HCMUN 2018
Committee: UNISDR
Topics: Protecting and Ameliorating Current Disaster Infrastructure,
Reducing Mortality Rates through Disaster Risk Reduction, Resilience
of Small Island Developing States
Nation: India
Delegate: Marina Fonseca
School: Holy Name of Mary College School
Population: 1.348 billion
Location: South Asia
National languages: Hindi and English
Government type: Federal government
President: Ram Nath Kovind
Topic #1: Protecting and Ameliorating Current Disaster Infrastructure
Nations are at risk of natural disasters, thus it is crucial to reduce the impacts and to
ameliorate infrastructure in order to ensure some safety among nations. Developing countries
have a more challenging task when dealing with disaster infrastructure. Building efficient
infrastructure systems carry a large cost with it, and financially, nations cannot afford to invest
such costs. In the past, nations have realized that the large costs attributed to disaster
infrastructure are worth it because it saves economic and developmental costs instead. There has
been global progress, with governments investing money and time to improving their responses
to natural disasters and initiating reduction programs. The universal goal is to significantly
reduce disaster damage to protect citizens.
India is very vulnerable to natural disasters. In 2005, the Government of India established
the Disaster Management Act. They took on the responsibilities for framing policies, laying
down guidelines, and practices that coordinate to ensure a rational approach to disaster
management. In 2016, the Indian government created the country’s first Disaster Management
Plan, which works in accordance with the provisions of the Disaster Management Act. India set a
fine example to the rest of the world when it came to political commitment to reducing disaster
losses and managing disaster risks.
Currently, India has a proactive stance on protecting and ameliorating current disaster
infrastructure. 59% of India’s landmass is prone to earthquakes, which is why infrastructure is
critical, especially in India. The tragedies to the nation resulted in the National Disaster
Management Agency (NDMA) adopting a zero tolerance approach to avoidable deaths due to
earthquakes. The NDMA also follows guidelines which enforce a strong emphasis on earthquake
education to reduce the effects of earthquakes. India currently has the Disaster Management Act.
The vision of the plan is to make India disaster resilient and to achieve substantial disaster risk
reduction. The hopes of this is to significantly decrease the losses of life as well as the economic,
social, cultural, and environmental effects that disaster cause.
India believes that the best possible solution to ameliorating disaster infrastructure would
be to continue enforcing the guidelines of the NDMA and to continue having a proactive
response to disasters. India’s NDMA is working in collaboration with United Nations Office for
Disaster R...
