Definitions

Section 2 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 deals with definitions. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,--- (a) "affected area" means an area or part of the country affected by a disaster; The Act came into force on 28 Jul 2006.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,---

(a) "affected area" means an area or part of the country affected by a disaster;

(b) "capacity-building" includes---

(i) identification of existing resources and resources to be acquired or created;

(ii) acquiring or creating resources identified under sub-clause (i);

(iii) organisation and training of personnel and coordination of such training for effective management of disasters;

(c) "Central Government" means the Ministry or Department of the Government of India having administrative control of disaster management;

(d) "disaster" means a catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave occurrence in any area, arising from natural or man made causes, or by accident or negligence which results in substantial loss of life or human suffering or damage to, and destruction of, property, or damage to, or degradation of, environment, and is of such a nature or magnitude as to be beyond the coping capacity of the community of the affected area;

¹[Explanation.--- For the removal of doubts, it is hereby clarified that the expression "man made causes" does not include any law and order related matter or situation, or any situation arising from a law and order related matter or situation;]

¹[(da) "disaster database" means a database which includes disaster assessment, fund allocation detail, expenditure, preparedness and mitigation plan, risk register according to type and severity of risk and such other relevant matters, in accordance with such policy, as may be determined by the Central Government;]

(e) "disaster management" means a continuous and integrated process of planning, organising, coordinating and implementing measures which are necessary or expedient for---

(i) prevention of danger or threat of any disaster;

(ii) mitigation or reduction of risk of any disaster or its severity or consequences;

(iii) capacity-building;

(iv) preparedness to deal with any disaster;

(v) prompt response to any threatening disaster situation or disaster;

(vi) assessing the severity or magnitude of effects of any disaster;

(vii) evacuation, rescue and relief;

(viii) ²[rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruction];

¹[Explanation.--- For the purposes of this clause, the expression "disaster management" is inclusive of "disaster risk reduction", that is, the practice of reducing disaster risk through systematic effort to analyse and manage the causal facts of disaster through---

(i) reduced exposure to hazard;

(ii) reduced vulnerability of people, property, infrastructure, economic activity, environmental and natural resource; and

(iii) improved preparedness, resilience and capacity to manage and respond to adverse event;]

¹[(ea) "disaster risk" means the potential loss of life, injury, destroyed or damaged property, infrastructure and assets, economic and social disruption and environmental degradation, which could occur to a system, society or a community in a specific period of time, determined probabilistically as a function of hazard, exposure, vulnerability and capacity.

Explanation.--- For the purposes of this Act, the expression "infrastructure" refers to physical structures, facilities, networks, systems and assets, which provide services that are essential to the social, ecological and economic functioning of a community or society;]

(f) "District Authority" means the District Disaster Management Authority constituted under subsection (1) of section 25;

(g) "District Plan" means the plan for disaster management for the district prepared under section 31;

¹[(ga) "evacuation" means moving people or assets temporarily to safer places before, during or after the occurrence of a hazardous event;

(gb) "exposure" means the situation of people, buildings, infrastructure, production capacities and other tangible human assets, the environment and natural resources located in hazard-prone areas.

Explanation.---For the purposes of this clause, the expression "hazard-prone areas" means those locations where different hazards are known to have occurred or likely to occur;

(gc) "hazard" means a process or phenomenon relating to a disaster that may cause---

(a) loss of life;

(b) injury or other health impacts;

(c) damage to property, buildings and infrastructure;

(d) social and economic disruption; or

(e) environmental degradation;

(gd) "High Level Committee" means the Committee constituted under section 8B;]

(h) "local authority" includes panchayati raj institutions, municipalities, a district board, cantonment board, town planning authority or Zila Parishad ¹[or Autonomous District Council] or any other body or authority, by whatever name called, for the time being invested by law, for rendering essential services or, with the control and management of civic services, within a specified local area;

(i) "mitigation" means measures aimed at reducing the risk, impact or effects of a disaster or threatening disaster situation 1 including the provisioning of disaster-resilient infrastructure];

(j) "National Authority" means the National Disaster Management Authority established under sub-section (1) of section 3;

¹[(ja) "National Crisis Management Committee" means the Committee constituted under section 8A;]

(k) "National Executive Committee" means the Executive Committee of the National Authority constituted under sub-section (1) of section 8;

(l) "National Plan" means the plan for disaster management for the whole of the country prepared under section 11;

¹[(la) "National Policy" means a statement of guiding principles, and broad course of actions adopted by the Government at the national and state level in pursuit of,---

(a) national objectives of reducing disaster risk and loss;

(b) improving preparedness; and

(c) ensuring resilient recovery from disaster;]

³[(m) "preparedness" means the knowledge and capacity of Government, response and recovery organisation, community and individual to anticipate, respond to and recover from threatening disaster situation or disaster;]

(n) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;

¹[(na) "prevention" means activity and measure to avoid potential adverse impact of disaster;]

⁴[(o) "reconstruction" means rebuilding and restoration of infrastructure, service, building and facility required for the functioning of a community affected by a disaster;

(oa) "recovery" means the restoration or improvement of economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets, system and activity, of a disaster-affected community;

(ob) "rehabilitation" means the restoration of basic service, facility and capacity for the functioning of a disaster-affected community;

(oc) "resilience" means the ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, respond to and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner and the expression "resilient" shall be construed accordingly;]

(p) "resources" includes manpower, services, materials and provisions;

¹[(pa) "response" means the action taken directly before, during or after a disaster in order to save lives, reduce injury and health impact, ensure public safety and meet the basic subsistence needs of the people affected;]

(q) "State Authority" means the State Disaster Management Authority established under subsection (1) of section 14 and includes the Disaster Management Authority for the Union territory constituted under that section;

(r) "State Executive Committee" means the Executive Committee of a State Authority constituted under sub-section (1) of section 20;

(s) "State Government" means the Department of Government of the State having administrative control of disaster management and includes Administrator of the Union territory appointed by the President under article 239 of the Constitution;

(t) "State Plan" means the plan for disaster management for the whole of the State prepared under section 23.

¹[(u) "Urban Authority" means the Urban Disaster Management Authority constituted under sub-section (1) of section 41A;

(v) "Urban Plan" means the plan for disaster management, prepared by the Urban Authority under sub-section (4) of section 41A;

(w) "vulnerability" means the conditions determined by physical, social, economic and environmental factor or process which increase the susceptibility of an individual, a community, asset, infrastructure or system to the impact of hazard.]

Section 2, The Disaster Management Act, 2005 (Act 53 of 2005).