Panchayati Raj Institutions are the closest democratic institutions to rural people. Therefore, they play a crucial role in disaster management, especially in a disaster-prone state like Assam, where floods, erosion, landslides, storms and earthquakes create repeated risks. The Disaster Management Act, 2005 includes Panchayati Raj Institutions within the meaning of “local authority”, and the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 strengthens their role in local planning and development. Hence, PRIs can convert disaster management from a top-down official exercise into a community-based process.
Effective disaster management has four stages: mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. PRIs can contribute at every stage because they understand local geography, vulnerable families, community resources and traditional coping practices.
Role of PRIs before disasters:
- Risk mapping: Gram Panchayats can identify flood-prone villages, erosion-hit areas, weak embankments, unsafe houses, elderly persons, pregnant women, children and persons with disabilities.
- Village Disaster Management Plan: The Ministry of Panchayati Raj’s Disaster Management Plan, released in 2022, emphasises village-level disaster planning and community participation.
- Awareness generation: PRIs can conduct mock drills, school awareness drives and campaigns on early warning, safe shelter, drinking water, sanitation and snakebite prevention.
- Asset creation: Through schemes like MGNREGA, Panchayats can support drainage improvement, pond renovation, raised platforms, flood shelters and rural roads.
Role during disasters:
- Early warning communication: PRIs can quickly pass warnings from ASDMA, DDMA and local administration to villagers through public announcements, mobile groups and local volunteers.
- Evacuation and rescue support: They can help shift vulnerable people and livestock to safer places.
- Relief distribution: Since Panchayats know the local population, they can ensure fair distribution of food, drinking water, medicines, bleaching powder and tarpaulin.
- Coordination: They act as a bridge between communities, District Disaster Management Authority, ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, police, SDRF, NDRF and NGOs.
Role after disasters:
- Damage assessment: PRIs can help prepare quick lists of damaged houses, crops, roads, schools, water sources and livestock.
- Rehabilitation: They can support livelihood restoration, sanitation drives, health camps and rebuilding of local infrastructure.
- Social audit: Panchayats can improve transparency in compensation, relief and reconstruction work.
Assam provides a strong example of why PRIs matter. The 2024 Assam floods triggered around 2.5 million internal displacements, showing the need for local-level risk reduction and preparedness. In flood-prone districts, Panchayats can make disaster response faster because they already know the location of char areas, embankments, schools, health centres and shelter points.
However, PRIs face several challenges:
- Lack of trained manpower and technical knowledge.
- Inadequate disaster funds at the Gram Panchayat level.
- Weak coordination with line departments.
- Poor data on vulnerable households.
- Political interference in relief distribution.
- Limited use of technology and GIS-based planning.
Conclusion
Thus, PRIs are not merely support agencies. Rather, they are frontline institutions of disaster governance. If empowered with funds, training, digital tools and clear legal responsibilities, Panchayats can reduce disaster losses and build resilient villages. In Assam, strengthening PRIs is essential for moving from relief-centric disaster response to community-based disaster risk reduction.
