MPA-004: Disaster Preparedness

(TMA)
Course Code: MPA-004
Assignment Code: Asst/TMA/2019
Marks 50
This assignment consists of Sections I and II. There are five questions in each section.
You have to answer a total of five questions in about 400 words each. It is necessary to
attempt at least two questions from each section. Each question carries 10 marks.
Section-I
1) Discuss the concept of disaster preparedness and the important preparedness activities
required before, during and after disasters. 10
2) Examine the important institutional mechanisms for disaster preparedness with special
reference to drought management. 10
3) Write a note in brief on various dimensions of disaster preparedness pertaining to housing
and infrastructure. 10
4) Explain the role of specialised agencies of central government in disaster preparedness. 10
5) The police has a multi-faceted role to play in disaster situations’. Comment. 10
Section-II
6) Examine the role of Geographical Information System in disaster preparedness. 10
7) ‘Community as an institution is emerging as the most powerful entity in disaster
preparedness’. Elaborate 10
8) Write a note on Emergency Operations Centre. 10
9) Explain the concept and elements of Environment Impact Assessment. 10
10) Discuss the issues involved in sustainable land-use planning. 10

Answers
Section-I
1) Discuss the concept of disaster preparedness and the important preparedness activities
required before, during and after disasters.
Ans.: Planning in the context of disaster preparedness is holistic. It needs to keep in view the
developmental concerns, disaster policy, the disaster scenario, organisational structure and
administrative arrangements and resources. A Disaster Preparedness Plan is to be formulated
and executed at all levels fiorn national to the grass roots or community level. In geographical
terms, the nation, state, province, district and a village - all could have a Disaster

1
Preparedness Plan. Individual organisations too, have such plans. An effective basis of
planning and the maintenance of relevant plans gives a clear and coherent approach in
dealing with disasters. Within cities, planning is generally practiced at the level of the local
government, either by a department of that government or by an authority separately
established to execute delegated powers.
The advocacy approach is ohen propagated by presenting a well-publicised plan, but not one
that necessarily has been formally approved. By stages, it becomes accepted as the
appropriate way ahead. The planner using an advocacy approach is all too aware that
householders have other considerations as well as disaster mitigation. For example, being
near to their place of work, school or marketplace is of considerably greater interest to the
average householder. On the other hand, when it is supported by existing planning laws and
by administration of development control, physical planning is credible and likely to be
implemented, The planning process will then have the status to lead and guide development
in particular locations within the zones of concern. The purpose of planning is to anticipate
future situations and requirements, thus ensuring the application of effective and coordinated
counter-measyres, This is a useful definition for disaster management officials 'because it
indicates the wide nature of requirements for counter-disaster planning. In other words,
planning is not confined merely to preparedness to respond to specific disaster events. It
should cater, as far as possible, to the various phases of the disaster management cycle.
Therefore, requirements for planning involve a considerable flexibility of approach.
The planning process is a co-operative and collaborative in nature. There should always be
full consultation with all concerned, particularly to ensi~re that mutual agreement is reached
on the responsibilities designated within the plan. This consultative process is best carried
out, from a practical as well as psychological perspective. After an agreement is reached as to
the responsibilities, the planners are required to submit to the department or organisation
concerned a written draft of tlie proposed plan input into the plan, for confirmation. There is a
need for a good format of plan to encompass all components.
The question of how planning process is to be monitored is a matter of individual
circumstances, Usually, planners, after their initial consultative discussions submit a draft
outline of the plan to the colicerned official or council. They then give an overall direction on
the general scope and shape of the plan. Subsequently, the planners draR sections of the plan
in detail and arrange periodic meetings with the council. This process is useful because it
directly involves the council of ministers arid helps to ensure that redrafting is progressive.
This avoids drastic revisions when the draft plan is eventually completed. The planning
process, and the plan itself, should include provisions for legal authorisation, thus making the
plan a lawful instrument of the government.
2) Examine the important institutional mechanisms for disaster preparedness with special
reference to drought management.
Ans.: Disaster Contingency Plans do not address the entire disaster management continuum,
comprising recovery, rehabilitation, preparedness, et al (explained as disaster management

