Disaster Management

The Kerala High Court on Saturday criticised the state government and its disaster management authority (SDMA), saying their figures regarding the funds in connection with rehabilitation of the landslides-hit areas of Wayanad are "inaccurate". A bench of Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Mohmmed Nias C P also questioned why the funds were being delayed for months and observed that it was turning into another disaster. It said when asking for assistance from the Centre, the state government should provide accurate figures. The court observed that auditing was not accurate and the funds were not being handled properly. It directed the government and the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) to submit accurate figures regarding the funds. It directed that the amount allocated from the Rs 677 crore in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for rehabilitation, the amount spent and the amount required should be placed before the court. The state government told the court that

Approval was made by a high-level committee chaired by Amit Shah, which approved Rs 1115.67 crore for disaster reduction and capacity-building projects for various states, including Uttarakhand

A high-level committee, headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, has approved Rs 1,000 crore for various disaster mitigation and capacity-building projects in 15 states. The committee also approved another project for training and capacity building of civil defence volunteers in all states and Union territories at a total outlay of Rs 115.67 crore, according to an official statement. According to an official statement, a sum of Rs 139 crore each was approved for Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, Rs 100 crore for Maharashtra, Rs 72 crore each for Karnataka and Kerala, Rs 50 crore each for Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, and Rs 378 crore for the eight Northeastern states -- Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura. The committee, comprising Union ministers for finance and agriculture and the vice chairman of the NITI Aayog as members, considered the proposal to mitigate landslide risk in 15 states for funding from the National Disaster Mitigatio

The MoS stated that the financial assistance provided under SDRF and NDRF is by way of relief and not for compensation

To enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the emergency response system in Himachal Pradesh, the state government is working diligently to strengthen the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Wednesday. In this effort, the state government has taken two important decisions. First, the entire response framework will be unified under the additional director general of home guards and civil defence, ensuring a coordinated approach to any emergency or disaster management. Secondly, home guards will be assigned to SDRF for a period of two years to reinforce the system's capacity and resilience, a statement issued here said. "The state government is prioritising the strengthening of SDRF in view of the increasing frequency of cloudbursts and other natural disasters," Sukhu said in the statement. "The state government intends to make the system more organised and effective to safeguard lives and reduce losses. Himachal Pradesh is vulnerabl

Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister P K Mishra has affirmed India's commitment to the Sendai Framework for disaster risk reduction and called for increased international collaboration on knowledge sharing, technology transfer and sustainable development to enhance disaster resilience globally. Mishra said this while participating in the G-20 Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group (DRRWG) ministerial meeting in Belem, Brazil, according to an official release. He led a high-level Indian delegation which took part in the meeting held from October 30 to November 1. With the active participation of the Indian delegation, a consensus was arrived at on finalising the first ministerial declaration on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), the release issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs said. During various sessions, Mishra shared the progress made by the government of India in reducing disaster risks and in upscaling disaster financing. He emphasised India's proactive approach to ..

Disasters, including those wrought by fiercer storms, are threatening more people and could derail economic progress in the Asia Pacific region if governments don't invest more in disaster mitigation and prevention, a U.N. official said Tuesday. U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Kamal Kishore, who heads the U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, issued the warning in a speech at the start of a regional conference on disaster mitigation hosted by the Philippines, one of the world's most disaster-prone countries. "Disasters are now affecting record numbers of people and threatening their lives and livelihoods, Kishore told hundreds of delegates to the three-day conference in Manila led by ministers in charge of disaster mitigation and response across the Asia Pacific. "Left unchecked, these disaster risks threaten to derail the development aspirations of the Asia Pacific region and push back progress that has taken decades to achieve, he said. Kishore said Asia Pacific countries sho

Nearly 50 per cent of public infrastructure in India is unprepared for disaster management, according to a survey by CBRE. The survey findings were released at a joint 'Infrastructure Management Conference 2024' organised by CBRE and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here. On Wednesday, real estate consultant CBRE said as per its survey on select large infrastructure assets on risk management parameters, "nearly 50 per cent of the public infrastructure in India is unprepared for disaster planning and management and needs greater attention". "India is grappling with a significant increase in both natural and man-made disasters, posing a threat to the economy, population and long-term sustainable development," the consultant said. The vulnerability to disasters is further exacerbated by a confluence of factors, including changing demographic and socio-economic conditions, unplanned urbanisation, development within high-risk zones, environmental degradation, climate change, and .

