DISASTER MANAGEMENT: AN OVERVIEW

India has been traditionally vulnerable to natural disasters on account of its unique geoclimatic conditions. Floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes and landslides have been recurrent phenomena. Developed countries which have modern early warning systems and effective mitigation programmes are able to reduce the impact of natural hazards whereas countries with less preparedness and inadequate mitigation efforts suffer more from natural hazards. In the case of India, the human and economic losses from disasters are high in comparison to many other developing nations. According to an estimate by the World Bank direct losses from natural disaster are up to 2 percent of the India’s GDP. More importantly, the impact of most of the disasters is disproportionately high on the poor.