Helping hand: States need help to rebuild public infrastructure after cyclones

Why in news?

Back-to-back cyclones Arnab and Murasu damaged Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, raising the need for Central help in rebuilding infrastructure.

UPSC Relevance

Prelims – NDRF/SDRF, NDMF/SDMF, 15th Finance Commission, Sendai Framework, cyclone naming. 

Mains – GS3, Disaster and Disaster Management; Crop insurance and farmer support. 

The impact of Cyclones 

• Cyclone Arnab – Landfall on October 28; damage in Andhra Pradesh estimated at about ₹4,526 crore; nearly 90,000 hectares of crops damaged in southern Odisha.
• Cyclone Murasu – Crossed the coast on November 3; about 52,500 hectares of standing crops affected.
• Low casualties – Seven deaths from both cyclones, compared to 63 deaths and nearly ₹22,000 crore damage in Cyclone Hudhud (2014). Andhra Pradesh’s Real Time Governance Society (RTGS) and early warning helped.
• Help from States – Personnel from Karnataka, Telangana and Tamil Nadu joined rescue work – a good example of horizontal cooperation.
• The real gap – India has got much better at saving lives. The weak link now is rebuilding what is lost – roads, power lines, schools, embankments and farm incomes.

What is post-disaster reconstruction?

Disaster management works in a cycle: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Reconstruction is the long-term part of recovery.

• Build Back Better (BBB) – Use reconstruction as a chance to make buildings, infrastructure and communities more resilient than before, not just restore them to the old (vulnerable) state. It is part of Priority 4 of the Sendai Framework.
• Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) – A method developed by the World Bank, UN and EU to estimate damage, losses and recovery needs. It was used in Kerala after the 2018 floods, where recovery needs were estimated at about ₹31,000 crore.

Institutional and financial framework

Legal framework

• Disaster Management Act, 2005 – Set up NDMA (chaired by PM), SDMAs (CMs) and DDMAs (District Collectors); provides for national and State funds.
• Disaster Management (Amendment) Act, 2025 – Gives statutory status to the National Crisis Management Committee and High Level Committee, and provides for Urban Disaster Management Authorities and State Disaster Response Forces.
• National Disaster Management Plan (2016, revised 2019) – Aligned with the Sendai Framework; includes a section on recovery and Build Back Better.

Disaster funds

15th Finance Commission (2021–26) reforms

• Shift from relief to risk management – Created National and State Disaster Risk Management Funds (NDRMF/SDRMF).
• 80:20 split – 80% for response funds (NDRF/SDRF) and 20% for mitigation funds (NDMF/SDMF).
• Windows within response funds – Response and Relief (40%), Recovery and Reconstruction (30%), Preparedness and Capacity Building (10%).
• Allocation basis – Past expenditure, area and population, adjusted by a disaster risk index of each State.
• Process for NDRF aid – State submits memorandum → Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) assesses damage → High Level Committee chaired by the Union Home Minister approves funds.

Challenges in post-disaster reconstruction

A. Financial

• Relief bias – For long, the Centre held that NDRF/SDRF were for response and relief only. Recovery was added later, but funds remain small compared with the scale of damage to public infrastructure.
• Gap between demand and release – States often ask for thousands of crores, but norms allow far less; releases are delayed and come in installments.
• Outdated norms – Relief norms per house, hectare or km of road are fixed and do not reflect actual costs of rebuilding.
• Fiscal burden on coastal States – Frequent cyclones hit the same States (Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal), straining their budgets year after year.
• Political friction – States often allege bias in the release of Central funds, hurting cooperative federalism.

B. Agricultural losses and crop insurance

• PMFBY (2016) – Farmers pay low premiums – 2% (kharif), 1.5% (rabi), 5% (commercial/horticulture crops); voluntary for all farmers since 2020.
• Gaps – Delayed claim settlement, low coverage of tenant and sharecropper farmers, disputes over yield estimates, and several States opting out over high premium costs.
• Result – As the editorial notes, the scheme has not given farmers comprehensive cover against nature’s shocks.

