INTRODUCTION

Meaning Of Disaster:
A Disaster is a consequence of a sudden disastrous event which seriously disrupts
the normal function of the society or the community to the extent that it cannot
subsist without outside help.
A disaster is not just the occurrence of an event such as an earthquake, flood,
conflict, health epidemic or an industrial accident; a disaster occurs if that
event/process negatively impacts human populations.

Disasters combine two elements: hazard, and the vulnerability of affected people.
"A disaster occurs when a hazard exposes the vulnerability of individuals and
communities in such a way that their lives are directly threatened or sufficient
harm has been done to their community's economic and social structure to
undermine their ability to survive.
A disaster can be defined as any tragic event stemming from events such as
earthquakes, floods, catastrophic accidents, fires, or explosions. It is a phenomenon
that disasters can cause damage to life, property and destroy the economic, social
and cultural life of people.
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Disaster is the exposure of a group of people to a hazard, leading to a serious

disruption of the functioning of a society and causing human, material, economic
environmental
losses which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope
Hazard is an extreme event, natural or man-made , with a destructive potential to
social, economic and human assets. These may include future threats, and may be
natural
(geological, hydro meteorological and biological) or man-made (Conflict,
environmental degradation and technological hazards).
Disasters are often described as a result of the combination of: the exposure to a
hazard; the conditions of vulnerability that are present; and insufficient capacity or
measures to reduce or cope with the potential negative consequences.
Disaster impacts may include loss of life, injury, disease and other negative effects
on human physical, mental and social well-being, together with damage to
property, destruction of assets, loss of services, social and economic disruption and
environmental degradation.
A disaster is a calamitous, distressing, or ruinous effect of a disastrous event which
seriously affects or disrupts (or threaten to disrupt) the critical functions of a
community, society or system, for a period long enough to significantly harm it or
cause its failure. It is beyond the capapabilty of the local community to overcome
it. The stricken community needs extraordinary efforts to cope with it, often with
outside help or international aid.
It is a situation resulting from an environmental phenomenon or armed conflict that
produce stress, personal injury, physical damage, and economic disruption of great
magnitude.

DEFINITION OF DISASTER MANAGEMENT:

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines Disaster as "any occurrence that
causes damage, ecological disruption, loss of human life, deterioration of health
and health services, on a scale sufficient to warrant an extraordinary response from
outside the affected community or area."
Concept and Meaning
A disaster is a consequence of a sudden disastrous event which seriously disrupts
the normal function of the society or the community to the extent that it cannot
subsist without outside help.
A disaster is not just the occurrence of an event such as an earthquake, flood,
conflict, health epidemic or an industrial accident; a disaster occurs if that
event/process negatively impacts human populations.
A disaster is a calamitous, distressing, or ruinous effect of a disastrous event which
seriously affects or disrupts (or threaten to disrupt) the critical functions of a
community, society or system, for a period long enough to significantly harm it or
cause its failure. It is beyond the capapabilty of the local community to overcome
it. The stricken community needs extraordinary efforts to cope with it, often with
outside help or international aid.
It is a situation resulting from an environmental phenomenon or armed conflict that
produce stress, personal injury, physical damage, and economic disruption of great
magnitude.

TYPES OF DISASTERS
There is no country that is immune from disaster, though vulnerability to disaster
varies. There are four main types of disaster.
Natural disasters:
including floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and volcano eruptions that have
immediate impacts on human health and secondary impacts causing further death
and suffering from (for example) floods, landslides, fires, tsunamis.
Environmental emergencies:
Its including technological or industrial accidents, usually involving the
production, use or transportation of hazardous material, and occur where these
materials are produced, used or transported, and forest fires caused by humans.
Complex emergencies:
involving a break-down of authority, looting and attacks on strategic installations,
including conflict situations and war.
Pandemic emergencies:
involving a sudden onset of contagious disease that affects health, disrupts
services and businesses, brings economic and social costs.
Any disaster can interrupt essential services, such as health care, electricity, water,
sewage/garbage removal, transportation and communications. The interruption can
seriously affect the health, social and economic networks of local communities and
countries. Disasters have a major and long-lasting impact on people long after the
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immediate effect has been mitigated. Poorly planned relief activities can have a
significant negative impact not only on the disaster victims but also on donors and
relief agencies. So it is important that physical therapists join established
programmes rather than attempting individual efforts.
Local, regional, national and international organisations are all involved in
mounting a humanitarian response to disasters. Each will have a prepared disaster
management plan. These plans cover prevention, preparedness, relief and recovery.
Disasters are broadly divided into two types:
1) Natural
2) Man made disasters.
1.NATURAL DISASTERS
Natural disasters occur as the result of action of the natural forcesand tend to be
accepted as unfortunate, but inevitable. They include:

Famines
Droughts
Tornadoes,
Hurricanes,
Floods / Sea Surges / Tsunamis
Volcanoes
Snow storms,
Earthquakes,