2
cycle in Unit 2), but explore the wherewithal to tackle specific hazards, such as a flood within
a definite time period. Hence, there would be many contingency plans to tackle hazards,
which would comprise the National Strategy to combat disasters. There are policy dilemmas
involved in preparing disaster preparedness plans. For instance, should the plan be short-term
or long-term? Long-term preparedness would demand consistent resource commitment,
which could be difficult for hazard prone, but poor countries like Bangladesh. However, the
extent of damage wrought each year due to floods would demand a long-term commitment.
Besides the nature of hazards, a particular country/ region is prone to, would also determine
the character of the preparedness plan. For example, the hazard could be slow-onset, like
drought or sudden/sporadic, like floods, which would demand different
preparedness/mitigation, as considered apt strategies. In the final analysis, the choice of each
country would depend on numerous factors, such as the nature of hazard, political priorities,
risk perception, interest articulation/ lobby pressure in this regard, etc. The other dilemma is
regarding participation in the planning process, regarding who all should be involved?
Though much has been said in advocacy of local planning, it is fact that it is hard to
implement. How should the local people be involved, how would logistics in this regard be
engaged, to what extent would officials be receptive/ tolerant to/of it?, remain some of the
persistent questions; then, also whether centralised or decentralised mode of operation should
be opted. The issue chiefly relates to decisions, and what level of autonomy should be
afforded/allowed at the local or regional levels.
Regarding institutional framework, rationalisation of the administrative apparatus and
coordination are essential requirements. Unnecessary proliferation of agencies should be
avoided. As far as coordination is concerned, there is no ‘one way’ of instituting it. Each
State has to work it out as per the facilities at hand, implying scope and the requirements
regarding the same to produce the best possible state. A central coordinating agency
providing for inter-ministerial coordination is a preferred provision in this regard.
Specific definition of roles and responsibilities should not be lost sight of in institutional
delineation. They should be specific and adequate in that specialist competence should have
been duly respected. Assigning functions to an agency lacking in technical know-how in that
respect would be a self-defeating exercise. Similarly, it would be better to leave interest/need
articulation to local leaders instead of assigning the task to a central government official.
Regarding information systems, information collation is the requirement since information
comes from many sources such as, in the case of India, from the ministries of health and
agriculture, regarding nutritional status and crop production and the meteorological offices
regarding forecasts. There is need for a central coordinating agency in this respect for speedy
response or/and timely mitigation action. Considering the source of such information and the
requirement of constant updating of such information through periodic vulnerability and risk
assessments, to noting changes if any, in vulnerable segments/area et al are other pertinent
requirements. Usually early warning signs from local communities are ignored, which is
perilous. Assessments should include information on available logistics and inventory such as
transport facilities et al to know where additional capacity is required as per the plan, which

3
is renewed from time to time to incorporate newer/added threats as anticipated/encountered
so that when the disaster strikes, preparedness matches up to the requirements.
4) Explain the role of specialised agencies of central government in disaster preparedness.
Ans.: ndia with its federal system of goverllment has specific roles for the central and State
governments. However, disaster manage~nent does not specifically find mention in any of
the three lists it1 the Seventh Schedule of the Indian Constitiltion, where sirbjects under the
central, state governlnents and under both are specified. There was till now, no specific
central or state Act, wliich clearly defines the ways of dealing with disasters. The central
government introduced the Disaster Management Bill in the winter session of Parliament .in
2005 which has been passed. The Governments of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have already
enacted disaster management Acts. The central government has requested other state
governlnents to legislate Disaster Management Acts.
The country has age-old integrated administrative machinery for management of disasters at
the national, state, district and sub-district levels. However, the old system was geared for
relief and rehabilitation to be taken up after tlie natural disasters and there was hardly any
provision for disaster preparedness. Fortunately, the thinking is changing now towards
disaster preparedness. The basic responsibility of undertaking rescue, relief and rehabilitation
measures in the event of natural disaster is that of concerned state governments. The central
government supplements the efforts of the states by providing financial and other logistic
support.
The Government of lndia has decided to enunciate a National Policy on Disaster
Management and a draft policy had been accordingly forrnulated. The policy is to cover all
spheres of central government activity and take precedence over all existing sectoral policies.
The broad objectives of the policy are to tninimise the loss of lives and social, private and
community assets arising out of disasters. The policy notes that state governments are
primarily responsible for disaster tnanngelnent including preparedness. However, since
response to a disaster requires coordination o'f resources available across all the departments
of the government, the policy mandates that the central government in conjunction with the
state governments, seeks to ensure that such a coordination mechanism is laid down tlirough
an appropriate chain of cornma~id so that mobiljsation of resources is facilitated.
A National Contingency Action Plan lias been formulated to facilitate relief operations giving
procedures and focal points in central ministries and departments. Disaster preparedness is
tlie important component of this plan. lndia Disaster Resource Network a web enabled
centralised database comprising 226 items and about 60,000 records in 48 1 districts giving
availability of human and equipment resources across the nation is available on the web site
http://www.idrn.gov.in and is of importance to the disaster managers (like Collectors),
Earlier, disaster managers we& not aware of the resources that are available in neighbouring
district or state and hence faced diffici~lties in dealing with disasters. IDRN facilitates this
task. It is a nation-wide electronic inventory of essential and specialists resources for disaster
response both in terms of equipment and personnel. It lists out the equipment and resources

