10. Disaster Management

A railway accident is a man-made disaster. The others are natural disasters.

A tsunami is caused by an earthquake under the sea. The others are caused by changes in weather.

Locusts are insects. The others come out of a volcano.

The others are causes of famine. A volcano is not.

• Use water carefully and reuse it.
• Do rainwater harvesting. Build farm ponds and check dams.
• Plant more trees and stop cutting them.
• Change farming plans according to weather forecasts.
• Store food grains and fodder for difficult years.

• Fit lightning conductors on tall buildings.
• Stay inside a pucca house during a thunderstorm.
• Do not stand under a tree, near electric poles or on open ground.
• Come out of water. Get off bicycles and two-wheelers.
• Do not use plugged-in electrical appliances.

• Pay attention to weather warnings.
• Cut down weak trees and branches.
• Take shelter in a safe building.
• Switch off the gas and the main electric supply.
• Keep away from trees, hoardings and electric poles.

• Pay attention to heavy rain warnings.
• Move away from low-lying areas and river banks in time.
• Keep drains clean so that water flows away easily.
• Plant trees on hill slopes to hold the soil.
• Move to higher places when water starts rising.

Information about a storm must be told to all, so that people can move to safe places in time.

Water conducts electricity, so lightning can give a swimmer a dangerous shock.

A volcanic eruption cannot be prevented; it can only be predicted.

Heavy rains destroy crops in the fields, which causes a shortage of food grains.

A tsunami is a series of huge sea waves. ‘Tsunami’ is a Japanese word. It means ‘harbour wave’.

Cause: A tsunami is caused by an earthquake or a volcanic eruption on the ocean floor. The water above is pushed up and huge waves form. These waves travel very fast. Near the coast, their height increases a lot. They cause great destruction.

Very heavy rainfall over a small area in a short time is called a cloudburst. The rate of rainfall is 100 mm or more per hour. It causes floods and landslides in hilly areas. Example: Leh (Ladakh) in 2010.

• Lava, ash and hot mud collect on the ground. They form mountains and hills.
• Volcanoes in the sea can form new islands.
• Ash and gases pollute the air.
• The temperature of the surroundings increases.
• Forests and villages get buried. Life and property are lost.

• Stay in a pucca house. Fit lightning conductors on buildings.
• Do not stand under trees, near poles or on open ground.
• Do not lean on wire fences.
• Get off two-wheelers and come out of water.
• Keep about 15 feet distance between persons. Do not gather in one place.
• If caught outside, crouch low with feet together.
• Give first aid quickly to a person struck by lightning.

• Disaster management authorities work at state and district levels.
• Disaster control rooms work round the clock during the monsoon.
• NDRF and SDRF rescue teams are kept ready with boats and equipment.
• Warnings of heavy rain and release of dam water are given to villages.
• Dams, embankments and drains are built to control floods.
• People in landslide-prone areas are shifted to safe places.
• Mock drills and training programmes are held in schools and villages.

• The gas cylinder, regulator and pipe are in good condition.
• The electric wiring is safe. Everyone knows where the main switch is.
• There are no dangerous cracks in the walls or roof.
• An emergency kit is ready – torch, first-aid box, medicines, drinking water, dry food and a charged mobile.
• Important documents are kept safely in a waterproof bag.
• Emergency numbers are written down – 112, 108, 101.
• Every family member knows the safe way out of the house.

• Earthquake – Killari, Latur (Maharashtra), 1993
• Earthquake – Bhuj (Gujarat), 2001
• Tsunami – Coasts of Tamil Nadu and Andaman–Nicobar Islands, 2004
• Floods – Mumbai (Maharashtra), 2005
• Cloudburst – Leh (Ladakh), 2010
• Cloudburst and floods – Kedarnath (Uttarakhand), 2013
• Landslide – Malin, Pune district (Maharashtra), 2014
• Floods – Kolhapur and Sangli (Maharashtra), 2019

• Cyclones are given names so that people can identify them easily.
• Cyclones of the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea are named by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
• The names are given from a list made by 13 countries, including India.
• A name once used is not used again.
• Examples: Vardah, Nisarga, Tauktae.