ISSN : 2693 6356 

2022 | Vol 5 | Issue 5 

 

The Role of Organizations and Employee Engagement in Disaster Management 

in the Context of Natural Disasters 

Ms. Niharika Singh (Assistant Professor) 

G.L Bajaj Institute of Management & Research, Gr. Noida 

 

 

 
 

Abstract: Disaster prevention may mean different things to different individuals depending on 

their field of study. To lessen the severity of; alleviate the burden of; moderate is the definition of 

the word mitigate. As a result, preventative measures may be planned as if they would be 

implemented after the fact. catastrophe mitigation, on the other hand, is defined as "Measures 

taken in advance of a disaster with the aim of decreasing or eliminating its impact on social and 

environmental systems" in a globally agreed upon multilingual vocabulary. 

The Indian government recognizes the need of including preventative measures and damage 

control into its growth plans. The disaster management strategy is laid out in great detail in the 

Ten Year Plan document. The plan stresses the need of incorporating mitigating measures into 

the development process in order to ensure long-term sustainability. Each state is responsible for 

developing its own disaster preparedness strategy in conformity with the framework laid forth in 

the plan. To sum up, mitigating measures are increasingly becoming standard in the 

development planning process. The Finance Commission suggests how money should be 

distributed between the federal government and the states, as well as how much should be spent 

on humanitarian aid. The sections highlight the gaps in preparedness and catastrophe 

prevention strategies. 

 (Key Words- Manage, lessen, prevent, and alleviate disasters.) 

 

 

 
Introduction 

 

Floods, droughts, earthquakes, and tsunamis 

are all examples of natural disasters that may 

have a significant negative impact on human 

life. These trigger fatalities, material losses, 

and societal and economic upheaval. Due to 

population and resource growth, these types of 

losses have worsened with time.The 

consequences of natural catastrophes on 

people and the environment are worsening. 

Reasons include environmental deterioration 

and perhaps global climate change, as well as 

rapid population expansion and density, 

migration, and unplanned urbanization. 

Political strategies for addressing the idea of 

risk have evolved in contemporary cultures 

due to the magnitude of social and economic 

repercussions from natural catastrophes. The 

number of victims of natural and man-made 

catastrophes during the previous two decades 

is compared.Natural catastrophes come in 

many forms in India. The following are 

examples of frequent natural disasters that 

may strike anywhere in the United 

States.Droughts-Drought is perhaps the 

manifestation of desertification, which may be 

due to unprecedented soil erosion, widespread 

deforestation, abrupt changes in micro-

climate, increasing temperatures and 

decreasing rainfall, etc., ultimately leading to 

fall of groundwater level and hence, loss of 

agricultural productivity of the land, due to 

lack of water resources. Droughts are a 



 

 

recurrent occurrence in India because much of 

the country's agriculture relies on 

rainwater.When there is a lot of rain in the 

catchments of rivers, particularly during the 

monsoon, and no dam to hold back the water, 

the rivers will flood. Similar to the prevalence 

of drought, floods may happen anywhere in 

the nation.The nation is prone to earthquakes 

because its geological formations are part of 

the younger, more ephemeral Gondwana 

landmass. There are still several areas in the 

nation that are considered to be earthquake 

hotspots. There are numerous devastating 

examples that may be drawn from 

history.earthquakes had shacked the backbone of 

the country; the recent one is being the earthquake 

of Bhuj at the state of Gujarat. The great 

Himalayan Mountain range, which belongs to 

comparatively the younger geological formations, 

which is still undergoing morphological changes, 

the construction of Tehri Dam, therefore, is a 

great-threat to the Garhwal region of the 

Himalayas. 

Cyclone-Due to low pressure in the 

atmosphere and frequent formation of 

whirls; cyclones take place frequently at 

the eastern coast of India. In the Bay of 

Bengal of Indian Ocean, these Low- 

pressure Whirls are formed and gets 

transmitted to the coastal districts of 

Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. The recent 

super-cyclone at Orissa in October, 1999 

took away the life of more than 25,000 

people, destroyed the properties of more 

than thousands billion dollars and more 

than a millions of people rendered 

jobless. Their livelihood security of the 

common mass was also got severely 

threatened 

Hot waves-In recent days, India has got 

highly affected by a new form of natural 

calamities i.e flowing of hot waves again 

in the east coast, killing the thousands of 

people in the Northen and Eartern parts of 

the country like, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, 

Rajasthan, Gujarat, Orissa and Andhra 

Pradesh. The flow of hot waves is also 

known as ‘Sun-stroke,’ which in fact, is 

common in our country. In Orissa, alone 

about 151 people died of “ Sun-stock “ in 

1999.The worst sufferers are physically 

weaker persons, Old men and women and 

the children. 

