This article is written by Niharika Agrawal, pursuing B.B.A.L.L.B from IFIM Law School. This comprehensive article deals with various laws and departments of laws that control the impact of calamities such as cyclones in the country.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Any natural or hazardous calamity causes massive destruction to life and property. It impacts the livelihood of an individual. Cyclone is one such calamity that hits India every year. India is a country prone to natural calamities like cyclones, earthquakes, drought, and landslides, etc. Due to this, there is a scarcity of food, water, and shelter. Therefore, there is an immense need for the development of laws that can help in reducing or preventing the destruction and casualties during future calamities. Such laws could help to save the livelihood of the human being, his mental and physical capacity to deal with such causes.
Thus, this article deals with the impact of cyclones in the country and the laws and departments of laws that are beyond the control of mankind.
About the India Meteorological Department
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) works as an agency under the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India. It was established in the year 1875. It updates meteorological observation, weather forecasting, and seismology. It also forecasts the meteorological information for limited operation of weather-sensitive activities like agriculture, shipping, aviation, oil exploration, industries, etc and provides statistics for the same. It alerts and warns against severe weather phenomena like northwestern, dust storms, heavy rainfall, and snowfall, tropical cyclones, etc in the Northwestern Indian Ocean, the Malacca Straits, the Bay Of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, and the Persian which may cause destruction of life and property. It also helps in conducting and promoting research in meteorology and disciplines.
Impact of cyclones
India has faced the disaster of cyclones several times. A cyclone impacts the social and economic life in society. Some of the impacts are as follows:
- Cyclones cause a huge amount of damage to the properties and resources of the country, especially in coastal districts. There is difficulty in getting food and clear water specifically for those who are completely dependent upon fishing.
- It deteriorates the day-to-day life of the people. It causes huge damage to the natural human environment.
- In post-cyclone duration, there is a scarcity of clean food, water, and shelter and thus causes death and various health complications in the society.
- There is an uncertain rise in the sea level due to a cyclone known as storm surge, heavy rainfall, and flood which further results in waterlogging at unwanted places which leads to severe infections and diseases.
- It causes huge damage to infrastructures such as roads, bridges, houses, and buildings destroying both private and public property.
- The devastation of crops impacts the income of the farmers and hence, gives rise to inflation, unemployment, crimes, etc. As a result, the poor become poorer and the rich become richer.
- It also impacts the physical and mental health of the individual as they may have lost their loved ones.
- Social impacts such as sociodemographic, psychosocial, socioeconomic, and sociopolitical may take a long period of time to develop.
Economic loss such as reduction in asset value, reduction in investment, loss of income from import and export.
Areas most vulnerable to cyclones in India
Many cyclones have hit India over the years. However, 9 cyclones were the most dangerous and caused immense destruction across the region. The Indian subcontinent is the most affected region consisting of 7516 km of coastlines in the world. Around 13 coastal states and Union territories, which include 84 coastal districts, are affected by cyclones. The five most vulnerable states to cyclones are Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and West Bengal. Puducherry is the most vulnerable union territory. As per the analysis, the East coast is more prone to cyclones than the West coast.
How laws help to mitigate cyclones and other disasters
- Law helps in providing justice against unjust or unfair means. Similarly, disaster laws help in providing faster relief to vulnerable people. Section 6 of the Disaster Management Act gives powers to the National Authority to lay down the policies, plans and guidelines for the management of such disasters and for ensuring timely and effective response to disaster.
- They set provisions for more effective disaster preparedness. Section 7 of the Act also gives power to the National Authority to constitute an advisory committee that consist of experts in the field of disaster management and having practical experience of disaster management at the national, state or district level to make recommendations on different aspects of disaster management.
- Legislation is the only tool to enhance the reduction of risk in such disasters.
- They especially work on the community level where the progress is lagging due to its applicability. Such laws may strengthen the involvement of the community and civil society in policy-making and planning strategies. Under Section 24 of the Act the State Executive Committee has the responsibility to implement the National Plan and State Plan and act as the coordinating and monitoring body for management of disaster in the community affected areas.
- Disaster laws develop a safe environment, set realistic, enforceable standards for land management and construction, and also ensure reduction in the harm caused at the community level from these natural hazards.
- Section 6(g) of the Act has the provision for the creation of funds that would help in meeting the needs of the people during such calamities.
- Under Section 22 of the Act they also mandate education and training about disaster management at all levels. Through such training, there can be a quick response from the group of individuals against such hazardous calamities.
Disaster Management Act, 2005
Disaster management plays an important role when it comes to the efficient use of resources and distribution of responsibility among the different departments for the reduction of the impact of the calamities. It is the collective effort by the group of individuals to save the lives and property of the people during such disasters.
The Disaster Management Act was enacted in the year 2005 which focuses on skilled manpower, well-developed infrastructure, preparing individuals against calamities, and mitigating such future destruction. It is applicable to the whole of India with an objective of preparedness, prevention and pre-planning.
The Act nominates the Ministry of Home Affairs as the nodal ministry for managing the entire country’s disaster management. It also puts forth a systematic structure of institutions at central, state, and district levels. The four most important entities are placed at the central level. They are as follows:
- The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) whose work is to frame policies for managing disasters and to ensure timely and effective mechanisms.
- The National Executive Committee (NEC) whose task is to assist NDMA. It consists of secretary-level officers of the central government.
- The National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) which is established for the purpose of training and arranging development programs for the management of natural disasters.
- The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) which helps in the training of professional units that are further responsible for specialized disaster management.
