From Reaction to Readiness

From mountain rescues to cyber crackdowns, India's disaster and security machinery has grown faster, sharper, and more networked over the past few years—redefining resilience; writes Kriti Mehta

- Kriti Mehta

Flash floods and landslides in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have once again placed India's disaster response machinery under strain. Despite the large-scale destruction, NDRF teams, along with military and paramilitary forces, have been carrying out rescues in remote areas where roads have collapsed and communication lines are down.

It is the kind of crisis for which the NDRF was created in 2006, but the scale and speed of deployments in recent years point to a broader strengthening of India's disaster and internal security apparatus. Since 2019, the force's capacity has grown through better equipment, advanced training, and a networked early warning system that now sends millions of alerts to residents in vulnerable zones. Officials say that in the past five years, NDRF and state disaster units have rescued over 1.5 lakh people and evacuated millions ahead of floods and cyclones.