4
by type and by the functions it performs and gives the contact address meticulously at the
district, state and national level. The system, at tlie touch of the button, provides location of
specific equipmentlspecialists, resources as well as the controlling authority for that resource
so that it can be mobilised for response in the shortest possible time.
Section-II
6) Examine the role of Geographical Information System in disaster preparedness.
Ans.: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) continue to gain important recognition from
disaster practitioners and academic researchers during what is arguably the most publicly
visible disaster management phase – disaster response. The broader world of GIS academic
research and industry practice for disaster response continues to change. This review article
inventories the current state-of-the-art in GIS for disaster response and demonstrates progress
in the data and people aspects of GIS for disaster response since previous literature reviews.
The review is structured to serve as a metaphorical bridge between two reader groups –
disaster management practitioners interested in understanding developing trends in GIS for
disaster response and academic researchers with minimal to no understanding of GIS and/or
mapping concepts within the disaster response context. With this readership in mind, we
outline definitions of GIS, disaster response and the need for GIS in disaster response, review
interdisciplinary literature from a variety of spatially-oriented disaster management fields and
demonstrate progress in various aspects of GIS for disaster response.
GIS have long been defined using a variation of the definition of an information system (IS)
or “ combinations of hardware, software, and telecommunications networks that people build
and use to collect, create, and distribute useful data, typically in organizational settings ”. The
dis-tinction between an “ IS ” and a “ GIS ” is that GIS incorporates a spatial perspective
into the system. For example, hardware and software designed to facilitate map creation,
perform spatial analysis, build custom mapping application via applica-tion programming
interfaces, and perform spatial statistical analysis and model spatial entities for reference
texts on these and other general GIS topics. The most important component of a GIS, people,
ideally, develop what are known as spatial thinking skills over long term exposure to
Geographical study, combining physical and social sciences and applying them to the spatial
domain, and GIS concepts and applications. Spatial thinking is the idea of structuring,
reasoning, making judg-ments and solving problems from a spatial perspective using a
variety of support tools such as GIS ( National Research Council 2006 ). Spatial thinking is a
particu-larly useful skill that GIS can help develop given the fundamental spatial nature of
disasters and representative disaster response tasks such as evacuation routing, assessing
infrastructure damage and conceptualizing abstract spatial relationships between physical,
cyber and natural environments.
GIS technology is a crucial component of information, communication, and space
technologies (ICST), enabled disaster controlling systems because it remains predominantly
untouched during disasters unlike in the instance of both information and communication
technologies which are based on ground arrangement are wide-open to natural disasters.

5
The scope of GIS in disaster administration is as follows:
 A large volume of data can be collected.
 Data collection can be focused across a widespread area.
 Data accuracy can fit in to the purpose of application.
 Transfer of data is more consistent and safe even during disasters.
 Communication is faster in various locations.
 Communication is reliable across a wide area and remote distances.
8) Write a note on Emergency Operations Centre.
Ans.: An EOC is the physical location where an organisation comes together during an
emergency to coordinate response and recovery actions and resources. These centres may be
alternatively called command centres, control rooms, situation rooms, crisis management
centres, or using other similar terms. Regardless of the term, this is where the coordination of
information and resources takes place. The EOC is not an incident command post; rather, it is
the operations centre where coordination and management are facilitated. Emergency
Operations Centres are needed in addition to command posts in case of disasters with
multiple site impacts and in case of large complex disasters that demand significant
involvement/mobilisation at macro scales, that is, the Central and State levels. Unlike a
command post, an EOC is established away from the disaster site, often near government
offices, like the local government / district or state headquarters, depending on the scale of
the response needed. The main tasks of the EOC are; establishing priorities for the
distribution of resources among the various sites and handling other off incident concerns,
such as interaction with off site facilities such as shelters; ordering of resources from distant
jurisdictions or through state or central jurisdictions, and overall coordination and
communication between agencies handling different aspects of emergency response. The idea
of EOC is originally, a civil defence concept, though it is now adopted for peacetime
activities as well. It holds special significance for disaster response which is no less an
exigent situation than war, as it warrants mobilisation of manpower and material on an
equally large scale.
The use of EOCs in the management of disaster response operations has now become
common. For example in a small country like Bangladesh, EOC has been established and is
located at the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MDMR). It is the operational
unit of MDMR. It gets activated with the first information of the disaster emergency situation
and receives overall directions from MDMR for handling the situation. EOC maintains
liaison with warning issuing agencies of the government and Cyclone Preparedness
Programme (CPP) throughout the disaster period and ensures timely dissemination of
warnings at the grass root levels through CPP (in case of cyclones), District Collectors, UN
agency, and electronic and news media. For eventual evacuation, EOC plays a vital role in
maintaining links with all the actors involved in the operation.
However, for effective operations EOCs need to be adequately staffed and supplied, have
management and communication systems, and have clearly delineated functions. HPC has

6
recommended setting up of EOCs in national and state capitals and headquarters of disaster
prone or vulnerable districts. These have been proposed to function as nerve centers of an
integrated command and control structure and be the convergence points for all inter-agency
coordination with state of the art communications network at their disposal. The following
components would characterize the Centres –
(i) EOC Operation Room – to plan, manage and execute operations.
(ii) EOC Analysis Room – to analyse the information, received from operations room,
by GIS experts, statisticians and data analysts.
(iii) Emergency Information Centre – to collect and disseminate disaster related
information to the media and general public.
(iv) EOC Communications – equipped with state of the art systems
(v) EOC Reference Library – to make available research material to support staff and
personnel at the EOC
(vi) Function Area Works Cells – to connect EOC with various centres of distribution for
relief materials such as back up transports systems, food and other materials, shelter,
medical aid etc.
The Centres of distribution for relief material mentioned above can organize themselves on
the pattern of Supply and Management System (SUMA).