Legal framework of disaster management in India

India has been traditionally vulnerable to various natural disasters due to its quite unique geo climatic conditions. India has suffered from many disasters in recent history, both natural and climate related and this continue to cause devastation. About 60% of the landmass is prone to earthquake of various intensities, about 8% of the total area is prone to cyclones, over 40 million hectares is prone to floods and 68% of the area is susceptible to drought. In November 2015, floods in the southern city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu killed over 370 people and damaged crops worth US $190 million. And in May 2016, record temperatures of 510c hit phalodi, Rajasthan, during a heat wave that affected much of northern India. Despite being one of the most disaster prone countries in the world, the subject of disaster management could not find a place in the constitution of India. The dangers of climate change and its impact on the occurrence of natural disasters prompted the international community to recast the disaster management system in all parts of the world. in the wake of these persuasions Indian Parliament enacted the Disaster Management Act in 2005 to provide for the legal framework in which the structures function and activities related to management of Disasters are organized and implemented in effort to make the country disaster free. The paper therefore is an attempt to analyze the legal framework of disaster management in the country.