Famines may be defined as a persistent failure in food supplies over a prolonged

period. It is a phenomenon in which a large percentage of the populations of a
region or country are so undernourished and that death by starvation becomes
increasingly common. A famine weakens body resistance and leads to increases in
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infectious diseases, especially cholera, dysentery, malaria, and smallpox. Famine is

associated with naturally-occurring crop failure due to draught and pestilence and
artificially with war and genocide.
Drought is lack or insufficiency of rain for an extended period of months or years
when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a
region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial
impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region.
A flood is an overflow of water that submerges land, producing measurable
property damage or forcing evacuation of people and vital resources. Floods are
caused due to heavy rainfall and the inadequate capacity of rivers to carry the high
flood discharge. Floods develop slowly as rivers swell during an extended period
of rain. A flood occurs when water overflows or inundates land that is normally
dry. Mostly it happens when rivers or streams overflow their banks.
Cyclones are strong winds that are formed over the oceans. The term "cyclone"
refers to all classes of storms with low atmospheric pressure at the centre, are
formed when an organized system of revolving winds, clockwise in the Southern
Hemisphere, anti-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, develops over tropical
waters.
A hurricane is a huge storm. It is a powerful, spiraling storm that begins over a
warm sea, near the equator and accompanied by fierce winds, flash floods,
mudslides and huge waves.It is a low pressure, large scale weather system which
derives its energy from the latent heat of condensation of water vapor over warm
tropical seas.
An earthquake is a sudden motion or trembling of the ground crust caused by the
collision of tectonic plates resulting in the abrupt displacement of rock masses.
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Earthquakes result from the movement of one rock mass past another in response
to tectonic forces underneath the earths surface.
Volcanoes result when magma rises, pushes through a weakness in the Earths
crust, and spills out onto the surface, devastating anything in its path. The
superheated rock is not the only danger, however. Far below the earths surface,
volcanic gasses are dissolved in the magma. As the magma rises, it begins to cool
down, and gas bubbles begin to form. This makes the magma less dense than the
surroundings, causing it to rise faster.

1. MAN MADE DISASTERS

explosions,
fires,
release of toxic chemicals or radioactive materials(industrial accidents),
dam failures
nuclear reactor accidents
wars
Disaster risk/threats:
The potential disaster losses, in lives, health status, livelihoods, assets and services,
which could occur to a particular community or a society over some specified
future time period. Traditional disaster threats:
Most of the old disaster threats still exist like earthquakes, cyclones, volcanic
eruptions, tsunamis, wildfires, floods, landslides, and drought so do the man-made
ones like fire, explosions and other major accidents which cause heavy human
casualties, economic and social losses. These same traditional threats have
increased as increase in population has force people to settle in disaster prone areas
which increase the impact of disasters.
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Modern disaster threats:

These consist of manmade events like hijacking, terrorism, civil unrest, terrorism
and conflict with conventional arms as well as chemical, biological, nuclear, or
radiological weapons. Increased social violence has drastically affected many
nations and communities.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Definition and concept:

Disaster management includes sum total of all activities, programmes and

measureswhich can be taken up before, during and after a disaster with the purpose
of avoiding, reducing the impact or recovering from its losses.
According to Kelly (1996),"Disaster management" can be defined as the
range of activities designed to maintain control over disaster and emergency
situations and to provide a framework for helping those who are at risk to avoid or
recover from the impact of the disaster.
Disaster management means managing resources and various responsibilities to
deal with all humanitarian aspects of emergencies. This may include preparedness
before disaster, response and recovery i.e. rebuilding and supporting society. The
purpose of this is to lessen the impact of disasters.

CHARACTERISTICS OF DISASTER MANANGEMENT

The following are some of the important features of disaster management:

1. Disaster Management Teams: - World wide, governments, business and nonbusiness organisation are setting up disaster or crisis management teams in order to
manage the disaster. The disaster management teams are broadly divided into three
parts namely (1) The Policy Team (2) The management Team (3) The Liaison
Team.

2. Systematic Planning: - Disaster management involves systematic planning to

avert a disaster, and if it occurs, then systematic planning is required in order to
overcome the crisis arising out of disaster, Disaster planning indicates, what to do,
when to do, how to do and who is to do certain activities to manage and overcome
the problems of disaster.

3. Organising of Resources: - Disaster Management requires proper organising of

resources such as manpower, materials, funds, etc., in order to deal with the
calamity. Proper organizing of resources will help the disaster management
personnel to overcome the problems caused by the calamity or disaster.

4. Training to Manpower: -To manage a disaster effectively, there is a need to

provide proper training to the disaster management personnel. The training will
help to develop and improve Disaster Management skills in the personnel. Training
may help to avert a disaster effectively.

5. Suitability: - Disaster Management is required before and after a disaster. It is

suitable before a disaster in order to avert a disaster, or to caution the people and to
take proper appropriate measures before the disaster strikes. Disaster Management
is also very much required after a disaster takes place in order to undertake rescue,
relief and rehabilitation measures at the time of floods, earthquakes.

6. Stability: -Normally, disaster management teams lack stability. They are formed
just prior to a disaster in order to avert it, whenever possible. However, in
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advanced countries such as in USA, UK, Japan, etc., some organisations form
more or less permanent Disaster Management teams.
7. Organisation Structure: -Robert F. Littlejohn in his paper on Crisis
Management suggested a matrix organisation structure to deal with disaster or
crisis in the organisation or in the city or country. The disaster management team is
to be headed by a crisis manager.

Disaster management is vital for the following purposes that proves

it's importance.
1.
To avert a disaster: Disaster management teams can help to avert a disaster before it occurs. The
Disaster management team may examine the possible causes of disaster, and may
take appropriate measures to avert a disaster. For instance, forest fires, or even
terrorists bombings can be averted through effective planning and pre-emptive
action.
2.
To undertake rescue operations: Disaster management personnel can undertake rescue operations effectively.
Trained disaster management personnel can rescue people effectively at the time of
floods, major fires, building collapses, and so on.
3.
To provide relief measures: Disaster management team is responsible to provide relief measures to the victims.
For instance, the team can make arrangement for food, clothing, and relief camps,
medicines and so on. Such measures would reduce the misery of the disaster
victims.

