Shri Kamal Kishore, Member Secretary of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) visited the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), New Delhi, on 2 May 2024 and delivered a lecture on “Disaster Risk Management in 21st Century “. The Session was chaired by the Director General, MP-IDSA, Ambassador Sujan R. Chinoy. The Deputy Director General, Gp.Capt. (Dr.) Ajey Lele (Retd.) and scholars of the Institute participated in the discussion.

Executive Summary

Shri. Kamal Kishore in his lecture talked about three global trends in Disaster Risk Management and five implications of these on India from India’s development, strategic perspectives. In his lecture he emphasised that along with India’s development story, there is a need to prioritise Disaster Risk Management in the country.

Detailed Report

The Director General, Ambassador Sujan R. Chinoy introduced Shri Kamal Kishore to the gathering and mentioned that Shri Kamal Kishore had worked on disaster risk reduction and recovery issues for over 22 years at the local, national, regional and global levels. He mentioned that prior to joining the National Disaster Management Authority, Shri Kishore worked with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for nearly 13 years in New Delhi, Geneva and New York. He further highlighted that at UNDP headquarters Shri Kishore has led global advocacy campaigns to address disaster risk reduction concerns in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the post-2015 development agenda. Amb. Chinoy also congratulated Shri Kamal Kishore on his recent appointment as the Assistant Secretary General and Special Representative to the UN Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction.

After introducing the Speaker, Amb. Chinoy highlighted in his opening remarks the importance of Disaster Risk Management in India. He mentioned that as climate change is leading to a greater risk of disasters, there is a need to develop suitable mechanisms to reduce the impacts of disasters. He mentioned that all this is also linked to larger salient initiatives of Prime Minister Modi’s Vision that include creating Pro-Planet People and initiatives such as LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment). He mentioned that all these reveal a deep sense of urgency even at the political level. Amb. Chinoy mentioned that despite all these ongoing initiatives in place, there is a need to develop more ‘Disaster Resilient Infrastructures’ around the country, which, in future, could be greatly beneficial in mitigating risks associated with disasters. With these initial remarks Amb. Sujan R. Chinoy, invited Shri Kamal Kishore to deliver his talk.

Shri Kamal Kishore thanked Amb. Chinoy for his kind introduction. He highlighted that his lecture would focus on three global trends in Disaster Risk Management and five implications these have on India from India’s development and strategic perspectives. He mentioned that the first trend in global disaster risk management focuses on ‘disaster-related death’ over the last 60 years. Shri Kishore mentioned that if one analyses ‘the global total’ data over all these years, it can be concluded that there has been a significant decline in the total number of people (Global Total) dying from disasters. Shri Kishore mentioned that over the years India has done a tremendous job in handling disasters related from Cyclones. He mentioned that in last year’s cyclone ‘Biparjoy’ in Gujarat, India for the first time was able to achieve Zero mortality rate. 

Shri Kishore mentioned that the second trend in Disaster Risk Management suggests that in the 21st century, people dying from a single disaster-related event is exceptionally high (more than 100,000 people dying in a single event). Giving an example of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, Shri Kishore mentioned that it affected a total of 13 countries out of which 5 countries were very badly impacted and the total number of people that died as a result of this was very high. He mentioned that in the 2008 Cyclone Nargis, the 2005 Earthquake in Kashmir and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and the 2023 Earthquake in Türkiye, the number of people who died in each of these events was extremely high. He therefore concluded that while there is a global trend of decline in mortality due to disasters, there still exist pockets in parts of the world which have high concentration of risks due to disasters.

The third trend highlighted by Shri Kishore was related to the ‘Economic Cost’ associated with the disasters. He mentioned that the overall economic losses as a result of disasters are increasing tremendously. Shri Kishore stressed that though states have become successful in reducing the mortality rate from disasters, the economic losses suffered by people as a result of these disasters in terms of their housing, livelihood, assets etc. have been huge. Shri Kishore mentioned that if India has to achieve its dream of ‘Viksit Bharat’ disaster risk management remains most important.

