India leader in disaster management, says govt

The government on Wednesday said that India has emerged as a leading nation in disaster response, after having very swiftly directed its rescue and relief efforts in quake-struck Nepal.

Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said Indian planes were already on their way to Nepal in less than an hour after Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high level meeting last Saturday to assess the situation.

Rijiju also told the Rajya Sabha members that technology was extensively used by the country to respond to natural calamities and the 10,000-strong National Disaster Response Force was ready to meet any situation round the clock.

 Responding to questions by members on India’s preparedness, Rijiju said that Rs 61,220 crore has been allotted to the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for the period 2015-20 to provide assistance to people affected by natural calamities.

He said 58.6 per cent of India’s land was prone to earthquake, 8.5 per cent vulnerable to cyclone and 5 per cent to floods, as per vulnerability Atlas of India published by Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council under the Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation ministry

Rijiju also said that the government has not appointed any agency to estimate the economic losses from disasters. 

He said the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction’s Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2015, the risk profile in India estimates that average annual loss from multi-hazarad disasters in India is approximately 9.8 billion dollars per year. Of this, the average annual loss from floods is 7.4 billion dollars. He, however, added these figures are not vetted by the government.