Environmental Disasters and Disastrous Policies: An Overview from India

Though disasters have been important recurring events in South Asia, the policy framework for addressing the issues arising from disaster has been weak. Taking an alternative perspective on the definition of disaster itself, this article attempts to address the cause of the increasing numbers of disasters in India. I posit that the nation‐state still understands disasters as a natural phenomenon, rather than as an intersection between conditions of vulnerability and actual hazards. This is to be observed in the disaster policies adopted. Hence, this article emphasizes the inclusion of ‘vulnerability’ as paramount.