NotesCaféDisaster ManagementContents
UPPCS Mains
2026 Edition
General Studies Paper III
Smart Notes

Disaster Management

English Medium
5
Chapters
22
Topics
64
Figures & Maps
20
Tables
What's Inside
  1. 01Disasters: Concepts, Risk and the Management Cycle
  2. 02Disaster Management Framework: Law, Institutions, Finance and Global Commitments
  3. 03Natural Hazards: Risk Profile and Management
  4. 04Man-Made and Technological Disasters
  5. 05Community Participation, Technology and Artificial Intelligence
notes-cafe.com
The Nxt Gen Study OS
Based on NCERT, Standard Books references, Keywords from Syllabus and Previous Year question Papers
Disaster Management
UPPCS Mains · Smart Notes

Disclaimer

This eBook has been prepared by NotesCafe solely for examination preparation and general educational guidance for UPPCS and other competitive examinations.

The content is based on the latest syllabus and previous year questions of UPPCS and other competitive examinations, and has been prepared with reference to standard textbooks, NCERT, government publications, official reports and other reliable public sources. Every effort has been made to keep the information accurate and up to date at the time of publication. Even so, errors, omissions or inaccuracies may remain. Facts, data, laws, schemes and policies may also change after publication.

  • The author, the publisher and NotesCafe shall not be responsible or liable for any loss, damage or inconvenience caused to any person acting, or refraining from acting, on the basis of any material in this eBook.
  • This eBook is a study aid. It is not a substitute for the official notification, the syllabus issued by the commission, or original sources. Readers should verify important facts from official sources such as commission notifications, the Gazette and government websites.
  • Answers and explanations of previous year questions are based on the author's understanding and the information available. If there is any difference, the official answer key released by the commission shall prevail.
  • NotesCafe does not guarantee selection, any specific marks or any result in any examination.
  • Names of examinations, commissions and organisations are used for reference only. NotesCafe is not affiliated with or endorsed by UPPSC, UPSC or any government body.
  • If you notice any error, please write to us at support@notes-cafe.com so that it can be corrected in the next edition.

Copyright & Licence

© 2026 NotesCafe. All rights reserved.

Author / Compiled byNotesCafe
EditionFirst Edition, October 2026
Websitenotes-cafe.com

This eBook is licensed to the purchaser for personal, non-commercial use only. No part of it may be reproduced, copied, stored, shared, forwarded, uploaded to any website, Telegram/WhatsApp group or cloud drive, resold or distributed in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopy, screenshot, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. Removing the NotesCafe watermark or branding is also prohibited.

Unauthorised copying, sharing or sale is an infringement of copyright under the Copyright Act, 1957, and may also attract action under the Information Technology Act, 2000. NotesCafe reserves the right to take legal action and to suspend the account of any user found involved in piracy.

All disputes are subject to the jurisdiction of the courts at Lucknow only.

notes-cafe.com · The Nxt Gen Study OSLicensed to the purchaser for personal study. Copying, sharing or reselling is prohibited.Disclaimer
Disaster Management
UPPCS Mains · Smart Notes

