DISASTER MANAGEMENT

The term ‘Disaster’ is derived from the French word ‘Desastre’ which means a bad or an evil star.

A Disaster may be defined as a terrible event that occurs unexpectedly & causes great loss of life, property & environment.

Disaster can be either natural or man-made.Natural disasters are caused by the force of

nature, man-made disasters are the result of human error, negligence or deliberate actions of man.

To some extent human activity is also responsible for natural disaster.

INTRODUCTION

Natural disaster are caused by the forces of nature & thus are always severe & sudden.

Some natural disasters are geological in nature like earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, tsunami, etc. & some are climatic disasters like floods, droughts, cyclones, hailstorms, etc.

A brief description of natural hazards are given under:

NATURAL DISASTER

FLOODSA flood is a situation

when the river overflow its banks & the water spread in the vast surrounding areas submerging them. Floods mainly occur in the rainy season, but sometimes storms like Cyclones can cause sea water to run in & flood the coastal regions.

EARTHQUAKESThe sudden shaking of

the earth is called an earthquake. More deaths in an earthquake are due to collapse of buildings. One of the most notorious effects of earthquake is the tsunami. ‘Tsunami’ are giant tidal waves which moves at 1000km/hr or faster away from the centre of an earthquake.

LANDSLIDESThe term ‘landslides’

refers to rapid down slope movement of soil or rock. Earth’s gravity pulls downward every material causing a variety of phenomena collectively referred to as mass wasting. Human activities such as construction of roads, dams, clearing of forests & building houses on steep & unstable slopes increases both the frequency & the damage done by landslides.

There are some man-induced disasters as well, mainly human error, negligence, deliberate actions or the malfunctioning of machinery/equipment, etc. lead to man-made disasters.

The disasters like wars, battles, riots, fires, rail or accidents, plane crashes, nuclear explosions fall under man-induced disasters category.

A brief description of a few man-made disasters are as following:

MAN-MADE DISASTERS

FIRESThe havoc caused by

the fire incidents in buildings every year is more than that caused by any other disaster. Fires are mainly caused by faulty stoves, leakage of cooking gas, & carelessly thrown matches or cigarettes. The loss of life is high if the fire is in a crowded building.

TRAVEL-RELATED ACCIDENTS

An accident in which many people are involved turns into a disaster. Most of the travel related accidents take lives of many people at the same time. Accidents of trains, airplanes, cars, buses, etc. are travel-related accidents. Rail & road accidents are common features in India. Such accidents occur due to explosion, fire or crashes.

TERRORISMTerrorism is the worst

form of human actions & a result of dirty human thinking which acquire a form of disaster. They use unconventional means such as chemical, biological weapons & strike without warning. Bomb explosions, firing are common weapons. In biological weapons, the germs of diseases such as anthrax are used.

Disaster management is a process which consists of steps taken before, during & after a disaster to reduce the suffering & damage caused by it.

Professionally speaking, Disaster management is defined as “ the effective organization, direction & utilization of available counter-disaster resources.”

It is desirable & advantageous that people are trained for such accidents & prepare to act quickly in an organized manner. This preparation should be at three level.

The Government level, At the community level & At family/individual level.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT & MITIGATION

The government should prepare for disasters in a number of ways. The government should:

Set aside funds for disaster management & relief; Build shelter, stock of food, clothing, & medicines

for use during disasters; Train officials to react properly during disasters; Set up highly scientific techniques & organizations

to forecast floods, cyclones, earthquakes, broadcast warnings & so on;

Build embankments & dams for flood control & trees in coastal areas for breaking the flow of storm, water & wind.

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS IN THE GOVERNMENT

Community as a whole should also be prepared for disaster management in the following ways:

People of an area should be aware of the local hazards which can hit them. They should also find out the ways to deal with them.

A local committee should be formed by the community people for preparedness & relief operations.

Basic provisions to over come a crisis should be stocked.

Training programmes in schools, offices, factories, societies should be conducted. Mock drills to test the response should also be conducted regularly.

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS IN THE COMMUNITY

Family members & individuals should also prepare themselves for disaster management in the following ways:

Family members should be taught to call emergency services.

They should be aware of how to shut off the gas & electricity during fire.

A common & safe exit should also be developed for emergency purposes.

An emergency kit should also be prepared. It should contain first-aid box, torch, candles, matches, ropes. Knife, scissors, soap, towel & dry food. The kit should be properly packed & kept at accessible place.

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS IN THE FAMILY/ INDIVIDUAL LEVEL

Video Clipping: http://youtu.be/Kt-C8WCIWrg

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Ms. Shubha Maheshwari Anjali Bedi

Coordinator B.el.ed-8

A4614309015