Q20 · UPPSC PCS Mains 2025 · GS III · 12 marks · ~200 words in the hall · 1 min read

← Q19

Suggest some effective strategies for reducing the risk of man-made disasters like industrial accidents, terrorist attacks and fires.

Topic: Disaster management. Syllabus: Disaster management. Same official PYQ from year-wise 2025 and Disaster management.

Revision summary

Man-made disasters come from plants, terror, and fire, and they are largely preventable. Hazardous-chemical rules, the Factories Act, and MAH mapping are the industrial core. NDMA guidelines must become inspections and mock drills, not shelf text. Terror risk needs intelligence, precursor control, and protected crowded places. Fire risk needs building-code enforcement, hydrants, and professional fire services.

Model answer

Introduction

Man-made disasters are preventable harm from plants, bombs, and fire. India already has NDMA guidelines and factory law. The strategy is to make those rules live on the shop floor and in the city, not only in a manual.

Body

Industrial accidents

  • Enforce the Factories Act, the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical Rules, and on-site / off-site emergency plans required after Bhopal.
  • Map MAH (major accident hazard) units, run mock drills, and keep buffer zones so that housing does not sit on a leak path.
  • NDMA chemical-disaster guidelines plus State Disaster Management Authorities must inspect, not only draft.

Terrorist attacks

  • Intelligence fusion, urban CCTV with rights limits, and protection of crowded soft targets (stations, markets, festivals) cut mass-casualty risk.
  • Coastal and aviation security, and control of explosives precursors, shrink the tool kit.
  • Community reporting and fast medical surge matter as much as a commando unit after the first minutes.

Fires

  • National Building Code fire norms, working hydrants, and licensed electrical load are cheaper than a high-rise funeral.
  • Professional fire services, industrial fire tenders, and public education on crowding in marriage halls and hospitals are the city half of the same file.

Cross-cutting tools are land-use zoning, one-incident command, and insurance that actually pays only if drills were real.

Flow diagram

flowchart TD
  N[NDMA SDMA] --> I[MAH units chemical rules]
  N --> T[Soft target intel]
  N --> F[Fire NBC hydrants]
  I --> R[Lower man made disaster]
  T --> R
  F --> R
  D[Drills buffer medical surge] --> R

Conclusion

Industrial, terror, and fire risk fall when law, drills, intelligence, and fire services operate as one system. NDMA and factory-chemical rules already exist; the effective strategy is compliance, buffers, and practised emergency medical care.

Quick related

Students also ask

  • Did India copy CIMAH by that name?

    The Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards idea is in Indian chemical rules and MAH mapping, not always under the UK CIMAH label.

  • Are mock drills enough?

    Only if buffer zones, hydrants, and hospitals are real. A drill on paper does not stop a leak.

PYQ trend

When UPSC asked this

Related PYQs from other years, newest first. Open a question to read it.

  1. 2024 · Q8 · UPGS3 · 8 marks

    Describe the role of Artificial Intelligence in the safety and security during disaster management.

    View answer →

  2. 2023 · Q18 · UPGS3 · 12 marks

    Distinguish between natural and manmade disasters. Also, elucidate the effectiveness of the disaster management system in India.

    View answer →

  3. 2022 · Q10 · UPGS3 · 8 marks

    What are the types of disasters? Elucidate its management in India.

    View answer →

  4. 2022 · Q20 · UPGS3 · 12 marks

    What is the role of the Government in disaster management? Would it be appropriate to train local citizens for it? Give arguments in support of your answer.

    View answer →

  5. 2021 · Q8 · UPGS3 · 8 marks

    Explain different types and functions of disaster management.

    View answer →

  6. 2018 · Q19 · UPGS3 · 12 marks

    Discuss the disaster management in India at the Centre, State and District levels.

    View answer →

More from this paper

Q1 · UPSC Mains 2025 · UPGS3 · 8 marks

Identify the critical challenges faced by the handicraft industries in India and discuss their challenges.

Food processing

Handicrafts are large in jobs but weak in organisation. Costly inputs, middlemen, and machine-made copies cut the artisan’s price. Credit, GST paperwork, and export compliance are hard for household units. GI tags and e-commerce help some clusters, not the whole sector. The challenge is to move skill, credit, and direct sale to the maker.

Q3 · UPSC Mains 2025 · UPGS3 · 8 marks

Discuss the concept of unemployment in India as developed by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).

Poverty, unemployment and inclusive growth

India measures unemployment on more than one reference period because work is often casual. Usual status (ps and ps+ss) uses the last year and usually gives the lowest rate. Current weekly status uses the last seven days. Current daily status counts person-days and captures underemployment. PLFS is the present NSO survey that carries these NSSO concepts.

Toppers' copies

Toppers' copies for this question will be uploaded soon.