India – South East Asia Partnerships in Disaster Management : A Review

By Dr. M.Kennedy Stephensan Vaseekaran

Assistant Professor Department of Politics and Public Administration

University of Madras Chennai -600 005

Partnerships among nations in regionsDeveloping countries increasingly becoming vulnerable to the natural and man made disasters.

The impact of the disasters on the developing societies are more intensive and heavy.

The South Asia region lies in the Alpide Belt , which the Second most earthquake prone zone, which lies along the southern edge of the Eurasian plate, where the African, Arabian, And Indian plates push northwards against it.

There is an urgent need to enter in to partnerships among the nations in the SA region, to protect, prevent and for preparedness against the disasters.

Rationale Since disaster management system is a cost intensive project for poor countries in SA region international network of warning systems, mutual cooperation, exchange of data among the nations in the SA region is imperative.

After experiencing worst ever earthquake in year 2004, and also Tsunami in the SA region the SARRC countries have established the SARRAC disaster management centre was established in New Delhi in 2005.

The Indian Parliament enacted Disaster Management Act in the year 2005.

Disaster Prone Zones : World

THE EARTHQUAKE ROCKS SE ASIA AT 0628 IST

TSUNAMI ORIGIN

TSUNAMI PROPAGATION

AFTER SHOCKS

Water ( Tsunamis) Date Place Estimated deaths 2004 Indian ocean 250,0001782 South China SEa 40,0001883 Krakatoa ,

Indonesia 36,000

1707 Japan 30,0001826 Japan 27,0001868 Chile 25,6741896 Japan 22,0701792 japan 15,0301771 japan 13,4861703 Japan 5,233

SARRC Countries

South East Asia Level Initiatives SAARC DISASTER MANAGEMENT CENTRESAARC Disaster Management Centre (SDMC) was set up in October 2006 at the premises of National Institute of Disaster Management in New Delhi.

The Centre has the mandate to serve eight Member Countries of South Asia Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It is providing policy advice and facilitating capacity building services including strategic learning, research, training, system development and exchange of information for effective disaster risk reduction and management in South Asia. The Centre is a sleek body of professionals working on various dimensions of disaster risk reduction and management in South Asia.

. © Copyright 2007 SAARC DISASTER MANAGEMENT CENTRE

SAARC DISASTER MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK

Aftermath of Indian Ocean Tsunami of December 2004, a Special Session of the SAARC Environment Ministers was held at Male on 25 June 2005.

The Ministers had concluded the meeting by adopting the Male Declaration, which decided inter alia that an Expert Group of the member countries shall meet at Dhaka, Bangladesh to formulate a Comprehensive Framework on Early Warning, Disaster Management and Disaster Prevention, prior to the Seventh Ministerial Meeting on Environment in Bangladesh.

The Expert Group met on 7-9 February, 2006 in Dhaka and developed a comprehensive framework on disaster management in South Asia.

The framework is aligned with the implementation of the Hyogo Framework of Action (HFA) 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters. The Framework was approved by the SAARC Council of Ministers on 30 July 2006 and by the Fourteenth SAARC Summit in New Delhi in 3-4 April 2007.

SADM Framework The Framework provides a platform for South Asian countries to:

Establish and strengthen the regional disaster management system to reduce risks and to improve response and recovery management at all levels

Identify and elaborate country and regional priorities for action Share best practices and lessons learnt from disaster risk reduction efforts at national levels

Establish a regional system to develop and implement regional programmes and projects for early warning

Establish a regional system of exchanging information on prevention, preparedness and management of natural disasters

Create a regional response mechanism dedicated to disaster preparedness, emergency relief and rehabilitation to ensure immediate response

Create a regional mechanism to facilitate monitoring and evaluation of achievements towards goals and strategies.

© Copyright 2007 SAARC DISASTER MANAGEMENT CENTRE

NATIONAL FOCAL POINTS

 

The Member countries have nominated the National Focal Points of the SAARC Disaster Management Centre. Afghanistan Afghan National Disaster Management Authority Bangladesh Disaster Management Bureau Bhutan Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs India National Institute of Disaster Management Maldives Disaster Management Centre Nepal Ministry of Home Affairs Pakistan National Disaster Management Authority Sri Lanka Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights

© Copyright 2007 SAARC DISASTER MANAGEMENT CENTRE

Disaster management in India

Afghanistan Disaster Management

Bangladesh : Disaster Management

Sri lanka : Disaster Management

Vulnerability of SA region for Disasters

National Focus points contd…National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) has been created under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 for policy advocacy, research, training, capacity building, and documentation for the holistic management of disasters in India. The 42 Member General Body of the Institute is chaired by the Home Minister and has 10 Secretaries to the Government of India as Members. Vice Chairperson of the National Disaster Management Authority is the Chairman of the Governing Body. The Institute has its branches in 29 State capitals besides it has partnership arrangements with more than 50 research, technical and other organizations working on various aspects of disaster risk reduction and management in the country.

