The Disaster Management (Amendment) Act, 2025 marks a paradigm shift from reactive relief to proactive risk governance. Critically examine the key changes introduced by the Amendment and assess whether they adequately address India’s evolving disaster risk landscape.

In the last two decade, India has experienced rising disasters, both natural and anthropogenic, resulting in a significant loss of life, resource depletion and property damage which warranted some modification to the existing Disaster management act 2005.

The key changes in the Amendment act 2025: Aspect Disaster Management Act,

Disaster Management 2005 (Amendment) Act, 2025 Focused largely on disaster Greater emphasis on response and institutional preparedness, risk framework after the 2004 assessment, data-driven tsunami. governance and resilience. Disaster

National Executive Committee

NDMA and SDMAs themselves

Management (NEC) and State Executive prepare disaster management Plans Committee (SEC) prepared plans. Approach national and state plans for approval by NDMA/SDMA. Role of Mainly policy formulation, Additional functions include

NDMA/ SDMA guidelines and coordination. periodic disaster risk assessment, technical assistance, disaster databases, minimum relief standards and post-disaster preparedness audits. Urban No dedicated urban

Enables creation of Urban

Disaster institutional mechanism.

Disaster Management

Authorities for State capitals

Management and Municipal Corporation cities.

State Disaster

Only the National Disaster

States empowered to

Response

Response Force (NDRF) had establish State Disaster Force (SDRF) statutory recognition. Response Forces. Disaster No statutory provision for

NDMA and SDMAs must

Databases comprehensive databases. create disaster databases covering hazards, vulnerabilities, preparedness, funds and mitigation measures. Statutory

Bodies like the National Crisis

NCMC and High-Level

Recognition

Management Committee

Committee (HLC) receive (NCMC) functioned statutory status. administratively. Climate Climate change was not Requires periodic assessment Perspective explicitly integrated into of emerging risks including institutional functions. extreme climate events.

Critical Assessment:

• Exclusion of climate disasters like Heatwaves and coastal erosion.
• Weak integration with land-use planning: The Amendment does not mandate risk-sensitive land-use regulations, allowing continued construction in floodplains, coastal zones and fragile Himalayan ecosystems.
• Implementation deficit: UDMA provisions lack clarity on funding, staffing, and enforcement .
• Data duplication: The new database ignores the existing Climate Hazard and Vulnerability Atlas of India.
• Rights and participation gap: No rights-based framework, despite Supreme Court emphasis on pre-disaster preparedness protecting the right to life.
• Coordination and accountability concerns: The addition of multiple authorities may create overlapping jurisdictions between NDMA, SDMAs, UDMAs and local administrations.

Therefore despite the fact that the amendment is a meaningful paradigm shift, but adequate financing, notifying climate-linked disasters, and communitycentred implementation is must to address India's evolving risk reality.