Contents

Disaster Management · General Studies Paper III
  1. 01Disasters: Concepts, Risk and the Management Cycle3 topics
    1. 1.1Disasters as a Non-Traditional Security Challenge: Meaning, Types and Classification
    2. 1.2Hazard, Vulnerability, Risk and Resilience: India’s Multi-Hazard Profile
    3. 1.3Disaster Management Cycle: Phases, Functions and the Shift from Relief to Risk Reduction
  2. 02Disaster Management Framework: Law, Institutions, Finance and Global Commitments6 topics
    1. 2.1Legal and Policy Framework: Constitutional Basis, DM Act 2005, DM (Amendment) Act 2025, NPDM 2009 and NDMP
    2. 2.2Institutional Architecture: Disaster Management at the Centre, State and District Levels
    3. 2.3Disaster Financing: Response and Mitigation Funds, Finance Commission and Risk Transfer
    4. 2.4Global DRR Frameworks: From Yokohama and Hyogo to Sendai
    5. 2.5India’s DRR Commitments: Sendai Alignment, PM’s Ten-Point Agenda, CDRI and International Cooperation
    6. 2.6Effectiveness of India’s Disaster Management System: Achievements, Gaps and Reforms
  3. 03Natural Hazards: Risk Profile and Management7 topics
    1. 3.1Earthquakes: Seismic Zones, Vulnerability and Earthquake Safety
    2. 3.2Tsunamis: Causes, Early Warning and Coastal Preparedness
    3. 3.3Landslides and Avalanches: Hazard Zonation and the Landslide Risk Management Strategy
    4. 3.4Floods and Urban Floods: Causes, Impacts and Flood Management
    5. 3.5Cyclones, Storm Surges and Coastal Hazards
    6. 3.6Drought: Types, Causes and Drought Management
    7. 3.7Cloudbursts, GLOFs, Heat Waves and Lightning: Extreme Weather Events
  4. 04Man-Made and Technological Disasters3 topics
    1. 4.1Man-Made Disasters: Industrial Accidents, Fires and Terror Attacks, and Strategies for Risk Reduction
    2. 4.2Dam Failures and Dam Safety
    3. 4.3Biological, Nuclear and Radiological Emergencies and Crowd Disasters
  5. 05Community Participation, Technology and Artificial Intelligence3 topics
    1. 5.1Role of Government and Community-Based Disaster Management: Training Local Citizens, Aapda Mitra and Civil Defence
    2. 5.2Early Warning Systems and Disaster Technology: Risk Mapping, Forecasting and Alert Dissemination
    3. 5.3Artificial Intelligence in Disaster Management: Safety and Security
notes-cafe.com · The Nxt Gen Study OSLicensed to the purchaser for personal study. Copying, sharing or reselling is prohibited.Contents
Disaster ManagementChapter 01 · Topic 1
Chapter 01

Disasters: Concepts, Risk and the Management Cycle

Disaster Management · 3 topics
Topic 1

Disasters as a Non-Traditional Security Challenge: Meaning, Types and Classification

Chapter Overview

India faces almost every natural hazard and a growing list of man-made ones. The Disaster Management (Amendment) Act, 2025, in force from April 2025, gave statutory definitions to hazard, exposure, vulnerability and disaster risk and made disaster risk reduction part of disaster management itself.

Topic 1 defines a disaster, treats it as a non-traditional security challenge and classifies disasters. Topic 2 breaks risk into hazard, exposure, vulnerability and capacity and sets out India’s multi-hazard profile. Topic 3 follows the management cycle from mitigation to recovery and traces India’s shift from relief to risk reduction; the law and institutions follow in Chapter 2.

Topic Flow
  1. 1Disasters: Meaning, Types and Classification
  2. explained through
  3. 2Hazard, Vulnerability, Risk and Resilience
  4. managed across
  5. 3Disaster Management Cycle

The DM (Amendment) Act, 2025, in force from April 2025, made clear that “man-made causes” in the definition of disaster do not include law-and-order situations. Under s 2(d) of the DM Act, 2005, a disaster is a catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave occurrence from natural or man-made causes, or by accident or negligence, causing substantial loss of life or human suffering, or damage to property or the environment, beyond the affected community’s coping capacity.

From Hazard to Disaster: A Non-Traditional Security Challenge

  1. Hazard and disaster: a hazard is a dangerous phenomenon, substance or process that may cause harm; it becomes a disaster when losses exceed local coping capacity; e.g. an active fault in Kachchh is a hazard; the Bhuj earthquake of 2001, with about 13,800 deaths (official estimate), was a disaster.
  2. Human security: disasters threaten life, health and livelihood rather than territory, so they stand with pandemics and climate change as non-military threats; e.g. COVID-19 notified as a disaster (MHA, 2020); see Internal and International Security Ch 1, Topic 1.
  3. Economic loss: disasters wipe out years of development, divert budgets to relief and push poor households back into poverty; e.g. Kerala floods, 2018: about ₹31,000 crore needed for recovery (UN India, 2018).
  4. Test of state capacity: a large disaster strains administration, law and order, health care and supply chains all at once; e.g. 2004 tsunami: 12,405 deaths across five coastal States and UTs at once (Government of India, 2005; see Ch 3, Topic 2).
  5. Cascading and cross-border effects: one hazard can set off technological failures and cross borders, so the response needs regional cooperation; e.g. Japan, 2011: the earthquake and tsunami set off the Fukushima nuclear accident; NDRF was deployed there (NDRF, 2026).
Table 1.1 Common ground: a hazard turns into a disaster only where exposure and vulnerability are high (see Topic 2).
BasisHazardDisaster
NaturePotential threatRealised event with damage
TimeMay or may not occurHas occurred or is occurring
ImpactPossible damageActual loss of life, property or environment
CopingWithin the community’s capacityBeyond the community’s coping capacity
ExampleEarthquake-prone fault in KachchhBhuj earthquake, 2001
Why a disaster is a non-traditional security challenge
Fig. 1.1 Why a disaster is a non-traditional security challenge

