India’s first National Disaster Risk Index was launched in 2018 by the Union Home Ministry with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It is presently in the form of a Draft Report.
This national disaster risk index is also in line with India’s commitment to the Sendai Framework, successor to the Hyogo Framework, where it has to substantially bring down disaster losses in terms of lives and properties. The Index factors in exposure of population, agriculture and livestock and environmental risk in drawing up the rankings. The index measures potential hazards and disasters across the 640 districts.
Rankings: It has put Maharashtra at the top of the disaster vulnerabilities followed by West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, while Delhi is most at risk among Union territories (UTs).
According to the index, some states have made significant progress in disaster risk reduction (DRR) by building resilient infrastructure and investing in early warning systems like Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Assam, and Tripura.
