 "What plagues India's disaster management authority?")
Floods and landslides in Kashmir, Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra and Assam have killed over 600 people in the past three months, prompting introspection on the state of India's disaster preparedness in general and dysfunction at National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in particular.
Nominally chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country's apex disaster management authority has been headless since the general elections this summer when eight of the nine members, including the vice-chairman, resigned. PM Modi is yet to appoint new members and, officials say, may restructure the NDMA.
Experts believe the NDMA could benefit from more technical expertise, yet caution against dissolving the body. Last year, natural calamities claimed at least 5,677 lives across India, illustrating the need to strengthen, rather than strip, the country's disaster management infrastructure, particularly in the states.
What, then, is the role of NDMA? "We lay down policies and guidelines to be followed by various ministries in the Union and state governments," Mohanty said.
The NDMA has two primary functions - policy guidance and disaster response. While the authority's nine appointed members are to handle the former, its 20 battalions (drawn from the paramilitary forces for a period of five years, on a rotational basis) are responsible for the latter.
But the recent crises triggered by floods in Kashmir, Assam, Meghalaya, Bihar and Odisha, as well as a landslide in Maharashtra, have led many to question whether the organisation has failed its mandate. "We have played little role in the Kashmir crisis," admits an NDMA official. "At present, the organisation is headless and in search of direction."
Earlier work of the NDMA, too, has been criticised by the comptroller and auditor general (CAG). "NDMA was not performing several functions prescribed in the Disaster Management Act, 2005. These included recommending provision of funds for mitigation, as well as relief in repayment of loans or grant of fresh ones. The important aspect of mainstreaming disaster preparedness with major national projects schemes was yet to be taken up by NDMA," the CAG had said in a press statement after presenting a report in Parliament on April 23, 2013.
"The national guidelines developed by NDMA were not adopted and applied by nodal agencies and state governments. NDMA, on its part, did not take effective measures to ensure the application of its guidelines. NDMA's project management capacity was found deficient. No major project taken up by NDMA had seen completion so far," it added.
On condition of anonymity, a senior NDMA official simply passed the buck to the "politically"-appointed members. "The NDMA was bound to fail, as we were always a top-heavy organisation, with many having no expertise in the realm of disaster."
Restructuring
Officials in the home ministry said the government was considering restructuring the organisation, in line with the recommendations of a task force set up by the United Progressive Alliance government in 2013. A report by the task force, under the chairmanship of P K Mishra, additional principal secretary to the prime minister and a retired Indian Administrative Service officer of the Gujarat cadre, recommended cutting the number of NDMA's members to four and reducing their status from minister of state to secretary. The vice-chairman's rank, too, is to be cut from Union minister to Cabinet secretary. The government has also decided to raise two additional battalions (around 2,200 personnel) of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). It was announced during the Authority's formation day on September 29.
But the NDMA's dysfunction, officials said, was only part of a broader crisis in India's disaster preparedness. "Kashmir should prompt us to re-imagine the disaster management paradigm the way Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans prompted overhaul of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (in the US)," said an official.
But, as the 2013 task force notes, "The institutional structure for disaster management at the national level appears to be in a state of transition, with the earlier arrangement and the new structure existing side by side."
The previous arrangement comprised a national crisis management committee (NCMC), a crisis management group, a central crisis group, and a high-level committee, headed by either the Union home minister or the agriculture minister, which decided on Centre-state financial assistance in times of crisis.
"Kashmir has been handled by the NCMC, which has held daily meetings," said an official. "The NEC (national executive committee) has met only once. With the NDMA and the NEC out of the equation, the NDRF, which is answerable to the NDMA, is being run by the home ministry." The official adds the fact that multiple agencies perform similar roles delays the response to a disaster. "Decisions are delayed when more hands touch a file. This happens between the home secretary and the NDMA secretary. They duplicate each other's roles. In an ideal situation, one should be made secretary for disaster management, with complete responsibility and powers."
A larger crisis
In times of a crisis, state governments are expected to be the first responders. However, while some states have gradually built capacities in this regard, most haven't. "In Kashmir, as was the case during the super-cyclone in Odisha in 1999, the capital city was inundated," said an official, "For the first few days, the chief minister was issuing orders but there was no one to execute those, as government staff had been flooded out of their homes and were untraceable."
"A new mechanism is being developed and we will soon come up with a new uninterrupted communication network," home minister Rajnath Singh said at the NDMA's formation day.
"The problem is neither states nor the Centre have a robust decision-support system," said an NDMA official. "If the meteorological department indicates heavy rainfall, what are the implications? Who should we evacuate, and from where to where?"
"We need to move from simple forecasting to impact forecasting," said Anand Sharma, director of India Meteorological Department, Dehradun, "Also, we must ensure information flows faster than the floodwater. In such situations, the communication system is the first to collapse."
Last year, Sharma's department had sent rainfall warnings to the Uttarakhand government. It had also suggested an annual religious pilgrimage be deferred. But the warnings weren't heeded and thousands died in the ensuing floods.
One way to build capacities in states is setting up regional mutual-aid centres. "It is expensive and wasteful for each state to build parallel inventories, forecasting systems and teams," says an expert, who has consulted with the NDMA. "States could build regional centres, with quick response teams."
Officials caution the crisis at the NDMA could have far-reaching repercussions. "More than 500 people have died in the past three months but we have no documentation to show for it," an official said. "The process of institutional learning has stalled."
In the course of the Uttarakhand floods in 2013, the NDMA and the Union home ministry arranged for helicopters but soon realised they hadn't earmarked landing sites in advance, delaying rescue efforts.
"Now, we have earmarked over 50 landing sites in Uttarakhand alone, along with alternative sites in Assam and elsewhere in the North-east," the official said. "If we don't capture what's going wrong in real time, how will we learn?"
