The Disaster Management (Amendment) Act 2024 reshapes India’s federal disaster architecture. Examine the changes, the role of UDMA, and the residual gaps in financing and accountability.

Introduction:

The Disaster Management (Amendment) Act 2024, passed by Parliament on 3 December 2024, amends the parent Disaster Management Act 2005 to formalise the National Crisis Management Committee and the High-Level Committee at the apex, and to constitute statutory Urban Disaster Management Authorities (UDMA) in major cities under Section 41-A.

Architectural changes: The Amendment grants NDMA the mandate to prepare disaster databases, recognise post-disaster recovery, and assess man-made and emerging risks including climate-induced disasters. SDMAs and DDMAs gain authority to act ex-ante. The NCMC, chaired by the Cabinet Secretary, gets a statutory footing for cross-ministerial coordination during national-level crises.

UDMA's role: Cities with municipal corporations and populations above one million must constitute UDMAs chaired by the Municipal Commissioner, with mandates for urban risk reduction, fire-safety codes, building-bye-laws, drainage and heat. The XV Finance Commission set aside ₹68,463 crore for SDRF-Mitigation and ₹13,693 crore for NDRF-Mitigation — operationalising the Sendai Framework's third priority.

Residual gaps: Financing remains under-quantified: India spends only 0.4% of GDP on disaster risk reduction (UNDRR 2023), against the recommended 1.5%. Local UDMAs lack technical and cartographic capacity; PMAY-U 2.0 codes are not yet harmonised with NDMA guidelines on liquefaction zones and Coastal Vulnerability Index. State DRFs depend heavily on NDRF top-ups for slow-onset disasters such as drought and heatwave.

Way forward:

MHA and NDMA should notify UDMA model rules by FY27, ring-fence 1% of municipal own revenue for DRR under the 16th Finance Commission window, and operationalise risk-pool insurance under the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).