Keeping in view the seismic vulnerability of Kashmir, the High Court has asked the government to establish an “effective disaster management committee”. The direction came in after a division bench of the court comprising Justices Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Muzaffar Hussain Attar disposed off a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed more than seven years ago in the aftermath of October 8, 2005 devastating earthquake which left 953 persons dead, 418 injured while 23,782 houses were fully damaged. The government figures say that more than 40 percent of the deaths that occurred due to earthquake in 2005, comprised children below 10 years of age, thus depicting their vulnerability and signifying the importance of school safety in Kashmir. According to the draft of J&K State Disaster Management Policy (2011), 11 percent of the area of the state, covering Srinagar, Ganderbal, Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora, Budgam, Anantnag, Pulwama, Doda, Ramban and Kishtwar districts come under seismic zone V. Fifty percent of the state’s total population of 1,21,01,93,422 (as per 2011 census) lives in the zone V. Rest of the state including Ladakh region and Jammu division (90 percent of the total area of the state) falls under the seismic zone IV. Zone V, according to the present zoning map, expects the highest level of seismicity followed by zone IV. The state is not prone to earthquakes alone but it has a long history of loss of life and property due to various other natural disasters. In the recent past, on February 18, 2005, a snow blizzard in southern Kashmir villages of Waltengu Nad, Pachgam and Nigeenpora affected 128 families comprising 618 individuals. The blizzard claimed 175 lives including 48 women and 73 children. Nearly six hundred animals including sheep, goats, cows and buffaloes also perished. In immediate past, the state witnessed massive cloudburst and flash floods in Leh in August 2010 which claimed over 250 people and damaged property worth millions of rupees, while in June last year, a cloudburst at Bagger village of Doda claimed three lives and damaged 17 houses. Earlier this year, wind storm hit the Valley, damaging thousands of houses and also claimed a few lives. As per the draft of the 2011 policy, the state government identifies a strong need to have a ‘State Policy on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management’. “The State Policy recognizes that hazards are inevitable but these need not convert into disasters,” the draft reads, adding, “The State DM Policy envisages a pro-active, holistic, comprehensive, multi-hazard approach towards disaster risk reduction and management.” The proposed policy is based on the twin principles of minimizing human suffering during disasters and reduction of financial losses through integration of disaster risk reduction activities into development planning, reads the draft.