Getting Acquainted with Disaster Management–Becoming a Disaster Manager Class 9 Notes Social-Science Disaster Management Chapter 1

Points to Remember

1. Hazard

(i) It is a dangerous event, natural or human induced, that could cause injury, loss of life or damage to property, livelihood or environment.

(ii) A hazard could be natural like earthquake, tsunami, volcanic eruption, etc.

(iii) Some hazards like floods, landslides and drought are socio-natural hazards e.g., flooding in an area can take place due to excessive rain (natural phenonena) or due to lack of proper drainage facility (human induced phenomena) i.e. , since their causes are both natural and human induced.

(iv) Some of the hazards are human induced viz., industrial accident, rail, road and air accidents, terrorist attacks,dam failures, leakage of toxic waste, war, civil strife, etc.

(v) A community may be prone to multiple hazards e.g., Gujarat is prone to earthquakes, but it is also frequently affected by floods.

2. Disaster A disaster, whether natural or human induced, is an event which results in wide spread human loss. It is accompanied by loss of livelihood and property, causing suffering and loss in a definite area.

3. Common Features That are Seen in Areas Affected by Disaster

(i) Disruption in normal functioning of the society, thereby affecting a large number of people.

(ii) Large scale loss of life, property and livelihood, thereby affecting the community which requires external aid tocope with the losses.

(iii) A big blow to the country’s economy.

4. Types of Disaster Disaster can be categorised into various types based on their speed and origin/cause.

(i) Based on the speed, a disaster can be termed as slow or rapid.

(a) Slow Onset Disaster A disaster that prevails for many days, months or even years like drought, environmental degradation, pest infestation or famine are some examples of a slow onset disaster.

(b) Rapid Onset Disaster A disaster that is triggered by an instantaneous shock.

(c) The impact of this disaster can be short-lived or long term. Earthquakes, cyclones, flash flood, volcanic eruption are some examples of rapid onset disaster.

(ii) Based on the cause, disasters can be natural or human-induced.

(a) Natural Disaster A natural disaster is an event that is caused by a natural hazard and leads to human, material, economic and environmental losses,which exceed the ability of those affected to cope. e.g.,

2004—Indian Ocean tsunami.
2008—Earthquake in China.
2007—Cyclone in Myanmar.

(b) Human Induced Disasters A serious disruption of normal life triggered by a human, induced hazard causing human material, economic and environmental losses which exceeds the ability of those affected to cope.e.g.,

1984 — Bhopal Gas tragedy,
1997 — Uphaar Cinema fire (Delhi),
2002 — Rajdhani Train derailment,
2003 — Kumbakonam school Fire tragedy,
2008 —Jaipur Serial blasts.

5. When does a Hazard Lead to a Disaster?

A disaster occurs when the impact of a hazard on a section of society is such that the people are unable to cope with the event causing death, injury, loss of property, and/or economic losses. e.g., 2001—Earthquake in Bhuj (Gujarat) which killed more than ten thousand people, became a disaster owing to its immediate impact on society.

6. What is Vulnerability?

(i) Vulnerability is the condition determined by physical, social, economic and environmental factors or processes, which increases the susceptibility of a community to the impact of hazards.

(ii) Among those who are more vulnerable to disasters are people who are socially and economically underprivileged.e.g., People living in low-lying areas are prone to flood, which thereby damages their houses and affects their livelihood.

(iii) In terms of vulnerability, young children, the elderly and the physically challenged are the ones who are likely to be affected more.

7. What is Risk?

Risk is the probability of harmful consequences, or expected losses, such as deaths, injuries, loss of property and livelihood, disruption in economic activity and environmental degradation resulting from interactions between hazards and vulnerable conditions.

e.g., during the recurrent urban floods in Mumbai, the poor living in slums faced higher adverse effects of floods (both immediate and long term) than the others in the city. These effects included loss of daily wages, damage to workspace in homes, electrocution, water-borne diseases etc. As the poor do not have insurance, they are not always compensated by the government and aid agencies for their losses.

8. What is Disaster Management?

Disaster management covers the range of activities designed to maintain control over disasters/emergency situations and to provide a framework for helping people to avoid, reduce the effects of, or recover from the impact of a disaster.

These activities may be related to preparedness, mitigation, emergency response, relief and recovery (reconstruction and rehablitation) and may be conducted before, during or after disaster.

9. Phases of Disaster Management

There are different phases of disaster management, e.g.,

  1. Disaster Strikes
  2. Emergency Response and Relief
  3. Rehabilitation and Reconstruction
  4. Mitigation
  5. Preparedness

(i) These phases are normally carried out simultaneously after a disaster.

(ii) As soon as a disaster strikes a locality, immediate response and relief activities are carried out by the Government, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), various religious bodies like the Jain Trust, Gurdwara Committee,etc.

(iii) This includes searh and rescue of those affected, first aid, provision of food, clothing, shelter and medicine to those affected, etc.

(iv) Soon after the initial response and relief phase, rehabilitation and reconstruction initiatives are taken up by the Government NGOs and various other agencies to assist the community to come back to normaly. Roads, permanent houses, power and communication networks are restored. This phase also includes economic rehabilitation of for those who have lost their livelihood.

(v) As long term measures to reduce the impact of disasters, various structural and non-structural initiatives are takenup.

(vi) Structural Measures include construction of disaster-resistant buildings, raising the river embankments, etc.

(vii) Non-Structural Measures

(a) These include raising awareness and preparation of plans at the community level for better preparedness. These measures are termed as mitigation measures.

(b) If effective preparedness measures are taken into account, the impact of disasters can be reduced to a large extent and the community is better equipped to combat disasters.

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