Conference Lectures

Disaster Management andArmed Forces

Lt Col A K Singh,
Classified Spl anaesthesiology and Critical care
Department of anaesthesiology and critical care
Command Hospital Central Command Lucknow.

  • Introduction

Indian Army has played a leading role in all types of disaster nation faced. Indian Armed forces due to  its unique state of promptness , swiftness, always being in state of preparedness has mitigated the impact of any disaster country has faced, in any part, terrain, or climate. This was possible because of continuous training, well rehearsed and organized repeated drills, innovations and improvisations. It has defied impact of anydisaster whether man made or natural and saved many precious lives and property of citizens.
Indian Armed Forces acts as one stop shop, providing solution for all problems  and acts as saviours every time, when state machinery is crippled , grief and panic stricken leading to  hungry,  hopeless, famished,people’s life at risk. Armed forces are only hope at this hour of distress. We trace, reach to them, rescue them, reassure them and relieve them from their agonies by providing food shelter, medicines and evacuate to the safer places. We don’t stop until we rehabilitate them and protect them till they are completely settled. It continues to be amongst the first responders in a disaster situation even before the civilian resources have been deployed mostly by virtue of its location in the entire country, especially in the far-flung border areas or even remote areas where district administration is weak or non-existent.

  • Types of Disaster and Vulnerability

India is highly vulnerable to natural hazards due to its unique geographical location and being landlocked with mountainous, treacherous train, surrounded by sea and traversed by many rivers. This makes 58 per cent of India’s geographical area earthquake prone. Sixty-eightper cent droughts prone, 12 per cent flood prone and 8 per cent prone to cyclones. About one million houses are damaged annually with irreparable losses.Man made disasters related toindustrialisation, transportation, environmental degradation and terrorist attacks.
Thus there is a need to adopt a proactive approach for prevention, mitigation and preparedness.
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  • Existing Infrastructure in country

 

    • Armed forces are the biggest rescue and succour providing organisation capable of moving swiftly to any part of the country at a very short notice plays a main role in disaster management.
    • The Government of India in December 2005  laid out policy to tackle with the multifarious aspects of disaster management and major policy shift  from a response-centric approach, which was the norm till 2005, to a holistic  towards preparedness, management and mitigation-centric approach.
    • Government  has set up an authority under the Prime Minister, viz, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and similar in the states under the Chief Minister. These organisationsacts  at all levels, whether at the national, state or district level, are supported by government.
    • The National Executive Committee (NEC) comprising 13 Secretaries  assists NDMA in implementing various projects and issues.
    • In the states, Secretaries assist the Chief Secretary and at the district level, the District Collector leads the organisation with the elected representative of the people bringingpublic-private interface at the functional level.
    • Disaster management is a multi-disciplinary approach and all the ministries and departments have a key role in assisting the apex body, the NDMA, to discharge its functions. The nodal ministries and departments include the Ministries of Home Affairs (MHA), Agriculture, Civil Aviation, Environment and Forests, Health, Atomic Energy, Space, Earth Sciences, Water Resources, Mines, Railways and so on.
    • These agencies continues to address specific disasters as assigned to them and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) acts as the administrative ministry for the subject of disaster management.
  • Financial Mechanism and Activities

The entire Disaster Management Organisation has a financial mechanism in the Centre, known as Disaster Response Fund, which was earlier called Calamity Relief Fund. Now there is a permanent mechanism to make sure that even small things, which have to be done on ground, can be executed quickly.

  • National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)

NDRF is the most vibrant face of the NDMA, has been raised. There are eight battalions in all, drawn from various Central police forces. These battalions, with various skills are located in different parts of the country based on the kind of disaster threats they are confronted with.

  • Role Armed Forces

 

 

Civil administration being ill equipped for undertaking quick response to major disasters, the armed forces are the major handler of disasters. Being the most dedicated, professional and modern armed forces in the world, the Indian forces respond to any disastrous situation with all their might.
Whenever a disaster strikes, be it natural or man-made, the Indian armed forces are called upon to handle the situation. They are always ready to move to any kind of disaster-affected areas and have capability of working under adverse conditions 
However, although the responsibility for coordinating disaster response and relief operation is that of the home ministry, it is the armed forces under the defence ministry that are called out to assist and manage the situation.
Armed forces are supposed to work on the principle of being the ‘last to enter and the first to leave’conversely, in most disaster operations, the armed forces have been the first to enter and the last to leave.

  • Armed forces Disaster Management  records
    • In tsunami  December 2004
    •  Kashmir earthquake of 2005,
    • Cyclone in Bangladesh on 15 November 2007,
    •  Fire breakout at Burrabazar in Kolkata on January 12, 2008,
    • Serial blasts atBangalore and Ahmedabad on July 2008. 
    • Flash floods in Ladakh’s capital Leh in 2010.
    • Sikkim earthquake of September 2011.
    • Mumbai Terrorist Attack  26/11
    • Uttrakhand Flash floods and land Slides in 2013
    • Recent J& K Floods 2014.