The Department of Narcotics Control and Disaster Management under the Ministry of Home Affairs is responsible for formulating policies and plans regarding oral aspects of disaster management in coordination with various key disaster actors. The department also works as the Secretariat of the Central Industrial Disaster Relief Committee (CIDRC) which is chaired by the Home Minister.

NDMA, Pakistan National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of Pakistan has been set up under Section 3 of the National Disaster Management Ordinance 2006 and is responsible for the preparation of the national planning, coordinating, mandating and implementation of the plan, lay down guidelines for preparation of disaster management plan by the different Ministries and the provincial Governments. The Chairperson of the NDMA also functions as the Ex-officio Director General of the National Disaster Management Commission which is headed by the Prime Minister and includes the leader of opposition in the National Assembly, concerned Ministers and the Chief Ministers of the provinces.

Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights was established in November, 2005 under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister to take lead role in directing the strategic planning in disaster response, risk mitigation, preparedness, planning and risk reduction. The Ministry works under the moral direction of the National Council of Disaster Management (NCDM) which is chaired by the President and Vice-chaired by the Prime Minister and Leader of Opposition, Ministers and provincial Chief Ministers as its Members. The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) was established in July, 2005 to implement the directives of the NCDM.

SA Disaster Management Centre The Centre is networking through the National Focal Points of the Member Countries with the various Ministries, Departments and Scientific, Technical, Research and Academic institutions within and outside the Government working on various aspects of disaster risk reduction and management.

The Centre conducts studies and research, organizes workshops and training programmes, publishes its reports and documents provides various policy advisory services to the Member Countries.

The Centre has the Vision to be recognized as a vibrant Centre of Excellence for knowledge, research and capacity building on disaster management in South Asia and in the rest of the world

SDMC ROADMAP

    Proposed Training Program of SDMC -2012 The Road Maps developed so far include the following

Community Based Disaster Risk Management in South Asia. Application of Science and Technology for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management

Coastal and Marine Risk Mitigation Plan Integration of Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation in South Asia

Mainstreaming Disaster Reduction in Development in South Asia Earthquake Risk Management in South Asia Landslide Risk Management in South Asia Urban Risk Management in South Asia Drought Risk Management in South Asia     © Copyright 2007 SAARC DISASTER MANAGEMENT CENTRE

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SAARC ratifies committee on environment

THE SAARC ratified the setting up of a technical committee on environment at its July 8-9 foreign ministers' meet in Colombo, which gives permanent status to the ad hoc committee on "The Causes and Consequences of Natural Disasters and the Preservation and Protection of the Environment" in South Asia. The South Asian report had called for a SAARC programme on international river basins and urged greater cooperation in improving water management and water sharing among the riparian member-states. The second recommendation had called for the establishment of a research programme to examine traditional water harvesting systems in South Asia.

Committee on Environment

Among the 13 recommendations finally accepted was one which sought to strengthen environment management infrastructure by developing standards and regulations across the region. The need for developing appropriate land, livestock, biomass and water systems for arid, semi-arid, mountainous and flood-prone areas was also highlighted.

14/08/1992Source: Down to Earth

Vows of Bangladesh over Disasters 30° Dhaka, Bangladesh Dhaka, Country lost 1pc GDP in natural calamitiesNearly one per cent of the country's GDP was lost due to natural calamities in the last decade, said Food and Disaster Management Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque on Monday, reports UNB."The estimated economic loss of the cyclone Sidr and two-time flood in 2007 was around US$ 2.7 billion. The devastation of cyclone Aila in 2009 was enormous, over US$ 95 million loss in agriculture alone,"

Vows of Bangladesh Bangladesh is particularly vulnerable to increasing intensities and frequencies of natural disasters in recent years, ostensibly due to the impacts of climate change and global warming. Bangladesh has been identified as one of the major hot spots of natural disasters."We're the innocent victims of circumstances for which we are not responsible… the sea level rise combined with expected increase in extreme weather events has already put the country at risk.“

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ISSUES & Challenges National interests prevail over Regional Interests in Disaster Management in SARRC region.

Many countries in the highly seismic prone zones like Bhutan, Neapl and Afganisthan have not developed mechanisms to prevent large scale damage during disasters

India has an important role to play in bringing about a comprehensive Disaster prevention and warning system in the region.

Issues and Challenges Comprehensive Disaster mitigation strategy under the leadership of India is needed

Human and material loss could be heavy and in this regions at the time of disasters, which are preventable.

Indian ocean rim countries would be the main victims of natural disasters in the near future.

Disaster management should be taken as a integral part of development process in the SARRC region.

Thank you