Assignment Sample on Crisis, Risk and Recovery for Tourism Hospitality and Events
1.0 Introduction and disaster management in India
India, officially known as the Republic of India is a country in South Asia and it is the second most populous country in the world with a population of 136.64 crore. The Indian subcontinent is among the world’s most disaster prone areas and almost 85% of the country is vulnerable to various types of disasters such as earthquakes and cyclones. Disasters have become common in 22 Indian states where every year the country has to face huge losses which include financial as well as human resources. India is vulnerable to wind storms that originate in the Bay of Bengal and in the Arabian Sea. Disaster management agencies and authorities are formed in order to reduce the impact of the disasters where the use of effective technical tools is used to mitigate the risks that are involved in tackling the threats that are involved in any disaster. India has a rich history in emergency management where active steps and policies were taken by the Government of India in order to mitigate the risks and the rate of destruction. In this report, a detailed discussion will be made on the disaster caused by cyclones in India and the ways in which India’s disaster management authorities and agencies deal with the disasters.
2.0 Organization and authorities involved in disaster management in India
It may be stated that the Government of India is always prepared to fight any type of disaster that may cause huge destruction and damage to the country. The government has set up two institutions in New Delhi namely the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in order to confront any type of natural disaster. In India, natural or man-made disasters are primarily handled by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the prime minister of India is the ex-officio chairperson of NDMA. NDMA was founded on 30 May 2005 through the Disaster Management Act enacted by the government of India on 23 December 2005 (Ndma.gov.in. 2021). The NIDM is a premier institute which provides proper training in order to develop the capacity to handle adverse situations arising due to any natural disaster. The National Centre for Disaster Management was renamed as the National Institute of Disaster management by the Disaster management Act of 2005 by the President of India on 9 January 2006 (Nidm.gov.in. 2021). NIDM was founded in 1995 which comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India and it has 22 staff at present (Mha.gov.in. 2021).
Apart from these two institutions, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is a specialized force which provides special response by providing assistance during the time of any threatening disaster in the country. NDRF was formed in 2006 and its headquarters is in New Delhi and it has 13,000 personnel at present and NDRF comes under the authority of NDMA (Ndrf.gov.in. 2021). Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) also plays a significant role in disaster management by forecasting weather conditions and other important information related to disasters and unusual changes in the weather. IMD has its headquarters in New Delhi and it is one of the six Regional Specialized Meteorological Centers of the World Meteorological Organization. IMD is also responsible for naming of the tropical cyclones of the Northern Indian Ocean region which includes the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea (Mausam.imd.gov.in. 2021). Apart from these government agencies and authorities several NGOs cooperate in fighting the natural disasters which mostly include cyclones. The union ministry for home affairs acts as the nodal agency for managing the disasters and their impacts. The NDMA is responsible for implementing several important policies, plans and guidelines related to disaster management in India.
3.0 The disaster
Cyclones are most frequent during the months of May to October as temperature increases in those months to a great extent which results in the formation of pressure belts which ultimately creates several strong and devastating cyclones. Several mangrove ecosystems are periodically exposed to high velocity winds due to tropical cyclones and often recover with time (Krauss and Osland, 2020). Cyclones originated when oceans get warmer exceptionally and it may be stated that the frequency of the cyclones have increased due to increased average temperature. On the other hand, it needs to be opined that the increase in the levels of water due to global warming is also one of the most important factors in creation of cyclones .India has a long history with cyclones and it is due to the geographical location of India which makes the country endangered to face several disasters due to cyclones. The country has faced several cyclones in 2019 and 2020 where huge destruction of material and human life was witnessed by the people of the affected region. India has faced several threatening cyclones such as Amphan, Nisarga, Nivar and Yaas in the past few years which has resulted in loss of human resource and financial resources. Cyclones are created when wind blows around the low pressure areas and the storms that originate over a warm tropical ocean are termed as tropical cyclones.
On the other hand, it may be mentioned that storms that are created around high pressure areas are known as anticyclones and the eastern as well as western coastline of India is most prone to be hit by cyclones. One of the major characteristics of tropical cyclones is high rainfall along with blowing of high winds. It may be asserted that parts of Indian Ocean face tropical cyclones almost every year which mostly affects the states that are in eastern India such as Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal. India has a coastline length of about 7,516 km and it has been observed that 5,570 km is extremely vulnerable to various types of storms and cyclones. Furthermore, it may be mentioned more specifically that the east coast of India is more prone to cyclones than the west coast. Foni was the second strongest cyclone to hit Odisha which originated from a tropical depression that formed in the west of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. Indian Meteorological Department tracked the formation of this cyclone and issued several warnings in order to mitigate the amount of destruction in south-eastern India. Cyclone Amphan was a super strong tropical cyclone that severely affected West Bengal and Odisha and it had its origin in the Bay of Bengal in May 2020.
