Crisis and Disaster Management
Crisis
A crisis is an event that disrupts the regular operations of an organization, institution, or system, causing damage and is difficult to resolve easily.
Nature of Crisis
- Unplanned or unexpected events.
- Creation of uncontrollable situations.
- Irregular processes.
- Creation of challenges.
- Causing significant damage or loss.
- Arising from natural or human-induced causes.
Types of Crisis
1. Based on Origin:- Natural
- Human-induced
- Complex (mixed)
- Political
- Economic
- Institutional
- Scientific
- Commercial
- Social
- Cultural
Crisis Management
Crisis management involves preventing crises where possible and, if they occur, minimizing damage and restoring normalcy through systematic managerial efforts. It focuses on reducing the impact of crises, building capacity, and effectively navigating crisis situations.
It encompasses forecasting, identifying, building resilience, developing expertise, and managing activities from the onset of a crisis to its resolution.
Stages of Crisis Management
1. Prevention:- Identifying and implementing measures to prevent crises.
- Forecasting crises and preparing guidelines.
- Anticipating crises.
- Preparing for mitigation and resilience.
- Establishing infrastructure and communication systems.
- Arranging financial resources.
- Identifying the situation.
- Analyzing impacts and effects.
- Minimizing negative impacts.
- Identifying and implementing appropriate alternatives.
Problems in Crisis Management in Nepal and Solutions
Problems
- Weak information dissemination systems.
- Lack of managerial expertise.
- Shortage of specialized skills.
- Geographical remoteness.
- Weak infrastructure.
- Limited resources.
- Lack of coordination.
- Low public awareness.
- Limited delegation of authority.
Solutions
- Developing effective information systems.
- Enhancing managerial skills and expertise.
- Strengthening infrastructure development.
- Increasing public participation.
- Ensuring resource availability.
- Improving coordination.
- Raising public awareness.
- Strengthening preparedness measures.
Disaster
A disaster is a sudden event causing significant loss of life, property, and disruption to societal life. It results from natural, human-induced, or mixed causes, leading to an uncontrollable situation that disrupts daily life and causes damage to society and resources.
Types of Disasters
- Natural: Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, landslides.
- Human-induced: Wars, terrorism, technological misuse.
- Complex: Desertification, ecosystem degradation, pollution.
- Epidemics: Sudden outbreaks of diseases.
Causes of Disasters
- Population growth and high density.
- Geological or environmental impacts.
- Climate change effects.
- Extreme poverty.
- Environmental degradation.
- Low public awareness.
Disaster Management
Disaster management involves preventing disasters, minimizing damage if they occur, and conducting search, rescue, relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction, and restoration activities in a systematic manner.
Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Cycle - MPRR
1. Mitigation:- Formulating short- and long-term measures.
- Strengthening structural and technical aspects.
- Assessing disaster risks.
- Conducting development activities with multi-stakeholder collaboration.
- Formulating laws, policies, and regulations.
- Planning.
- Communication and coordination.
- Training and developing skilled manpower.
- Raising public awareness.
- Developing early warning systems.
- Arranging necessary equipment and resources.
- Search, rescue, and relief operations.
- Mobilizing emergency services (food, shelter, medical care).
- Providing psychosocial counseling and treatment.
- Coordinating with multiple stakeholders.
- Managing national and international assistance.
- Reconstruction (Build Back Better).
- Rehabilitation and restoration.
- Assessing disaster impacts.
- Restoring pre-disaster conditions.
These stages are not linear and may overlap, forming a continuous cycle known as the DRM Cycle.
Approaches to Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM)
- Traditional Relief Approach: Views disasters as divine events, emphasizing humanitarian aid to those affected. Rooted in cultural and religious values, it encourages helping affected communities and remains prevalent in society.
- Sustainable Development Approach: Integrates disasters, environment, and sustainable development, prioritizing mitigation as part of development planning.
- Vulnerability Reduction Approach: Focuses on enhancing community resilience and adaptive capacity to face adverse conditions and risks.
- Total Disaster Risk Management Approach: Combines all approaches, emphasizing multi-level, multi-sectoral collaboration and coordination.
