With Monsoon in full swing, National Disaster Management Plan in Focus

Representative Image of Cloud Burst Disaster

Floods in the North East and Jammu and Kashmir, water logging and disruptions in Mumbai is a reminder of the travesities of the monsoon season in India eve as the El Nino alarm has raised concerns over food security impacting the agricultural sector with a general reduction in overall rainfall.

A time perhaps to have a look at the National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP). Ministry of Home Affairs Shri Nityanand Rai in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha outlined that the NDMP was framed and issued, for the first time, in the year 2016. The plan was revised in the year 2019 in consultation with all stakeholders. The revised NDMP brings together all sectors, ministries and departments at the Central and State level as well as district level functionaries and defines their respective roles and responsibilities in disaster risk reduction.

The NDMP has the following main pillars:

1. Conforming to the national legal mandates—the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and the National Policy on Disaster Management (NPDM) 2009

2. Participating proactively for realising the global goals as per agreements to which India is signatory—Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Conference of Parties (COP21), Paris Agreement on Climate Change

3. Prime Minister’s Ten Point Agenda for DRR articulating contemporary national priorities

4. Social inclusion as a ubiquitous and cross-cutting principle

5. Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction is an integral feature of the NDMP.

   
   

      India Disaster Resource Network (IDRN) is a nation-wide electronic inventory of resources that enlists equipment and human resources, collated from districts, states and national level line departments and agencies. IDRN is a web-based platform, for managing the inventory of equipment, skilled human resources and critical supplies for emergency response. Primary focus of IDRN portal is to enable the decision makers to ascertain availability of equipment and human resources required to combat any emergency situation. This database also enables them to assess the level of preparedness for specific disasters and availability of equipment with their location, which can easily be detected and utilized by the needy States/Union Territories/Stakeholders at the time of disasters, to facilitate a quick response. The details of IDRN are available on https://idrn.nidm.gov.in.

Research reveals that the key constituents of India’s National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) span the entire institutional architecture created under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and updated through the 2019 revision.

At the apex is the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), which prepares the NDMP and sets national level policy direction.

Supporting it is the National Executive Committee (NEC), responsible for coordination and implementation across ministries.

At the state level, State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) and State Executive Committees (SECs) adapt and execute the plan based on local hazards. District level implementation is handled by District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs).

The NDMP also integrates all central ministries and departments, assigning sector specific responsibilities, and links with local bodies—municipal corporations and Panchayati Raj institutions—for ground level preparedness and response. 

Specialized forces like the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) provide operational capability, while the plan aligns with global frameworks such as Sendai.