Indian army, navy and the air force coordinated by the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) efficiently executed the relief, rescue and evacuation assignments under Operation Sea Wave, and also extended aid to Sri Lanka and Maldives under Operation Rainbow and Operation Castor at the request of their respective governments for assistance.

  • Strength

As the development oriented Indian civil administration is ill equipped for undertaking disaster response activities in the event of major disasters, they merely rely on the armed forces.
The Indian armed forces, being one of the most dedicated, professional, modernised armed forces in the world with rapid strides in technology development, adequately equipped with the necessary technical competence, man power and material resources undertakes rescue and relief operations of any disasters.

  • Set up of disaster management in hospital

In army hospitals we have got well laid out SOPs, which we keep practicing on regular basis. Salient Features of our set up is that we are always ready. We can tender help, care, treat and relief to any type of disaster, in any place and all time. Everybody in our hospital whether he is administrative, in curative or other supportive role,  their role is pre-assigned and predefined in event of disaster, and moment news of disaster reaches to hospital our First quick response teams moves. Rest everybody reaches to their respective departments and assume active role in management of disaster.

 Our wards are earmarked in the event of disaster and routine patients are immediately evacuated to the wards earmarked for them. Medical store bricks, equipments and other supportive stores are moved out of ware house and are immediately placed in places earmarked.

We carry out regular mock drills on short notice and doctors, paramedics and administrative staff’s names are published monthly basis and displayed on notice board at prominent places. These persons names are updated as per leave, duty, sickness or in case of being posted in or posted out from hospital area.
We divide our disaster plan in various sections which starts pre- hospital, reception, triage, resuscitation, management by active intervention in form of life saving surgeries and treatment, admission and rehabilitation and further disposal. Our system start and becomes active moment we get news in area of responsibility whether related to Army or civilians whether it is man made or nature induced, we are state in state of readiness from the first news.

The best part of our medical set up of our tri-services, is that this setup is uniformat all service hospitals to some extent. Some times its carried out to assess hospital readiness and efficiency and reflects in the status of preparedness of hospital.It stood the test of time for all disasters whether manmade or nature induced.

  • Conclusion   
    • Handling disasters is based on the core elements of prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, relief and recovery is of recent origin.
    • Armed forces by virtue of operational readiness to move to any kind of disaster-affected areas with daring attitude to work in even under adverse conditions immensely help the civil authorities during disasters. Their swift rescue and response action after disasters has been exemplary. They will continue to play a vital role in the years to come inSouth Asia.
    • In a democracy, as elected representatives no doubt must be in forefront to handling any situation that affects the masses but they should not hamper relief and rescue work by undertaking ‘observation sorties’ in state helicopters.
  • References
  • ‘Supporting Local Capacities – From Jargon to Impact’, south asia disasters.net, All India Disaster MitigationInstitute; Special Issue 18, August 2006; P 7 Daya Chand working paper 3 59 2010
  • “India World Leader In Natural Disasters”, Swaminathan S AnklesariaAiyer, Times of India, May 14, 2006.
  • Annual Report on Disaster Management in India, 2003-04, Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, P 4.
  • “Crisis Management – From Despair to Hope”, Third Report, Second Administrative Reforms Commission,Government of India, September 2006.
  • Dagur OS. Armed Forces in Disaster ManagementA Perspective on Functional Aspects of Role,Training and Equipment.Manekshaw paper no. 4, 2008.
  • Vij, NC General, ‘Disaster Management at the National and State Levels’, talk delivered at the USI on 25 July 2007and text published in the Journal of the United Services Institutions of India, Vol CXXXVII, No 569, July –September 2007, P 324.
  • Annual Report 2004-05, Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, P 5.
  • ‘ICT for Disaster Risk Reduction – The Indian Experience’, National Disaster Management Division, Ministry ofHome Affairs, Government of India (Document prepared by the team under GOI – UNDP Disaster RiskManagement Programme); P 2.
  • Inaugural Speech by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the First India Disaster Management Congress,November 29, 2006.
  • www.indiainfo.com; Clinton Lauds India India for Tsunami Rehabilitation Work; May 27, 2005.
  • Living with Risks; A Global Review of Disaster Reduction Initiatives, 2004 version Inter Agency Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR).
  • ChakrabartiDhar PG, ‘Disaster Zone – South Asian Countries Join Hands to Manage Disasters’, Force Volume 5, No 3 November 2007, P 52-53.
  • ‘In Human Interest – Disaster Management and Relief is a Mixed and Often, Confused Bag’, Force, Volume 5, No 3 November 2007, P 48.
  • Governance; Institutional and Policy Frameworks for Risk Reduction”, Thematic Discussion Paper Cluster 1; WorldConference on Disaster Reduction, 18-22 January 2005, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.
  • Governance; Institutional and Policy Frameworks for Risk Reduction”, Thematic Discussion Paper Cluster 1; WorldConference on Disaster Reduction, 18-22 January 2005, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.