Write a note on disaster management cycle.

 Disaster Management is not a single entity. It involves so many actions and actors as a disaster is not confined to any particular area/ location. It can happen anywhere and at any time, which is so sudden and it makes enormous damage to the lives of the people and the infrastructure. In managing disaster situation, emphasis has been made on the Disaster Management Cycle, which is a new approach to look into disasters in a holistic way. The Disaster Management Cycle thus:

• ·         integrates various isolated activities. attempts and different actors;
• ·         shows new path in handling disasters, which makes a shift from relief-oriented approach to proactive approach.

 

As per Disaster Management Act. 2005. “Disaster Management” means a continuous and integrated process of planning, organising, coordinating and implementing measures which are necessary or expedient for — (i) prevention of danger or threat of andisaster; (ii) mitigation or reduction of risk any disaster or its severity or consequences; (iii) capacity building; (iv) preparedness to deal with any disaster: (v) prompt response to any threatening disaster situation or disaster; (vi) assessing the severity or magnitude of effects of any disaster; (vii) evacuation, rescue and relief; and (viii) rehabilitation and reconstruction. Allthese components mentioned in the Act are not an isolated or single activity and should be holistic, integrated and inter- connected. Hence these components should be inbuilt into the development programmes for effective disaster management. Such effective disaster management is baseupon the partnership among the Central, State and Local levels to ensure theprotection of the people through measures of proper preparedness, mitigation, response, relief, recovery and rehabilitation.

Stages of Disaster Management Cycle

The Disaster Management Cycle can be divided into three stages, that is, Pre- disaster, During-disaster and Post-disaster.

 

Pre-disaster: Preparedness, Prevention and Mitigation are the major activities in pre-disaster stage. It is based upon the principle that prevention is better than cure. In this stage, various preventive measures and activities are undertaken well in advance so as to respond to disasters in an effective way. Much of the disastrous effects could be avoided. if we are well equipped with preparedness, prevention and mitigation measures and give serious attention to the early warnings. Pre- disaster activities should, thus. concentrate on creating disaster resilient structures and communities. For example. in India, cyclones are a common phenomenon that occurs and warnings are generally given beforehand. If preparatory activities can be undertaken well in advance, then it becomes easy to prevent huge losses in terms of lives and property, in the aftermath phase.

During-disaster: Response and Relief arc the important activities in the during- disaster stage. It will start in the aftermath of a disaster. It includes immediate activities like search. rescue and evacuation, identification of and management of dead bodies and debris management, provision of first-aid, food, water, shelter, safety and security, health care and sanitation, restoration of basic facilities, etc. For example, when the Indian Ocean Tsunami struck in 2004, one can reflect that all these measures were undertaken immediately.

Post-disaster: The major activities in the post-disaster phase include: Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Recovery. These activities will ensure that the disaster affected community becomes resilient and return back to normalcy. Generally, this phase takes a long time, as the efforts are made to restore all essential facilities to pre- disaster status. The major focus of this phase is on the measures that could pave way for long-term recovery of social, economic and physical structures, as well as processes in such a way that future disasters are unable to impact severely and irreversibly.

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