calamities. In the following section, some of Table . : Classification of Natural Disasters Atmospheric Terrestrial Aquatic Biological Blizzards Earthquakes Floods Thunderstorms Volcanic Eruptions Tidal Waves Lightning Landslides Ocean Currents Tornadoes Avalanches Storm Surge Tropical Cyclone Subsidence Tsunami Drought Soil Erosion Hailstorm Frost, Heat Wave or Loo. Cold Waves, etc.
Plants and Animals as colonisers (Locusts, etc.). Insects infestation— fungal, bacterial and viral diseases such as bird flu, dengue, etc. INDIA : PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT Yokohama Strategy and International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) Yokohama Strategy and Plan of Action for a Safer World All the member states of the United Nations and other states met at the World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction in the city of Yokohama from May 23rd-27th . It acknowledged that the impact of natural disasters in terms of human and economic losses has risen in recent years, and society, in general, has become vulnerable to natural disasters.
It also accepted that these disasters affected the poor and disadvantageous groups the worst, particularly in the developing countries, which are ill-equipped to cope with them. Hence, the conference adopted the Yokohama strategy as a guide to rest of the decade and beyond, to mitigate the losses due to these disasters. The resolution of the World Conference on Natural Disasters Reduction is as mentioned below: (i) It will note that each country has the sovereign responsibility to protect its citizens from natural disasters; (ii) It will give priority attention to the developing countries, particularly the least developed, land-locked countries and small-island developing states; (iii) It will develop and strengthen national capacities and capabilities and, where appropriate, national legislation for natural and other disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness, including the mobilisation of non-governmental organisations and participation of local communities; (iv) It will promote and strengthen sub-regional, regional and international cooperation in activities to prevent, reduce and mitigate natural and other disasters, with particular emphasis on: (a) human and institutional capacity-building and strengthening; (b) technology sharing: the collection, the dissemination and utilisation of information; and (c) mobilisation of resources. It also declared the decade - as the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR).