India faces the omnipresent reality of disaster vulnerability due to natural causes and human interventions including developmental initiatives. The current development policy is conducive to rapid industrialization and urbanization. Developmental interventions towards this effect tend to put at risk the safety of local communities, the sustainability of their habitat, and their livelihoods, and at times even cause displacement. Thematically addressing issues central to disaster discourse, this study explores the accepted definition of disasters.
India now has a law, a policy, and administrative set-ups at the national, state, and district levels to deal with disasters. There are government, civil society, and humanitarian initiatives to improve the system and make preparedness and response measures effective. Contributors to the volume explore how new understandings of disasters in connection with multiple social, economic, political, and environmental factors, policy initiatives, and actual practice have affected disaster management in the recent past.
Adopting a multidisciplinary approach, this report asserts the need to link natural systems, social systems, and technological limitations to devise policies and action plans for disaster prevention, relief operations, and environmentally inclusive development. With contributions from academics, humanitarian workers, scientists, engineers, media professionals and analysts, it contains constructive and engaging discourse for those interested in disaster management and related policies, as well as policymakers, administrators, activists, media, and non-governmental organizations.
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