Cyclone Amphan made a huge impact on the lives of people by large scale destruction of property and human life and it was estimated that it made a loss of 1.03 crore rupees. It is considered as one of the deadliest cyclones which ever originated in the Northern Indian Ocean. Another cyclone was Nisarga which was formed in the Aranian Sea and the Indian states namely Gujarat and Maharashtra were severely affected by the outbreak of this strong cyclone in 2020. Moreover, it needs to be added that another cyclone named Nivar hit Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in November 2020 which destroyed 23,000 acres of crops. Cyclone Nivar was formed in the Bay of Bengal and it reached its peak intensity of 125kmph which is regarded as extremely dangerous and threatening. Yaas is the most recent cyclone that destroyed Odisha and parts of West Bengal in the month of May 2021. Yaas was first tracked by Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and it was placed under category 1 of tropical cyclones. Yaas made a huge destruction in the states of West Bengal and Odisha and it is estimated that it had made a loss of around INR 630. Tropical cyclones are a severe natural hazard that causes large scale destruction, loss of property and life by making a landfall with profuse amounts of rainfall (Janapati et al., 2020).
4.0 Disaster management in India during cyclones
Disaster management in India is done by several government agencies and authorities such as NDMA, NIDM, NDRF and IMD where IMD is the nodal agency which provides early warnings of any storm, cyclones or any other natural disaster. The government follows certain steps in order to carry out the entire process of disaster management during the cyclones which includes hazard mapping, land use mapping, cyclone sheltering, flood management and raising the awareness of people. NDRF is one of the most important pillars of the entire disaster management system of India and the brave hearts of NDRF give their best efforts to save lives of people during the cyclones such as Yaas which hit eastern coasts of India in May 2021 (Refer to Appendix 1). NDRF provides sustainable disaster response during any type of disaster in order to mitigate the risks that are involved. The members of NDRF provide first aid to the victims of disasters and they also arrange ambulances in order to move the injured persons to the nearest hospitals and medical centers. NDRF also provides personal protective gear to people while rescuing the victims from a cyclone hit area or region. India as a country is called the ‘Theatre of Disaster’ due to its multiple hazards and vulnerabilities that cause various types of disasters in diverse geographical locations (Bhadra, 2020). Along with the government authorities, several NGOs also extend their help in several parts of the country where active and selfless individuals work collaboratively with government authorities.
It needs to be mentioned that the Indian army also plays an important role in disaster management of the county where large troops of army start their work immediately after any clone hits a particular region (Refer to Appendix 2). The soldiers of Indian army work tirelessly in improving the situations by distributing food and other important essential commodities to people. Indian army also plays an active role in searching and rescuing the victims of the disaster along with establishing a transportation facility when the normal modes of transportation are not available. Indian army also plays a major role in evacuating the population to a safe place with the use of helicopters and other modes of transportation. On the other hand, it may be implied that Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) also plays an extremely crucial role in disaster management by providing exact information about cyclones which include precise location, speed of the wind and the area that will get affected by the disaster. The role of IMD is of immense importance in taking preparation to confront any cyclone in the best possible way. The scientists and weather experts work constantly to track any cyclone in order to make people aware about cyclones.
Furthermore, it may be asserted that state governments also play a significant role in reducing the amount of destruction. Almost every Indian state has its own disaster management team and with the help of these highly skilled and efficient quick response teams, state governments give their best efforts. Local and regional NGOs also support the work of the quick response teams by providing manpower and with financial assistance which is used for the cyclone affected people. Quick response teams use several tools and modern equipment which make the rescued operations easy and fast. Disasters do not kill, however, lack of preparedness, non-compliance to laws and absence of community resilience kills (Singh et al., 2018). NDMA collaborates with the state governments and provides every assistance which is required to fight the adverse weather conditions and it also implements policies which benefit the common people who are affected by any disaster including tropical cyclones.
5.0 Emergency management and response during the disaster
It may be implied that disaster management is a multi-level approach which requires strong collaboration from different departments in order to work effectively and efficiently during any disaster. The community which gets affected badly by natural disasters is often people belonging to the farmer community and frequent cyclones disappoint the farmers to a great extent (Tripathy, 2020). The Disasters are required to be dealt with proper strategic planning and the Government of India actively works on improving the entire disaster management system of the country. The NDMA is responsible for making policies related to disaster and all the steps are taken according to the policies and strategies provided by NDMA. NDMA also provides certain guidelines to the states and local governing bodies that follow the guidelines in order to manage a disaster properly. It may be stated that skilled and brave members of quick response teams are trained in order to handle emergency situations without getting confused. Several NGOs also deserve special mention as their effort is also commendable during the outbreak of any cyclone or other sort of natural disaster.
Furthermore, it needs to be added that NGOs often collaborate with state response teams as well as with other governmental agencies by providing all the necessary commodities including clothes, dry food, drinking water and providing safe shelters to those who have lost their house. NGOs contribute significantly by collecting funds from people and providing it to the people who get affected by cyclones and other disasters in India. Disaster response is the second phase of disaster management where immediate rebuilding of the damaged and destructed infrastructures are done along with assessing the amount of damage. Emergency management also pays attention in providing temporary shelter to people who become homeless and taking care of the people by providing the basic needs which are essential for survival. The fact which is most disturbing is that disasters and the rate of destruction are increasing instead of taking all the preventive measures (Dave, 2018).
