Natural and Man-Made Disaster

A disaster can be defined as a sudden, accidental event of great magnitude that causes considerable damage to life and property.

Three effects of disaster are-

1. Loss of life
2. Loss of property
3. Displacement of people affected by the disaster

There are three types of disasters-

1. Natural disasters
2. Man-made disasters
3. Hybrid disasters

Three causes of disaster are-

1. Rapid and uncontrolled urbanisation
2. Mismanagement of natural resources
3. Faulty infrastructure of buildings

Three effects of earthquakes are-

1. Tsunamis.
2. Landslides.
3. Loss of lives and destruction of property.

Tsunamis are generated by a large impulsive displacement of the sea bed. They can be generated by earthquakes of the sea floor, landslides under water and volcanic activity.

The last tsunami that occurred in India was that of 26^th December, 2004 on Boxing Day.

Three preventive measures to be taken during floods are-

1. The area must be evacuated at the first sign of warning.
2. Electrical appliances must be disconnected to avoid short circuit resulting in fire.
3. Important and essential items like drinking water, food and flash light must be taken while going to a shelter.

Bhopal Gas tragedy occurred on the night of 2nd and 3rd December, 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL), a pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

The long term effects of Bhopal Gas Tragedy were-

1. Thousands of people had succumbed by the morning hours after the leak in the night.
2. More than 170,000 people were treated at hospitals.
3. The cause of deaths were choking, reflex organic circulatory collapses and pulmonary oedema.
4. Findings during autopsies revealed changes not only in lungs but also cerebral oedema and tubular necrosis of the kidneys.
5. The still birth rate increased upto 300% and neonatal mortality rate by 200%.
6. UCCS laboratory tests in 1989 revealed that the soil and water samples collected near the factory were toxic to fish. Hence, fish was not considered edible.
7. The hazardous health concern still continues.

Three causes of hybrid disasters are-

1. Indiscriminate cutting down of the forests
2. Rapid industrialisation
3. Indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources

Disaster Management can be defined as the organization and management of resources and responsibilities for dealing with all humanitarian aspects of emergencies, in particular, preparedness, response and recovery in order to lessen the impact of disasters. It involves teamwork and cooperation from all sections of society i.e. from common man to the government to prepare an efficient plan of action that enables effective efforts to reduce the dangers caused by the disaster to a minimum. Disaster management broadly encompasses the management before, during and after a disaster. It simply means planning of various steps to reduce the aftermath of a disaster, planning effective response system, planning rehabilitation and also preparing disaster resilient communities.

NDM stands for National Disaster Management. It is a framework developed by the ministry of home affairs (MHA) for preparing the communities to counter the adverse effects of disasters through integration of disaster mitigation into development planning.

The objectives of NDM include imparting special training to disaster management personnel to create public awareness towards disaster management, training of engineers, architects and masons in safe construction practices and in addition, Disaster Management has been included as a core subject in the school curriculum of all educational boards.

The flash floods in Uttarakhand in June 2013 were caused due to heavy rainfall in the state of Uttarakhand and adjoining areas, which was about 375% more than the benchmark rainfall during a normal rainfall.

This caused the melting of Chorabari glacier at the height of 3800 metres and erupting of Mandakini river, which led to heavy floods, near Gobind Ghat, Kedar Dham, Rudraprayag and Uttarakhand.

Three effects of flash floods are-

1. According to the figures provided by the Uttarakhand Government, 5748 people were missing.
2. According to the figures provided by the Uttarakhand Government, about 1000 people were reported dead.
3. Damage to bridges and roads left over 70,000 pilgrims to Kedarnath, trapped in various places. Many of them were rescued by army, Indian air force and the paramilitary troops.

Fire safety is a set of practices intended to reduce destruction caused by fire. Fire measures include those that are intended to prevent ignition of an uncontrolled fire, and those that are used to limit the development and effects of a fire after it starts.

Remote sensing satellites orbit the earth at different altitudes. They gather electromagnetic energy reflected or scattered back from a part of the earth's atmosphere below the satellite.

Satellite remote sensing is a powerful tool and can clearly reveal the factors causing environmental degradation occurring in any part of the world.

Monitoring emergencies as they happen, keeping track of a flood, alerting Coast Guard to pollutants in water, detecting burning fires are some of the important tasks done by remote sensing satellites.

When disasters occur due to natural forces, they are called natural disasters, over which man has hardly any control. For example, earthquakes, floods etc.

A man-made disaster is a disaster resulting from human intent, negligence or error. For example, nuclear disaster, chemical disaster etc.

Hybrid disasters are the disasters that are linked with both natural and man-made disasters. For example, drought due to over-consumption, landslides due to extensive deforestation etc.

(i) calamity

(ii) man-made

(iii) Landslides

(iv) naturally

(v) Uttarakhand

Disaster is a natural or a man made event because it can be caused due to any natural phenomena, human activities or both.

Fire hazards pose threat to life and property as they include all types of live flames, causes of sparks, hot objects and chemicals that have a potential for ignition, or that can aggravate a fire to become large and uncontrolled.

Human activities have disastrous consequences for human beings themselves as human beings have interfered with the natural environment to a great extent. Moreover, human activities are generally responsible for causing many hybrid disasters.

Mismanagement of natural resources is the main cause of natural disasters as a natural disaster is a disruption in the balance of the environment. Human activities like over exploitation of natural resources can also disrupt the balance of the environment.

All over the world the frequency of disasters is increasing as a result of degradation of environment and changing climate patterns.

Natural disaster

All the above

9.0

Meltdown in a reactor

Man-made disaster

National Disaster Management

Brahmaputra and Barak rivers

Flood

Indo-Australian & Eurasian Plate

Flood

Hybrid disaster

Chorabari

harbour wave

intensity of seismic wave