Journal of Academic Research for Humanities (JARH) is a double-blind peer-review, Open Free Access, online Multidisciplinary Research Journal
Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer

Institutional Learning to Manage the Natural Disasters in Pakistan and India

Abstract

This paper seeks to review, compare, and descriptively analyze the institutionalization and organization of the Disaster Management System (DMS) in Pakistan and India. This article aims to study the effectiveness and efficacy of the DMS in both countries by looking at the situation through depoliticized prisms.  Through the comparative method documentary analysis, the paper identifies the common links between strengths and weaknesses in both countries and suggests recommendations for improving the available mechanisms to dissuade the effects of natural disasters across borders. The introduction describes DMS in Pakistan and India by reporting the risk profiles of both countries followed by the organization and institutionalization at different tiers of the government.  The available precedents show signs of cooperation in minimizing the damage caused by post-natural disasters in Pakistan and India. The results reveal that there have been difficult phases where both countries helped each other in calamities. After the Gujrat earthquake in 2001, the Pakistani military provided significant aid to India which facilitated the first recent conversation between the two nations since a military coup in Pakistan two years prior. This support by Pakistan led to the Agra Summit five months between the two archrivals and later when a powerful earthquake struck both India and Pakistan in October 2005, efforts were made by the Indian side to provide relief and rescues. These results suggest possible actionable policy recommendations for both countries to minimize the effects of natural disasters and seek cooperation at the institutional level.

Keywords

Disaster, Management, Framework, Mitigation, Cooperation.