4.
To undertake rehabilitation programmes: Disaster management team can work effectively to undertake rehabilitation
programmes in the affected areas. For instance, in the earthquake affected areas,
rehabilitation programmes include:
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a.
b.

Construction of dwellings
Schools and other infrastructure.

5.
To undertake liaison work: The disaster management team undertakes liaison work relating to the disaster. The
liaison work is required with various agencies-private and government (including
hospitals) in order to obtain funds and donations, and other resources or services so
as to manage and overcome the disaster.
6.
To reduce trauma and tension: The Disaster management team can help to reduce the trauma and tension before
and after the disaster. For instance, before a disaster, the team can properly guide
the people to face or handle the disaster such as floods. Also, after the disaster, the
team can provide not only material or financial support, but also psychological
support to overcome the traumatic effect of disaster.
7.
To protect the Environment: Disaster management team can help to protect and preserve the environment. For
example, a disaster management team can plan pre-emptive action to avert forest
fires. Etc.
8.
To minimize losses: Disaster management teams can help to minimize loss of life and property. This is
because; the Disaster management team can take pre-emptive actions to avert a
disaster.

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DISASTER MANAGEMENT CYCLE

Disaster prevention:
These are activities designed to provide permanent protection from disasters. Not
all disasters, particularly natural disasters, can be prevented, but the risk of loss of
life and injury can be mitigated with good evacuation plans, environmental
planning and design standards. In January 2005, 168 Governments adopted a 10year global plan for natural disaster risk reduction called the Hyogo Framework.It
offers guiding principles, priorities for action, and practical means for achieving
disaster resilience for vulnerable communities.
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Disaster preparedness:
These activities are designed to minimise loss of life and damage for example by
removing people and property from a threatened location and by facilitating timely
and effective rescue, relief and rehabilitation. Preparedness is the main way of
reducing the impact of disasters. Community-based preparedness and management
should be a high priority in physical therapy practice management.
Disaster relief:
This is a coordinated multi-agency response to reduce the impact of a disaster and
its long-term results. Relief activities include rescue, relocation, providing food
and water, preventing disease and disability, repairing vital services such as
telecommunications and transport, providing temporary shelter and emergency
health care.
Disaster recovery:
Once emergency needs have been met and the initial crisis is over, the people
affected and the communities that support them are still vulnerable. Recovery
activities include rebuilding infrastructure, health care and rehabilitation. These
should blend with development activities, such as building human resources for
health and developing policies and practices to avoid similar situations in future.

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DISASTER PLAN
In India, the role of emergency management falls to National Disaster Management
of India, a government agency subordinate to the Ministry of Home Affairs. In
recent years, there has been a shift in emphasis, from response and recovery to
strategic risk management and reduction, and from a government-centered
approach to decentralized community participation.
Funding mechanisms
Bilateral-Aid i.e. foreign and local, national funding is being used to deal with
disasters especially the post disaster phase
Community based disaster management:
The role of community participation in disaster management is very important.
When the community becomes a part of the decision making system it ensures the
ownership and accountability. It is very important for the medical staff and doctors
to know the local language for treating the disaster victims. The local people have
to be trained to manage the disasters.

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One of the most effective mechanisms for a country to prepare for a disaster is by
conducting education and public awareness programmes at the local community
level, educating, preparing and supporting local populations and communities in
their everyday efforts to reduce risks and prepare their own local response
mechanisms to address disaster emergency situations.
Community based approach in disaster management is a process of educating and
empowering the population through sharing knowledge and information about the
various types of disasters and their potential risks as widely as possible so that
people act appropriately when a disaster happens. Members of a community are the
immediate victims of adverse effects of a disaster. They have the best knowledge
about their local surrounding in terms of the most disaster-prone areas, the
demography of their community and their social and traditional organisation.
Community leaders can create Community Based Action Plans specific to their
needs. This action plan incorporates the hazard map, mock exercises and other
important methods, skills and information needed in preparation for a disaster.
It is really an unfortunate and undesirable situation that in our country where more
than 6 crore people are affected by disasters every year. Statistics is shown in
figure,
we have no policy on systematic disaster Management. It is only after a disaster
strikes that the wheels of the government, both at the centre and at the states, move
and that too slowly. Despite the need to build up capabilities to meet the challenges
of disasters, the thrust has unfortunately been on alleviation and relief. Even the
relief has not been quick and adequate, as few disasters such as Orissa super
cyclone, Tsunami of 2004, Gujarat earthquake etc experiences has shown.

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Indias response to and tackling of this two major disasters has thrown up the
following weakness in our disaster management efforts.
(a). Inadequate Early Warning System:
Though, the forecasting, monitoring and warning mechanisms are beautifully
articulated on paper in practice, the warnings are not early enough and they do not
reach all those likely to be affected. In case of Tsunami, 2004; Bhuj earthquake etc
for example, communication facilities which could have resulted in better coordination of warning and reduction of damage to life and property were
inadequate.
(b) Lack of Pre-disaster Preparedness:
With disasters striking India with increased regularity, there should be a plan in
place to tackle the disaster and reduce its impact. On the contrary, people are
caught unaware time and again. There is not planned information system as to what
needs to be done when faced with a calamity. For example, during Tsunami, 2004,
dead body laid floating in the water for many days due to the unavailability or lack
of required equipment to meet the need of the time/emergency.
(c) Inadequate and Slow Relief :
Relief is an important aspect of the disaster management to provide help to the
affected people. The relief operations are often handled in ad hoc and haphazard
manner. How efficiently to provide food, medicine, to reduce the suffering of the
affected people etc are addressed and met improperly. Even days after the Bhuj
earthquake, and Tsunami, 2004,, many people could not be provided with safe
drinking water, temporary shelter, and medicines. Such a scenario gives rise to law

