National Disaster Management: A Perspective

K.L. Ramakumar
Former Head, Nuclear Controls & Planning Wing
Department of Atomic Energy
Mumbai 400 001, India
Karanam.ramakumar@gmail.com

Sequence of Presentation
1. Introduction: Need for a national policy: Legal framework
2. National Disaster Management Authority: History, Policy,
mandate, structure, Agencies responsible
3. Nuclear and radiological emergency: Response,
Institutions, Response Centres, Monitoring stations
4. Trauma care and psychological treatment post-disaster
5. Some exercises carried out and case studies
6. Salient Points
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 India is disaster prone :
58.6 per cent of the landmass is prone to
earthquakes of moderate to very high intensity;
Over 40 million hectares (12 per cent of land) is
prone to floods and river erosion;
Of the 7,516 km long coastline, close to 5,700 km is
prone to cyclones and tsunamis;
68 per cent of the cultivable
area is vulnerable to drought ;
Hilly areas are at risk from landslides and
avalanches.

Vulnerability to disasters/ emergencies of

Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear
(CBRN) origin also exists.
Lessons learnt from aftermath of Odisha super cyclone and Gujarat Earth quake
Shift from traditional relief-centric approach to a more proactive, holistic and integrated
approach of strengthening disaster preparedness, mitigation, and emergency response,
and well thought out build back better programme after a major disaster.

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 Tackling Disasters
Disaster Management Act 2005
“To build a safer and disaster resilient India by a holistic, pro-
active, technology driven and sustainable development
strategy that involves all stakeholders and fosters a culture of
prevention, preparedness and mitigation”.

Disaster Management: Multi-Institutional System

Central Level
State level
District Level
Local Body Level

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 Disaster Management Act 2005

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)

National Policy on Disaster Management (NPDM)
National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP)

Aligned with Sendai Framework for Disaster

Reduction 2015-2030 (India is a signatory)

The NDMP covers disaster management cycle for all

types of hazards faced in India – both natural and
human-induced.
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 Does not
imply any
chain of
command
structure.

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 SALIENT FEATURES OF DM ACT

DM STRUCTURE
• NDMA set up as the Apex Body with Hon’ble PM as Chairperson.
• National Executive Committee (NEC) - Executive Committee of NDMA

At the Centre
• Central Ministries will Continue with Nodal Responsibilities.

State Level
• SDMA at State Level, headed by Chief Minister.
• State Executive Committee (SEC), headed by Chief Secretary, will coordinate and
monitor implementation of National Policy, National Plan and State Plan.

District Level
• DDMA headed by District Magistrate/District Collector.
• Chairperson of Local Body as Co-Chairperson – interface between Govt. and Public.

SUPPORTING INSTITUTIONS

• National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)

• National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM)
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 The NDMP provides a framework
covering all aspects of the disaster
management cycle.

It encompasses all the four

priorities for action under the
Sendai Framework
(i) Understanding disaster risk,
(ii) Strengthening disaster risk
governance to manage disaster
risk
(iii) Investing in disaster risk
reduction for resilience, and
(iv) Enhancing disaster
preparedness for effective
response and to “Build Back
Better” in recovery,
rehabilitation and
reconstruction.

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 CBRN Disaster Management
National vision
• To prevent the incidence by taking all ‘reasonably practical’
technical safety and security measures.
• In the event of occurrence of CBRN event - take timely, managed,
controlled, coordinated, and effective response measures to
mitigate their consequences (so as to minimize risks to health, life,
and environment).

With respect to CBRN disasters, nodal Ministries/Departments

Biological -------------- Min. Health and Family Welfare
Chemical and industrial -------Min. of Environment, Forests and
Climatic Change
Nuclear and ------ Min. Home Affairs and Department radiological
emergencies of Atomic Energy.

NCMC and NDMA work in close coordination:

shared responsibilities, and execution

Development of systematic training curriculum

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 CBRN disaster management strategy: Five pillars
Prevention
Detection
Protection
Decontamination
Damage control/consequence management

CBRN Disaster Management guidelines:

 Medical preparedness and mass casualty
management
 Chemical (industrial) disasters
 Chemical (terrorism) disaster management
 Management of biological disasters
 Management of nuclear and radiological
emergencies
 Psychosocial support and mental health services
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 Technology for CBRN disaster management
Indian Environmental Radiation Monitoring Network (IERMON)

The objectives of the IERMON network are:

• To provide on-line information about
radiation levels at various stations to the
Emergency Control Rooms of DAE.
• To facilitate environmental impact
assessment of nuclear emergencies.
• To demonstrate compliance with
regulations on environment.
• To establish data base for background
environmental radiation levels across the
country at district level.
• To monitor the long term shift in the
background radiation levels.
• To provide knowledge-based
environmental awareness to the public
through participation of Universities and
IERMON System other educational institutions.

