MACMILLAN Development and Disaster Management: A Study of the Northeastern States of India

This book highlights the relationship between disasters and development through a socio-cultural study of human geography and governance institutions. It studies the cause, context and consequences of disasters in one of the most fragile Himalayan regions in India. The book establishes the fact that disaster management is built within the framework of good governance, without which it has no meaning.  For lack of effective and responsive governance, development has lagged behind and even though the frequency of disasters has been increasing, little is being done to redesign developmental frameworks to prevent ensuing losses. Besides, the near absence of governmental support during recurrent disasters, communities have cumulatively become reservoirs of innovations to cope up with disasters. The resilience plans need not follow implanted models but may be cost effective only if they apply a bottom up approach. Just as the region is culturally diverse so are the challenges encountered by local communities in terms of generating resilience to every disaster. Despite more than a decade of the Disaster Management Act (DMA) of 2005, most of the states in this northeastern fringe of India continue to wait for its implementation beyond mere structures and offices. The book suggests that urgent action is required in accordance with the DMA 2005 towards inter-agency coordination, proactive participation of local governance, mobilization of Community based Organizations (CBOs) and curriculum based training in every academic and technical institution. Governments of these northeastern states of India should establish accountability of State Disaster Management Authorities and inspire them to participate proactively with communities for an effective resilience building in the region. About the Author Amita Singh, Professor at the Special Centre for Law and Governance and Founding Chairperson, Special Centre for Disaster Research, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), India. Professor Singh teaches Law and Governance at the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance at JNU. She has been the longest serving Secretary General of NAPSIPAG (Network of Asia Pacific Schools and Institutes of Public Administration and Governance) initiated by ADB 2004 at INTAN Malaysia. She is Member Secretary of the Institutional Ethics Review Board and Member of the Indian Council of Social Sciences Research, Delhi. She has a wide research experience of evaluating best governance practices and working with the government (DARPG, India) and the Global Innovators Network, at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. She was awarded the Australia-India Council Fellowship (2006-2007) for academic research in nine Australian Universities and was again awarded the Australian Monash Fellowship in 2017. She has been closely associated with the International Womens’ Association at Hunter College SUNY USA in 1990 to prepare for the Beijing Declaration in 1995. She has received the Bangladesh National Award of ‘Nawab Bhadur Syed Nawab Ali Chowdhury National Award’ 2014 for women empowerment. Professor Singh is an ardent activist of the ‘Rights of Nonhuman Species’.   Milap Punia, Professor, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, Director of Admissions, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), India. Professor Punia teaches geography at the Centre for the Study of Regional Development, School of Social Sciences, JNU. He is specialized in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS). He has worked as Scientist in Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Division, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing-Indian Space Research Organization (IIRS-ISRO) and adjunct faculty to Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific (Affiliated to the UN), Dehradun, India. He was awarded C.V. Raman fellowship to carry out Post Doctoral research work on urban studies from School of Forestry and Environment Stu