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and order problem- looting of the relief materials and outbreak of the epidemic due
to rotting dead bodies on the other hand.
(d) Lack of Co-ordination:
Disaster management requires concerted efforts from Central Government, State
Government, NGOs, International agencies and private sectors etc. Because of the
lack of the co-ordination, relief material is not property distributed among the
people. Even worst happens when they are mis-utilized and are not distributed
uniformly.
(e) Slow Rehabilitation and Reconstruction:
While immediately after a disaster strikes, there is hectic relief and rescue mission,
mainly aimed at feeding the people and stalling the outbreak of an epidemic, relief
and rescue can not go on endlessly and rehabilitation and reconstruction should be
given proper attention. However, this is an area which is often ignored and
progressed is slow once the initial attention fades away. Restoration of
infrastructure, hospitals, schools, houses, and sources of living of the people needs
to be given proper attention.
(f) Proper Administration:
A quick assessment of the extent of the damage is necessary so that relief and
rehabilitation work can be properly planned. However, it was seen that even many
months after the Bhuj earthquake and Tsunami of 2004, the government was yet to
finish the preliminary survey of assessing the total impact of the damage. Apart
from this, poor administration frustrated the best intentions and efforts of private
initiatives. After the quake, Gujarat government was too slow and indecisive on
some of the best rehabilitation plans proposed by the NGOs and Corporate.
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(g) Poor Management of Finances for Post-disaster Relief :

Mostly relief and rehabilitation work suffers from the lack of co-ordination, proper
management, and supervision at all levels and indicated the absence of adequate
planning and preparedness to meet any emergency. Consequently, the funds are
mis-utilized and relief measures were tardy and inadequate, providing scope for
pilferage of relief and rehabilitation remained unutilized and there is huge shortfall
in distribution of emergency relief, shelter material cloths, house building
assistance etc. There have also been reports of relief and rehabilitation funds being
utilized for paying salary arrears of the state government employees.

(h) Symbolism Rather than Relief :

It has been a recurrent experience that rather than making a serious effort at
planning and management for tackling frequent disasters, our government adopts
symbolic gestures like helicopter survey of disaster affected areas. The politics of
relief works in a manner that tall claims are made by the Government other than
the affected state to help the affected districts and by sending huge financial help
but these claims prove hollow once the calamity recedes.
(i) No Instruction for Pre-seismic Period:
There is no instruction for the pre-seismic period. Unfortunately, in the present
administrative set up, no official will visit the pople during pre-seismic period to
tell them about an eminent earthquake. But, during the post-seismic period, a large
number of officials will visit the affected people with food, tents, medicine, cloths
and compensation funding to the relatives of the dead. This scenario has been
repeated after Latur (1993), Jablpur (1997), Bhuj (2001), Andman (2004), and
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Kashmir(205) earthquakes. This pathetic situations has to be changed at the

earliest. The issue need to be seriously pondered at the national level. The sole
reason for this is the lack of knowledge about earthquake precursors and
earthquake prediction. Most of the earthquake disaster management experts,
agencies, and offices have a strong conviction that an earthquake can not be
predicted. They are correct to some extent. Till now, there was onle one case of
successful prediction in China. Earthquake prediction has almost become a taboo
in most of the disaster management offices. The relevant rules also are empowered
to take penal action against anyone who talks about earthquake prediction. The
present situation is skewed. On one hand, it is accepted that a largemagnitude
earthquake is due and it may occur anytime; On the other hand, most of the
disaster management agencies feet that an earthquake can not be predicted. If we
want to protect people form an earthquake, it is essential that a suitable precursory
warning is issued even in case of moderate scale of earthquake as it makes the
people of the region aware the region is prone to disaster, and they should be
careful.

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Measures/Facts Taken to Improve Disaster Management in India

At the central or national level, Ministry of Home affairs is entrusted with the
nodal responsibility of managing disaster. At the apex level, there are tow cabinet
committees viz. cabinet committee on national calamity and cabinet committee on
security. All the major issues concerning natural disasters are placed before cabinet
committee on natural calamity whereas calamities which can affect internal
security or which may be caused due to use of nuclear, biological or chemical
weapons etch are placed before cabinet committee on security. The NCMC
(National Crisis Management Committee) is the next important functionary. The
cabinet

secretary

heads

it.

It

includes

secretaries

of

concerned

department/ministers. Its main function is to give direction to Crisis Management

Group (CMG) and any minister/department for specific action needed for meeting
the crisis situation. CMG lies below the NCMC. The Central Relief Commissioner
is its chairman. His primary function is to coordinate all the relief operations for
natural disaster.
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The Bhuj Earthquake

