmental organisations, panchayati raj institutions with emphasis on education and training, can go a long way in making a dent in disaster management in agriculture. To discuss issues of development in the area of disaster management in agriculture, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) organised a one day brain-storming session.

* The role of the following was deliberated upon:

a) Government of India;

b) International agencies;

c) Non-governmental organisations;

d) Panchayati raj institutions and

e) Education and training in disaster management.

Given below are the major recommendations which emerged from deliberations at this meeting.

The importance of disaster management in agriculture was recognised and its further strengthening through a comprehensive disaster management policy by the Government of India providing a renewed focus on anticipatory preparedness, prevention and rehabilitation was strongly recommended.  State government needs to be more proactive in handling disaster related issues leading to effective management in agriculture.

·         In the context of National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF), the existing process of preparing a memorandum of state government, sending a team from central government, etc., should be reviewed, and made quicker and more convincing. 

·         The cropped area throughout the country is vulnerable to one or the other pest disease, insects and weeds, therefore development and implementation of an effective and regular pest surveillance system was recommended, which would continuously monitor pest activity through an exclusive network.

·          A national plan for pest control should be established for development of regulations, regarding imports and exports of plant material, pest forecasting and damage assessment components, adoption of international pest management strategies, extension services to engage farmers’ support and provide pest control supplies, and a training component to update and discover new methods of control. In affected areas, the contingency plan prepared by the Department of Agriculture to face any natural calamity should be put into action to bring relief to the farmers.  Natural calamities and disasters have transborder causative factors and impacts, demanding collective and international preparedness and action.

·         It was felt that networking of international agencies would go a long way for channelling multifaceted assistance ranging from pre-disaster, response, recovery and rehabilitation. The forging partnership should ensure immediate, medium-term and long-term livelihood interventions.

·         Effective interagency and intercommunity communication and educating the stakeholders, help in facing and mitigating the calamity effects. Hence, linkages for experience sharing, database transfers, action plans and strategies should be put in place. It would also make the initiative cost-effective and timely.

·         It was strongly felt that in addition to the technical and managerial skills in relation to disaster and related activities importance should be given to disaster management education also to provide knowledge to the learners on disasters preparedness, mitigation and rehabilitation; create awareness about effective disaster response in various emergency situations; equip the learners with tools for meeting emergency medical requirements; incorporate gender sensitive, empathy-based disaster management approach; and inculcate new skills and sharpen the existing skills of government officials, voluntary activists, professionals and elected representatives for effective management.

·         Role of disaster management education and training have been emphasised in planning and implementation of disaster management strategies.

·         The workshop recommended that the education should be designed to provide comprehensive knowledge on different types of hazards, disaster management techniques and impediments in the way of disaster reduction and should address to the community needs.

·         The workshop recommended that the state agricultural universities should introduce, develop and launch a course on disaster management through multidisciplinary 4 approach and NAAS to be the nodal hub for disaster management in agriculture with focus on research, education and training.

·         To empower people at grassroots levels, educational programmes, such as awareness- and application- oriented certificate programmes should be designed. The potential of open and distance learning system should be used to reach the masses.

·         Disaster management in agriculture curricula must be developed and certified to establish joint standards of practice across the nation. This is necessary to ensure uniformity in standards of humanitarian and mitigation practices in the region.

·         There is need to strengthen research support system to evolve continuous process of analysis, action/reflection which will help to decipher the gaps in disaster management plans. Towards this end, the institutions/universities may be encouraged to undertake the multidisciplinary research projects. 

·         NGOs and community organisations/bodies play an important role in disaster preparedness and management. There should be well coordinated network between NGOs, community organisations/bodies and the government, and also among NGOs themselves. Better coordination would result in wider reach and more comprehensive approach for disaster management.

·         For dealing with location-specific coping strategies based on time-tested traditional knowledge, blended with modern science and technology should be included in training and education of disaster management in agriculture.

·         Academicians in the universities and research institutions, and NGOs, who are already involved and working in the field of disaster management should be involved in converting a disaster into a new opportunity with improved technology inputs and application, and they should be encouraged for their active participation specially in disaster management in the field of agriculture.

·         Promotion and protection of livelihood in agriculture and evolution of alternative livelihood strategies, were emphasised to improve the livelihood standards in rural society.

·         The impact of agricultural practices on environment paving way for ecological disaster was identified with respect to disaster management in agriculture.

·         It was observed and recommended that the rainfall regimes in the preceding postmonsoon season and summer must be taken serious note of, while assessing the situation likely to arise in the coming monsoon months. 

·         The workshop recommended that special meetings, at least two meetings, of Gram Sabha and Gram Panchayat should be held to manage disaster. These meetings are necessary to p plan preparedness activities before monsoon, at least.

`Capabilities of PRI functionaries should be enhanced through education and training programmes in the field of agriculture and disaster management, which will help to develop welltrained self-help groups and community based organisations.  The workshop emphasised that the village development committees should be formed and motivated to monitor and evaluate the works performed by PRI before and after disaster.  There is an urgent need to make Gram Sabha fully operational to ensure regular meetings; effective contributions in planning and implementation; and identify local needs for disaster management in agriculture.  Basic infrastructure and transport facilities should be provided to the panchayati raj institutions to help the residents in evacuation and providing relief and implementing disaster management and development programmes effectively.

 The importance of database communication and information sharing was fundamental to the decision support system and its further strengthening through geospatial information system (GIS) was strongly recommended. GIS can be used as decision support system to identify and integrating, monitoring and predicting hydrological hazards, which are the major environment risks for Indian agriculture. It is emerging as pioneering technology of great significance and may serve as a powerful tool in the development planning and governance, together with disaster management education.

The FAO Framework Programme on Disaster Risk Reduction for Food and Nutrition Security provides strategic direction for countries frequently exposed to natural hazards. In line with the priorities set out in the Hyogo Framework for Action, it promotes an interdisciplinary and programmatic approach to disaster risk reduction by integrating agriculture and natural resource management sectors to cope more effectively with disaster risks that threaten the livelihoods of small-scale farmers, foresters, pastoralists and fishers. 

The number and impact of disasters, particularly climate-induced disasters, is increasing significantly. It is crucial that all countries succeed in shifting from reactive disaster response approaches used in the past to more proactive preventative action and investment, as agreed under the SFDRR. Many small- and medium-scale disasters can be avoided -- or their impact limited -- if effective risk reduction measures are put in place. 

·         It is critically important to integrate disaster risk reduction into sectoral agricultural development plans and socio-economic development strategies. This requires action at the local, regional, and national levels as well as cross-sectoral cooperation. 

·         Agriculture is not only a victim of disasters; indeed, risk-sensitive agriculture is part of the solution to improving disaster resilience. Farmers, herders, fishers and forest-dependent communities are direct custodians of the environment; the way they manage natural resources can prevent natural hazards from becoming crises. Ecosystem services provided by farmers should be acknowledged, costed and translated into tangible returns for them

·         Policies must take into consideration the “buffer” role of agriculture in times of crisis. It absorbs environmental and economic shocks, be they at the macro or micro economic and environmental levels. Agriculture plays a critical role in ensuring that affected people maintain access to food and livelihoods during and after disasters, and in building resilience over time. These functions should be reflected in sectoral responsibilities and in budget allocation.

·         Investments in DRR for agriculture pay off.

·         Farm level DRR good practices provide farmers with benefits (in terms of avoided damages and losses during hazard stress) that are on average 2.2 times higher than previously used farming practices. Proactive policies and services are needed that create incentives for strategic upscaling of evidence-based DRR good practices.