Disaster Management (CS-703 (D)) - Unit 1 Short Notes

How unit 1 is examined

Covers the core terms, types, classification, causes and impacts of disasters, differential impacts, global trends and safety Dos and Don'ts; the marks sit in types, classification and impacts, and pandemic and climate change.

Definition: Disaster, Hazard, Vulnerability, Resilience, Risks

<span style="display:inline-block;padding:.16em .6em;border:1.5px solid currentColor;border-radius:999px;font-size:.68em;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:.06em;text-transform:uppercase;opacity:.75">Not asked since 2022</span>

Definition. <mark>A disaster is a sudden, calamitous event that seriously disrupts a community and causes loss of life, property and environment, beyond its own capacity to cope.</mark>

Key points.

1. A hazard is a potential source of harm, such as an earthquake or flood, and becomes a disaster only when it meets a vulnerable population.
2. Vulnerability is the degree to which people, buildings or systems are likely to be damaged by a hazard.
3. Resilience is the ability of a community to resist, absorb and recover from a disaster quickly.
4. Risk is the probability of harm: $\text{Risk} = \dfrac{\text{Hazard} \times \text{Vulnerability}}{\text{Capacity}}$.

Disasters: Types of disasters - Earthquake, Landslide, Flood, Drought, Fire etc

<span style="display:inline-block;padding:.16em .6em;border:1.5px solid currentColor;border-radius:999px;font-size:.68em;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:.06em;text-transform:uppercase;opacity:.75">Medium weight</span>

Definition. A disaster is a sudden event that causes widespread loss of life and property and disrupts normal life beyond the community's coping capacity.

Key points.

1. A hazard is a potential threat, a disaster is the actual harmful event, and an emergency is a situation needing urgent action that local resources can still handle.
2. Natural disasters are caused by nature: earthquake, cyclone, tsunami, flood, drought, landslide and volcano.
3. Earthquake is sudden ground shaking from release of energy along faults, measured on the Richter scale.
4. Flood is overflow of water over normally dry land after heavy rain, dam failure or river spill; Assam and Bihar are affected yearly.
5. Drought is a long shortage of rainfall that causes crop failure and water scarcity, as in Rajasthan and Marathwada.
6. Landslide is downslope movement of rock and soil, triggered by rain or quakes, common in the Himalayas and Western Ghats.
7. Man-made disasters arise from human action or failure: fire, industrial accidents (Bhopal gas tragedy 1984), nuclear accidents, war and terrorism.
8. Hybrid disasters mix both, such as floods worsened by deforestation.

Answer frame. Open with the definition; give a hazard vs disaster vs emergency line; draw the classification tree; develop natural types with one Indian example each, then man-made; close with the note that hazards become disasters through vulnerability.

Asked: [7 marks] (Dec 2020, Jun 2025) What is Disaster? Explain different types of disasters.

Classification, Causes, Impacts including social, economic, political, environmental, health, psychosocial, etc.

<span style="display:inline-block;padding:.16em .6em;border:1.5px solid currentColor;border-radius:999px;font-size:.68em;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:.06em;text-transform:uppercase;opacity:.75">Medium weight</span>

Definition. <mark>Disasters are classified by origin as natural or man-made, and each causes multi-dimensional impacts on people, economy and environment.</mark>

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text-anchor="middle">Natural</text><rect class="n" x="225" y="86" width="83" height="30" rx="8"/><text class="t" x="266.5" y="101" dy=".35em" text-anchor="middle">Man-made</text><line class="e" x1="615" y1="37" x2="418" y2="101"/><line class="e" x1="615" y1="37" x2="544" y2="101"/><line class="e" x1="615" y1="37" x2="682" y2="101"/><line class="e" x1="615" y1="37" x2="812" y2="101"/><rect class="n" x="577.5" y="22" width="75" height="30" rx="8"/><text class="t" x="615" y="37" dy=".35em" text-anchor="middle">Natural</text><rect class="n" x="365" y="86" width="106" height="30" rx="8"/><text class="t" x="418" y="101" dy=".35em" text-anchor="middle">Geophysical</text><rect class="n" x="487" y="86" width="114" height="30" rx="8"/><text class="t" x="544" y="101" dy=".35em" text-anchor="middle">Hydrological</text><rect class="n" x="617" y="86" width="130" height="30" rx="8"/><text class="t" x="682" y="101" dy=".35em" text-anchor="middle">Climatological</text><rect class="n" x="763" y="86" 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text-anchor="middle">War</text></svg><figcaption style="font-size:.82em;opacity:.72;margin-top:.45rem">Classification of disasters</figcaption></figure>

Key points.

1. Geophysical disasters (earthquake, volcano) are caused by movement of tectonic plates and earth processes.
2. Hydrological disasters (flood, tsunami) are caused by heavy rain, storm surge and river overflow.
3. Climatological disasters (drought, cyclone, heatwave) are caused by weather and climate variation; biological ones (epidemic) by pathogens.
4. Man-made causes include negligence, unsafe industry, poor planning, deforestation and conflict.
5. Social impacts: deaths, injury, displacement, loss of homes and livelihood.
6. Economic impacts: damage to property and infrastructure, loss of income and GDP, and high relief cost.
7. Political impacts: strain on governance, public anger and demand for relief and accountability.
8. Environmental impacts: soil erosion, pollution, loss of forest and biodiversity; health impacts: injuries, disease outbreaks and malnutrition; psychosocial impacts: trauma, grief and depression.

