National Disaster Management Plan released by Prime Minister

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 1 June 2016 released the National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP). The plan aims to make India disaster resilient and reduce loss of lives.

It is the first of its kind of national plan prepared in India. It emphasizes on a greater need for Information, Education and Communication activities to prepare communities to cope with disasters.

The plan is based on the four priority themes of the Sendai Framework namely:
i. Understanding disaster risk,
ii. Improving disaster risk governance,
iii. Investing in disaster risk reduction (through structural and non-structural measures),
iv. Disaster preparedness, early warning and building back better in the aftermath of a disaster.

Key Features of the Plan
• It covers all phases of disaster management: prevention, mitigation, response and recovery.
• It provides for horizontal and vertical integration among all the agencies and departments of the government.
• The plan also spells out the roles and responsibilities of all levels of government right up to Panchayat and Urban Local Body level in a matrix format.
• The plan has a regional approach that will be beneficial for disaster management along with development planning.
• It is designed in such a way that it can be implemented in a scalable manner in all phases of disaster management.
• It also identifies major activities such as early warning, information dissemination, medical care, fuel, transportation, search and rescue, evacuation, etc. to serve as a checklist for agencies responding to a disaster.
• It also provides a generalized framework for recovery and offers flexibility to assess a situation and build back better.