Will urban disaster bodies help smoother handling of emergencies?

The Disaster Management Bill, 2024, passed in the Lok Sabha on December 12 as an amendment to the existing 2005 law has, among multiple modifications, envisaged the formation of urban disaster management authorities in a first. A senior official with experience in working with a state disaster management authority for more than three years said the amendment could have mandated frameworks for resource allocations into clear categories, such as mitigation, preparedness, rescue, and rehabilitation, as recommended by the 15th Finance Commission. “We need to pay more attention to creating urban search and rescue teams, which can operate at a sub-city level.” Kathyayini Chamaraj, a member of the social security association of India, said ward disaster management teams and booth-level committees need to be formed with volunteers. “This is important as, unlike disaster response that is done on war footing, mitigation will involve broader issues, such as improving land use practice, housing, setting development regulation norms and even preparing risk-informed master plans.” He questioned how a multiplicity of agencies, incongruous with one another, will achieve its goals and wondered if these urban bodies will be set up in industrial cities, such as Noida, which do not have traditional municipal bodies.