Section 2 in The Disaster Management (Amendment) Act, 2025
2. Amendment of section 2.
In section 2 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act),–(i)in clause (d), the following Explanation shall be inserted, namely:––'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;’;(ii)after clause (d), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:–‘(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;’;(iii)in clause (e),––(a)in sub-clause (viii), for the words “rehabilitation and reconstruction”, the words “rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruction” shall be substituted;(b)the following Explanation shall be inserted, namely:–'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;’;(iv)after clause (e), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:–‘(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;’;(v)after clause (g), the following clauses shall be inserted, namely:–‘(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;’;(vi)in clause (h), after the words “Zila Parishad”, the words “or Autonomous District Council” shall be inserted(vii)in clause (i), after the word “situation”, the words “including the provisioning of disaster-resilient infrastructure” shall be inserted;(viii)after clause (j), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:––‘(ja) “National Crisis Management Committee” means the Committee constituted under section 8A;’;(ix)after clause (l), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:–‘(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;’;(x)for clause (m), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:–‘(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;’;(xi)after clause (n), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:–‘(na) “prevention” means activity and measure to avoid potential adverse impact of disaster;’;(xii)for clause (o), the following clauses shall be substituted, namely:––‘(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;’;(xiii)after clause (p), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:––‘(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;’;(xiv)after clause (t), the following clauses shall be inserted, namely:––‘(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.’.
