India’s efforts in Managing Disaster – UPSC GS3

India consciously developed DM as a holistic approach, not just reacting after a disaster but also integrating disaster preparedness, mitigation, and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) into plans and policies.

India has increasingly mitigated and responded to all types of disasters, including with the establishment of its National Disaster Reaction Force (NDRF), the world’s largest rapid reaction force dedicated to disaster response.

India is also an emerging donor that has provided a substantial amount of foreign disaster relief, as well as foreign development assistance, to other countries.

India’s foreign humanitarian assistance has increasingly included its military assets, primarily deploying naval ships or aircraft to deliver relief.

In line with its diplomatic policy of “Neighbourhood First,” many of the recipient countries have been in the region of South and Southeast Asia.

In the last two decades, India has given foreign humanitarian assistance bilaterally to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and others.

As part of its neighbourhood development efforts, India also contributes to regional disaster preparedness and capacity building efforts.

Within the context of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), India has hosted DM Exercises that allow NDRF to demonstrate for counterparts from partner states the techniques developed to respond to various disasters.

Other NDRF and Indian Armed Forces exercises have brought India’s first responders into contact with those from states in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Globally, disasters in the last two decades have predominantly been climate-related disasters, of which floods are the most frequently occurring type of disaster and storms are the second most deadly type of disaster (surpassed by earthquakes).

India has adopted the Sendai Framework for DRR, the Sustainable Development Goals (2015-2030), and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, all of which make clear the connections among DRR, Climate Change Adaptation (CCA), and sustainable development.

India participates in several multilateral organisations that address these and other issues that benefit from multinational coordination.