Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024

August 3, 2024

General Studies Paper -1

Context: The Minister of State for Home Affairs introduced the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024 in the Lok Sabha.

About

The bill seeks to amend the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
It aims to strengthen the functioning of the national and state disaster management authorities, besides bringing in more clarity and convergence among stakeholders working in the field of disaster management.

What is a Disaster?

“disaster” means a catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave occurrence in any area, arising from natural or man made causes, or by accident or negligence which results in substantial loss of life or human suffering or damage to, and destruction of, property, or damage to, or degradation of, environment, and is of such a nature or magnitude as to be beyond the coping capacity of the community of the affected area.

Disaster Management

Disaster management means a continuous and integrated process of planning, organizing, coordinating and implementing measures which are necessary or expedient for;

1. prevention of danger or threat of any disaster;

2. mitigation or reduction of risk of any disaster or its severity or consequences;

3. capacity-building;

4. preparedness to deal with any disaster;

5. prompt response to any threatening disaster situation or disaster;

6. assessing the severity or magnitude of effects of any disaster.

Key Features of the Bill

The Bill seeks to create a “disaster database at national and State level,” and makes provision for the constitution of “Urban Disaster Management Authority” for State capitals and large cities having municipal corporations, except the union territories of Delhi and Chandigarh.
The Bill empowers the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMA) to prepare the disaster plan at national level and State level respectively.
The Bill empowers the NDMA to take stock of the entire range of disaster risks in the country periodically, including emerging disaster risks.
- It includes “risks of those disasters that may not have taken place, but may occur in future due to extreme climate events and other factors.”
The Bill further aims to provide statutory status to certain pre-Act organizations like the National Crisis Management Committee and the High Level Committee.

Concluding Remarks

There was a need to amend the Disaster Management Act, 2005 to mainstream “Disaster Management in the development plans, aligning with the recommendations of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.
The Bill is being opposed, as it creates several authorities which will give rise to confusion.
Also it grants excessive rulemaking power to the Central government through delegated legislation to make rules on specific matters, which could potentially overlap with the legislative powers reserved for the States.

Disaster Management Act, 2005

It is a national law that empowers the Central government to declare the entire country or part of it as affected by a disaster and to make plans for mitigation to reduce “risks, impacts and affects” of the disaster.

Four important entities have been placed at the national level;

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA): It is tasked with laying down disaster management policies and ensuring a timely and effective response mechanism.
National Executive Committee (NEC): It is composed of secretary level officers of the Government of India assigned to assist the NDMA.
National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM): It is an institute for training and capacity development programs for managing natural
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF): It refers to trained professional units that are called upon for specialized response to disasters.