Nominally chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country's apex disaster management authority has been headless since the general elections this summer when eight of the nine members, including the vice-chairman, resigned. PM Modi is yet to appoint new members and, officials say, may restructure the NDMA.
Experts believe the NDMA could benefit from more technical expertise, yet caution against dissolving the body. Last year, natural calamities claimed at least 5,677 lives across India, illustrating the need to strengthen, rather than strip, the country's disaster management infrastructure, particularly in the states.
What, then, is the role of NDMA? "We lay down policies and guidelines to be followed by various ministries in the Union and state governments," Mohanty said.
The NDMA has two primary functions - policy guidance and disaster response. While the authority's nine appointed members are to handle the former, its 20 battalions (drawn from the paramilitary forces for a period of five years, on a rotational basis) are responsible for the latter.
But the recent crises triggered by floods in Kashmir, Assam, Meghalaya, Bihar and Odisha, as well as a landslide in Maharashtra, have led many to question whether the organisation has failed its mandate. "We have played little role in the Kashmir crisis," admits an NDMA official. "At present, the organisation is headless and in search of direction."
Earlier work of the NDMA, too, has been criticised by the comptroller and auditor general (CAG). "NDMA was not performing several functions prescribed in the Disaster Management Act, 2005. These included recommending provision of funds for mitigation, as well as relief in repayment of loans or grant of fresh ones. The important aspect of mainstreaming disaster preparedness with major national projects schemes was yet to be taken up by NDMA," the CAG had said in a press statement after presenting a report in Parliament on April 23, 2013.
"The national guidelines developed by NDMA were not adopted and applied by nodal agencies and state governments. NDMA, on its part, did not take effective measures to ensure the application of its guidelines. NDMA's project management capacity was found deficient. No major project taken up by NDMA had seen completion so far," it added.
On condition of anonymity, a senior NDMA official simply passed the buck to the "politically"-appointed members. "The NDMA was bound to fail, as we were always a top-heavy organisation, with many having no expertise in the realm of disaster."
Restructuring
Officials in the home ministry said the government was considering restructuring the organisation, in line with the recommendations of a task force set up by the United Progressive Alliance government in 2013. A report by the task force, under the chairmanship of P K Mishra, additional principal secretary to the prime minister and a retired Indian Administrative Service officer of the Gujarat cadre, recommended cutting the number of NDMA's members to four and reducing their status from minister of state to secretary. The vice-chairman's rank, too, is to be cut from Union minister to Cabinet secretary. The government has also decided to raise two additional battalions (around 2,200 personnel) of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). It was announced during the Authority's formation day on September 29.
But the NDMA's dysfunction, officials said, was only part of a broader crisis in India's disaster preparedness. "Kashmir should prompt us to re-imagine the disaster management paradigm the way Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans prompted overhaul of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (in the US)," said an official.
But, as the 2013 task force notes, "The institutional structure for disaster management at the national level appears to be in a state of transition, with the earlier arrangement and the new structure existing side by side."
The previous arrangement comprised a national crisis management committee (NCMC), a crisis management group, a central crisis group, and a high-level committee, headed by either the Union home minister or the agriculture minister, which decided on Centre-state financial assistance in times of crisis.
"Kashmir has been handled by the NCMC, which has held daily meetings," said an official. "The NEC (national executive committee) has met only once. With the NDMA and the NEC out of the equation, the NDRF, which is answerable to the NDMA, is being run by the home ministry." The official adds the fact that multiple agencies perform similar roles delays the response to a disaster. "Decisions are delayed when more hands touch a file. This happens between the home secretary and the NDMA secretary. They duplicate each other's roles. In an ideal situation, one should be made secretary for disaster management, with complete responsibility and powers."
A larger crisis
In times of a crisis, state governments are expected to be the first responders. However, while some states have gradually built capacities in this regard, most haven't. "In Kashmir, as was the case during the super-cyclone in Odisha in 1999, the capital city was inundated," said an official, "For the first few days, the chief minister was issuing orders but there was no one to execute those, as government staff had been flooded out of their homes and were untraceable."
"A new mechanism is being developed and we will soon come up with a new uninterrupted communication network," home minister Rajnath Singh said at the NDMA's formation day.
"The problem is neither states nor the Centre have a robust decision-support system," said an NDMA official. "If the meteorological department indicates heavy rainfall, what are the implications? Who should we evacuate, and from where to where?"
"We need to move from simple forecasting to impact forecasting," said Anand Sharma, director of India Meteorological Department, Dehradun, "Also, we must ensure information flows faster than the floodwater. In such situations, the communication system is the first to collapse."
Last year, Sharma's department had sent rainfall warnings to the Uttarakhand government. It had also suggested an annual religious pilgrimage be deferred. But the warnings weren't heeded and thousands died in the ensuing floods.
One way to build capacities in states is setting up regional mutual-aid centres. "It is expensive and wasteful for each state to build parallel inventories, forecasting systems and teams," says an expert, who has consulted with the NDMA. "States could build regional centres, with quick response teams."
Officials caution the crisis at the NDMA could have far-reaching repercussions. "More than 500 people have died in the past three months but we have no documentation to show for it," an official said. "The process of institutional learning has stalled."
In the course of the Uttarakhand floods in 2013, the NDMA and the Union home ministry arranged for helicopters but soon realised they hadn't earmarked landing sites in advance, delaying rescue efforts.
"Now, we have earmarked over 50 landing sites in Uttarakhand alone, along with alternative sites in Assam and elsewhere in the North-east," the official said. "If we don't capture what's going wrong in real time, how will we learn?"
| CAG'S 2013 REPORT NOTES |
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| WHAT THE NDMA WANTS FOR BETTER FUNCTIONING |
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