State of Gujarat (India) January 26, 2001

On January 26, 2001, an extremely severe earthquake struck the state of Gujarat in
western India at 8.46 a.m. The earthquake devastated the district of Kutch in the
north western part of the state, and many other districts of the state also suffered
terrible human and property losses. The city of Ahmedabad, the commercial capital
of Gujarat, which lies 300 kilo meters from the epic enter of the earthquake, had a
collapse of more than 70 high-rise residential buildings. It was the worst disaster to
have struck India in the last 50 years.
The City of Bhuj and Kutch District
In Bhuj, the flag-hoisting ceremony was to be held at 9 a.m. Sureshchandra Mehta,
Minister of Industry, Gujarat, who was to take the salute, was about to start from
the circuit house for the venue of the programme when the earthquake occurred.
Some parts of the circuit house and the adjoining collectorate building were
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severely damaged. Some parts even collapsed. The flag-hoisting ceremony in Bhuj
was completed very quickly.
Five districts in the State of Gujarat were severely impacted, but the
worst affected was Kutch, where more than 90 percent of the deaths and 85 percent
of the asset losses occurred. This district is a sparsely populated region, poor in
natural resources (in a relatively rich state), and vulnerable to cyclones and
drought, as well as earthquakes. The 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck in a second
consecutive drought year. Four towns, including the districts largest Bhuj -- and
more than 400 villages were severely hit, destroying lives, infrastructure,
buildings, the economy, and livelihoods. The death toll was nearly 14,000, and
167,000 were injured. More than 1.2 million homes were damaged or destroyed.
So were small enterprises, schools, health clinics, rural and urban water systems,
and electricity and telecommunications systems. While the greatest asset losses
were in the housing sector, the livelihoods of many families were also disrupted. A
joint assessment by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank a month later
found that 19,000 handicraft artisans and several thousand salt farmers in Kutch
were the most severely affected. Some 20,000 cattle deaths were also reported, the
loss of another important source of livelihood.
In addition to the office of the District Collector, his own residence was severely
damaged. In fact, the District Collector, senior district officersand the state-level
officers who reached Bhuj within hours of the earthquake, had to work in the open.
They also spent the first two or three nights outdoors. The office building of the
district panchayat, which is an important organization for development activities of
the district, collapsed. Since the DDOs residence was severely damaged,

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The City of Bhuj was one of the worst affected towns in

the district; almost 50 percent of its walled city alone was considerably damaged.
Over 7,000 people perished in Bhuj, most of them in the walled city area, as
buildings constructed of stone and mud collapsed on extremely narrow streets. The
lack of an effective street pattern was a major obstacle to disaster management in
the earthquakes aftermath. Over the years, poorly framed building regulations had
been weakly enforced, and this had exacerbated congestion in the city. Many
historic buildings had to be demolished during the rubble removal, making
retracing the original street form and architectural character difficult.

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Impact of the Earthquake

The state of Gujarat was the worst hit by the earthquake. Bhuj, Bachhau, Anjar,
Rapar, and Gandhidham are the worst affected towns in the district of Kutch, with
Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Jamnagar and Patan also severely affected. Though the
impact of the earthquake was felt in most of the states of India, there were no
reports of significant damages from other states.
According to the information available on the web site of the Government of
Gujarat, the total number of people who died in the earthquake is 20,086. The
figures of deaths, quoted as more than 50,000 have generally been exaggerated in
the media. The total number of injured is reported to be 166,000 out of which
around 20,000 persons are seriously injured. The number of people still missing is
233 in Kutch. More than 20,000 head of livestock have perished in the earthquake.
Around 300,000 houses, engineered and non-engineered, have collapsed.
Approximately 1 million houses have suffered partial damage and destruction.
Damages to Infrastructure:
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Among the first utilities to get knocked out by the quake was the communications
network and power supply. There was an immediate loss of 3000 MW in the power
grid. The tripping of a 220 KV line in Kutch resulted in total blackout of the whole
district. Though the power supply in Ahmedabad was restored within a few
minutes, it took as many as 15,000 Gujarat Electricity Board (GEB) personnel, 30
truck-loads of electricity poles, conductors, insulators and circuit breakers to
restore power supply in Bhuj within two days.
The damage in the electricity sector has been primarily in distribution. Most
generation plants, which had initially tripped following the earthquake, started
generating within 24 hours and the transmission systems too were up and running.
It was, in fact, the damage caused to the sub-stations that held up power
distribution to cities and villages. For instance, although Bhuj was supplied with 12
MW within a days time, there were no takers for the power.
Most of the water supply schemes failed because of the collapse of pump houses,
and damage to the intake towers and pipelines. Water supply in the districts of
Rajkot, Jamnagar and Surendranagar were also affected for similar reasons (The
Economic Times, February 2, 2001).
The telecom building in Bhuj collapsed, with most of the telecom equipment
destroyed. Fibre-optic cables that gave connectivity to the district of Kutch were
also broken, resulting in isolation of the district from the rest of the state.
There are many heritage buildings used for public purposes such as schools,
hospitals, administrative buildings, museums, rest houses, police stations and
officers bungalows. There were about 3,000 such administrative buildings, out of
which 954 were damaged and 194 were destroyed. As regards residential quarters,
about 1,000 were damaged and 250 were destroyed. Some examples of such public
26

