There were times not long ago when disaster management implied awaiting a disaster, suffering its effects, sending some relief, housing the displaced in some hurriedly vacated school buildings, and establishing a few kitchens for food disbursement. The emphasis was categorically on response, and the thought of preparing for disaster contingencies was still alien. The Disaster Management Act of Dec 2005 changed all that. It was triggered by three mega disasters: the Odisha super cyclone of 1999, the Bhuj earthquake of 2001, and the Indian Ocean Tsunami of Dec 2004. The realization came a little late that the world had moved on in the realm of disaster management (DM) and that this domain in India needed a fresh and professional approach.
The DM Act 2005 created three important organizations besides setting up the new functional structure. The handing over of DM responsibility from the Ministry of Agriculture to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had already taken place in 2002. This itself was an indicator of the comprehensive approach that the government wished to extend to DM. The three new organizations set up under the Act were the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM). These today form the triad of DM in India, with NDMA as the apex authority and the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India as its Chairperson. NDMA looks at public policy, guidelines, budgets, capacity building, training supervision, knowledge management and sharing, overseas cooperation, and overall coordination. The NIDM is the knowledge hub of DM with research work and linked analyses. The NDRF is the response arm. Currently, it has 16 units deployed all over India, with Rapid Reaction Centres in certain other locations to reduce response time. The NDRF is equipped with and trained to carry out specialized search and rescue.
The above is good for a broad idea of DM in India. The role of specialized relief and rescue in most disaster situations today is with NDRF, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) wherever it exists, and in support of them are the various other stakeholders such as the community responders in the form of Aapda Mitras (Friends in Disaster). Various other Central and State Police Forces join in to supplement this effort. However, with a country as large as ours and facing multiple terrains and threats, these response resources are never sufficient, given the magnitude of climate change and extreme weather events. That is what brings us to the role of the Indian Army in DM response and, therefore, preparedness to undertake it.
The DM Act 2005 mentions the “deployment of naval, military and air forces, other armed forces of the Union or any other civilian personnel as may be required for the purposes of this Act” under the heading “Measures by the Government for Disaster Management.” There is no amplification or mention of the role of the armed forces with a view to offering legal support and backup. Yet, no one can discount the role that the Army inevitably plays in disasters. With each passing year, this role is expanding as three things happen: first, climate change brings on extreme weather events; second, the rapid rate of urbanization and development gives rise to new, unimagined threats; and third, infrastructure expansion leads to greater risk.
The Army is a highly professional force with tremendous mission flexibility, discipline, robustness of approach, and a complete sense of commitment and focus. Its sense of organization, drills/SOPs, and frontline leadership give it the capability to quickly grasp the essence of a situation and respond, either as first responders or as support elements behind another force or entity which has taken the lead. Task and mission orientation plays a major role in DM, and all Army organizations have that inherent capability of converging their resources, expertise, and leadership towards the mission. Small team orientation and capability, an essential part of a soldier’s ethos, stand him in good stead when working under stress and time constraints, which is more often than not the contingency that presents itself in disaster situations.
Among other inherent characteristics of the Army are basic work equipment, communication resources, and engineering wherewithal. The basic unit equipment allows sub-units to function in a way as to extend essential support in relief work. With watermanship an essential aspect of training and improvisation a core culture, one can witness many cases of ingenuity. A small sub-unit of 13 Garh Rif, which had just arrived a few weeks before the Kerala floods of 2018 in its new peace station in Trivandrum, used rope and tarpaulins in an ingenious way to make boats and rescue almost 600 stranded people. The Corps of Engineers, by virtue of their training, orientation, and equipment, can work wonders in difficult situations.
In the recent landslide situation in Wayanad, Kerala, the HQ Dakshin Bharat Area at Chennai identified the presence of a training Bailey Bridge at the Madras Engineer Group (MEG) Centre. It created an Engineer Task Force and moved the bridge to Wayanad to make essential access to the affected area. Similarly, in the State of Telangana, the floods had washed away embankments and created breaches through which water was gushing. The State was unaware of the presence of an Engineer Task Force (ETF) at Secunderabad with essential equipment. The ETF was requisitioned once NDMA brought this to the State Government’s notice. The ETF could perform admirably in the face of the gushing waters from the breaches.
The above are just a few instances of the successful conduct of response operations by Army units. There are many more such success stories, such as the work on the sluice gates at Delhi during the 2023 flood in the National Capital Region and the excellent work by the Border Roads Organization (BRO) and the Division Engineer Regiment in the Silkyara Tunnel rescue effort in Nov 2023. In the mountains, and especially in the vicinity of the border region, the presence of the Army in strength makes it automatically a first responder. During avalanches and other high-altitude-related accidents and disasters, Army units provide Avalanche Rescue Teams and search patrols in quick time.
The ability to put up communications in an early time frame in the vicinity of a disaster-struck site is again the forte of the Army’s Corps of Signals, who work closely with the local civilian service providers to restore communication at the earliest. The Army’s command post culture comes extremely handy when, under turbulent terrain and weather conditions, a central Emergency Operations Centre is the first thing to come up and becomes the center of all information gathering and decision-making.
In one of the rare cases of sensitivity, the Army’s HQ 15 Corps, in 2011, overnight created mass mobile charging outlets by placing small generators on lorries and positioning these at important crossroads. The local population had been badly hit by power outages due to heavy snow, leading to the breakage of a number of power lines. In this way, it could kill the beginnings of black marketing of mobile charges at the exorbitant rate of Rs 75 per charge.
When it comes to medical assistance, the Army’s doctors, nurses, and other medical staff have the unique capability to work at the site of the disaster under field conditions. Battlefield medical conditions are very similar, except for the absence of enemy activity and threat. The ability to render on-the-spot treatment is best available with the Army Medical Corps, whose capability combines extremely well with paramilitary and railways medical staff. The setting up of field surgeries is the forte of the Armed Forces Medical Services. In the devastating earthquake in Turkiye in Feb 2023, the Army’s 60th Parachute Field Hospital rendered yeoman service to the people and was given a standing ovation by the members of the Turkish Parliament. Six lady doctors who accompanied the hospital were a major asset because of the need for gender sensitivity in the handling of female earthquake victims. Thus, the unit contributed greatly to one of the very important points given in the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s Ten Point Agenda for Risk Reduction – gender sensitivity.
The honest and efficient way that the Army works in rendering assistance and distributing resources without fear or favor in post-disaster situations came to the fore when, in Oct 2008, during the Kashmir earthquake, the people of Uri, the most affected area, demanded that the responsibility for the distribution of all aid should be given only to the Army. They were sure that was the only way by which aid would reach where it was most needed. There is no doubt that the greatest quality of the Army remains its ability to work dispassionately under turbulent conditions of climate, terrain, or resource paucity with little rest and full energy.
With greater emphasis on professionalization in the DM domain, the infusion of technologies such as drones and mass early warning dissemination capability through apps such as Sachet, the Army cannot detach itself from accepting the need to upgrade its levels of knowledge and remain in sync with multiple other organizations that contribute to the enhancement of national-level DM preparedness and capability. In this regard, it is heartening to see the opening of minds at the highest levels with invitations to the NDMA by individual Army formations for the conduct of integrated symposiums and Table Top Exercises (TTEx). Two HQ Commands have joined hands with NDMA and at least ten SDMAs, along with several national technical agencies, to conduct such events. Many more are in the offing with specific Arms and Services such as the Corps of Engineers and the Army Medical Corps.
What is important for the Indian Armed Forces to realize is that most disasters today can be handled by some of the well-trained forces such as NDRF and SDRF. It is the mega disasters that will demand the attention of the Armed Forces, particularly when specialized resources such as aviation, engineers, and field medical support are required. When it comes to mega disasters, such as earthquakes in large urban centers, there can be no alternative to the Indian Army and the other Armed Forces playing the lead role. Remember, there are only two domains where an ‘all of government’ and an ‘all of society’ approach would be required: all-out war and mega disaster situations. The Indian Army will have to take the lead in both.
As a last piece of advice to the leadership from someone who now knows both domains to a level of reasonable comfort – soldiering and DRR, there are two starting points for the leadership at all levels to start their familiarization with DRR. The first is a thorough understanding of the Sendai Framework and the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The second, the home-delivered mantra, is none other than the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s Ten Point Agenda for DRR.
