The Indian subcontinent is vulnerable to drought, floods, cyclones and earthquakes. Landslides, avalanche and forest fires also occur frequently. Among the 32 States/Union Territories in the country, 22 are multi-disaster prone. As much as 40 million hectare of land in the country has been identified as flood prone, and on an average 18.6 million hectare of land is flooded annually. About 57% of area of the country is vulnerable to seismic activity. 18% of country's total area is drought prone, approximately 50 million people are annually affected by drought and about 68% of total sown area of the country is drought prone. India has a long coastline of 8040 Km. which is exposed to tropical cyclones arising in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea in the ratio of 4:1. The Indian Ocean is one of the six major cyclone prone regions of the world. The Coromandal coastline is more cyclones prone, with about 80% of the total Cyclones generated in this region. Disaster reduction, preparedness and prevention involve various professionals, organizations and the community. By a scientific and systematic approach it is possible to reduce the impact of disasters by adopting proper strategies and engineering interventions. The book offers a practical manual to respond effectively in civil emergencies. At present there is no such reference book available and often the decisions are ad-hoc, half-hearted unscientific and wasteful. In absence of proper strategies, action plans and guidelines, there are often delays in rescue, relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and recovery efforts, leading to immense loss of lives, ill health, loss of property and limited resources. This book offers a ready and useful guide to all those concerned with disaster management, civil engineers, planners and architects, including community based organizations, administrators, developers

and students. The book gives ready, simple guidelines for field engineers, architects, managers etc. in handling emergency crisis in the event of natural disasters like earthquakes, floods, cyclones, droughts, etc.