- A new study notes that among vulnerable populations, people with disabilities (PWDs) are often disproportionately affected during disasters, yet their needs are often overlooked.
- PWDs are rarely included in high-level planning discussions which lay the groundwork for disaster policies and action plans.
- The study authors emphasise the importance of local knowledge and building the capacities of first responders by making them aware of the needs of PWDs.
India faced extreme weather events on 322 days in 2024, resulting in over 3,400 deaths. In the first 90 days of 2025 alone, the country experienced extreme events such as floods and heat waves on 87 days. This alarming trend indicates the need for efficient disaster risk management to minimise impact on vulnerable populations.
A recent study notes that among vulnerable populations, people with disabilities (PWDs) are often disproportionately affected during disasters, yet their needs are often overlooked in preparedness, response, and recovery phases. It highlights a troubling gap between the existing disaster risk reduction (DRR) framework and its inclusive implementation, noting that the increase in the frequency of disasters in India will affect the 28.6 million PWDs in India.
“India doesn’t have a good standing in DRR in terms of PWDs,” says Sumit Vij, one of the authors of the study. “People usually have to rely on their social capital.” He adds that relying on family, friends, and neighbours might be beneficial during a disaster, but having no other option for support increases the challenges.
Policy on paper
In 2015, India, along with other United Nations members, adopted the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, which aims to significantly reduce disaster risk and losses of lives, livelihoods and health as well as the impact on “the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets.”
India’s Disaster Management Act 2005 provides the legal and institutional framework for “effective disaster management.” In 2016, the National Disaster Management Plan was introduced, and was revised in 2019 to include provisions for PWDs. However, according to a 2024 study, implementation remains inequitable.
“Little is known about the status of disability-inclusive policymaking and the implementation of policies on the ground,” notes the recent study, adding that research on disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction (DIDRR) is still lacking.
It further highlights that the mainstreaming of disability inclusion in DRR decreases from the national to the district level. “The Disaster Management Plan at the state and district level refers to PWDs in only a few sections. At the district levels, where the inclusion of PWDs is the weakest, there is a lack of concrete, actionable measures,” it states. The study also highlighted that there is a lack of “institutionalised cooperation between different government departments.”
“Whether it’s an evacuation drill, early warning system, or shelter design, accessibility cannot be an afterthought,” says Sruti Mohapatra, a disability rights advocate and expert in inclusive disaster management.
She points out that PWDs are rarely included in high-level planning discussions which lay the groundwork for disaster policies and action plans. “We don’t see them in state-level disaster committees or local resilience councils. For example, during the preparation of district disaster management plans in many states, disability organisations were neither consulted nor informed,” she adds.
She recalls that while two visually impaired participants were invited to a recent consultation on disaster response in Bhubaneswar to give feedback on evacuation routes, no tactile maps or braille materials were provided. “It felt more like ticking a box than genuine inclusion,” she says.
Planning for diverse disability
Mohapatra points to a fundamental lack of understanding about disability, which can also lead to exclusion. “Disability is not homogenous,” she says. “There are 21 legally recognised categories, each with numerous subcategories. Each condition varies in severity, requiring different kinds of functional adaptations, especially during rescue operations. You can’t cause secondary harm while rescuing them.”
Vij also points out that often, when talking about PWDs, the focus remains on those with physical disabilities. “People with intellectual disabilities don’t receive the same attention,” he says. Mohapatra adds, “For example, someone with autism may become distressed by physical contact. Awareness about these and how to deal with them is important.”
Kanika Bansal, an urban planner who specialises in environmental planning and inclusive design, underscores the need for inclusion across four areas. “Spatial, which means ensuring accessible evacuation routes and shelters. Social, which includes sensitising responders and addressing stigma. Third, economic factors such as supporting livelihoods and providing assistance. And finally, digital, which can be as simple as making emergency apps, maps, and information accessible to all,” she explains. For instance, emergency sirens or cyclone warnings might not reach people with hearing impairments.
Furthermore, relief centres identified for use during disasters are most often not equipped to cater to PWDs’ needs. “Take something as basic as a toilet. People with spinal cord injuries often need to self-insert a catheter. They can’t do that in a crowded public space with no privacy,” says Mohapatra.
Relief kits also often ignore the needs of PWDs, she adds. “They should include batteries for assistive devices, adaptive feeding spoons, and basic items like velcro-strapped shoes.”
Local knowledge
In India, DRR plans and policies have mostly adopted a top-down approach, Mohapatra says. “You don’t write a document and impose it on people. It has to be a bottom-up approach,” she says.
Often, communities have plans in place to ensure their survival, which remains overlooked. In the new study, Vij and team focused on a major part of the population that lives in the floodplains of the Brahmaputra, specifically Majuli, a river island in Assam, where increasing frequency of floods constantly threatens loss of life and livelihoods.
The researchers found that people in Majuli rely on traditional and generational knowledge for flood management. For instance, during the evacuation, priority is given to PWDs, the elderly, and expecting mothers and children. The community members use traditional boats (bhur) made from banana trees and bamboo to evacuate people. Their homes are also built to manage floods: they use bamboo or wood stilts to allow water to flow below them and the house platform’s height can be adjusted to adapt to rising water levels. Hanging shelves are used for edible items. Bamboo is used to build furniture, so it can float in water.
In contrast, under government schemes, houses are being built using concrete, the study notes. “There are national and international frameworks that include PWDs, but on the ground, at least in Assam, they don’t work, and people completely rely on their family, friends, and neighbours. This clearly shows that policy implementation focusing specifically on PWDs is extremely weak and also varies across states,” Vij says.
To better understand how to include PWDs in plans, Mohapatra points towards studying successful disaster preparedness, rescue and recovery stories.
She recalls that during the COVID-19 lockdown, people with spinal cord injuries across Odisha had created a WhatsApp group and set up a barter system. “If someone needed catheters and had extra diapers, they would post and swap. That informal network helped many get through the lockdown,” she says.
Bansal also notes an example from Odisha where there is a local practice called Aapda Mitra. “During a disaster, Aapda Mitra trained volunteers in the affected place to carry PWDs, elderly people, or pregnant women, one by one, to the nearest shelter,” she explains.
More data and research
A major barrier to inclusion of PWDs is the lack of updated data. According to the World Health Organisation, 16% of the worldwide population experience a significant disability. “Yet India still relies on 2011 Census data, which says only 2.21% of Indians are disabled,” says Mohapatra.
According to Bansal, on-ground studies of the differences and diversity among PWDs is missing from current DRR plans and policies. “It’s also important to build the capacities of first responders and map the entire value chain of emergency response. It’s crucial to build their empathy and make them aware of the needs of PWDs,” she says.
Mohapatra emphasises that inclusiveness is not just about ensuring the inclusion of PWDs in disaster preparedness exercises, mock drills, and other emergency responses, but also about making sure the information is accessible and that feedback is considered in solutions. “For instance, including someone with hearing impairment is not enough, having a sign interpreter makes the training useful for them,” she says.
When talking about disability, it’s also important to view it through the lens of intersectionality. “Are these policies accessible to, say, a Dalit woman with a disability in a remote district like Malkangiri in Odisha? If not, there’s clearly a long way to go,” she says.
Read more: The forgotten victims of Maharashtra’s 2019 floods
Banner image: A physically disabled man rests as commuters cross a waterlogged street in 2013 in Guwahati. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
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