Miscellanous Quiz: Disaster Management |25 Mar, 2021

The Disaster Management Act, 2005 has been enacted by the Parliament of India for the effective management of disasters.

Source: Shankar IAS

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is the apex statutory body for disaster management in India.

The NDMA was formally constituted on 27th September 2006, in accordance with the Disaster Management Act, 2005 with Prime Minister as its Chairperson and nine other members, and one such member to be designated as Vice-Chairperson.

Source: ForumIAS factly

Today NDRF is a distinguished, unique Force across the country functioning under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, within the overall command, control and leadership of the Director General, NDRF.

· At present, National Disaster Response Force consists of 12 battalions, three each from the BSF and CRPF and two each from CISF, ITBP and SSB.

· Each battalion have 18 self-contained specialist search and rescue teams of 45 personnel each including engineers, technicians, electricians, dog squads and medical/paramedics.

· The total strength of each battalion is 1,149. All the 12 battalions have been equipped and trained to respond natural as well as man-made disasters.

· Battalions are also trained and equipped for response during chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) emergencies. Source: http://www.ndrf.gov.in/about-us

Section 25 of the DM Act provides for constitution of DDMA for every district of a state.

· The District Magistrate/ District Collector/Deputy Commissioner heads the Authority as Chairperson besides an elected representative of the local authority as Co-Chairperson except in the tribal areas where the Chief Executive Member of the District Council of Autonomous District is designated as Co-Chairperson.

· Further in district, where Zila Parishad exists, its Chairperson shall be the Co-Chairperson of DDMA.

· The District Authority is responsible for planning, coordination and implementation of disaster management and to take such measures for disaster management as provided in the guidelines.

· The District Authority also has the power to examine the construction in any area in the district to enforce the safety standards and to arrange for relief measures and respond to the disaster at the district level.

Source: Ministry of Home Affairs

Since 1970, more than two million people have been killed by natural disasters in the ‘Ring of Fire’ region around the Pacific Ocean, an average of 43,000 a year, as per the United Nations (UN).

Source: The Hindu

National Hydrology Project was started in 2016 as a Central Sector Scheme with 100% grant to implementing agencies on pan India basis.

· It is an initiative of the Ministry of Jal Shakti and is supported by the World Bank.

· It has a budget outlay of Rs. 3680 crores to be spent over a period of 8 years.

Aim:

· To improve the extent, reliability and accessibility of water resources information.

· To strengthen the capacity of targeted water resource management institutions in India.

· To facilitate acquisition of reliable information efficiently this would pave the way for an effective water resource development and management.

Project Beneficiaries:

· Central and state implementing agencies responsible for surface and/or groundwater planning and management, including river basin organizations.

· Users of the Water Resources Information System (WRIS) across various sectors and around the World. Source: http://nhp.mowr.gov.in/HomeNew/NHPIndexnew.aspx

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (Sendai Framework) was the first major agreement of the post-2015 development agenda and provides Member States with concrete actions to protect development gains from the risk of disaster.

· The Sendai Framework works hand in hand with the other 2030 Agenda agreements, including The Paris Agreement on Climate Change, The Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development, the New Urban Agenda, and ultimately the Sustainable Development Goals.

· It was endorsed by the UN General Assembly following the 2015 Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR). Source: https://www.undrr.org/implementing-sendai-framework/what-sendai-framework

Constitution of India does not have any explicit provision on the subject of disaster management. … As a result, the subject of disaster management failed to secure a place in the elaborate scheme of division of vital subjects between the centre and states.

· As far as the DM Act is concerned, the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution does not have an explicit entry on disaster management.

· Hence, Parliament had to trace its legislative competence for passing the DM Act to the Concurrent List entry on “Social security and social insurance; employment and unemployment”. Source: https://vidhilegalpolicy.in/blog/covid-19-and-the-need-for-clear-centre-state-roles/

All waters in nature, whether rain water or ocean water, contain dissolved mineral salts. Salinity is the term used to define the total content of dissolved salts in sea water. Factors affecting ocean salinity are mentioned below:

· The salinity of water in the surface layer of oceans depends mainly on evaporation and precipitation.

· Surface salinity is greatly influenced in coastal regions by the fresh water flow from rivers, and in Polar Regions by the processes of freezing and thawing of ice.

· Wind, also influences salinity of an area by transferring water to other areas.

· The ocean currents contribute to the salinity variations. Salinity, temperature and density of water are interrelated. Hence, any change in the temperature or density influences the salinity of water in an area.

Source: NCERT

Storm Surge.

· Storm surge is the abnormal rise in seawater level during a storm, measured as the height of the water above the normal predicted astronomical tide.

· The surge is caused primarily by a storm’s winds pushing water onshore.

· The amplitude of the storm surge at any given location depends on the orientation of the coast line with the storm track;

· The intensity, size, and speed of the storm; and the local bathymetry.

Source: NOAA