World Disaster Report 2010

According to the World Disaster Report 2010 published by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), during the period 2000 to 2009, as many as 85 percent of the people affected by disasters belonged to the Asia Pacific region. The Global Assessment Report 2011 published by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN ISDR) estimates that more than 90 percent of the global population exposed to floods live in South Asian, East Asian and the Pacific countries. Among the disaster-prone countries in South Asia, India and Bangladesh are highly vulnerable due to the large population exposed to disasters in India and the geographical, riverine and topographical features of coastal areas of Bangladesh vulnerable to floods and cyclones. In India as many as 200 million people are exposed to recurring floods every year. The high disaster risk and exposure of millions of people in India living in vulnerable areas prone to geological disasters, hydro-meteorological disasters and man-made and technological disasters makes it imperative that a national campaign on mission mode is launched to strengthen disaster preparedness, prevention and mitigation efforts in India.