Download 1 - World Bank

Assignment
by Nishith Srivastava
Disaster Caused due to Heavy Rains in Mumbai – A Case Study
1. Background Information
The World’s largest democracy, second most populous country, a unique amalgamation of
various diverse cultures. These are some of the numerous adjectives that can be used to describe
India- the country that was cradle of one of the oldest civilizations in the world dating back to at
least 5,000 years. India with a population of over one billion and area of 3,287,590 sq.km, is the
7th largest country in term of geographical area. From the highest point of the Kanchenjunga
peak at 8598 meters to the lowest point at 0 meters at the Indian Ocean, India is the land that
spells variety.
One of man’s oldest civilizations was the settlement at the Indus Valley. The degree of
sophistication that archaeologists found in their settlements almost belies the fact that these
people lived almost 4000 years ago. The civilization had meticulously planned cities; streets met
at right angles, the sewage system puts present day India to shame, and the tools and large
granaries show that they knew more than a thing or two about agriculture. Seals of the Indus
Valley have on them the only ancient script that is yet to be deciphered. The most important Indus
Valley cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro are in present day Pakistan. This aspect of the Indian
history is can be viewed in context with the disaster event described in the subsequent paragraphs.
A brief description of India is presented in the following table:
India1
Population
1,080,264,388 (July 2005 est.)
Area
3,287,590 sq. km
Literacy
59.5%
Male Literacy
70.2%
Female Literacy
48.3%
GDP purchasing power parity $3.319 trillion (2004 est.)
GDP Growth Rate
6.2% (2004 est)
Share of Agriculture in GDP
23.6%
Share of Industry in GDP
28.4%
Share of Services in GDP
48%
Labour Force
482.2 Million
Labour Force in Agri
60%
Labour force in industry
17%
Labour Force in Services
23%
The World Development Report 2001 says that the natural disasters are similar to economic
crisis, “because they can cause sharp increase in poverty and slow the pace of human
development, and like economic crisis, they hurt the poor in the short run and diminish their
chances of escaping poverty in the longer run”2. The table above shows that India is agriculture
based economy with 60% of workforce involved in agriculture and allied sectors. The current
trend in economy suggests a growth in tertiary sector and decline in the agriculture sector. The
above table shows that the share of GDP is highest for tertiary sector. India today is perceived as
1
Source: http://www.cia.gov
2 ‘Disaster Risk Management Asessment as a Global Agenda’, Margaret Arnold, Natural Disaster Risk
Management Programme.
Assignment
by Nishith Srivastava
one of the fastest growing economy in the world. The case study of Bangladesh shows that how a
stronger economy is more resilient towards the impacts of natural disasters. 3
Economic Survey for the last year had indicated that there was a significant decline between
1977-78 and 1999- 2000 in the proportion of people living below the poverty line (BPL) from
51.3 percent to 26.1 percent, and in the absolute number of poor from 328.9 million to 260.3
million. In spite of the impressive decline in poverty in the country as a whole, there are wide
variations in the incidence of poverty across States and the rural-urban divide. Though the share
of poor has decreased, the number of poor remains high. As agreed upon by all the participants
during the course module, the poor are more vulnerable to the natural disasters. India has seen
rapid urbanization over the past decade. 30% of India today lives in cities. It is expected to grow
at phenomenal rate in future which implies growth of population in these cities making the cities
especially the poor more vulnerable.
Vulnerability to Natural Disasters
India has been traditionally vulnerable to natural disasters on account of its unique geo-climatic
conditions. Of the 29 states and 7 Union territories, at least 22 are vulnerable to natural disasters.
India’s mega cities are among 40 most vulnerable cities world over. Floods, droughts, cyclones,
earthquakes and landslides have been recurrent phenomena. The most predominant disasters in
India are floods and windstorms4. About 60% 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 68% 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.5
In 1994, 2000 and 2004, significant parts of the city of Ahmedabad were submerged in floods as
the city’s storm drainage system was unable to cope with extremely intense downpour.
The coastal states in India particularly the east coast and Gujarat are vulnerable to cyclones. Four
crore hectare of land mass is vulnerable to floods, 68% of the sown are is vulnerable to droughts.
55% of the total area is in seismic zones III to V and vulnerable to earthquakes. Sub- Himalayan
Westrern Ghats are vulnerable to land slides.
