30
2.4.2 Man-Made
India also suffers from number of man-made disasters which are results of human
activity. Main causes of manmade disasters are grossly negligent acts, gross inaction and serious errors. The manmade disasters can be broadly classified into the
following classes:
(i) Fire outbreaks
(ii) Collapse of buildings or infrastructure
(iii) Industrial disasters viz., explosions, escape of noxious fumes and gases, mishaps in underground mines, etc., and
(iv) Exposure to radio-active waste
The most dangerous manmade disaster in India’s history was Bhopal Gas Tragedy
which took the life of 3787 people and more than 500,000 people are exposed to
methyl isocyanate gas and other chemicals. The other manmade disasters in India
include fire disaster in AMRI Hospital at Kolkata in 2011, Lalita Park Building
Collapse in West Delhi in 2010, etc.
Decline of vulture population in India is a result of feeding carcass of animals
administered by an anti-inflammatory drug called diclofenac (Oaks et al. 2004).
This drug, which is fatal to vultures, is administered to livestock to treat the symptoms of inflammation, fevers and/or pain associated with disease or wounds. Green
et al. (2004) also demonstrated through a modelling study that diclofenac poisoning
is the major cause, and possibly the only cause of rapid population declines of vulture in India.
The intensity of natural disaster increases due to manmade activities and in some
cases natural disaster can be termed as manmade disaster as the manmade activity
is solely responsible for the disaster. In case of Maharashtra floods in 2005 where
5000 people died, the reasons for the disaster was heavy rainfall which was intensified and aggravated due to presence of poor drainage system in the city. Another
similar example was drought in Maharashtra during 2013 which could be attributed
to poor water management system.
Table 2.4 (continued)
S. No. Name of Event Year
State & Area
Fatalities
43
Latur
Earthquake
1993
Latur, Marathwada region of
Maharashtra
7928 people died
30,000 injured
44
Cyclone
1990
Andhra Pradesh
967 people died, 435,000
acres of land affected
45
Drought
1987
15 States
300 million people
affected
46
Cyclone
1977
Andhra Pradesh
10,000 deaths hundreds
of thousands homeless
40,000 cattle deaths
47
Drought
1972
Large part of the country
200 million people
affected
P. K. Sikdar and S. Basu
2.4.2 Man-Made
India also suffers from number of man-made disasters which are results of human
activity. Main causes of manmade disasters are grossly negligent acts, gross inaction and serious errors. The manmade disasters can be broadly classified into the
following classes:
(i) Fire outbreaks
(ii) Collapse of buildings or infrastructure
(iii) Industrial disasters viz., explosions, escape of noxious fumes and gases, mishaps in underground mines, etc., and
(iv) Exposure to radio-active waste
The most dangerous manmade disaster in India’s history was Bhopal Gas Tragedy
which took the life of 3787 people and more than 500,000 people are exposed to
methyl isocyanate gas and other chemicals. The other manmade disasters in India
include fire disaster in AMRI Hospital at Kolkata in 2011, Lalita Park Building
Collapse in West Delhi in 2010, etc.
Decline of vulture population in India is a result of feeding carcass of animals
administered by an anti-inflammatory drug called diclofenac (Oaks et al. 2004).
This drug, which is fatal to vultures, is administered to livestock to treat the symptoms of inflammation, fevers and/or pain associated with disease or wounds. Green
et al. (2004) also demonstrated through a modelling study that diclofenac poisoning
is the major cause, and possibly the only cause of rapid population declines of vulture in India.
The intensity of natural disaster increases due to manmade activities and in some
cases natural disaster can be termed as manmade disaster as the manmade activity
is solely responsible for the disaster. In case of Maharashtra floods in 2005 where
5000 people died, the reasons for the disaster was heavy rainfall which was intensified and aggravated due to presence of poor drainage system in the city. Another
similar example was drought in Maharashtra during 2013 which could be attributed
to poor water management system.
Table 2.4 (continued)
S. No. Name of Event Year
State & Area
Fatalities
43
Latur
Earthquake
1993
Latur, Marathwada region of
Maharashtra
7928 people died
30,000 injured
44
Cyclone
1990
Andhra Pradesh
967 people died, 435,000
acres of land affected
45
Drought
1987
15 States
300 million people
affected
46
Cyclone
1977
Andhra Pradesh
10,000 deaths hundreds
of thousands homeless
40,000 cattle deaths
47
Drought
1972
Large part of the country
200 million people
affected
P. K. Sikdar and S. Basu