India’s direction for disaster resilience

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 3 -Disaster management.

Introduction

India is a vast, multi-hazard country. Floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes, and landslides recur across most States and UTs. Climate change and environmental degradation are increasing both frequency and intensity, raising risks to people and assets. The Ten Point Agenda on DRR (2016) guides action and links India’s efforts with the Sendai Framework, Paris Agreement, and SDGs, creating an integrated path to risk reduction, climate adaptation, and resilient development. India’s direction for disaster resilience.

Status of Disasters in India

1. Baseline hazard exposure

• About 60% of land is earthquake-prone.
• Over 40 million hectares face floods.
• About 8% of the area is cyclone-prone.
• 68% of the area is drought-susceptible.
• 27 States and 7 UTs face recurrent hazards: floods, cyclones, earthquakes, landslides, and droughts.

2. Recent impacts and trends

• In 2024–25, natural disasters caused at least 3,080 deaths, an 18% rise over the previous year.
• The monsoon recorded an overall 8.6% surplus, yet one-third of districts had rainfall far above normal while about 19% of the country faced drought-like conditions.
• In 2025, there were 5.4 million climate-driven internal displacements within India.

India’s Initiatives

1. Legal and institutional reforms
2. The Disaster Management Act, 2005 provides the legal base for disaster risk management in India. It created national, State, and district institutions and clarified roles.
3. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)works under this law and issues national guidelines so actions are standard across different hazards and regions.
4. Governance and coordination
5. The MHA and NDMA oversee the full disaster cycle: prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery.
6. NDMA has issued 38 guidelines and set up appraisal committees for projects that are specific to hazards and regions.
7. States are first responders and use the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for notified disasters.
8. For severe disasters, the Union Government supports States through the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) after an assessment by an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT).
9. A Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) guided the recovery plan.
10. Financing architecture
11. State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
    Created under Section 48(1)(a) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the SDRF is the primary fund with States for immediate relief in notified natural disasters. The Union–State cost-share is generally 75:25, and 90:10 for special-category/Northeast and Himalayan States. Releases follow Finance Commission recommendations and Ministry of Home Affairs norms.
12. National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
    Created under Section 46 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and funded by the Union Government (with scope for external grants), the NDRF is used after an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) assesses that a disaster is of a “severe nature” and beyond a State’s SDRF capacity.
13. Fifteenth Finance Commission added

• The 15th Finance Commission allocated ₹2.28 lakh crore over five years for disaster risk management.
• The funding now covers prevention, mitigation, preparedness, capacity building, response, and reconstruction.
• The split is 30%for preparedness and capacity building (10%) and mitigation (20%), and 70% for response (40%) and reconstruction (30%).
• Priority given to multi-hazard appraisal, science-based design, cooperation between the Centre and States and among ministries.
• Reconstruction packages of about ₹5,000 crore have started in several States.
• Funds support modernising fire safety (₹5,000 crore).

1. Preparedness and capacity building
2. Strengthened community capacity through the Apda Mitra and Yuva Apda Mitra volunteer networks.
3. The National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) is expanding geo-spatial training labs, faculty-led action research, and a 36-stream standard course so that disaster management is mainstreamed to each panchayat.
4. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Academy, the National Fire Service College, and the NIDM train public officials and responders in hazard science, incident response, and policy.
5. NIDM also anchors the Indian Universities and Institutions Network for Disaster Risk Reduction (IUINDRR-NIDM). This network links 300+ universities and institutes to develop model curricula, training modules, and other knowledge products on disaster risk reduction.
6. Public alerting and emergency response

Common Alerting Protocol (CAP):

• India’s unified warning system that sends location-specific alerts in local languages via SMS, TV, radio, Indian Railways announcements, coastal sirens, cell broadcast, and browser notifications.
• CAP also uses satellite-aided channels—NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) and GAGAN (GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation)

The Emergency Response Support System (ERSS-112) provides a single emergency number that also supports disaster-related distress calls and speeds up response.

1. Mitigation and risk reduction
2. Mitigation projects of ₹10,000 crore focus on nature-based solutions for long-term climate risks.
3. The National Cyclone Mitigation Programme (2011–22; ₹5,000 crore) reduced coastal vulnerability by building seven-day early warning systems, cyclone shelters, and embankments.
4. States are encouraged to –

• Revitalise water bodies and green spaces to control urban floods;
• Use remote sensing and automated weather stations to monitor glacial-lake risk;
• Apply bio-engineering solutions for slope stabilisation in landslide zones;
• Use break lines, water-body care, and fuel evacuation to reduce forest fires.

4. The web-based Dynamic Composite Risk Atlas and Decision Support System (Web-DCRA & DSS) supports cyclone risk planning and was used during Cyclone Biparjoy and Cyclone Michaung.
5. Global collaboration
6. Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI): India launched the CDRI, a global partnership of 46 countries and 8 partner organisations. It helps governments, international bodies, and the private sector make infrastructure stronger against climate and disaster risks.
7. India also leads and supports disaster risk reduction work in the Group of Twenty (G-20), the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA).

Way forward

1. Upgrading Disaster Management: Disaster management agencies need to be empowered and equipped with more resources. Capacity-building must be focused on dealing with the changing nature of disasters.
2. Regulation of Construction Activities: It is not possible to prevent natural occurrences like heavy rainfall, cyclones, or heatwaves. Nevertheless, the human-caused effects such as uncontrolled construction must be reduced.
3. Building Disaster-Resilient Infrastructure: India is currently constructing infrastructure for its future, and it’s important to integrate disaster resilience into each of these projects. Additionally, existing infrastructure requires retrofitting.
4. Local participation: Strengthen community centers with resources needed for emergency response which can be used by the first responders to start the rescue work timely.Ensure ‘Local participation for local resilience’.
5. Technology use: Exploring the use of Al, 5G and loT in improving disaster risk management.
6. United efforts to address climate change, social concerns and environment for disaster resilience in integrated way.
7. Convergence of traditional knowledge and modern technology.
8. Revise notified disasters: Consider inclusion of heat wave, lightning, forest fire, river erosion and coastal erosion in the list of notified disasters. For this, necessary assessment/reviews for an appropriate decision may be expedited.
9. Financial innovations: Enhance financial innovations to mainstream effective solutions by improving risk management assessments, incorporating holistic environmental considerations, reducing costs and utilizing innovative risk financing tools. Develop policies to promote private sector engagement in implementing these solutions.

Conclusion

India now follows a whole-of-society approach across prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery, supported by clear laws, financing, early warnings, capacity building, and nature-based mitigation. Priorities are to empower institutions, regulate unsafe construction, embed resilience in all infrastructure, and strengthen local participation. Technology (AI, 5G, IoT), integration of climate-social-environmental actions, convergence of traditional knowledge with modern tools, updating notified disasters, and innovative finance with private-sector engagement will convert frameworks into safer lives and faster recovery at scale.