Major Natural Disasters in India
Date
Location
Magnitude
August 21, 1988
Bihar- Nepal Border
6.4
October 20, 1991
Uttarkashi, Uttar Pradesh
6.6
September 30, 1993
Latur, Maharashtra
6.3
May 22, 1997
Jabalpur Madhya Pradesh
6.0
1999
Orissa Super Cyclone
-
March 29, 1999
Chamoli, Uttar Pradesh
6.9
January 26, 2001
Bhuj, Gujarat
7.7
December 26, 2004
Tsunami
Figure 1 Seismic Hazard Map of India (BIS)
3 Bangladesh- Major Disasters in Economy’ Readings, Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management
Framework
4 ‘The Indian Perspective’, Learning Module, Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management Framework
5 Disaster Management in India -a status report- August 2004, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of
India.
Assignment
by Nishith Srivastava
2. Brief Description of Disaster Event
On July 24,2005, India’s financial capital experienced intermittent rainfall that continued to over
two weeks and led to what can be termed as ‘Collapse of a Megalopolis’. Described as the most
severe downpour experienced in the country, it left the entire urban infrastructure of Mumbai into
shambles.
Heavy Rains were experienced in most of Maharashtra
and parts of Gujarat. In Maharashtra a record 944mm of
rain was recorded in the 24 hours. The state Relief and
Rehabilitation Department sources said that 33 of the
total 35 districts were hit by heavy rains and floods. The
worst affected was the Raigad district south of Mumbai.
Raigad experienced 217 mm of rainfall, Thane 75 mm,
Mumbai 30 mm, Koyna 558 mm, Ratnagiri 217 mm,
Sindhudurg 110.6 mm, Parbhani 90 mm, Hingoli 99
mm.
The extent of damage caused by this unprecedented rain
was phenomenal. In Maharashtra, it is estimated that
over 1000 people died, half of which in Mumbai alone.
Mumbai accounted for the maximum number of deaths,
followed by Thane with 173 and Raigad with 165, About
152 people were injured and more than 50 were still
missing. A large number of cattle also died as there was
no way to escape for them. It is estimated that 25000
buffaloes died in these two weeks in Maharashtra. There
was further the risk of outbreak of epidemic which could
lead to loss of many more lives.
The state's infrastructure also suffered a big blow with
33,417 kms of roads destroyed, requiring over Rs 1000
crore towards repairs and reconstruction, according to
the state Public Works department 332 Km of road was
completely uprooted and another 353 Km of road
Network was cracked open. For the city's slum-dwellers
who make up 60 percent of the population, the
devastation was the worst. The water swept away many
shanty dwellings and in areas of heavy landslides there
was only rubble to return to. This only reconfirms the
fact that the poor less privileged are more vulnerable
to effects of natural disasters.
Over two lakh people were evacuated due to floods in
many parts of the state while relief and rescue
operations one third of which estimated to be in
Mumbai city alone.
All the infrastructure facilities in Mumbai were
completely paralyzed. The city left in complete chaos
with roads not only flooded with water but also
jammed with traffic. Rail service was affected with most of the trains leading to Maharashtra
Assignment
by Nishith Srivastava
cancelled. The suburban rail network which is considered as the lifeline of Mumbai was also
stopped. In effect the city came to a grinding halt. The flights were cancelled; telephones jammed,
power supply in the city suburbs was snapped as a safety precaution. In Mumbai property of
worth 9000 Crore was damaged. The government pledged seven billion rupees ($162 million) of
aid, committed 10,000 tonnes of food supplies and one lakh (100,000) Indian rupees to each
bereaved family
3. Overview of the National Disaster Management System
The present disaster management policy of India recognizes the linkages between disaster and
development. The policy emphasizes the disaster management to be seen as continuous and
integrated process. The policy emphasizes on forecasting and early warning through use of
technology.6
The National Crisis Management Committee
under the chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary
looks after the response following a disaster.
The National Crisis Management Group under
the
chairmanship
of
Central
Relief
Commissioner reviews the contingency plans
and measures required for dealing with natural
disasters.
The institutional mechanism aims to achieve the
formation of State Disaster Management
Authorities (Gujarart and Orissa have already
formed a disaster management authority). The
legal Policy Framework seeks to institutionalize
the Disaster Management in through acts and
codes.
The national disaster management mechanism
which was earlier under the ministry of
Agriculture is now transferred to Ministry of
Home Affairs after the Bhuj earthquake in 2001.
The realization that disaster management is a
cross cutting theme and not the sole
responsibility is very important.
Hierarchical order of Disaster Management
Committee
 National: Headed by Prime Minister
 HPC: Directly under PM’s Secretariat
 Expert group: Formed by HPC
 State: Under chairmanship of Chief Secretary
 District: Deputy commissioner in the chair and
directly responsible for preparation of District
Plan
 Standing Committee/Crisis management group:
Working group under the District Committee
 Site Operation center: Site office or
information center set up close to the affected
site.