Cold Waves-The incidents of death due to 

cold waves occur in higher and lesser 

Himalayas especially in the States of 

Uttaranchal, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh 

and Northern Parts of West Bengal 

including Darjiling. In addition, there are 

also other natural calamities such as 

Tornado, Spiral tide Whirls etc, which 

occur very often in our country. 

India’s Deadliest Disasters 

 

Sr. 

No 

Disaster Impact 

1. 29th October 1971, Orissa Cyclone and tidal waves killed 10,000 

people 

2. 19th November, 1977, Andhra Pradesh Cyclone and tidal waves killed 20,000 

3. 29th and 30th October 1999, 

Orissa 

Cyclone and tidal waves killed 9,000 and 18 

million people were affected 

 Earthquake  

1. 20th October 1991 Uttarkashi An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 killed 

723 people 

2. 30th September 1993 Latu Approximately 8000 people died and 

there was a heavy loss to infrastructure 

3. 26th January, 2001, Bhuj, Gujarat More than 10,000 dead and heavy loss 

to infrastructure 



 

 

 Landslide  

1. July 1991, Assam 300 people killed, heavy loss to roads 

and infrastructure 

2. 18th August 1998, Malpa 210 people killed. Villages were washed 

away 

 Flood  

1. 1978 Floods in North East India 3,800 people killed and heavy loss to property. 

2. 1994 Floods in Assam, Arunachal 

Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, 

Himachal Pradesh, 

Panjab, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, 

Kerala and Gujarat 

More than 2000 people killed and thousands 

affected 

3. 18 June 2013 Floods in Kedarnath, 

Uttarakhand 

More than 5700 people were presumed dead 

 

DISASTER MITIGATION 

The objectives of disaster prevention and mitigation are to 

minimize the following:- 

i. Loss of life 

ii. Damage to property 

iii. Economic disruption 

All aspects of prevention of disasters will significantly contribute to reducing the effects of 

disasters on occurrence. The responsiveness at all levels of society and administration would 

decide the effectiveness of disasters mitigation. 

Mitigation measures would include the following:- 

Approach to Disaster Management 
 

Till recently, the approach to Disaster 

Management has been reactive and 

relief centric. A paradigm shift has 

now taken place at the national level 

from the relief centric syndrome to 

holistic and integrated approach with 

emphasis on prevention, mitigation 

and preparedness. These efforts are 

aimed to conserve developmental 

gains as also minimize losses to lives, 

livelihood and property. A typical 

Disaster Management continuum as 

shown below, comprising of six 

elements i.e., Prevention, Mitigation 

and Preparedness in pre-disaster 

phase, and Response, Rehabilitation 

and Reconstruction in post-disaster 

phase, defines the complete approach 

to Disaster Management

 

 



 

 

 
 

Pre-Emergency Phase 

The emphasis in the pre-emergency 

phase is on reducing the vulnerability of 

communities to Suffer from the impact of 

natural phenomena. Measures to achieve 

this objective include risk- 

2 An often used definition of ‘local’ – 

particularly by FAO – is that provided in 

the 1980s by N. Uphoff. 

Prevention 

Includes all measures aimed at avoiding 

that natural phenomena turn into disasters 

for settlements, economies and the 

infrastructures of communities. 

Mitigation 

Involves measures taken to limit the 

adverse impact of natural hazards and 

related environmental and technological 

disasters. Examples of mitigation are the 

retrofitting of buildings or the installation 

of flood-control dams, and specific 

legislation. 

Preparedness 

Involves measures taken to ensure 

effective response to the impact of 

disasters. Preparedness measures 

include, for example, evacuation plans, 

early warning systems, pre-stocking of 

relief Items – all being part of a national 

disaster relief plan. 

Emergency Phase 

In the emergency phase of a natural 

disaster, response mechanisms are 

automated. This phase is normally short-

lived and may be over within days or weeks. 

Post-Emergency Phase 

The transition from relief to rehabilitation 

is rarely clear-cut. On the one hand, the 

foundations of recovery and reconstruction 

are usually laid in the immediate 

aftermath of a major disaster, while 

emergency response activities are still 

ongoing. On the other hand, there is often, 

in the aftermath 

of a natural disaster, a phase when basic 

needs must still be met as the long-term 

benefits of rehabilitation and 

reconstruction projects have not yet been 

fully realized. As a result, the phasing-out 

of relief assistance must be managed 

carefully. 

Response 

Involves measures taken immediately 

prior to and following the disaster impact. 

