NDMA urged to reform disaster governance in Himalayan region

The People for Himalaya campaign has urged the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to reform disaster governance in the Indian Himalayan region to enable a decisive and coordinated response to such extreme occurrences.

Over 30 organisations and 40 individuals from across the Indian Himalayan region have submitted a joint representation to a high power committee of the NDMA, calling for urgent reforms in disaster governance and climate preparedness. The demand form the People for Himalaya campaign comes in the wake of the catastrophic monsoon disasters of 2025 that exposed the deep ecological fragility and governance failures in the mountain states.

The signatories to the joint submission include the Himalaya Niti Abhiyan, Himdhara Collective, The Shimla Collective (Himachal Pradesh), Citizens for Green Doon, Social Development for Communities Foundation, Uttarakhand Lok Vahini and the Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti (Uttarakhand).

They pleaded that the 2025 monsoon brought widespread devastation through floods, landslides, glacial lake outburst floods and cloudbursts in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, the northeast and Darjeeling. “These disasters have resulted in extensive loss of lives, destruction of homes and damage to infrastructure while also laying bare the cumulative effects of unscientific development, environmental degradation and decades of policy neglect in addressing mountain-specific vulnerabilities,” they contended.

They called on the NDMA to immediately strengthen post-disaster needs assessment and financial support to the affected states. “The Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) studies already underway in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh must be completed without delay to guide fair and evidence-based rehabilitation and reconstruction,” they said.

They emphasised the need for addressing the role of large-scale infrastructure projects in heightening disaster vulnerability. “It is evident that regions where extensive construction of highways, hydroelectric power projects, tunnels and railways are underway have suffered the worst impact of disasters. These projects disrupt riverbeds, destabilise slopes and cause deforestation,” they said.

The activists demanded that all ongoing and proposed mega projects should undergo an independent and scientific review to assess their cumulative ecological and disaster risks.

They said that all projects that increase exposure and vulnerability in fragile terrains should be halted and there should be stricter regulation of tourism and commercial infrastructure and the integration of climate change projections into all planning processes. They also highlighted the urgent need to fast-track rehabilitation and land rights for displaced populations.