 Control Room: Nerve center opened in the
office of the Deputy Commissioner for
regulating, monitoring and evaluating search,
rescue and relief operations in accordance with
the district plan.
 Tehsil/RD Block: search, rescue and relief
operations
 Village: search, rescue and relief operations
6 ‘Disaster Vulnerability of India’, Learning Module, The Indian Perspective, Comprehensive Disaster
Risk Management Framework
Assignment
by Nishith Srivastava
The following ministries are responsible for the different categories of disasters.
Natural Disasters (Other than drought)- Ministry of Home Affairs
Drought Relief-Ministry of Agriculture
Air Accidents- Ministry of Civil Aviation
Railway Accidents- Ministry of Railways
Chemical Disasters- Ministry of Environment and Forests
Biological Disasters- Ministry of Health
Nuclear Disasters- Ministry of Atomic Energy
At present the post calamity relief is handled by the relief and rehabilitation department but
the ministry is planning to restructure as the Department of Disaster Management with
increased responsibilities of mitigation and preparedness.
The ministry has prepared a National Disaster Management Framework, which lays emphasis on
the pre disaster mitigation aspects. It gives following salient recommendations.
1. Setting up of a nodal agency at the central level, the National Emergency Management
Authority, involving all the concerned ministries.
2. Creation of state departments of disaster management. The department of relief and
rehabilitation to be redesigned as the department of State Disaster Management Authority
with enhanced powers.
3. Setting up of the State Disaster Management authority headed by the Chief Minister.
4. It recommends the disaster mitigation/prevention to be mainstreamed with the
development and planning process.
5. Setting up of National Emergency Response force
4. Strengths and Weaknesses of the System
If it is to point out the one most important factor responsible for the disaster, there can be no
second opinion that it was the poor planning coupled with uncontrolled growth of the cities. It
will be no exaggeration to state that the urban infrastructure in none of the cities in India is
capable to handle such kind of catastrophic events. If the financial capital and the largest
metropolis of the country face such a crisis, one can imagine what can be the state of other cities.
The need to integrate the disaster management concepts with the planning process can not be
ignored. Apart from the planning for the urban areas, there is need to focus on the regional
planning efforts, which can provide solution to decongest our cities and prevent the uncontrolled
and unmanageable growth. “Planned development of the metropolis stopped nearly two decades
ago when land became the currency of politicians and builders," said India's weekly news
magazine Outlook.
The National Disaster Management Framework although in place, lacks support from the state
level since the philosophy and the seriousness has not trickled down. Though the framework
indicates a paradigm shift in the policy of Government of India from the culture of mitigation to
the culture of prevention, the disaster event described here only suggests that it has not yet come
to practice. The need is to integrate the culture of prevention into the function of all the relevant
departments.
The national disaster management framework further suggests the use of science and technology
fro effective early warning. The recent disaster event as in the case of earlier events suggested,
such a system is still not in place or at least not effective. The state failed to communicate the
Assignment
by Nishith Srivastava
severity of the floods to the public. There was no warning issued of such an unprecedented rains
by Metrological Department at any point of time.
The lack of coordination among the government departments is another feature highlighted in the
recent disaster. Mumbai's municipal corporation failed to relay the gravity of the situation and
provide advice to the public and state government departments, practices which should have been
carried out as part of the state's disaster management policy.
5. Recommendations for Improvement
Early Warning System and use of Technology
It is important to have an efficient early warning system working round the clock. Such a system
should be set up at the national level and should include the use of best of the most advanced
technology available. The technological revolution in the recent past including those in the areas
of telecommunication and information technology should be utilized to their full potential.
Another area in the high technology that needs special emphasis is the remote sensing
technology. This technology can be used not only for preparedness but also for relief and rescue
works. The relief and rescue operations are to be set up at the state level so there is need for a
proper mechanism quick transfer of information (provided by the early warning system) to the
lower levels. In case of Mumbai rains there was no warning issued at any point of time before the
occurance of disaster. The satellite images of Orissa super cyclone and the recent Tsunami
Disaster, which were released after the occurrence of the disaster further support this view point
support this viewpoint.
Some efforts are already already being made by the government to use advanced technology by
introducing the India Disaster Resource Network- a web based centralized database for disaster
response and by the use of satellite technology in forecasting the occurrence cyclones. These can
be extended to the disasters like Tsunami which were an unknown phenomenon in the
subcontinent until recently.