Response measures are directed towards 

saving life and protecting property. They 

deal with the immediate disruption caused 

by the disaster. They include search and 

rescue, and the provision of emergency 

food, shelter, medical assistance. The 

effectiveness of responding to disasters 

largely depends on the level of 

preparedness 

Recovery 

Is the process by which communities are 

assisted in returning to their proper level 

of functioning? The recovery process can 

be very protracted, in some cases up to a 

decade or more. Typical activities 

undertaken under this phase include: 

restoration of essential services and 

installations, and long-term measures of 

reconstruction, including the replacement 

of buildings and infrastructure that have 

been destroyed by the disaster. 

Development 

Its inclusion in the disaster cycle is 



 

 

intended to ensure that following the 

natural disaster, countries factor hazard 

and vulnerability considerations into their 

development policies and plans, in the 

interest of national progress. 

The rationale behind the use of the 

expression ‘disaster management cycle’ is 

that disaster and 

its management is a continuum of inter-

linked activities. Yet, the expression is 

slightly deceiving in that it suggests that 

the periodic occurrence of natural 

disasters is something inevitable, always 

requiring the same response. On the 

contrary, if effective prevention and 

preparedness measures are implemented, 

natural disasters may be avoided by 

limiting the adverse impact of inevitable 

natural phenomena. 

 

Disaster Mitigation Organization 
 

Various organizations for interaction, 

decision making and communication 

already exist at the centre and state level. 

The department of agriculture and 

cooperation (DAC) in ministry of 

agriculture, government of India is the 

nodal department for all the matters 

concerning natural disaster relief. The 

national contingency action plane (CAP) 

facilitates launching of relief and rescue 

operation. There are various commits and 

groups for disaster management and for 

implementation of relief measures at the 

national level such as the national crises 

management committee (NCMC) and the 

crisis management group. 
The essential components of any effective disasters 

management organization would comprise the 

following:- 

i. The state machinery 

ii. The armed forces 

iii. Non government organizations 

Experience has shown that the state 

machinery for disaster management is 

neither complete nor effective. On the 

hand the armed forces and the NGO’s 

have played a significant role in disaster 

mitigation, relief operation and 

rehabilitation efforts. The armed forces 

with their disciplined manpower and 

available resources are well equipped to 

mitigate the effects of disasters and 

Manpower resources for disaster 

management would be available from 

state machinery, Armed forces, NGO’s 

and volunteers. 
 

 

Identification of the other resources 

required and ensuring their availability in 

time is a vital aspect of disaster 

management. These resources would vary 

depending on the type of disaster as also 

the area for which they are required. 

Some of the resources that would required 

are as follows:- 

i. Stores for flood relief. 

ii. Earth moving plant. 

iii. Mobile hospitals and operation theatres. 

iv. Transport for evacuation and carriage of 

relief stores. 



 

 

v. Tents and prefabricated shelters. 

vi. Relief stores (food, water, shelters). 

 

Conclusion 

The frequency or severity of natural disasters 

is not expected to reduce anytime soon. While 

certain geological processes may occur 

without of human influence, evidence suggests 

otherwise. The fast expansion of technological 

dangers is a potential outcome of the 

unchecked industrialization of most nations 

and the potential usage of dangerous 

chemicals suitable for use in weapons against 

civilian populations. There should not be a 

proportional rise in the ensuing health burden 

as the number of dangers increases. Consistent 

work is required to lessen risk by 

strengthening defenses and decreasing 

exposure via preventive and mitigation. 
A Strategic Approach- A developing 

nation's number one priority is, of course, 

development. Disasters and other 

emergencies have proved to be significant 

roadblocks on the way to sustainable 

development. The inadequacies of 

development programs and institutions, on 

the other hand, lessen the health 

response's impact during emergencies. 

Management of catastrophe risk is an 

integral part of development efforts. 

Countries with weak economies and 

healthcare systems must prioritize risk 

reduction above other priorities. This 

should be a top concern for everyone's 

health. 

 

References- 

1. Planning Commission 

(2002); "Tenth Five Year 

Plan (2002-2007) - 

Vol.1"; Planning 

Commission, 

Government of India; 

New Delhi. 

2. Gupta A; 

"Information 

Technology and 

Natural Disaster 

Management in 

India"; 

www.gisdevelopme

nt.net 

3. Acharrya, S.K. 1999. Natural 

Hazards: Earthquakes and 

Landslides in India during the 

nineties and mitigation strategy. 

Proc. Sem. on Earthquakes & 

landslides: Natural disaster 

mitigation, Calcutta, pp. 5-13. 

4. www.ndmindia.nic.in 

5. www.aidmi.org 
Disaster Relief – Worldwide Disaster Aid and 

Information via the Internet 

http://www.disasterrelief.org 

International Strategy for Disaster Reduction 

http://www.unisdr.org 

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