How Disasters Are Classified

  1. Natural disasters: arise from geological, hydrological or atmospheric processes; some are rapid-onset like earthquakes, others slow-onset like droughts; e.g. earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, cyclones, droughts, landslides, avalanches, cloudbursts, lightning, GLOFs, wildfires (see Ch 3).
  2. Man-made disasters: arise from human action, negligence or technological failure and can largely be prevented by safety codes and their enforcement; e.g. chemical and nuclear leaks, fires, stampedes, dam failures, oil spills, terror attacks; Bhopal gas leak, 1984: 5,295 deaths, the official compensation figure (Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, 2011); see Ch 4.
  3. Hybrid or climate-amplified disasters: natural triggers made worse by human choices such as building on floodplains, steep slopes or blocked drains; e.g. urban floods (see Ch 3, Topic 4); Joshimath land subsidence in the fragile Himalaya, 2023; South Lhonak GLOF, Sikkim, 2023.
  4. High Powered Committee (1999): set up in 1999, before the Bhuj earthquake, it grouped disasters into five sub-groups by their origin; e.g. water and climate, geological, chemical-industrial-nuclear, accident-related and biological disasters.
  5. Notified disasters: only 12 notified disasters qualify for help from the State and National Disaster Response Funds (see Ch 2, Topic 3); e.g. cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire, flood, tsunami, hailstorm, landslide, avalanche, cloudburst, pest attack, frost and cold wave (MHA, 2026).
Table 1.2 Common ground: s 2(d) of the DM Act covers both, so the same authorities and plans apply to each.
BasisNatural disastersMan-made disasters
CauseGeological or atmospheric processesHuman action, negligence, technological failure
PredictabilitySome forecast (cyclones, floods); some sudden (earthquakes)Often sudden and local
FrequencyRecurring (monsoon-linked) or rareSporadic; clustered in industrial zones
PreventionThe hazard cannot be stopped; mitigation and adaptation cut lossesLargely preventable through safety codes and training
ExamplesBhuj earthquake (2001), Kerala floods (2018), Cyclone Amphan (2020)Bhopal gas leak (1984), Uphaar fire, Delhi (1997), LG Polymers leak, Visakhapatnam (2020)
Legal regimeDM Act, 2005DM Act, 2005 plus sectoral laws: the OSH Code, 2020, in force from November 2025 in place of the Factories Act, 1948; EP Act, 1986; PLI Act, 1991
Classification of disasters by the High Powered Committee (1999)
Fig. 1.2 Classification of disasters by the High Powered Committee (1999)

Managing Disasters in India: The Framework in Brief

  1. Management cycle: India now manages the whole cycle: prevention, mitigation and preparedness before a disaster, response during it and recovery after; e.g. cyclone shelters and drills before, evacuation during, Build Back Better reconstruction after (see Topic 3); the National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) of 2016, revised in 2019, covers every phase on Sendai’s four priorities (see Ch 2, Topic 1).
  2. Three-tier authorities: the DM Act, 2005 set up disaster management authorities at the national, State and district levels (see Ch 2, Topic 2); e.g. NDMA (s 3, Prime Minister), SDMA (s 14, Chief Minister), DDMA (s 25, Collector).
  3. Specialist response force: the NDRF (s 44), under the Ministry of Home Affairs, handles search and rescue; States may raise their own force (s 44A); e.g. 16 NDRF battalions with 18,581 sanctioned personnel (PIB, 2025).
  4. Dedicated funds: each level keeps response and mitigation funds (ss 46–48), so money is ready before a disaster strikes (see Ch 2, Topic 3); e.g. ₹2,04,401 crore for State funds in 2026-31 (16th Finance Commission).
  5. Warning agencies: scientific bodies forecast hazards so that people can be moved out of harm’s way before impact (see Ch 5, Topic 2); e.g. IMD (MoES) for cyclones and heat, CWC (Jal Shakti) for floods, INCOIS (MoES) for tsunamis, GSI (Mines) for landslides.
  6. Lessons from landmark events: each major disaster has added a law, plan or institution to the national system; e.g. Bhopal 1984: Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and PLI Act, 1991; Bhuj 2001: a National Committee, then the DM Act, 2005; 2004 tsunami: Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre at INCOIS, Hyderabad (2007).
Landmark disasters in India: natural, man-made and hybrid
Fig. 1.3 Landmark disasters in India: natural, man-made and hybrid

Gaps in Implementation

The law covers natural and man-made disasters alike, but preparation and money still follow the familiar hazards, so newer and man-made risks lag behind.