State Level
In the present disaster management framework prepared by the Government of India, a Specialist
Response team is proposed to be set up at National Level, Search and Rescue team at the state
level and Regional Response Centres (RRC) at the regional level. There are 15 RRCs proposed
across the country. Considering the scale and concentration of calamities in country, it may be a
better idea to set up such RRCs at the state level. For examples during the rainy season, when the
western UP, Bihar and parts of Jharkhand all face severe floods. The regional center for this
region may face a daunting task of handling all these states together. Also the type of calamity
faced may vary from the state to state in one region. For example, the North-Eastern India which
includes eight states, and generally percieved as one homogenous region, faces diverse kind of
calamities in different states. Agartala for example, faces severe floods, Mizoram and Nagaland
are worst affected by Landslides, Mizoram experiences strange type of famines during the
bamboo flowering season which occurs periodically after 25 years. So the special needs can vary
from state to state even in small states like these. Moreover, the response team will be more
effective if the works in close coordination with the search and rescue team which is being set up
at the state level.
External Aid
There should be less dependence upon the foreign assistance. This helps in developing an in-built
mechanism to resist the impacts of a natural hazard. The ‘foreign’ assistance here means any the
relief from other states, other countries and from the centre in case of state governments. The
external assistance bec`omes unavoidable in case of large divasatting disasters but efforts should
Assignment
by Nishith Srivastava
be made to tackle natural hazards locally as far as possible. In the recent Tsunami disaster the
government of India made an attempt to tackle the situation on its own resources. The example
should be followed by the states and districts and they should attempt to tackle the manageable
disasters on their own. ‘Lesser dependency on external aid leads to more effective disaster
management’.
Local Government Bodies
The District Disaster Management plan is preapered by the heighest level administratives in each
district. It must be ensured that such plans are prepared in each district and are put into practice.
A specialized team of officers from key resource departments should be formed at the district
level. These departments may include Police Department, Medical (Health and Family Welfare
Department), PWD & Public Health Engineering Department, Municipaliy or applicable Urban
Local Body for urban areas and Relief and Rehabilitation Department, Such team may be formed
after the recommendations of the District Disaster Management Plan.
Local Level including civil societies and NGOs
The effectiveness of the disaster management measures can be enhanced if the role of ‘local’
governments and organizations are increased by entrusting them with more responsibilities and
capacity building. The inspiration can be drawn from the Government of India’s policy of
decentralizing the planning process for rural and urban settlements under the constitution’s 73 rd
and 74th Amendment Acts respectively. The principle of decentralization holds good for the
disaster management and mitigation also and can be effective in case of emergency response.
The case study of the Orissa Cyclone7 suggests that how disaster can be effectively managed at
the community level.
The role of community organizations can be important in all the stages of disaster management.
In Mumbai, for example, it was observed it was the local community that came for rescue of the
affected. It was the response of locals that helped the city to bounce bacl to normalcy with
resurgence. In case of Mizoram, where the community organizations like the Young Mizo
Association (YMA), Women’s association (MHIP) and the Old Prople’s Association (MUP) are
carrying out the task of generating awareness among the people. Such organizations are the most
active in case of any disaster event. They are the first one to provide enmergency response and
also carry out recovery and reconstruction activities. Such organizations should be included
disaster management at all the stages of process.
References:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
http://in.rediff.com/news
http://sify.com/news
http://weekly.ahram.org
http://www.outlookindia.com
National Disaster Management Website, Official website of the Ministry of Home Affairs
Disaster Management in India- A Status Report, August 2004, Ministry of Home Affairs,
Government of India
District Disaster Management Plan of Aizawl City, Prepared by the Deputy
Commissioner, Aizawl City
Report on Natural Clamities in Aizawl prepared by the Deputy Commissioner, Aizawl
Aizawl Master Plan, Town and Country Planning Wing, Local Administration
Department, Mizoram.
National Disaster Management Framework, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of
India
7 Case Study, ‘Sustainability in Community Based Disaster Management’, Manu Gupta, Comprehensive
Disaster Risk Management Framework
Assignment
by Nishith Srivastava
11. Disaster Management in India -a status report- August 2004, Ministry of Home Affairs,
Government of India.
12. Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management Framework, Course Modules, World Bank
Institute, Environment Planning Collaborative
13. ‘Disaster Risk Management Assessment as a Global Agenda’, Margaret Arnold,
Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management Framework
14. Case Study, ‘Sustainability in Community Based Disaster Management’, Manu Gupta,
Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management Framework
15. ‘Disaster Vulnerability of India’, Learning Module, The Indian Perspective,
Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management Framework
16. ‘Bangladesh- Major Disasters in Economy’ Readings, Comprehensive Disaster Risk
Management Framework