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Context

India recently hosted the 10th Session of the Governing Council of the Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM) in New Delhi.

What is APDIM?

The Asia Pacific Disaster Information Management Center (APDIM) is a regional body established in 2015, to support sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific by providing accurate and effective disaster risk information.

Parent Body: United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP)

Headquarters: Tehran, Iran  

Governing Council: Consisting of eight ESCAP member countries elected for a period of three years (India is one of the members for a period from 2022 to 2025). 

Contribution to Global Goals: Directly supports Targets of the Sendai Framework (2015-2030), which aims to substantially increase access to multi-hazard early warning systems and risk information by 2030.

India's Approach to Disaster Management

India shifted from a relief-based to a proactive disaster management model focusing on prevention, preparedness, and mitigation, formalized by the Disaster Management Act, 2005, which established bodies like the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).PM’s 10-Point Agenda on DRR 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced a Ten-Point Agenda at the 2016 Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) in New Delhi.

• All development sectors must imbibe the principles of disaster risk management.
• Risk coverage must include all, starting from poor households to SMEs to multi-national corporations to nation states. 
• Women’s leadership and greater involvement should be central to disaster risk management.
• Invest in risk mapping globally to improve global understanding of Nature and disaster risks.
• Leverage technology to enhance the efficiency of disaster risk management efforts.
• Develop a network of universities to work on disaster-related issues.
• Utilise the opportunities provided by social media and mobile technologies for disaster risk reduction.
• Build on local capacity and initiative to enhance disaster risk reduction.
• Make use of every opportunity to learn from disasters and, to achieve that, there must be studies on the lessons after every disaster.
• Bring about greater cohesion in international response to disasters 

Key Initiatives & Success Stories

Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI):

• Launched by India at the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit, as a global partnership to promote the resilience of infrastructure to climate and disaster risks.
• It has grown to include 39 Country Members and 8 Organizational Members, prompting knowledge exchange and capacity building globally.

Case Study: Odisha’s Cyclone Management Model:

• Odisha, which suffered over 10,000 deaths in the 1999 Super Cyclone, is now a global benchmark for cyclone preparedness.
• During the extremely severe Cyclone Fani (2019), the state implemented a "zero casualty" policy. By leveraging accurate early warnings from the IMD and a network of cyclone shelters, it successfully evacuated approximately 1.2 million people to safety within 24 hours, minimizing loss of life.

Case Study: Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC):

• Established in 2007 at INCOIS, Hyderabad, after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
• It provides timely tsunami advisories not just for India but also serves as a Tsunami Service Provider for 25 other Indian Ocean Rim countries under the UNESCO-IOC framework.
• The centre can issue warnings within 10-20 minutes of a major submarine earthquake.

Source: PIB