BharatNotes Disaster Risk Governance
noun phraseUsage in a UPSC answer
Effective disaster risk governance requires mainstreaming risk-sensitive planning into building codes, land-use regulations, and development budgets — not merely maintaining a reactive emergency response apparatus.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
disaster risk governance (n phrase), govern (v), governance (n), risk (n), disaster (n)
Root
Latin/Greek dis-astro = ill-starred + Old Norse riskr = danger + Latin gubernare = to steer/govern (from Greek kybernan = to pilot)
Etymology
The concept emerged as Priority Area 2 of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030); in India, it is operationalised through the Disaster Management Act, 2005, which established the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), State DMAs, and District DMAs in a three-tier governance architecture
Memory Hook
DISASTER RISK + GOVERNANCE: who GOVERNS (steers) the response to RISK? Good governance decides whether risk becomes disaster or is averted
How This Word Works in UPSC Writing
The system of institutions, laws, plans and coordination arrangements through which a society manages disaster risk. It is the second of the four Sendai priorities for action, and the reason it sits so high is that most disaster failures are coordination failures rather than knowledge failures: the warning existed, the plan existed, and no one owned the decision. A strong GS3 answer therefore assesses clarity of mandate, vertical coordination from national to district level, and whether authority to act is pre-delegated.
Don’t Confuse It With
Disaster risk governance is the institutional system for managing risk. Disaster management is the operational activity across the cycle. Risk assessment is the analytical input on which governance decisions rest. Mainstreaming is the embedding of risk considerations into ordinary development planning rather than treating them separately.
Hindi Meaning
आपदा जोखिम शासन (āpadā jokhim shāsan).
Common Questions
- What is disaster risk governance?
- The system of institutions, laws, plans and coordination arrangements through which a society manages disaster risk, identified as one of the four Sendai Framework priorities for action.
- Why is governance emphasised in disaster management?
- Because most failures arise from unclear mandates and poor coordination rather than from absent information, so who is authorised to act, and when, determines the outcome.
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