Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item titled "Are missing palm trees causing more lighting deaths in Bihar appearing in ‘The Times of India’ dated 29.05.2025". The original application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled "Are missing palm trees causing …
It would be naive to assume that disasters will stop. We cannot change the nature of disasters. What we can change, certainly control, is the scale that a disaster wreaks. This is precisely what disaster preparedness
Scientists believe that the Sumatra earthquake made the earth wobble on its axis and permanently accelerated the Earth's rotation, shortening a day by a fraction of second and permanently altering the regional map. The devastating undersea earthquake off Sumatra in Indonesia has brought about some striking changes in the Indian …
Disasters are not predictable. They follow no standard operating procedures. Disaster preparedness is about managing the unknown, not a science but a social behaviour that’s responsive, predictive and imaginative.• Effective disaster management depends on four factors: • Preparedness: knowing where and when disaster will hit • Mitigation: through measures like …
The arid zone of Sindh is in the grip of a severe drought. The region comprises 48 per cent of the province's land area but has only one per cent of its water resources. Mirza Karim Baig, provincial relief commissioner, Sindh government, recently said the government has declared Tharparkar and …
India has entered Phase II of tackling the tsunami disaster. It is now readying to rebuild and rehabilitate the affected areas and develop disaster prevention and management systems. In the first week of January, the government appointed the Planning Commission as the nodal agency to coordinate, monitor and manage the …
When the tsunami waves lashed the eastern coast, the Government of India seemed as much at sea as the people affected by the disaster. Information just did not move out of Delhi to the disaster areas. But more than a week later, the administration seems to have found its feet. …
amid predictions of severe natural calamities in future, the Tripura government recently constituted disaster management teams at the village panchayat level and introduced disaster management as a subject in schools. Although the Union government's directive for the initiation of a panchayat level disaster preparedness programme dates back to 2002, it …
This video explains measures Japan took to prevent natural disasters. The video discusses barriers, embankments, dams, early warning systems, satellites, standard building codes, etc. Education plays an important role in disaster reduction in the future. Initiatives like community walks and children contests are shown. The video ends by showing examples …
Karnaparayag in Uttaranchal has become landslide-prone, warns an expert. If mitigation measures are not initiated in time, says Aniruddha Uniyal of the Dehradun-based Disaster Management and Mitigation Centre (dmmc) in an article that appeared in the October 25, 2004 issue of Current Science journal, the township could go the Uttarkashi …
The 2001 earthquake in Gujarat was among the costliest disasters in independent India. As per World Bank reports, the calamity is estimated to have caused losses of us $4.9 billion in terms of output. Adding the losses suffered by the informal sector can easily double this figure. Moreover, the state …
centrally sponsored Calamity Relief Fund (crf) has come in for sharp criticism for its "skewed' method of determining fund allocation for various states, based on their past ability to spend. That's why, during 2000-2004, economically advanced states like Gujarat, Maharashtra and Punjab had higher allocations than Orissa, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, …
In October 1999, two cyclones devastated coastal Orissa, leaving nearly 30,000 dead in 14 districts. Immediately after, the Orissa State Disaster Mitigation Authority (osdma) was formed. So why is it that, 5 years later, Orissa simply isn't prepared for disaster? For one: multiple agencies, and complete non-coordination. osdma's administrative authority …
A National Contingency Action Plan (CAP)for dealing with contingencies arising in the wake of natural disasters has been formulated by the Government of India and it had been eriodically updated. It facilitates the launching of relief operations without delay. The CAP identifies the initiatives required to be taken by various …
Green farms and harvest was a forgotten dream for the residents of Bartunda village in Orissa's Balangir district. They had seen the worst drought in three decades last year, not to forget the innumerable famines that parched the soil and the pockets of the farmers. It was the women of …
Karnataka is in the grip of severe drought for the third year running, and the extended dry spell has left the state parched. That the situation is serious can be gauged from the fact that industries along the banks of Tungabhadra river are shutting shop due to the acute water …
What are the main findings of the psychosocial assessment of the Marathwada earthquake survivors? One out of every three persons suffers from psychological distress. 65 per cent have been impaired by functional limitations. Such disability reduces a victim's functionality by one-third. So each such patient has lost 12,000 working days …
The retreating monsoon is leaving a trail of death and destruction across much of India. Floods have submerged three states in misery, while a severe drought has left two others high and dry. The toll: around 10 million people affected in the past month alone. The Union and state governments …
It is more than two years since the terrible earthquake struck Gujarat. In this period the catastrophe-struck areas have witnessed rehabilitation work on an enormous scale. The Disaster Mitigation Institute, an Ahmedabad-based community action hub, evaluated the relief measures undertaken by the government and humanitarian agencies in the aftermath of …
calamities kill and maim. That they also leave the survivors mentally scarred is completely ignored in India. While the authorities believe in providing compensation and bare basic relief, a report reveals that such measures are not enough to provide succour to the victims. Even months after the cyclone struck coastal …