Example. The 2001 Bhuj earthquake killed about 20,000 people, displaced lakhs and destroyed the local economy.

Answer frame. Open with the definition; draw the tree; give causes per branch; list impacts as social, economic, political, environmental, health, psychosocial; close with an Indian example.

Asked: [7 marks] (Dec 2020) What are the impacts of disaster including Social, Economic, Political, Health etc.? Asked: [7 marks] (Jun 2025) Give a suitable classification of Disasters with causes and impacts.

Differential impacts- in terms of caste, class, gender, age, location, disability

<span style="display:inline-block;padding:.16em .6em;border:1.5px solid currentColor;border-radius:999px;font-size:.68em;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:.06em;text-transform:uppercase;opacity:.75">Not asked since 2022</span>

Definition. <mark>Differential impact means the same disaster harms different groups unequally because of their social position and vulnerability.</mark>

Key points.

1. Poorer classes and lower castes live in weak housing on risky land, so they lose more and recover slower.
2. Women face higher risk from caregiving duties, limited mobility and less access to relief.
3. Children and the elderly are more likely to be injured or die and depend on others for evacuation.
4. Persons with disability suffer from inaccessible warnings and shelters; remote and coastal locations get delayed aid.

Global trends in disasters: urban disasters, pandemics, complex emergencies, Climate change

<span style="display:inline-block;padding:.16em .6em;border:1.5px solid currentColor;border-radius:999px;font-size:.68em;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:.06em;text-transform:uppercase;opacity:.75">Medium weight</span>

Definition. <mark>A pandemic is an epidemic of an infectious disease that spreads across several countries or continents and affects a large number of people.</mark>

Key points.

1. An epidemic is a rise of cases in one region; a pandemic is its worldwide spread, as declared by WHO.
2. Conditions for a pandemic: a novel agent with little immunity, sustained human-to-human transmission, and global spread through travel and dense cities.
3. Example: COVID-19 emerged in 2019, was declared a pandemic by WHO in March 2020, and caused millions of deaths and severe economic loss.
4. History: plague (Black Death), cholera, Spanish flu (1918), H1N1 (2009) and COVID-19.
5. Urban disasters rise with dense, unplanned cities: building collapse, urban floods and fires.
6. Complex emergencies are conflict-driven crises with displacement and famine.
7. Climate change means global warming from greenhouse gases (CO2, methane) from fossil fuels and deforestation; it causes sea-level rise, melting glaciers and more frequent floods, droughts and cyclones.
8. Climate Dos: cut emissions, plant trees, use renewable energy, save water; Don'ts: burn fossil fuels and waste, clear forests, or ignore warnings.

Answer frame. Pandemic: open with epidemic vs pandemic, state conditions, give COVID-19, then history and control (testing, isolation, vaccine). Climate: open with definition, causes, problems, then Dos and Don'ts; close on mitigation and adaptation.

Asked: [7 marks] (Dec 2020, Jun 2025) With the help of a suitable example explain condition of a pandemic. Give a brief history of pandemic. Asked: [7 marks] (Jun 2025) Discuss the problem associated with climate change. What are Dos and Don'ts to tackle the problem of climate change.

Dos and Dont's during various types of Disasters

<span style="display:inline-block;padding:.16em .6em;border:1.5px solid currentColor;border-radius:999px;font-size:.68em;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:.06em;text-transform:uppercase;opacity:.75">Not asked since 2022</span>

Definition. <mark>Dos and Don'ts are simple safety rules that reduce injury and loss during a disaster.</mark>

Key points.

1. Earthquake: Drop, Cover and Hold under a sturdy table; do not use lifts or run outside during shaking.
2. Flood: move to higher ground and switch off power; do not walk or drive through floodwater.
3. Fire: stay low, use stairs and call the fire service; do not use lifts.
4. Always keep an emergency kit and follow official warnings.

Last-minute revision

• Disaster: sudden event beyond community coping capacity.
• Hazard is the threat; vulnerability makes it a disaster.
• Risk = Hazard x Vulnerability / Capacity.
• Natural: geophysical, hydrological, climatological, biological.
• Man-made: industrial, fire, nuclear, war; Bhopal 1984.
• Impacts: social, economic, political, environmental, health, psychosocial.
• Pandemic: epidemic spread worldwide; COVID-19 declared March 2020.
• Climate change: greenhouse gases cause warming and sea-level rise.
• Earthquake drill: Drop, Cover, Hold.

Memory hooks

• HVR: Hazard, Vulnerability, Resilience.
• SEPEHP: Social, Economic, Political, Environmental, Health, Psychosocial.
• GHCB: Geophysical, Hydrological, Climatological, Biological.

Coverage checklist

• Definition: Disaster, Hazard, Vulnerability, Resilience, Risks - covered.
• Disasters: Types of disasters - Earthquake, Landslide, Flood, Drought, Fire etc - Q3.
• Classification, Causes, Impacts including social, economic, political, environmental, health, psychosocial, etc. - Q1, Q2.
• Differential impacts- in terms of caste, class, gender, age, location, disability - covered.
• Global trends in disasters: urban disasters, pandemics, complex emergencies, Climate change - Q4, Q5.
• Dos and Dont's during various types of Disasters - covered.