buildings are the Jubilee Hospital at Bhuj, the Deputy Collectors office at Anjar,
Rapar police station and the Collectors residence at Bhuj.
In addition to the above categories, there are a large number of monuments which
are unprotected and unrecognized, most of which are privately owned. Reliable
data on such monuments are not available.
The earthquake caused extensive damage to the power supply facilities in Kutch
and other districts such as Banaskanta, Jamnagar, Rajkot and Surendranagar. Some
power stations sustained minor losses, but transmission and distribution systems
suffered severe damages.
The Kutch Lignite Thermal Power Station at Panandro in Kutch district sustained
some minor damage. The building for the Diesel Generator (DG) set at Bhuj was
also damaged
The earthquake most seriously affected the Kandla port, the busiest port in India,
which caters to the hinterland of western, central and northern India. It handles
crucial imports of petroleum products, crude oil and chemicals and exports of
agricultural commodities. About five of 10 jetties may have been damaged,
reducing the berthing facility at the port. There are serious damages to the customs
house, the administrative house, and cargo handling equipment. Several
warehouses have also suffered significant damages. The workers have migrated
from Kandla due to fear of earthquake. This is the second time in the last two
years that the port has suffered heavily due to natural disaster. In 1998, Kandla was
dealt a severe blow by a cyclone in the Kutch district. The effect of these
calamities is more severe as most of the ports in India do not have insurance cover.
The losses suffered have to be offset through internal accruals and government
assistance.
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Transport infrastructure:
Transport infrastructure includes roads, bridges, rail, port and airport infrastructure.
The transport sector suffered relatively less, compared to the other sectors.
In the road sector, maximum damage was caused to bridges and culverts. The old
Surajbaribridge, which had been constructed in the 1960s, suffered significant
damage during the earthquake. The bridge was closed to traffic for the first two
days. It was temporarily restored for slow and single-lane traffic. Five weeks after
the earthquake, the New Surajbaribridge was commissioned.
The railway infrastructure suffered relatively minor destruction. Most of the
damage was to buildings stations and staff quarterswith some minor damage
to structures and signaling infrastructure. Rail links which had been discontinued
were restored quickly.
Roads are relatively less affected. Aside from Surajbari bridge which connects
Gujarat to Kutch district, the national highways continued to be functional. The
earthquake substantially damaged the Surajbaribridge, and for about 15 days only
light commercial vehicles were allowed over the bridge. More than 6000 Heavy
Motor Vehicles (HMVs) cross the Surajbari bridge everyday, which is the arterial
connectivity to the Kandla port. The bridge has been repaired and is now fully
functional. A new bridge connecting the Rann of Kutch to the national highway,
parallel to the Surajbaribridge, is also being commissioned soon.
Loss of Livelihood:
Large-scale petrochemicals and fertilizer plants in Gujarat emerged unscathed
through the earthquake. However, small-scale industry in Saurashtra and Kutch has
received a severe blow. More than 10,000 small and medium industrial units have
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stopped production due to damage to plants, factories and machinery. Diesel

engine manufacturing and machine and tools industry in Rajkot, ceramic units in
Morbiand Surendranagar, and art and small tools industry in Kutch may find it
difficult to recover. Work at thousands of salt pans has also stopped after the
earthquake. A large number of workers (it is difficult to get a precise figure)from
all the quake-affected cities have left and returned to their own states.
There are about 50,000 craftspersons who live and work in Bhuj, Anjar, Rapar,
Hodka, and surrounding villages, now completely devastated by the earthquake.
Kutch is nationally recognized for its rich quality and variety of craftware. Many
of the local craftspersons have died in the earthquake. Besides, most of them lost
their houses, workshops, and tools, and are likely to face bleak days ahead. The
loss of their income opportunities due to loss of productive human and physical
assets in the Kutch and Saurashtra areas has been a major consequence of the
earthquake. People with little access to income-earning opportunities are more
vulnerable. Along with shelter, the restoration of livelihood will be a priority for
the rehabilitation program.
Physical Infrastructure :
Water and sewer networks in the old city were badly damaged, ironically more
during the movement of heavy machinery to demolish damaged buildings and to
remove debris than during the earthquake itself. Outside the old city, too, important
facilities such as reservoirs, pipelines, telephone exchanges and power
infrastructure were damaged. However, the trunk lines in these networks survived
with minor damage, enabling the quick restoration of services. Buildings and
infrastructure networks had not been designed specifically to withstand an

29

earthquakes impact and neither had the possibility to isolate and separately
repair badly affected components of the infrastructure system.

Local Governance:
Bhuj Municipality was almost paralyzed. Many municipal buildings were
destroyed, and records were lost. The municipality lost several staff, and other staff
members lost their families and suffered injuries.
The municipality lacked the internal capacity to take the lead in relief,
rehabilitation and reconstruction activities.

Planning for Rehabilitation

The Government of Gujarat (GoG) has set up the Gujarat State Disaster
Management Authority (GSDMA), which would implement the reconstruction and
rehabilitation, with support from various other agencies in the quake-hit area. The
GoG has announced four packages amounting to almost US $1 billion for
reconstruction and economic rehabilitation for more than 300,000 families.

The first package takes care of 229 villages where more than 70
per cent of the houses have collapsed. At the rate of nearly Rs. 30 million per
village, it has earmarked Rs. 3 million for land acquisition, Rs. 7 million for
infrastructure, and Rs. 18 million for constructing 200 engineered, quake and
cyclone-resistant engineered houses, and Rs. 2 million for other emergency
facilities in each village.

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The second package is for villages with less than 70 percent

destruction and whose residents do not wish to be shifted to a new location.
Here, the poor1 whose houses have been destroyed would get Rs. 35,000.
Others owning between 25 and 45 square meters of land, but whose houses
have been totally destroyed, will receive between Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 90,000.

The third package is for those villages, which are situated far away
from the epicenter but where individual houses have been destroyed. Here,
the aid ranges from Rs. 7,000 for totally destroyed huts to Rs. 40,000 for
fully destroyed semi-pucca houses. Houses suffering 50 per cent destruction
would get Rs. 20,000 and those having minor cracks Rs. 2,000 per house or

hut
There is also a fourth package, meant to take care of the middle-class flats
and houses wrecked by the earthquake in Ahmedabad, Rajkot, and Surat.
The Government will announce the fifth package later for the residents of
Bhuj, Anjar, Bhachau, Rapar, and Gandhidham after consulting residents.