PDF

References

  1. Ahmed, M., Minhas, S., & Hussain, T. (2020). Environmental journalists' perspective on the coverage of environmental issues in media of Pakistan. Journal of Peace, Development, and Communication, 4(2), 419-432.
  2. Ahmed, Z. (2013). Disaster risks and disaster management policies and practices in Pakistan: A critical analysis of Disaster Management Act 2010 of Pakistan. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 4, 15-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2013.02.003.
  3. BBC. (2008, October 29). *Scores dead after Pakistan quake.* Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7696639.stm
  4. Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. (n.d.). EM-DAT: The Emergency Events Database. Université catholique de Louvain. Retrieved from https://www.emdat.be/
  5. Cheema, A. R. (2021). Disaster management in Pakistan. In The role of mosque in building resilient communities: Widening development agendas (pp. 51-93). Singapore: Springer.
  6. Coppola, D. (2006). Introduction to international disaster management. Elsevier.
  7. Cross, S. R. (2010). Pakistan Floods: The Deluge of Disaster-Facts & Figures as of 15 September 2010. Singapore Red Cross Society, 15.
  8. Dutta, U., & Kalita, S. (2024). An Analytical Case Study of the Oil Well Blowout at Baghjan Oil Field, Assam: a Human and Environmental Perspective.
  9. Firstpost. (2015, August 5). Gujarat floods: 72 people dead, over 81,000 cattle perished due to heavy rains. Retrieved August 23, 2015, from https://www.firstpost.com/india/gujarat-floods-72-people-dead-over-81000-cattle-perished-due-to-heavy-rains-2380592.html
  10. Francis, E. (2021, October 7). Pakistan earthquake kills 20 people, injures hundreds. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/10/07/pakistan-earthquake-balochistan-harnai/
  11. Gogoi, S., Baruah, B., & Chetia, A. (2022, December). Baghjan Fire: A Case Study of the ‘2020 Assam Gas and Oil Leak’at Baghjan Oil Field, Tinsukia, Assam. In 5th World Congress on Disaster Management: Volume II (pp. 483-497). Routledge.
  12. Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Water Resources. (2010). Annual flood report of FFC. Retrieved July 11, 2024, from https://mowr.gov.pk/SiteImage/Misc/files/2010%20Annual%20Flood%20Report%20of%20FFC.pdf.
  13. Government of Pakistan. (2007). National Disaster Risk Management Framework Pakistan. Islamabad: National Disaster Management Authority.
  14. Houston, J. B., Schraedley, M. K., Worley, M. E., Reed, K., & Saidi, J. (2019). Disaster journalism: fostering citizen and community disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery, and resilience across the disaster cycle. Disasters, 43(3), 591-611.
  15. https://www.undp.org/india/publications/disaster-management-india-status-report
  16. India Blooms News Service. (2010, April 16). Storm toll: 125; PM sanctions ex-gratia. Archived from the original on April 18, 2010. Retrieved from http://www.indiablooms.com/NewsDetailsPage/newsDetails160410i.php
  17. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). (n.d.). What is a disaster? Retrieved August 31, 2024, from https://www.ifrc.org/what-disaster
  18. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. (n.d.). What is a disaster? Retrieved August 03, 2024, from https://www.ifrc.org/en/what-we-do/disaster-management/about-disasters/what-is-disaster/.
  19. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. (2007, June 29). Pakistan: Cyclone Yemyin/floods emergency appeal No. MDRPK001. ReliefWeb. https://reliefweb.int/report/pakistan/pakistan-cyclone-yemyinfloods-emergency-appeal-no-mdrpk001
  20. Kaur, J. (2006). Administrative issues involved in disaster management in India. International Review of Psychiatry, 18(6), 553-557. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540260601037857.
  21. Khalid, S. (2017, August 21). India’s Bihar state reels under unprecedented flooding. Al Jazeera. Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/8/21/indias-bihar-state-reels-under-unprecedented-flooding
  22. Khan, I., Ali, A., Waqas, T., Ullah, S., Ullah, S., Shah, A. A., & Imran, S. (2022). Investing in disaster relief and recovery: A reactive approach of disaster management in Pakistan. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 75, 102975. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2022.102975.
  23. Madan, A., & Routray, J. K. (2015). Institutional framework for preparedness and response of disaster management institutions from national to local level in India with focus on Delhi. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 14, 545–555. doi:10.1016/j.ijdrr.2015.10.004
  24. Malik, M., & Cruickshank, H. (2016, June). Disaster management in Pakistan. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Municipal Engineer, 169(2), 85-99. Thomas Telford Ltd.
  25. Mello, P. A. (2021). Qualitative comparative analysis: An introduction to research design and application. Georgetown University Press.
  26. Ministry of Home Affairs, India. (n.d.). Disaster management in India - A status report.
  27. Ministry of Water and Power, Government of Pakistan. (2012). Annual flood report 2012. Islamabad: Author. https://ffc.gov.pk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Annual-Flood-Report-2012.pdf
  28. NASA. (2010, June 6). Tropical Cyclone Phet. Retrieved from https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/44210/tropical-cyclone-phet#:~:text=By%20the%20time%20the%20storm,the%20storm%20is%20near%20Karachi
  29. National Disaster Management Authority. (2019, September 26). NDMA situation report No. 04 - Mirpur earthquake 2019 (dated September 26, 2019 @ 1530 hours) [PDF].
  30. National Disaster Response Force. (2020). Cyclone Nisarga 2020. Retrieved from https://www.ndrf.gov.in/operations/cyclone-nisarga-2020
  31. Nikbakhsh, E., & Farahani, R. Z. (2011). 15 Humanitarian Logistics Planning. Logistics operations and management: Concepts and models, 291.
  32. Pakistan Meteorological Department. (2020). Monsoon rainfall report 2020. https://cdpc.pmd.gov.pk/Monsoon%202020%20Rainfall%20Report.pdf
  33. Provincial Disaster Management Authority Sindh. (2011, September 28). *Situation report*. http://www.pdma.pk/siterip/2809sitrep.pdf
  34. Provincial Disaster Management Authority. (n.d.). Earthquake Awaran 2013. Retrieved from https://www.pdma.gob.pk/disaster-and-climities/earthquake-awaran-2013
  35. Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Development Studies. (2018). Kerala flood 2018: The disaster of the century. Retrieved from https://sdma.kerala.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Rajeev-Gandhi-Centre-Kerala-flood-2018-The-disaster-of-the-century.pdf
  36. Rana, I. A., Asim, M., Aslam, A. B., & Jamshed, A. (2021). Disaster management cycle and its application for flood risk reduction in urban areas of Pakistan. Urban Climate, 38, 100893.
  37. Rangari, V. A., Bhatt, C. M., & Umamahesh, N. V. (2021). Rapid assessment of the October 2020 Hyderabad urban flood and risk analysis using geospatial data. Current Science, 120(12), 1840-1847.
  38. Relief Web. (2006). The Kashmir earthquake of October 8, 2005: Impacts in Pakistan. Retrieved from https://reliefweb.int/report/pakistan/kashmir-earthquake-october-8-2005-impacts-pakistan
  39. Shakeri, E., Vizvari, B., & Nazerian, R. (2021). Comparative analysis of disaster management between India and Nigeria. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 63, 102448. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102448.
  40. Shaluf, I. (2007). An overview of disasters. Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, 16(5), 687-703.
  41. Singh, R., Aryan, V., & Joshi, M. (2022). Understanding the flash flood event of 7th February 2021 in Rishi Ganga basin, Central Himalaya using remote sensing technique. Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment, 26, 100744.
  42. Singh, V. P. (1996). Disasters: Natural or Man-made. In Hydrology of Disasters (pp. 1-18). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.
  43. Thattai, D. V., Sathyanathan, R., Dinesh, R., & Kumar, L. H. (2017, July). Natural disaster management in India with a focus on floods and cyclones. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 80(1), 012054. IOP Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/80/1/012054.
  44. The Indian Express. (2019, November 20). December 26, 2004 tsunami: 12 years on. Retrieved from https://indianexpress.com/article/india/december-26-2004-tsunami-india-thailand-indonesia-srilanka-natural-disaster-earthquake-12-years-on-4445361/
  45. Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. (2021, September 3). What is disaster management? Retrieved August 31, 2024, from https://publichealth.tulane.edu/blog/what-is-disaster-management/
  46. UNICEF. (2019, May 19). Cyclone Fani situation report #2. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/media/82111/file/India-Cyclone-Fani-SitRep-12-May-2019.pdf
  47. UNICEF. (2023, August 25). Devastating floods in Pakistan. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/devastating-floods-pakistan-2022#:~:text=What%20happened?%20The%202022%20floods%20submerged%20one,on%20contaminated%20water%20from%20ponds%20and%20wells.
  48. United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). (n.d.). Disaster. Retrieved August 31, 2024, from http://www.undrr.org/terminology/disaster
  49. United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. (n.d.). Disaster. Retrieved August 02, 2024, from https://www.undrr.org/terminology/disaster.