Disaster Management Plan at Panchayat Level – UPSC GS3

Context: Government has released the Disaster Management Plan of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (DMP-MoPR).
Disaster Management Plan at Panchayat Level:
  • It has been prepared with a larger perspective of community-based planning starting from Village to District Panchayat level.
  • Under the Plan, every Indian village would have a “Village Disaster Management Plan” and every Panchayat would have their Disaster Management Plan.
  • The aim is to build disaster resilience at the grassroots level among the Panchayats and establish a framework to align the disaster management measures in rural areas to that of the National Disaster Management Authority.
  • It incorporates many innovations in addition to being in compliance with Disaster Management Act 2005, National Disaster Management Policy 2009, and guidelines issued by National Disaster Management Authority.
What will be covered under the Disaster Management Plan?
  • Institutional arrangement for Disaster Management.
  • Hazard Risk, Vulnerability and Capacity Analysis.
  • Coherence of Disaster Risk Management across Resilient Development and Climate Change Action.
  • Disaster Specific Preventive and Mitigation Measures-Responsibility Framework.
  • Mainstreaming of Community Based Disaster Management Plan of Villages and Panchayats and so on.
What is the significance of this Step?
  • Helpful in Managing Disasters Comprehensively:
    • The convergent and collective actions to envision, plan and implement community-based disaster management plans, would be a game changer in managing disasters comprehensively.
    • All stakeholders including Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI), elected representatives and functionaries of Panchayats etc. would participate in planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the plan.
    • The involvement of the community is the key factor in any disaster preparedness strategy and active participation of the community is vital to carry out and sustain the activities relating to disaster management in rural areas.
  • Ensure Participatory Planning Process:
    • This plan would be extremely useful for ensuring a participatory planning process for DMPs which is integrated with Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) for addressing disasters across the country and initiate a new era of community-based disaster management, convergence and collective action with programs and schemes of different Ministries / Departments.
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