A Central government team arrived here on Wednesday to assess the flood damage in Andhra Pradesh due to the recent torrential downpours and deluge, affecting as many as seven districts. Local officials have prepared the preliminary report on the flood devastation and also readied a route map for the Central team's tour. "Officials (local) are explaining the flood situation and the damage it caused to the Central team at the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) office in Tadepalli," an official release said. The Central team is meeting with officials from various departments to learn about the havoc wreaked by the deluge, which affected West Godavari, Eluru, Krishna, NTR, Guntur, Bapatla and Palnadu districts. The team was apprised of the devastation caused by the Budameru rivulet in Vijayawada, besides the various relief activities undertaken by the state government.

The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) has signed an MoU with the Geological Survey of India (GSI) for implementation of experimental regional Landslide Early Warning System (LEWS) for combating the problem of landslides in the state. The MoU was signed by ASDMA CEO Gyanendra Dev Tripathi and Siladitya Sengupta, deputy director general, SU: Assam, GSI on Friday, an official statement said. The problem of landslides sometimes goes unnoticed or individual landslides are being dealt with ad-hoc response mechanisms, and the problem keeps on recurring every year. In addition to lives lost, large numbers of houses along with infrastructures destroyed in landslides in the hilly terrains of Dima Hasao, Karbi Anglong, Cachar, Karimganj and Kamrup Metropolitan districts. During recent times, one of the major thrust areas in landslide risk reduction is the development of a regional LEWS for a large area with inputs from static landslide susceptibility and hazard maps, dynamic .

Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, also seeks to make provision for a State Disaster Response Force

Congress' Manish Tewari said the proposed legislation entrusted the rule-making powers upon the Centre and encroaches on the domain of the state governments

The flood situation in Assam improved gradually even as over 5 lakh people in 17 districts are still reeling under the deluge, official sources said on Tuesday. Union Home Minister Amit Shah telephoned Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to enquire about the situation, reiterating assurance of all help from the Centre, while Sarma also received a call from his Odisha counterpart offering use of the eastern state's disaster management system to mitigate the challenges. Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital on Monday and apprised him of the flood situation, a Raj Bhavan source said here. The Prime Minister said that the Centre is with the state government to deal with the situation and empower the state in mitigating the impact of flood. Modi also assured the governor of his support and assistance in helping the state government in carrying out the rehabilitation work, the source added. They said over 5,11,000 people remained affe

Currently, the situation is normal at the moment and all the travellers and citizens in the town are being alerted by the water police and SDRF teams

Assam floods: Brahmaputra river is expected to recede by 35-65 cm by Saturday night, authorities advise continued caution near the riverfront as the water levels remain dangerously high

A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Bihar government to undertake a structural audit and set up an expert committee to identify bridges that can be either strengthened or demolished based on the findings. Ten incidents of bridge collapse have been reported in Bihar's Siwan, Saran, Madhubani, Araria, East Champaran and Kishanganj districts in over a fortnight. Many have claimed that heavy rainfall might have contributed to the incidents. The PIL, filed by advocate and petitioner Brajesh Singh, raised concerns about the safety and longevity of the bridges in the state that witnesses floods and heavy rains during monsoon. Besides setting up a high-level expert panel, it also sought real-time monitoring of the bridges as per the parameters of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. In the PIL, the petitioner said it was a matter of grave concern that Bihar is the most flood-prone state in India. The total flood-affected area in the state is ..

The Telangana government has decided to expand the disaster management wing of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to offer various services, including protecting government assets like water bodies against the threat of encroachments. A preliminary decision has been taken at a meeting held by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to name the expanded wing as Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Monitoring and Protection (HYDRA), an official release said on Monday night. In view of the expansion of the geographical area of Hyderabad, the CM directed expanding the purview of the disaster management wing up to the city's Outer Ring Road (ORR). The wing would serve the GHMC and also the 27 municipal bodies, 33 Gram Panchayats neighbouring the city. CM Revanth Reddy directed Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari to prepare a draft on the reorganization, requirement of personnel, duties, allocation of funds and responsibilities of the wing. The CM decided that the disaster managemen

As per IMD, the maximum temperature of 43.6 degrees Celsius was recorded in the national capital on Wednesday

The Department of Telecommunications will likely conduct trials in the coming months to assess the effectiveness of this initiative

The District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) for Mumbai on Friday directed the Government Railway Police (GRP) commissioner to remove eight oversized hoardings installed by Ego Media Private Limited in Dadar area as they "may endanger the lives of general public," an official said. A hoarding installed by Ego Media collapsed on a petrol pump in Ghatkopar on May 13, killing 16 people and injuring more than 75. The official said that DDMA chaired by additional municipal commissioner Ashwini Joshi issued a notice to GRP commissioner and directed him to remove within three days eight hoardings on GRP premises. "It is noticed that, there are eight other oversized hoardings (i.e. more than (40ft x 40ft) erected on Government Railway Police premises within the Western Railway-jurisdiction of Railways, which are erected not in consonance with the policy of BMC i.e. (in terms of) location, size, type, structural audit etc," the notice read.