  1. Narrow notified list: heat waves and lightning, now among the deadliest hazards, still fall outside the notified list that decides fund help (see Ch 3, Topic 7); e.g. reform proposals: see Ch 2, Topic 6.
  2. Man-made risks under-prepared: chemical, industrial and CBRN preparedness trails preparedness for floods and cyclones, though such accidents are largely preventable; e.g. LG Polymers styrene leak, Visakhapatnam, 2020: at least 11 deaths (NGT, 2020).
  3. Climate-amplified hazards: more frequent extreme weather is outpacing a policy written in 2009 and plans built hazard by hazard; e.g. the Home Affairs Standing Committee (2026) found NPDM 2009 and the National Plan in need of revision.

Disaster Risk: Way Forward

  1. Sendai Framework (2015–2030): align every plan with Sendai’s four priorities and seven global targets, starting with understanding disaster risk (see Ch 2, Topic 4); e.g. adopted in 2015 by 187 countries including India (PIB, 2023).
  2. NDMA guidelines for all hazards: apply hazard-specific NDMA guidelines as firmly to chemical leaks, fires and crowds as to floods and cyclones; e.g. Guidelines on Chemical Disasters (2007); crowd management guide (2014).
  3. Whole of government and society: every ministry should build risk reduction into its schemes, and every community should train its own first responders (see Ch 5, Topic 1); e.g. PM’s Ten-Point Agenda (2016) puts risk reduction in every development sector; Aapda Mitra volunteers.

Treating disasters as a security and development risk under the amended DM Act and the Sendai Framework, rather than as one-off relief events, is the way forward.

Based on NCERT, Standard Books references, Keywords from Syllabus and Previous Year question Papers

notes-cafe.com · The Nxt Gen Study OSLicensed to the purchaser for personal study. Copying, sharing or reselling is prohibited.Topic 1.1
Disaster ManagementChapter 01 · Topic 2
Topic 2

Hazard, Vulnerability, Risk and Resilience: India’s Multi-Hazard Profile

Whether a hazard becomes a disaster depends on risk: the 2025 amendment wrote statutory definitions of hazard, exposure, vulnerability and disaster risk into the DM Act, and the 16th Finance Commission (2026-31) now shares State disaster grants partly by a Disaster Risk Index built as hazard × exposure × vulnerability. Disaster risk is the probability of harmful consequences when a hazard meets exposed and vulnerable people and assets, reduced by their capacity to cope.

The Risk Equation: Hazard, Exposure, Vulnerability and Capacity

  1. Exposure: people, property, systems or other elements present in hazard zones and thus open to potential losses (s 2(gb) since 2025); e.g. dense cities on the cyclone-prone east coast; homes on river floodplains.
  2. Vulnerability: the degree to which people, systems or assets are likely to suffer harm when exposed, set by physical, social, economic and environmental factors; e.g. a kutcha house on a floodplain against a raised, cyclone-resistant shelter.
  3. Risk equation: Risk = Hazard × Exposure × Vulnerability / Capacity, so cutting any one factor lowers the risk even when the hazard cannot be stopped; e.g. a strong quake in an empty desert carries little risk; the same quake under a crowded town of weak buildings carries high risk.
  4. Capacity: the strengths of a community, such as warnings, savings, shelters and trained neighbours, that lower risk and speed recovery; e.g. Kobe, Japan, 1995: about 80% of those rescued were saved by themselves, family or neighbours (Cabinet Office, Japan, 2018).
How a hazard turns into a disaster: the risk chain
Fig. 1.4 How a hazard turns into a disaster: the risk chain