- Community-Based Disaster Management Approach: Prioritizes community participation in all stages of disaster management to build capacity and reduce risks.
No single approach is complete; a mixed approach tailored to needs can yield effective results.
National Disaster Risk Reduction Policy, 2074 BS
The policy aims to reduce disaster risks, prevent potential impacts, and build a safe, climate-adaptive, and resilient nation.
Vision
Build a disaster-safe, climate-adaptive, and resilient nation, contributing to sustainable development.
Objectives
- Minimize loss of life, property, health, livelihoods, infrastructure, and cultural and environmental assets from natural and non-natural disasters.
- Enhance understanding and access to disaster risk information across all levels and communities.
- Strengthen disaster risk-friendly governance for risk reduction and management.
- Integrate disaster risk reduction with climate change adaptation and mainstream it into development processes.
- Increase public and private investment in disaster risk reduction to enhance resilience.
- Strengthen disaster management information systems and expand multi-hazard early warning systems for effective preparedness and response.
- Ensure recovery, rehabilitation, and reconstruction based on the Build Back Better approach.
Concepts
- Adopt coordination and collaboration among federal, provincial, and local levels as per the Constitution.
- Embrace principles of good governance (participation, accountability, transparency) and gender and social inclusion.
- Adopt risk-sensitive development approaches.
- Implement multi-hazard disaster risk management.
- Maximize use of local resources, knowledge, and skills.
- Promote innovative financial investments.
- Adopt the Build Back Better approach for recovery and reconstruction.
Policies
- Integrate disaster risk-related topics into educational curricula from school to higher levels.
- Enhance disaster awareness and learning at the community level.
- Regularly monitor and measure natural and non-natural hazards.
- Develop systems for disaster risk assessment and mapping.
- Identify vulnerable communities and enhance their capacities.
- Identify accident-prone areas, assess risks, and designate disaster zones.
- Develop a modern Disaster Management Information System (DMIS) for accessible information.
- Build capacity for disaster research, prevention, preparedness, rescue, and recovery.
- Encourage collaboration among government, development partners, NGOs, Red Cross, universities, and stakeholders.
- Strengthen disaster management committees, emergency operation centers, and rescue teams at all levels.
- Expand and implement the Incident Command System at the local level.
- Establish disaster management funds at federal, provincial, and local levels for resource mobilization.
Challenges and Issues
- Increasing disaster risks due to climate change and human activities.
- Inability to integrate disaster risk reduction with health, infrastructure, and other development sectors.
- Insufficient investment in disaster risk reduction.
- Shortage of skilled manpower for disaster management.
- Lack of practical implementation of land-use planning.
- Weak vertical and horizontal inter-agency coordination.
Solutions to Address Challenges
“Digging a well after the fire starts won’t address disasters.”
- Mainstream disaster risk reduction as a cross-cutting issue in all development policies and implement accordingly.
- Ensure sufficient budgets and skilled manpower for disaster management.
- Implement the roles of all government levels as per laws and policies.
- Enhance the role and capacity of local governments.
- Strictly enforce land-use policies and building codes.
- Promote community-based disaster management, emphasizing local skills and technologies.
- Mandate disaster risk analysis for all infrastructure projects.
- Regularly monitor and evaluate disaster risk reduction activities.
- Promote academic collaboration and research in disaster risk reduction.
Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–2030)
Priority Actions
- Priority 1: Understanding disaster risk.
- Priority 2: Strengthening disaster risk governance for management.
- Priority 3: Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience.
- Priority 4: Enhancing preparedness for effective response and Build Back Better in recovery, rehabilitation, and reconstruction.
Difference Between Crisis and Disaster
| Crisis | Disaster |
|---|---|
| Can have minor or major impacts. | Causes significant impacts. |
| Can sometimes be resolved with minor efforts. | Involves significant loss of life and property. |
| Can be managed through general measures. | Requires planned management. |
| May sometimes be indirect in nature. | Is tangible and directly visible. |
| All crises are not disasters. | All disasters are crises. |
Disaster-Sensitive Development Planning Process
This process integrates risk assessment and management into development activities to minimize potential disaster risks and ensure sustainable development. It aims to mainstream disaster risk reduction into development planning. Key processes include:
- Disaster Risk Assessment: Identifying potential disasters and assessing their risk levels in development planning.