In the second part of his lecture, Shri Kishore highlighted the 5 implications of rising disaster risks for India. He first discussed the ‘Strategic Aspect’ in which he mentioned that due to different geographical terrains in India, it becomes difficult to predict disasters. Giving an example of a disaster event in Sikkim, Shri Kishore mentioned that there is a need to enhance our abilities in predicting the effects of disasters in these areas. He further said that extra emphasis is needed to be given to those infrastructural development projects in such regions that are of strategic importance to India. Shri Kishore highlighted that similarly, the issue of rising sea levels is of great concern. He mentioned that any disaster occurring as a result of rising sea levels could have implications for India’s Naval strategic infrastructures. He highlighted that disasters occurring from rising sea levels in the future could also have implications for the functioning of India’s Naval forces. He then mentioned that climate change and increasing annual temperatures could have implications for transboundary river systems within India and the entire South Asia region. Any fluctuations in the flow of rivers to our neighbouring states could have strategic and geopolitical challenges in the future. He also emphasised that increasing heat waves have the potential to impact India’s agricultural outputs in the future which could have negative implications for the county’s food and economic security.

Shri Kishore mentioned that the second implication is related to the ‘development of India’s own communities and people’. He explained this by giving the example of annual average losses emanating from disasters. He mentioned that the annual estimated losses as a result of disasters stand annually at an average of USD 3.8 billion. He mentioned that this comes to around 1 per cent of India’s GDP. He further emphasised that if we plan to spend 10 per cent of the GDP on developing infrastructures, roughly around 1 per cent is lost to disasters.

Shri Kishore pointed out that the third aspect of Disaster Risk Management relates to ‘International Disaster Diplomacy’. He pointed out that India has performed significantly well as compared to other global states in its pursuits of International Disaster Diplomacy. He mentioned that India was the first responder in the 2023 Türkiye earthquake. India sent 3 teams of the National Disaster Response Force. Shri Kishore highlighted the important role played by the ‘60 Para Field Hospital’ from Agra (a unit of the Indian Army) in setting up the field hospital and treating the injured people. He highlighted that the Indian medical team also consisted of enough women staff of doctors and nurses who played a crucial role in treating women and children affected due to the earthquake. He mentioned this initiative attained global appreciation for India and the country is presently known for its credible role in international disaster diplomacy. Shri Kishore pointed out that there is a need to further systematise our efforts and approach in this direction.

The fourth aspect highlighted by Shri Kishore relates to ‘Managing Risk’. He stressed that in order to manage risks associated with disasters, Indian institutions need to be agile and quick in terms of responding to disasters. He mentioned that this aspect requires deep thinking on which scholars at MP-IDSA can work on and contribute in the near future.

Lastly, Shri Kishore mentioned that the fifth aspect of Disaster Risk Management relates to ‘Implications for India’s’ Infrastructures’ as a result of disasters. Shri Kishore pointed out that in the last 10 years, the length of the Metro in India has increased 6 times of its existing networks and the National Highways in the country have increased 1.5 times. He mentioned that all these infrastructures remain exposed to disasters. Shri Kishore mentioned that India’s developing infrastructure needs to be built disaster-resilient.

Questions and Comments

The Director General, Ambassador Sujan R. Chinoy complimented the Speaker for his detailed talk on the subject. He asked the Speaker if NDMA brings out a Handbook of the technologies used in each of these disaster situations. He sought the Speaker’s response, particularly with regard to technologies used in making disaster resilient infrastructures. He further asked if such a handbook is available for the use of the common man. Secondly, Amb. Chinoy asked the Speaker to clarify whether NDMA also uses some kind of traditional construction technologies that the Indian ancient civilization used in the past to mitigate future natural disasters.

The Deputy Director General, Gp. Capt. (Dr.) Ajey Lele (Retd.) asked the Speaker about India’s capabilities and NDMA’s practices in prevention and management of forest fires in India.

Comdt. Manoranjan Srivastava asked the Speaker regarding the long-term perspective plans of NDMA with regard to future challenges like emerging cyclones and sea-level rise along the Indian coast. He also asked the Speaker to comment on the issue of climate migration (both internal and external) as a result of these challenges.

Dr. Gulbin Sultana asked the Speaker about flood management and developing of flood resilient infrastructures in Assam. She further asked the Speaker to comment on the management of people in shelters during flood situations, with regard to their basic issues of food, water and sanitation. 

Mr. Arvind Khare while referring to India’s role in international disaster diplomacy, asked the Speaker if India’s economic and technological capacities and capabilities are as per international standards.

Mr. D.S. Murugan Yadav, asked about the creation of State Disaster Response Forces. He asked the Speaker regarding the various types of agencies that would be pooled in for creation of such State Disaster Response Forces.

Shri Kamal Kishore gave a detailed explanation to all the questions and the comments raised and the talk ended with the Director General thanking Shri Kishore for the opportunity to interact with him.

Report prepared by Mr. Bipandeep Sharma, Research Analyst, NTS Centre, MP-IDSA, New Delhi.