Who Is Vulnerable and Why

  1. Social and economic vulnerability: poor, marginalised and dependent groups suffer more and recover slower because they lack savings, insurance and a voice; e.g. landless labourers, fishers and slum dwellers with no savings or insurance; rural lightning deaths: see Ch 3, Topic 7.
  2. Institutional vulnerability: weak enforcement of codes, fragmented mandates and slow funds raise losses even where the hazard is well known; e.g. all States except Telangana had set up a State Disaster Mitigation Fund (MHA, 2026).
Table 1.3 The six types overlap: a poor household on a floodplain is physically, economically and socially vulnerable at once.
Type of vulnerabilityWhat drives it
PhysicalWeak structures, unsafe sites (floodplains, slopes), poor infrastructure
SocialWomen, children, the elderly, persons with disabilities, SC/ST groups, migrants
EconomicPoverty, no savings, little livelihood diversity, no insurance
EnvironmentalDegraded ecosystems, deforestation, loss of mangroves, depleted aquifers
InstitutionalWeak governance, poor enforcement of codes, fragmented mandates, fund delays
Attitudinal (psychological)Fatalism, low risk awareness, mistrust of authorities

India’s Multi-Hazard Profile

  1. Earthquakes and floods: about 58.6% of the land is prone to moderate to very high intensity earthquakes and over 40 million ha (12%) to floods (NPDM, 2009); e.g. the 2016 seismic map of Zones II–V still applies (see Ch 3, Topic 1).
  2. Drought and coasts: about 68% of the cultivable area is drought-prone, and close to 5,700 km of the coast as then measured faces cyclones and tsunamis (NPDM, 2009); e.g. the coastline was re-assessed at 11,098.81 km in 2025 (PIB, 2025).
  3. Mountain hazards: about 4.3 lakh sq km of hilly land in 19 States and UTs is landslide-prone, with avalanches and GLOFs higher up; e.g. mapped by GSI (Ministry of Mines) under the National Landslide Susceptibility Mapping programme (PIB, 2025; see Ch 3, Topic 3).
Shares of India prone to drought, earthquakes and floods
Fig. 1.5 Shares of India prone to drought, earthquakes and floods

Building Resilience: Determinants, Framework and Risk Assessment

  1. Resilience and its determinants: resilience is the capacity to resist, absorb, adapt to and recover from a hazard in time; robustness, redundancy, resourcefulness, rapidity and reflectiveness decide it; e.g. Odisha’s cyclone shelters, drills and trained volunteers (see Ch 3, Topic 5).
  2. Resilience framework: six elements: risk knowledge, governance, investment, preparedness with Build Back Better, inclusion and technology; e.g. CDRI (2019) promotes disaster-resilient infrastructure.
  3. Vulnerability and risk assessment: mapping who and what is at risk before a disaster lets administrators set priorities: sub-district hazard maps, risk-sensitive land use, last-mile warnings, stocked supplies; e.g. Vulnerability Atlas of India, 3rd edition (BMTPC, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, 2019); a clear chain of command under the Incident Response System.
Six elements of a disaster resilience framework
Fig. 1.6 Six elements of a disaster resilience framework

Gaps in Risk Assessment

India now defines risk in law, but its risk data are old and coarse, so plans and money do not yet follow vulnerability closely.

  1. Old, coarse risk data: national hazard shares still date from the 2009 policy, whose coast figure predates the re-assessed coastline, and local risk maps are rare; e.g. NRSC (ISRO) flood hazard atlases cover only six States (NRSC, 2026).
  2. Allocation by past spending: State grants still rest partly on past spending, which need not match present risk; a risk index came only with the 16th Finance Commission; e.g. Disaster Risk Index with a widened hazard variable, used beside past expenditure (16th FC Report, 2026).

Way Forward: Understanding Disaster Risk

  1. Sendai Priority 1: understand disaster risk in all its dimensions of hazard, exposure, vulnerability and capacity before planning (see Ch 2, Topic 4); e.g. Sendai Framework 2015–2030, adopted at Sendai, Japan (UNDRR, 2026).
  2. Databases and inclusion: fill the national and State disaster databases with risk registers and plan for women, the elderly and persons with disabilities; e.g. NDMA (s 6) and SDMAs (s 18) keep risk registers by type and severity under the 2025 amendment.

Risk-informed plans under Sendai Priority 1, built on fresh local data, will let India cut exposure and vulnerability before hazards strike.

Based on NCERT, Standard Books references, Keywords from Syllabus and Previous Year question Papers

notes-cafe.com · The Nxt Gen Study OSLicensed to the purchaser for personal study. Copying, sharing or reselling is prohibited.Topic 1.2

🔒 The rest of this book is locked

21 more pages — every chapter and topic — come in the full eBook. Your PDF carries your name and mobile number on every page.

Buy & download the full PDF
Preview · 5 of 26 pages freeBuy full PDF