Sustainable Development Goals and National Disaster Mitigation Fund

Abstract

The ultimate destination of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) is to sustain development, well-being and community resilience building through calamities and devastating crisis situations. Important synergies exist between the two and coordinated efforts need to be made in the desired direction rather than working for the SDGs and disaster risk reduction and mitigation in silos. Achieving SDGs will not only lead to reducing risk but also in mitigating the impact of impending disasters. Similarly, DRR and mitigation efforts and funds need to focus on their outcomes through the lens of SDGs promoting a holistic approach. However, there are certain challenges in setting up of specific funds for disaster mitigation. There is a growing pressure from disaster management practitioners and professionals in the country on the national government to establish a National Disaster Mitigation Fund. Currently, mitigation activities are carried out either through various projects like National Cyclone Risk Mitigation project, National School Safety project or by post-disaster reconstruction initiatives. The fund has still not been put into place by the national and state governments of India. It may be noted that the national government promotes a fundamental principle for integrating disaster risk reduction (DRR) into developmental planning. Creating a separate fund for mitigation of disasters will defeat the underlying principle of integration of DRR into development. In such a case, DRR would assume a separate entity, which has to be carried out through the proposed fund. The contradiction in the policy of whether disasters are going to be viewed as external shocks to the development process and dealt with National disaster mitigation fund, or whether the process of disaster mitigation will rest within the developmental framework itself, has to be resolved. The Sendai framework also accentuates the process of risk reduction, which is possible only by mainstreaming disaster risk reduction into sustainable developmental processes. There is a growing need to amend the Disaster Management act and associated policies to expunge the inherent contradiction arising in the mitigation and sustainable development relationship. This will help the nation in carrying forward the agenda of the Sendai Framework and achieving the desired targets well in time.