National Disaster Management Authority, abbreviated as NDMA, is an apex Body of Government of India, with a mandate to lay down policies for disaster management. The phrase disaster management is to be understood as a continuous and integrated process of planning, organising, coordinating and implementing measures, which are necessary or expedient for prevention of danger or threat of any disaster,mitigation or reduction of risk of any disaster or severity of its consequences, capacity building, preparedness to deal with any disaster, prompt response, assessing the severity or magnitude of effects of any disaster, evacuation, rescue, relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction'. NDMA was established through the Disaster Management Act enacted by the Government of India on 23 December 2005. NDMA is responsible for framing policies, laying down guidelines and best-practices for coordinating with the State Disaster Management Authorities to ensure a holistic and distributed approach to disaster management. It is headed by the Prime Minister of India and can have up to nine other members. Since 2020, there have been five other members. There is a provision to have a Vice Chair-person if needed. NDMA has a vision to "build a safer and disaster resilient India by a holistic, pro-active, technology driven and sustainable development strategy that involves all stakeholders and fosters a culture of prevention, preparedness and mitigation." NDMA equips and trains other Government officials, institutions and the community in mitigation for and response during a crisis situation or a disaster. It works closely with the National Institute of Disaster Management for capacity building. It develops practices, delivers hands-on training and organizes drills for disaster management. It also equips and trains disaster management cells at the state and local levels.
Functions and responsibilities
NDMA, as the apex body, is mandated to lay down the policies, plans and guidelines for Disaster Management to ensure timely and effective response to disasters. Towards this, it has the following responsibilities:-
Approve plans prepared by the Ministries or Departments of the Government of India in accordance with the National Plan;
Lay down guidelines to be followed by the State Authorities in drawing up the State Plan;
Lay down guidelines to be followed by the different Ministries or Departments of the Government of India for the Purpose of integrating the measures for prevention of disaster or the mitigation of its effects in their development plans and projects;
Coordinate the enforcement and implementation of the policy and plans for disaster management;
Recommend provision of funds for the purpose of mitigation;
Provide such support to other countries affected by major disasters as may be determined by the Central Government;
Take such other measures for the prevention of disaster, or the mitigation, or preparedness and capacity building for dealing with threatening disaster situations or disasters as it may consider necessary;
Lay down broad policies and guidelines for the functioning of the National Institute of Disaster Management.
Programs
NDMA runs various programs for mitigation and responsiveness for specific situations. These include the National Cyclone Risk Management Project, School Safety Project, Decision Support System and others. India Disaster Response Summit held on 9 November 2017 held at New Delhi. This Summit was jointly organised by the National Disaster Management Authority and social networking site Facebook. India has become the first country to partner with Facebook on disaster response.
NDMA Guidelines
AT NDMA Official Site:-
Guidelines for Preparation of Action Plan – Prevention and Management of Heat-Wave
