This article examines the dual challenge of crisis management and legal adaptation in the face of disasters in India. It explores the evolving legal and institutional framework, assesses recent disaster responses, and identifies key areas for future development in India's disaster management landscape.

Introduction
Natural disasters present the dual challenges of responding to an immediate crisis and building up long-term resilience to India's legal and governance system. India happens to be one of the most disaster-prone nations in the world. Even though considerable progress was achieved during the last two decades with respect to disaster management policy and practice in India, formidable challenges remain.[1]

The Indian subcontinent's varied geography exposes it to almost all types of natural hazards, from the Himalayan mountains down to the coastal regions and the flood-prone river basins. These include earthquakes, cyclones, floods, landslides, and drought. The rapid process of urbanization, increase in population, and climate change raise the vulnerability of the country to disasters even higher.[2]

The economic and social costs of such disasters are simply unimaginable. From 1990 to 2023, India lost about $79.5 billion economically due to natural disasters.[3] Moreover, poor and marginalized communities bear the brunt of disasters since disasters always push them further down the poverty line and increase existing social inequalities.[4]

These challenges have compelled India to evolve its disaster management approach from a largely reactive and relief-oriented model to a more proactive and prevention-oriented framework. In the 2005 Act an institutional structure is enshrined, that was established at various levels: national, state, and local, for effective management of disasters.[5]

This new approach, however, gets tested with recurring disasters, and such disasters expose the gaps in implementation and areas that require further improvement. More recently, from the Kerala floods and cyclones on the eastern coast to urban flooding in major cities, the challenges of robust, inclusive, adaptive disaster management strategies came out clearly across the board.[6]

Recent Disasters: Testing India's Preparedness
The increasing frequency and severity of disasters in India has brought to the forefront the requirement of robust systems of disaster management. Some of the recent examples are as follows:

Kerala Wayanad Landslide (2019 and 2024):
In August 2019, a massive landslide in Wayanad district of Kerala claimed over 65 lives. The area was again hit by landslides in July 2024, which caused further hundreds of losses of life and property.[7] These incidents brought out how much the hilly regions were vulnerable to extreme rainfall events and lacking in early warning systems and land-use planning.

Cyclone Amphan (2020):
This was a super cyclone that devastated parts of West Bengal and Odisha, affecting millions and causing far-flung destruction of infrastructure. It tested preparedness and evacuation procedures against cyclones in the country.[8]

Uttarakhand Glacier Burst (2021):
The outburst flood from the glacial lake in the Chamoli district caused flashing floods, causing massive loss of life and damage to hydropower projects. This disaster sounded red alerts over the risks associated with climate change and infrastructure construction on unstable Himalayan ecosystems.[9]

These events have exercised India's framework of disaster management and pointed out what exactly needed an overhaul.

A Paradigm Shift in Disaster Governance
Consequently, India has changed its strategy on disasters from relief to a more comprehensive framework of prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery, and reconstruction.[10] This frame resonates with broader trends within environmental governance, such as increased attention to procedural justice and public participation in decision-making.[11]

The formation of institutions like NDMA and NIDM has institutionalized dedicated organizations to drive policy and build capacity and coordinate emergency response.[12] However, there is still a challenge of effective implementation across India's diverse states and localities.

Constitutional and Legal Framework
There are no express provisions relating to the management of disasters in the Constitution of India. Among the various factors that may be attributed as the cause of such omission, the following are significant: the historical factor wherein at the time when the Constitution was framed, disaster management was not an important constitutional issue, and the predominant focus on the question of fundamental rights and division of powers in the constitution meant that little attention was paid to other matters, including disaster management.[13]

The basic legislation in the field of disaster management in India is the Disaster Management Act of 2005. It was brought into force by Parliament exercising Entry 23 of the Concurrent List, which deals with "Social security and social insurance; employment and unemployment".[14] This approach enables both the central as well as the state government to legislate on the subject of disaster management.

Under the DM Act, an institutional structure for disaster management at national, state, and district levels is provided in the form of NDMA, SDMAs, and DDMAs, respectively. An institutional structure to ensure that response to any disaster is coordinated and effective across different levels of government.[15]

Climate Change: An Amplifying Threat
Climate change adds urgency to India's disaster preparedness efforts, amplifying existing vulnerabilities, particularly for poor and marginalized communities. the environmental justice perspective emphasizes the fact that there is a demand for the principle of equity while distributing environment-related risk, recognition, and experience, diverse in nature, and opens up opportunities for participation in policy decisions.[16]

The 2018 and 2019 Kerala floods and frequent cyclones along the east coast are pointers to the rising extreme weather events related to climate change.[17] In this light, the climate policies and disaster management frameworks in India need to be interwoven at great length by building resilience through mainstreaming climate adaptation into development planning at all levels.

Protecting the Most Vulnerable
Among the main policy challenges has been to ensure disaster management efforts reach all segments of society, most especially the vulnerable ones. On that note, it is also related to environmental justice, a concept demanding the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race, colour, national origin, or income, when it comes to environmental policies.[18]

The DM Act lays great emphasis on inclusive disaster management. Section 61 of the Act explicitly states that no discrimination shall be made on the ground of sex, caste, community, descent, or religion while providing compensation and relief to the victims of disasters.[19]

Urban Disaster Risk: A Ticking Time Bomb
The fast and unplanned urbanization has made Indian cities ticking bombs of disaster risk. More recently, the Chennai floods of 2015 and the Mumbai floods of 2017 and 2019 manifest the vulnerabilities of urban areas against disasters.[20] Urgent priorities to reduce urban disaster risk need enforcement of building codes, improvement in urban planning, and retrofitting vulnerable structures. A multi-agency effort at different levels of governance will be needed.[21]

The DM Act provides legal provisions for implementing disaster mitigation measures. Section 35 provides powers to the central government to take measures for the prevention of disasters and mitigation of its effects.[22] However, its effective implementation in urban areas is yet a big challenge.