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Disaster Management Planning

Gujarat is a disaster-prone state. In the last few years, cyclones, floods, and
droughts have repeatedly struck the state of Gujarat. The cyclone that struck
Kandla in 1998 was particularly severe, causing deaths of more than 3,000 people.
The frequency of disasters impressed upon the Government of Gujarat the
importance of developing a comprehensive disaster management plan. However,
the state could not mobilize resources for its implementation. After this earthquake,
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there is a consensus on capacity building in this area within the state and the
country. The Government of Gujarats renaming of the Earthquake Rehabilitation
Authority as the Disaster Management Authority is symbolic of the importance it
attaches to the disaster management system in the state. The state seems to have
taken a broader approach to disaster management, by constituting this focal agency
for dealing with all the hazards. Disaster management will be one of the most
important components of the rehabilitation program supported by the World Bank
and the Asian Development Bank.
At the national level too, there are major initiatives under consideration. The Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee constituted a committee under his own chairmanship
to suggest the necessary institutional and legislative measures required for
aneffective and long-term disaster management strategy. A number of senior
ministers and opposition leaders are members of this committee. The Government
of India has decided to set up a National Center for Calamity Management. A High
Powered Committee is also
deliberating institutional changes in disaster management organization

at the

national level.
In Gujarat, a new disaster management system may address the following
priorities:

Emergency Response:
The weaknesses in emergency response during the recent earthquake and 1998
cyclone point to a number of steps required for strengthening emergency response
and quick deployment of resources by the government agencies:
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 Emergency Response Plan at the state and district level

Equipment Inventorie
Control Room Network
Communications Network
Fire Services
GIS-based Disaster Management Information System
Cyclone Preparedness Program
Earthquake Preparedness Program
Institutional Development:
Institutional strengthening of the government agencies, backed by a statutory
scheme, is necessary for the implementation of the disaster management system.
The agenda for institutional strengthening may address the following issues:
Disaster Management Legislation
State Disaster Management Agency
Disaster Management Set-up in Municipal Corporations
State Training, Resource and Documentation Center
Long-term Disaster Mitigation:
There is a strong case for implementing long-term mitigation programs, which
promote access to and application of financial and technical resources, and applied
research. These specific programs are:
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 Risk and Vulnerability Analysis

Mitigation Strategy
Mitigation Fund
Insurance and Microfinance
Seismic Hazard Map, Microzonation and Seismic Building Code
Multidisciplinary seismic research
Drought Early Warning System
Flood Forecasting and Storm Surge Modeling
Cyclone Warning System
These initiatives require a great deal of planning, organization, and technical
assistance. The disaster management system also requires a long-term financial
commitment and resources for sustainability. It must therefore be implemented as a
program separately from the reconstruction activities. India and the state of Gujarat
can benefit from the experience of disaster management institutions and practices
in the developed countries. It will also be useful to build collaboration with
national and international research institutions and universities from abroad for the
implementation of technical components of the disaster management plan. Applied
research, technology transfer and training will be important components of a
disaster management system.
Essential Facilities
schools, hospitals and public buildings

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Essential facilities are those buildings that support functions related to post-disaster
emergency response and disaster management. These include state secretariat,
district headquarters, police and fire stations, hospitals, potential shelters
(including school buildings), and buildings that house emergency services. The
unimpeded availability and functionality of these buildings immediately after a
disaster is a top priority in disaster preparedness.
It may be useful to develop a separate rehabilitation strategy for this group of
buildings. In the case of these buildings, their public use and availability are far
more important than the potential economic loss. A statewide retrofitting program
for the buildings should be initiated. For example, in Ahmedabad, the office of the
Municipal Corporation and the Collector must be retrofitted on a priority basis.
Based on a rapid seismic appraisal of these buildings, a retrofitting solution can be
developed. If it is not possible to include all the essential facilities, at least a few
public buildings in every district of Gujarat may be selected on the criteria of
functional criticality, predicted ground motions, and expected structural
performance. New economical retrofit methods should

be developed and

standardized. Technology developed for the seismic retrofit of these essential

facilities can be transferred later to commercial and industrial facilities.
Since a large number of deaths in the Bhuj earthquake took place due to collapse of
schools and hospitals, it is most important to implement a specific program of
seismic retrofitting and strengthening of all the schools and hospitals in quakeprone areas. It is necessary to prepare earthquake resistant designs for all the
existing schools and hospitals, and implement it under expert guidance.
The reconstruction and rehabilitation programme addresses, as enumerated
in the relevant document, the following tasks:
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 Build, retrofit, repair and strengthen houses, schools, buildings in the health
sector and public buildings affected by the earthquake, through the
application of earthquake-resistant technology.
Revive the local economy by providing assistance for agriculture, industries,
small business, handicrafts, and regenerate livelihood for the people.
Rebuild and upgrade community and social infrastructure, improve
education and health systems, and strengthen social protection measures for
weaker sections of the population.
Provide health support to the people injured by the earthquake on a longterm basis and psychological counselling for the people traumatized by the
disaster .
Restore lifeline infrastructure of transport networks and utility infrastructure
of power and water supply, and reduce their vulnerability to natural
disasters.
Support gender empowerment through involving women at all stages in the
programme implementation.
Provide support for the children affected by the earthquake, and alleviate
social deprivation through an integrated nutrition and education strategy.
Implement a comprehensive disaster management programme, improving
the disaster preparedness and emergency response capacity of the
government to deal with different types of disasters.
Reduce vulnerability through long-term mitigation programmes through
structural and non-structural measures and improve peoples resilience
through diversification of sources of income generation and asset building.
Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Policy of the State Government
The focus during the short, medium and long-term phases of the GEERP
included:

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 Immediate needs such as temporary shelters before the onset of the

monsoon, debris removal, repair of houses, repair of public buildings and
emergency repair of irrigation structures.
Repair and reconstruction work in the medium-term phase. There was
emphasis on reconstruction of houses, public infrastructure, social
infrastructure and initiating efforts towards disaster reduction and mitigation

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced, on 9 February 2001, a special relief
package, to be provided by banks, for persons and businesses affected by the
earthquake.
The following are some of the components of the package:
No demand for recovery of loans to be made for two years in respect of
standard assets.
As regards loans not classified as standard assets, no penalties to be levied in
the event of non-receipt of repayment during the next two years.
Loan up to a limit of Rs 1 lakh, at an interest rate not exceeding the prime
lending rate, to small traders, small business, self-employed and small roadtransporters for restoration of their business.
Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Policy of the State Government
Loans up to Rs 2 lakhs, at an interest rate not exceeding the prime lending
rate, for repair and reconstruction of houses/shops damaged by the
earthquake.
Sanction of additional limits and rescheduling of existing limits in respect of
small scale industry, business, trade and other industries.
Settlement of claims made by a nominee of a depositor who has lost his life
due to the earthquake would be completed within 48 hours.

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 In case of agricultural loans, banks would not recover either principal or

interest from the affected persons for a period of two years and reschedule
the amounts not collected during the two years for a period of seven years.
The existing limit of Rs 1,000 for grant of consumption loan was raised to
Rs 2,000 per eligible beneficiary.

Disaster Management Policy and Act

The Government of Gujarat announced the Gujarat State Disaster Management
Policy in September 2002. The policy envisages a number of objectives, some of
which are enumerated below:

To assess risks and vulnerabilities associated with various disasters.

To develop appropriate disaster prevention and mitigation strategies.
To provide clarity on roles and responsibilities for all stakeholders.
To ensure coordination among agencies related to disaster management.
To create awareness and preparedness, and to provide advice and training to

agencies involved in disaster management.

To strengthen the capacities of the community.
To establish and maintain pro-active programmes of risk reduction.
39

 To develop and implement programmes for risk sharing and risk transfer.
To address general issues in disaster management.
To develop disaster management as a distinct management discipline.

In order to provide a legal framework, the Gujarat State Disaster Management Act,
2003, was passed by the State Assembly in March 2003. Gujarat is the first state in
India to introduce such an Act. It is a very comprehensive legislation, which
derives from similar legislations in other countries. The draft was prepared after an
elaborate study of similar legislations in different countries and related legislations
in India. There was wide consultation with stakeholders. The Act gives statutory
status to the GSDMA and envisages a multi-hazard approach to disaster
management. It is based on the premise that disaster management is the
responsibility of all the state departments and agencies. It enumerates the powers,
functions and duties of various departments and functionaries at state, district and
sub-district levels. It also indicates duties of community groups, youth
organizations, industries, private and public sector entities, voluntary agencies and
citizens. It provides for the declaration of an area as a disaster-affected area. The
Act also prescribes offences and penalties.

Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities

The GSDMA has undertaken numerous activities related to IEC. Some of these
are:

40

 Over one million pamphlets on earthquake-resistant construction were

circulated in the earthquake-affected areas of Gujarat.
Four Shake Table demonstrations and many video shows have been
conducted for awareness generation and confidence building.
Audio cassettes by folk singers such as BhikhudanGadhavi and
ShabudinRathod, were prepared in order to create awareness through music
and humour.
A video cassette in the form of folk dances called Bhavai was prepared on
the construction and retrofitting of houses.
Full-page advertisements in local dailies were released, indicating
appropriate methodologies to be adopted for the reconstruction of houses.
The display of messages on multi-hazard resistant construction and
retrofitting on 600 state transport buses in five worst-affected districts.
Hoardings of seven kinds at strategic locations in the entire state of Gujarat
for awareness creation.
Brochures were prepared in Gujarati.

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Conclusion
India in the recent years have made significant development in the area of disaster
management. A new culture of preparedness, quick response, strategic thinking and
prevention is being ushered. The administrative framework is being streamlined to
deal with the various disasters. Effort are also being made to make disaster
management a community movement wherein where is greater participation of the
people. However, a lot more need to be done to make disaster management a mass
movement in near future.
The Kutch Earthquake of 26 January 2001 was a devastating event and posed a
massive challenge to the people, the community and the government due to its
magnitude, spread and complexity. Thousands of villages were devastated. Cities
were in ruins. Millions of people were affected: 13,805 persons lost their lives,
167,000 persons were injured and over a million homes were damaged or
destroyed. There was enormous damage to economic and social infrastructure.

42

Yet, the people, the government and the society rose to the occasion. The state
government launched massive rescue and relief operations with the help of armed
forces, NGOs, the central government, other state governments and the
international community. There was unprecedented mobilization of human and
material resources. Essential services such as communication, electricity, water
supply and transport, were restored quickly. Millions of affected people were
provided with relief materials, medical services and temporary shelters.
Efforts were made to ensure that the transition from the relief phase to recovery
was smooth and short. Even when the relief activities were being undertaken, the
need for sustainable recovery was addressed.

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