The state and district management authorities are responsible for the implementation of the central plans. The Act contains the provision for the creation of funds that are needed during an emergency. The Act further deals with the civil and criminal liability arising out of violation of the laws and provisions of the Act and punishment as well as relief for the same. One of the unique features of the Act is that it also takes action against false alarms relating to the severity of any disaster that causes panic in the country.
Cyclone disaster management in India
There is a huge impact of disasters like cyclones which may be impossible to overcome. Therefore, it is necessary to mitigate such future disasters and minimize their effects. These measures may either be structural or non-structural. Such measures are possible only with the help of government interventions and public participation. Some of these measures are as follows:
Land use planning
This would avoid all the critical activities on the land of the most vulnerable areas. For example, any settlement activity on a floodplain may cause risk to the land. Such risk can be avoided by the concerned authorities through planning.
Hazard mapping
It assesses the severity of cyclones, their frequency or probability of occurrence, and intensities on a map. This helps in estimating the severity of damage in the affected region. Such maps are prepared with the help of past climatological data, history of wind speed, and frequency of flooding.
Early warning systems are one such means by which people are able to receive appropriate and timely information in a proper way before the disaster occurs in order to make quick decisions and take relevant action. The word ‘system’ is used to refer to the interplay between an array of elements aimed at facilitating communication and prompt response to protect and aid those in need. The four basic elements to which this system focuses is risk-knowledge, monitoring, response capability, and warning communication.
Engineered structures
Any structure should be made in such a way that it can withstand wind forces. For that, the selection of good sites is also very important. Hence, any public infrastructure should be engineered structures.
Cyclone shelters
Cyclone shelters are made in the area where there are recurrent cyclones. Such construction requires huge funding and hence funds are either raised from the government or external donors. For the construction of cyclone shelters, many aspects need to be taken into consideration such as the site, density of population, transport and communication services, and topography of the area.
Flood management
Flooding is the result of cyclonic storms. The flow of water can be regulated through the construction of dams, reservoirs, and channels. A public community can take the initiative in improving the drainage system through which such floods can be minimized. Flooding can also be managed by avoiding the storage of material under the shelters which may cause water drainage and by creating drainage systems around and under the shelter. The shelter floor should be made above 3 feet from the ground.
Mangrove plantation
The roots of the mangrove plant help in mitigating tsunamis, soil erosion, etc. They also protect the coastal areas from storm surges and wind which is accompanied by cyclones.
Improving vegetation cover
This helps in increasing the water infiltration capacity of the soil. The roots of the plants and trees will hold the soil intact and prevent soil erosion resulting in the prevention of floods.
Awareness program
End-to-end awareness programs are very important for the public welfare as they may help them to take action against such calamities. The department of Meteorology and Hydrology updates regularly about the upcoming cyclones and other special weather news. It is expected from the community that they are well aware of the warning signals and the sources for their protection.
About the new cyclone warning system
The new Impact-Based Cyclone Warning System was launched by the Indian Meteorological Department and the Ministry of Earth Sciences on 12th October 2020. Its ultimate objective is minimizing economic losses and destruction of property due to cyclones that occur every year on the Indian coasts. This system takes into consideration all the essential aspects such as location warning mechanism, local population, settlements, use of land, and other important elements. It is easily accessible to all the disaster management agencies to know about geological, cartographic, and district-wise hydrological data under this new mechanism. This system warns about the strong wind and risk on infrastructure that may occur, in advance. It also provides better forecasting and tracking of cyclones. This system has also resolved the tracking error of forecasting the cyclone. The observational aspects of cyclone warning systems include different types of observations such as space based, upper air and surface based.
Features of the cyclone warning system include:
- This warning system will issue specific warnings in districts and locations which will factor in the infrastructure, local population, settlements, land use and also other elements will be disseminated and prepared.
- All the disaster management agencies will also refer extensively to geological, cartographic and hydrological data that is available for the concerned district.
- If any of the locations is to be hit by a wind up to 160 kmph, this warning system will warn about the kind of infrastructure that will likely get damaged and these can be mapped.
With the intention to meet the needs of Cyclone Warning Services and Marine weather services, seven Cyclone Warning Centers were established that covered the east & west coasts of our country. The three area Cyclone Warning Centres (ACWCs) are located at Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata and other four are Cyclone Warning Centres (CWCs) which are located at Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Visakhapatnam and Bhubaneswar.
Conclusion
From the above observations, it can be concluded that good laws can mitigate every problem through their mechanism. They can even resolve the crucial problems of natural calamities through their guidelines. It is very important to control future natural disasters as they destroy the entire region that is being affected just in one hit. India is a disaster-prone country due to geographical factors and demographic composition.
The enactment of the Disaster Management Act of 2005 and the launch of an impact-based cyclone warning system together has shown immense improvement in dealing with such calamities over the years and many more on the way as assured by the experts. Each disaster brings new deficiencies in Indian disaster management regimes. It’s not just the government or experts who can reduce the impact of these disasters but also civil society, NGOs, private organizations that can contribute to protecting the country from future tragedies.
References
- https://mausam.imd.gov.in/imd_latest/contents/mandate.php
- https://lexlife.in/2020/03/24/explained-disaster-management-act-2005/
- https://www.indiatvnews.com/fyi/news-all-you-need-to-know-about-cyclones-in-india-most-affected-states-list-of-9-deadliest-cyclones-in-india-519361
- http://www.rnlkwc.ac.in/pdf/study-material/geography/Cyclone_Factors,Vulnerability,Consequences%20and%20management.pdf
- https://vigyanprasar.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/Vigyan-Samachar-MoES-News-1-13-October-20.pdf
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