C. Institutional and technical

• No standard damage assessment – PDNA is not mandatory; assessments differ from State to State.
• Weak local capacity – DDMAs and urban bodies lack engineers, planners and data to plan reconstruction.
• Rebuilding the old risk – Quick repairs often rebuild in the same vulnerable way and place; building codes are poorly enforced.
• Poor coordination – Multiple departments and agencies work in silos, causing delays and duplication.
• Equity concerns – Landless labourers, fishers, women-headed and SC/ST households often get left out of compensation because they lack documents.

D. Climate change

• More intense cyclones – Warming of the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal is linked to faster intensification of cyclones, making disasters more frequent and costly.

Good practices – What has worked

• Odisha – After the 1999 Super Cyclone (about 10,000 deaths), Odisha created the OSDMA, the first State disaster management authority in India. It built multipurpose cyclone shelters and community volunteer networks, keeping deaths very low in Phailin (2013) and Fani (2019).
• Gujarat after Bhuj earthquake (2001) – Owner-driven reconstruction, where families rebuilt homes with financial and technical support; passed the Gujarat State Disaster Management Act, 2003, the first such State law.
• Kerala after 2018 floods – Rebuild Kerala Initiative and the World Bank-supported Resilient Kerala programme followed a Build Back Better approach.
• Andhra Pradesh – Real Time Governance Society (RTGS) used drones, satellite data and dashboards for real-time monitoring and response.
• Global – CDRI – India launched the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure in 2019 to promote resilient infrastructure worldwide.

The way ahead

• Additional Central assistance for infrastructure – When public infrastructure suffers extensive damage, the Centre should give special help beyond NDRF norms, in the spirit of cooperative federalism.
• Make PDNA mandatory – Standard, transparent damage and needs assessment for all major disasters, using satellite and drone data.
• Revise relief and reconstruction norms – Link them to actual costs and resilience standards.
• Strengthen PMFBY – Faster claims through technology-based yield estimation, wider coverage of tenant farmers, and State ‘top-up’ benefits; States should raise awareness.
• Risk transfer – Explore parametric insurance and catastrophe bonds for States, so payouts come quickly after a trigger event.
• Build Back Better – Enforce cyclone-resistant building codes, underground power cabling in coastal cities, and climate-proof roads and embankments.
• Nature-based solutions – Restore mangroves and coastal shelterbelts as natural buffers against storm surge.
• Science-government partnership – As the editorial suggests, link IITs, universities and research bodies with Central and State agencies for forecasting, design and planning.
• Community and local bodies – Involve Panchayats, SHGs and volunteers in planning recovery; owner-driven housing where possible.
• Inter-State cooperation – Formalise mutual aid between States, building on the help given by Karnataka, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.

India has learnt how to save lives during cyclones. The next step is to make sure that what is rebuilt is stronger than what was lost.

Practice MCQ

Q1. With reference to disaster funding in India, consider the following statements:

1. The National Disaster Response Fund is constituted under Section 46 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
2. The 15th Finance Commission recommended that 20% of the disaster allocation be kept for mitigation funds.
3. The Centre and all States share the State Disaster Response Fund in the ratio of 90:10.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

Answer: (b). Statement 3 is incorrect: the ratio is 75:25 for general category States and 90:10 only for North-Eastern and Himalayan States.

Q2. Consider the following statements:

Statement-I: The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction calls for ‘Build Back Better’ in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Statement-II: The Sendai Framework is a legally binding agreement adopted under the UNFCCC.

Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

(a) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I

(b) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I

(c) Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect

(d) Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Answer: (c). The Sendai Framework (2015–2030) is a voluntary, non-binding agreement adopted at the UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Japan.

Mains Practice Question

“India has become better at saving lives during disasters, but not at rebuilding after them.” Examine the challenges in financing and executing post-disaster reconstruction in India and suggest measures in the spirit of cooperative federalism. (250 words, 15 marks)

PDF