Natural Disaster

A natural disaster is the consequence of the combination of a natural hazard (a physical event e.g. volcanic eruption, earthquake, landslide) and human activities. Human vulnerability, caused by the lack of appropriate emergency management, leads to financial, structural, and human losses. The resulting loss depends on the capacity of the population to support or resist the disaster, their resilience. This understanding is concentrated in the formulation: "disasters occur when hazards meet vulnerability". A natural hazard will hence never result in a natural disaster in areas without vulnerability, e.g. strong earthquakes in uninhabited areas. The term natural has consequently been disputed because the events simply are not hazards or disasters without human involvement. The degree of potential loss can also depend on the nature of the hazard itself, ranging from wildfires, which threaten individual buildings, to impact events, which have the potential to end civilization. Read more..

The coastal belt of Kerala was ravaged by Tsunami, killing at least 169 persons in 26 December 2005. The most ruined is the poor hamlet of Azheekkal near Karunagappally in Kollam District. Thousands displaced. Thousands injured. Thousands rendered homeless.

Environmental Impact of Tsunami in the Kerala Coast

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Kerala Disaster Management Programme

National Disaster Management Authority

On 23 December 2005 , the Government of India enacted the Disaster Management Act, which envisaged the creation of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), headed by the Prime Minister, and State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) headed by respective Chief Ministers, to spearhead and implement a holistic and integrated approach to Disaster Management in India . NDMA as the apex body is mandated to lay down the policies, plans and guidelines for Disaster Management to ensure timely and effective response to disasters.

Kerala has become the first state to have a Disaster Management Authority. The Kerala Disaster Management Authority was formed as stipulated in the National Disaster Management Authority Act of 2005 with the Chief Minister as chairman and the Revenue Minister as vice-chairman. It has an advisory and an executive committee. Formulation of a state policy, identification of disaster -prone areas and planning of disaster management programmes incorporating the services of various departments will come under the purview of the state executive committee. There will be district level authorities under the state executive committee.

The time dimension in disaster management is long term and not a one off affair. Reconstruction/ rehabilitation requires diverse skills over a long period. Further, we have to have proper warning systems, preventive mechanisms etc. See details