Essay – Future risk of disaster and climate risks
Introduction-
Disaster is a natural or a man made disruptive event which causes a widespread loss to man, material, economic and environmental well being. As per the statistical data India is vulnerable to more than 30 different types of disasters which affect the economic, social and human development potential of the country in a long term perspective and reduces its macroeconomic performance.
The vulnerability Atlas of India-
- About 60% of the land area of India is vulnerable to earthquakes.
- About 8% of the total land area of India is vulnerable to cyclones. About 5700 km out of the 7516 km long coastline of India is vulnerable to cyclones and tsunamis.
- 12% of the total land area of India is vulnerable to floods.
- 68% of the total land area under cultivation is drought prone.
Reasons of amplification of disaster risks for future generations-
Disaster and climate change is a serious environmental issue for the future generation. Many reasons are responsible for the faster rate of climate change and frequent occurrence of natural disasters. The major reasons for increasing vulnerabilities are-
- The changing Demographic and socio economic conditions of societies all around the world.
- The fast rate of unplanned urbanisation. The reducing green cover in urban areas and unsustainable development patterns have increased disaster risks.
- The increasing rate of development and urbanisation in the high risk zones.
- The faster pace of environmental degradation. The environment has far surpassed its carrying capacity and is moving towards degradation.
- Climate change
- Occurrence of epidemics and pandemics.
- Geological hazards.
Types of disasters-
- Biological disaster- cattle epidemic, locust plagues, pest attacks, viral disease epidemics etc.
- Man made disaster- forest fires, oil spills, building collapse etc
- Climate disaster- floods, hail storms, cloud bursts, cyclones, heat waves, cold waves, droughts, hurricanes etc.
- Industrial disaster- chemical accidents and industrial accidents, mine collapse, mine shaft fires, oil spills etc
- Nuclear disaster- nucleus radiation poisoning, nuclear core meltdown etc.
- Geological disaster- earthquake, landslide, volcanic eruption, tornadoes etc.
Major reasons for occurence of disasters-
- Environmental causes- because of a large scale removal of trees and forest cover from watershed areas the environmental balance has been disrupted. It is the major reason behind soil erosion and expansion of the flood prone areas in upper and middle course of rivers and groundwater depletion.
- Developmental causes- exploitation of land use patterns, development of infrastructure, rapid uncontrolled urbanisation and technological upgradation have increased the pressure over the natural resources.
- Political causes- various political events like war, nuclear power aspirations, stand offs between countries, arms race etc have resulted into wide range of disastrous events such as Hiroshima nuclear explosion, Syrian civil war, growing militarization of oceans and outer space etc
- Industrialization- it has resulted into the warming of Earth and the increased frequency of extreme weather events like floods, heat waves, Cold waves etc.
Various impacts of disasters-
- Physical and psychological impact- according to the global climate risk index, India has lost around 2736 people in 2017 due to disasters. It ranked second in the global climate risk index in terms of number of deaths because of disasters. Disasters and climate change has led to a large number of deaths and injuries and there has been constant fear and threat of natural calamities. For example- Odisha is the national disaster capital of India as it is prone to a large number of cyclones.
- Economic impact- various economic studies reveal that the losses incurred because of natural disasters is nearly equal to 2% of the Indian GDP or 12% of the central government revenue. There is a widespread loss of infrastructure like houses, power and communication towers, hospitals, food storage facilities, roads, bridges, colleges, schools, crops etc. whereas events like high speed winds, torrential rainfalls and extensive floods and droughts have made agriculture difficult.
- Environmental impact- various disasters and climate change have led to beach erosion and embankment, destruction of vegetation, and reduction in soil fertility which have far reaching environmental consequences. It also led to frequent occurrence of forest fires and destruction of forest canopy which also led to the change in landscape near the coastal areas.
- Political impact- It leads to governance distress and many services and administration problems like displacement of people, requirement of more raw material for establishment of a new settlement, equitable development etc. Many of the times the situation aggravates into violent events like war stand offs etc. According to the United Nations, disasters and Geophysical hazards have led to displacement of about 3.1 million people every year since 2008. In India itself about 2.678 million people have been displaced because of disasters and extreme weather events in 2018.
- Social impact- the vulnerable sections of the society like women, children and old age individuals are the worst hit because of natural disasters and climate change. It also has created various gender specific issues and problems like poor nutritional level, poor educational outcomes, poor health facilities, increased rate of a school dropouts, child labour etc. Disasters lead to destruction in availability of drinking water, cooking, agriculture etc which causes decrease in productivity and thereby creates unemployment. It interferes with the natural course of life and makes survival difficult.
The disaster management system in India-
In India the disaster management Act was passed in 2005 and it has been enacted as the central legislation to deal with the management of disasters. This act proposed a three tier disaster management structure in India at National, state and district level. Under this act the national disaster management authority, state disaster management authority, National executive committee, national disaster response force, National institute of disaster management, and disaster related funds were created.
Way forward-
- More steps should be taken in the risk reduction and the response phase of disaster management.
- Sufficient training should be provided to the NDRF professionals and they should be equipped with the latest technology facilities to deal with the crisis situation properly.
- To prevent the mis-utilisation of funds there should be proper audit of the expenditures of the disaster management authority. The role of the local governments should be encouraged for disaster management.
The state and the union government should work hand in hand for disaster or any crisis management.
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