- Strategy Formulation: Developing mitigation, adaptation, and resilience strategies.
- Community Participation: Incorporating local knowledge, needs, and priorities to enhance disaster management capacity.
- Focus on Sustainable Development: Ensuring environmental protection, social inclusion, and economic stability for sustainable resilience.
- Policy and Legal Framework: Developing and implementing clear policies, regulations, and standards for disaster risk reduction.
- Inter-Agency Coordination: Addressing disaster risks holistically through coordination among sectors (health, education, infrastructure).
- Continuous Monitoring and Evaluation: Regularly assessing plan effectiveness and making necessary improvements.
Arrangements in Nepal
a) Constitutional Provisions
Article 51(f): Policies on conservation, promotion, and use of natural resources, including disaster risk reduction, early warning, preparedness, rescue, relief, and rehabilitation.
b) Policy/Legal Arrangements
- Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, 2074 BS: Covers risk reduction, preparedness, response, and recovery.
- National Disaster Risk Reduction Policy, 2075 BS: Focuses on disaster-sensitive infrastructure, land-use planning, and community resilience.
- National Climate Change Policy, 2076 BS: Integrates climate-induced disaster management into development planning.
- Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Prioritize disaster-sensitive infrastructure and community resilience (Goals 11 and 13).
- Sixteenth Periodic Plan: Emphasizes biodiversity, climate change, and green economy.
- Environment Protection Act, 2076 BS: Mandates IEE and EIA.
- Hydrometeorological Disaster Management Policy, 2072 BS.
- Local Government Operation Act, 2074 BS.
c) Institutional Arrangements
- National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
- National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.
- Provincial and local disaster management committees.
- District Disaster Management Committee.
- National Planning Commission.
d) Programs and Strategic Arrangements
- Early warning systems.
- Project Bank: Prioritizing disaster-sensitive projects.
- Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA): Mandatory risk and environmental impact evaluation.
- Community participation: Consumer committees and community forest groups.
- Climate adaptation programs.
- Disaster (earthquake)-resilient infrastructure: Building codes and standards.
- Build Back Better approach in reconstruction.
- Prime Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund.
- Local-level disaster risk reduction and management funds.
- International assistance: Support from UNICEF, World Bank, and other donors for disaster-sensitive programs.
Hazards
According to UNISDR, a hazard is a potentially damaging physical event or human activity that may cause loss of life, injury, property damage, social and economic disruption, or environmental degradation. Hazards are primarily natural or non-natural.
Examples include earthquakes, floods, landslides, road accidents, droughts, and epidemics. Not all hazards become disasters. A hazard becomes a disaster when a community or society cannot cope with its negative impacts using available resources, leading to significant human and material losses.
Nepal is among the countries at high risk from recurring multi-hazard events.
Reasons for Risk
- Rugged terrain and weak geological conditions.
- Climatic variability and climate change.
- Population growth.
- Poverty.
- Unplanned urbanization.
- Risk-insensitive development activities.
Natural Hazards
- Earthquakes, floods, landslides, inundation, lightning, droughts, snowfall, hailstorms, avalanches, glacial lake outbursts, extreme rainfall, droughts, storms, cold waves, heatwaves.
Non-Natural Hazards
- Road accidents, epidemics, famines, pest or microbial attacks, avian or swine flu, pandemics, snakebites, animal attacks, mining, air, water, or industrial accidents, fires, toxic gas leaks, chemical or radiation spills, gas explosions, food poisoning, environmental pollution, deforestation, wildfires, structural damage, and accidents during rescue operations.
Conclusion
Nepal has adopted policy, institutional, and technical arrangements for implementing disaster-sensitive development planning. However, challenges like coordination, capacity, and financial resource shortages require further efforts. Disasters cannot be eliminated, but their risks can be minimized. In a resource-constrained developing country like Nepal, sustainable development with maximum public participation can significantly reduce disaster risks. This requires honest cooperation and coordination among all government levels and stakeholders.