6.0 Disaster recovery and future resilience
The Government of India plays a significant role in disaster recovery and resilience by implementing several effective policies. The Government allocates special funds and other benefits which include providing essential food and other essential commodities in areas which get affected by cyclones. The central government communicates with all the state governments in order to get an idea or estimation of the loss caused by disasters and steps are taken accordingly to the amount of loss of human life and financial resources. On the other hand, it may be asserted that state governments receive funds which are used in recovering the situations by providing all the essential amenities to the victims of cyclones. It may be mentioned that the collaborative and joint approach of the central government and the state governments is extremely crucial for the wellbeing of the common people. Heavy economic loss and damage of livestock’s due to cyclones put burden on the economy of a country and ultimately on the government (Geethamani et al., 2021). It may be opined that IMD has to become more vigilant and active in order to track any cyclone that may hit the country so that the government may take all the necessary steps in order to mitigate the amount of damage and destruction.
Moreover, it needs to be argued that NDRF is required to be alert and prepared in confronting disasters in future with a more strong and efficient team. The members of NDRF are to be provided scientific and technical training in order to increase their efficiency and skill in confronting future cyclonic occurrences. On the other hand, it may be implied that the local quick response teams are required to arrange proper and safe locations before the cyclones in order to move people to these safe locations. This will definitely reduce the loss of lives of innocent people who live in villages and do not get any prior update of the upcoming cyclones. Furthermore, it needs to be added that people are required to be warned about the risks that are involved if a cyclone hits any region and this will raise the level of awareness among the masses. Sharing information with common people will also make them mentally prepared in order to fight with the cyclones.
7.0 Recommendations
In order to confront the disaster more efficiently these recommendations are to be followed:-
- The Government of India should form a strong communication with state governments
- NDRF should enhance the team by providing proper training to its members
- IMD should adopt latest technologies and equipment in order to track the formation of cyclones
- Quick response teams should be more active and they number of quick response teams are to be increased
- The government should allocate more funds to the states in order to improve the condition of common people
- Several NGOs should involve more deeply in disaster management in order to extend help to the greater sections of people affected by cyclones
The Government of India should maintain a more collaborative relationship with all the states and during any disaster no miscommunication is to be tolerated. On the other hand, the IMD is required to improve its technologies and equipment in order to become more accurate and precise while sharing any important information. The use of the latest technologies and machines will definitely improve the performance of IMD in tracking any cyclone. However, it needs to be asserted that NGOs and other agencies should get involved more deeply in managing a disaster with government agencies such as NDRF and NDMA. Moreover, the Government of India is required to allocate more funds for cyclone hit areas so that people may get the basic commodities of survival. Finally, it may be added that the number of quick response teams is to be increased in order to handle any disaster easily.
8.0 Conclusion
From the above discussion it may be clearly concluded that India is a disaster prone country due to its geographical location and in order to mitigate the damages and destruction caused by cyclones and other natural calamities, the disaster management system of the country is required to undergo certain changes. Disaster management of the country is required to become strong and efficient so that in future it becomes easy to handle any adverse situation caused by a cyclone or any other natural disaster.
References
Dave, R.K., 2018. Disaster Management in India: Challenges and Strategies. Prowess Publishing.
Geethamani, P., Krishnasamy, K. and Narmatha, M., 2021. A Life Lesson Learned from Flood: An Overview of Disaster Management. Chapters.
Janapati, J., Seela, B.K., Lin, P.L., Wang, P.K., Tseng, C.H., Reddy, K.K., Hashiguchi, H., Feng, L., Das, S.K. and Unnikrishnan, C.K., 2020. Raindrop size distribution characteristics of Indian and Pacific Ocean tropical cyclones observed at India and Taiwan sites. Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan. Ser. II.
Krauss, K.W. and Osland, M.J., 2020. Tropical cyclones and the organization of mangrove forests: a review. Annals of botany, 125(2), pp.213-234.
Mausam.imd.gov.in. 2021. IMD | Home. [online] Available at: <https://mausam.imd.gov.in/> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
Mha.gov.in. 2021. Home | Ministry of Home Affairs | GoI. [online] Available at: <https://www.mha.gov.in/> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
Ndma.gov.in. 2021. Home | NDMA, GoI. [online] Available at: <https://ndma.gov.in/> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
Ndrf.gov.in. 2021. Home | NDRF – National Disaster Response Force. [online] Available at: <http://www.ndrf.gov.in/> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
Nidm.gov.in. 2021. NIDM : Home. [online] Available at: <https://nidm.gov.in/> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
Singh, A., Punia, M., Haran, N.P. and Singh, T.B. eds., 2018. Development and Disaster Management: A Study of the Northeastern States of India. Springer.
Tripathy, S., 2020. Farmers, Climate Change and People Centric Disaster Management in India. In Disaster Management for 2030 Agenda of the SDG (pp. 181-195). Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore.
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