Public Participation and Access to Justice
The lessons from the Environmental Impact Assessment processes can be drawn on the need to strengthen public participation in disaster management policies and access to justice mechanisms. The National Green Tribunal in India reflects the model of specialized environmental courts that may be emulated, probably with adaptations, for disputes related to disasters.[23]

However, as in many EIA cases, such legal mechanisms are normally hindered by large costs, lack of awareness, and perceived political influence.[24] Therefore, understanding how these issues can be addressed specifically in the context of disaster management might significantly improve procedural justice and the quality of policy outcomes.

Whereas public participation is not expressly provided for under the Act, Section 31 of the Act requires that District Authorities formulate disaster management plans in consultation with local authorities and having regard to the National and State Plans.[25] This section may be interpreted to explicitly include public consultation processes.

Cross-Boundary Cooperation
Natural disasters do not respect any national borders. The 2015 Nepal earthquake, which affected parts of northern India, underlined the urgent requirement for regional cooperation in disaster management.[26] Regional response systems and information sharing mechanism have to be developed so that swift and effective response can be executed for threats like cyclones and floods.

The DM Act empowers the central government to enter into agreements with other countries for the prevention of disasters or mitigating their effects.[27] In fact, the clause empowers a legal basis for international cooperation in disaster management.

Financial and Federal Dimensions
The book "Disaster Management in India" has brought into the limelight financial and federal dimensions related to disaster management. No doubt the National Disaster Response Fund helps in providing the needed financial assistance to states for undertaking response-related activities. However, the allocation and spending of funds often pose problems in the federal polity of India.[28]

According to the Author, Rajendra K. Pandey, it is despite this that financial support from the centre to states under the NDRF; normally an assessment of damages is done and funds are released with long delays, impeding full and timely effort by the state towards disaster response.[29] These were fleshed out in the Kerala floods of 2018 and 2019, with debates over adequacy of central assistance and its timely release.[30]

Legal Challenges and Future Directions:

• Coordination between different authorities: While the Act runs a multi-tiered structure, coordination among the bodies, at times, becomes difficult to implement.[31]
   
• Implementing mitigation measures: Provisions under the Act in regard to mitigation and prevention, particularly in urban areas, are hard to be operationalized.[32]
   
• Balancing central and state powers: As disaster management is of a concurrent nature, there are prospects for conflicts between the centre and states.[33]
   
• Integrating disaster management into development planning: Ensuring that disaster risk reduction is mainstreamed into broader development policies and practices is continuous.[34]
   
• Addressing emerging threats: The legal framework must be flexible enough to address new and emerging threats, particularly those arising from climate change.[35]

Conclusion
India has taken such initiatives in developing much more comprehensive frameworks of disaster management, particularly by bringing in the legislation on the DM Act, 2005. But there are formidable challenges to policy implementation, safeguarding vulnerable groups, and adapting to climate change. The system has serious lacunae that need to be addressed in the face of recent disasters, starting from the Kerala Wayanad landslides to cyclones and urban floods.

Taking up these challenges will require sustained political will, improved governance, and innovative policy solutions that entrench principles of environmental justice and public participation. Any future reforms within the legal framework of disaster management in India should be aimed at improving public participation, enforcement mechanisms, coordination among different levels of government, and ensuring that the legal order is capable of adapting itself to new hazards. In that direction, the following steps will help ensure a more resilient and equitable disaster management system in India.

End Notes:

1. Pandey RK, Disaster Management in India (Taylor & Francis 2023).
2. Ibid.
3. Nations U, Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2023 (Stylus Publishing, LLC 2023).
4. Supra note 1.
5. The Disaster Management Act 2005 (India).
6. Supra note 1.
7. Today I, '308 Dead in Wayanad Landslides, Drone-Based Radar to Look for Survivors' (India Today2 August 2024) accessed 07 August 2024.
8. Supra note 1.
9. Ibid.
10. Kumar Jain M, 'Issue 8 Www.jetir.org (ISSN-2349-5162)' (2018) 5 JETIR1808381 Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research accessed 08 August 2024.
11. Dilay A, Diduck AP and Patel K, 'Environmental Justice in India: A Case Study of Environmental Impact Assessment, Community Engagement and Public Interest Litigation' (2019) 38 Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal 1.
12. Supra note 10.
13. Ibid.
14. Ibid.
15. The Disaster Management Act 2005 (India).
16. Supra note 11.
17. Supra note 1.
18. Supra note 11.
19. The Disaster Management Act 2005, § 61 (India).
20. Supra note 1.
21. Ibid.
22. The Disaster Management Act 2005, § 35 (India).
23. Supra note 11.
24. Ibid.
25. The Disaster Management Act 2005, § 31 (India).
26. Supra note 1.
27. The Disaster Management Act 2005, § 35(2)(b) (India).
28. Supra note 1.
29. Ibid.
30. Ibid.
31. Supra note 10.
32. Ibid.
33. Ibid.
34. Supra note 1.
35. Ibid.