http://www.dae.nic.in/writereaddata/iermon_upd_210414.pdf
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23 Emergency
Response Centres
(ERC) at DAE sites
Indian Environmental Radiation
Monitoring Network (IERMON)
02-May-18
410 monitoring systems at 80
locations (Cities/Towns)
The network consists of large
number of installed stand alone
environmental radiation monitors
IERMON system monitors
atmospheric gamma radiation
levels of the location and sends the
data to the IERMON Central
Station.
Under normal condition the system
sends data two times/day
In case of radiation emergency it
sends data at the interval of every
5 minutes till radiation level comes
to normal background levels.
Automated network works 24x7 No
human interaction
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 CBRN Disasters and Psychosocial support
and mental health services
Management of psychological trauma often
remains a challenge

Efficacy of group counseling as an appropriate

paradigm of primary prevention to check the
onset of severe psychological disorders?

In two case studies: tsunami disaster

(Nagapatanam, Tamil Nadu, India) and victims
of bomb blast (Dhimajee, Assam, India) group
counseling helped in the psychological
management of disaster traumas.
It may also prove to be a most important
mental rehabilitation program to further
strengthen the efficacy of individual
therapeutic interventions.
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 Benefits of Group Counselling for post- disaster scenarios

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 NDMA in collaboration with Jai
Prakash Narain Apex Trauma
Centre (JPNATC) has undertaken a
Pilot Project on Advanced Trauma
Life Support Project at JPNATC.
The project was designed to
develop human resources to
provide effective trauma care and
to develop dedicated and well
trained doctors, nurses and
paramedics for trauma life support
in order to meet the challenges of
disaster situations.

This exercise should be extended

to cover the entire country

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 Inculcating a Culture of Preparedness for Disaster Management
Mock Exercises facilitate
• reviewing adequacy and efficacy of the disaster
management plans
• identifying gaps in resources, communications and systems

o Holding a Coordination and Orientation Conference.

o Conducting the Table Top Exercise.
o Conducting a Mock Exercise.
After Exercise Report Generation

Since 2006 NDMA conducted

• About 25 CBRN and terrorist activities related exercises
• 7 off-site nuclear and radiological emergency exercises
• More than 50 chemical (industrial) related exercises

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 Some Cases pertaining to CBRN
MUMBAI, JULY 14, 2010
One hundred and eighteen people, including four firemen and a
police constable, were hospitalised after they inhaled chlorine
gas that leaked from a cylinder in a Mumbai Port Trust godown
in Sewri in the early hours of Wednesday.

The site was cordoned off and people in the vicinity were
evacuated. Five of the 141 cylinders lying in the hazardous
goods storage facility at Haji Bunder contained liquid chlorine.
Fire fighters created water curtains in the area diluting the gas
cloud that was spreading because of the leakage. The air
pressure thus created helped the clouds of chlorine to float
toward the sea.

The neutralization process of the remaining chlorine filled cylinders using caustic soda and
water was carried out by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and other
emergency responders.
Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) is preparing National Action Plan-Chemical
(Industrial) Disaster Management based on National Guidelines to implement all the
mechanisms of capacity development to help in achieving zero tolerance in chemical
disasters in the country.
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 CBRN Case studies (Contd.)

A scrap dealer purchased an irradiator. This was not in use, since past 25 years, in the
chemistry laboratory of Delhi University, India.
The irradiator was dismantled by the dealer in late March, 2010 and was kept in his
shop at Mayapuri, New Delhi. Within a week, he observed skin hyper-pigmentation of
the hands and forearm, loss of scalp hair, nausea and fatigue. He came to emergency
Department of AIIMS, New Delhi for treatment.
With these clinical signs, symptoms and history, he case was diagnosed as a case of
suspected radiation injury. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was
informed. Though the victims exposed to the radiation, were efficiently traced and
treated, one of them was unfortunate and died.
One emergency team from NDMA rushed to the suspected area and cordoned off the
whole area. Subsequently teams from Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC),
Mumbai and Narora atomic power plant, Narora, reached the spot and the article
emitting harmful radiation was detected.

A Task Force for radiation accidents was constituted by The

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, for framing protocol for
the medical fraternity to respond to emergencies, arising out of
radiation exposure in the future.
AIIMS Publication J Indian Acad. Forensic Med. July-September 2013, Vol. 35, No. 3
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 Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) on 7 April, 2010 received a message from
Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Delhi.
A patient – a scrap dealer from the Mayapuri Industrial area- developed symptoms
suspected to be indicative of high radiation dose.
Two officers from AERB rushed to the Mayapuri and carried out an extensive radiation
survey in and around the scrap shop which belonged to the affected patient and identified
high radiation levels areas which were shielded and cordoned off.
On 8 April, in a joint effort, the officers of AERB, Emergency Response Centre of DAE,
Narora Atomic Power Station (NAPS), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and
Radiation Safety Systems Division of BARC, assisted by local police carried out combing
operations to recover most of the radioactive sources.
The recovered sources were safely transported to NAPS for safe and secure storage.
By May 2010 the entire Mayapuri scrap market area were cleaned up - including removal
of contaminated soil.
By June 14, 2010, the shop was handed over to the owner by the police.
Thereafter, concretization of the road in front of the affected shops was completed.

Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on Activities of Atomic

Energy Regulatory Board for the year ended March 2012

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 An awareness programme was also conducted on May 6, 2010 for the Mayapuri
scrap dealers on the safety aspects along with legal and regulatory
requirements in possessing and handling radioactive sources.

Following the Mayapuri incident, many steps have been initiated by AERB to
reinforce and further strengthening of its regulatory enforcement mechanism.
These include:

 Sensitizing all the academic, medical and R&D institutions to undertake

inventory of radiation sources under their possession and review their
existing safety procedures.
 Issuing guidelines and stipulations regarding the use and disposal of
radioactive sources and making the training on radiation emergency
management to be part of curriculum in medical education.
 Instituting the Regional Regulatory Centres (RRC) in the country.

Based on lessons learnt from this experience the system of response to

radiation source related emergencies is further strengthened in collaboration
with National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

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 CBRN Exercise

ConvEx-2 Emergency Exercise On October 23, 2013 a ConvEx-2a exercise (IAEA)

The scenario was a powerful car bomb (with RDD) exploded outside a shopping mall in
the capital city. Over 30 countries participated in the exercise. India participated in the
exercise through the national contact point i.e. Crisis Management Group of
Department of Atomic Energy (CMG-DAE).The purpose of this exercise was to test the
ability of national competent authorities to complete the appropriate reporting forms.
ConvEx-3 Emergency Exercise was based on radiological emergency (IAEA)
The objective of ConvEx-3 is to test/evaluate the full operation of the information
exchange mechanisms and requesting and providing assistance. During November 20-21,
2013 a ConvEx-3 exercise was coordinated by IAEA. 57 member states and 9
International organisations participated. Nineteen members from India (AERB - 6, CMG-
DAE - 4, BARC-6 and NPCIL-3) participated in the exercise through the national contact
point registered under the Early Notification and Assistance Conventions i.e. Crisis
Management Group of Department of Atomic Energy.
The aim of this level of participation was to test effectiveness of communications, to train
response personnel in using the IAEA's emergency message services and to test provision
for Advice to affected nationals and businesses.
ConvEx-3 exercise gave the experience on the requirements of exercise controller and
exercise evaluation process
AERB News Letter Vol.25. No.2 (2013)
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 Further strengthening of CBRN expertise in the country
Development of trained human resources
Mayapuri incident brought out some inadequacies in
CBRN approach necessitating integrating CBRN
response with the regular emergency response
coordinated by other agencies such as Police, Fire
services and others. Training these services is also
desirable.
Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP) is
periodically undertaking this exercise for the benefit of
Police forces from different States. The Centre
conducted 9 National training programmes in
connection with CBRN related subjects
It is also desirable to Notwithstanding the fact that the
Indian CBRN training has shown tremendous growth in
the last two decades, it is also desirable to have
training for medical and paramedical personnel
periodic refresher courses
standard training curriculum
integrated training of military/civil personnel

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 Salient Points
• Disaster Management in India has taken deep roots since the
enactment of Disaster management Act 2005.
• NDMA is responsible for addressing the issues relating to natural as
well as man-made disasters.
• The NDMP is aligned to Sendai Framework for Disaster Reduction
2015-2030
• NDMA Guidelines and exercises should help all stakeholders in the
country to effectively manage disaster management.
• The experience gained during the management of some of the
events was helpful in addressing the gap areas.
• The approach to CBRN disaster management is continuously
evolving and international collaboration is desirable for effectively
adopting good practices
• Trauma care and Psycho-Social Support and Mental Health
Services(PSSMHS) post-disaster have an important role to play, to
cope up with the challenges in the recovery and restoration of the
victims to the pre-disaster status
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 Documents/website referred
1. Disaster Management Act 2005
2. National Disaster Management Authority website: www.ndma.gov.in
3. Documents on www.ndma.gov.in website
4. Disaster Management in India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India (2011)
5. Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 UN (2015)
6. Chlorine leak on Mumbai Port Trust's Sewri yard: A case study, Rakesh Kumar
Sharma, Raman Chawla, and Surendra Kumar, J Pharm Bioall Sci. 2010 Jul-Sep; 2(3):
161–165
7. IEC News Letter, IAEA, No 46, Fourth Quarter, 2013 (ConvEx-3 (2013) Exercise)
8. National Disaster Response Force website: www.ndrf.gov.in
9. Group counseling: A silver lining in the psychological management of disaster
trauma, Nidhi Maheshwari, Ravinder Yadav, Nirender Pal Singh, J Pharm Bioall Sci.
2010 Jul-Sep; 2(3): 267–274
10. Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear training issues in India: A fresh
perspective. Mudit Sharma, J Pharm Bioall Sci. 2010 Jul-Sep; 2(3): 275–280

Thank you and Namaskar

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