Research article Institutional framework for preparedness and response of disaster management institutions from national to local level in India with focus on Delhi Aditi Madan n , Jayant K. Routray Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation and Management (DPMM), Interdisciplinary Academic Programme, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand article info Article history: Received 30 May 2015 Received in revised form 14 October 2015 Accepted 17 October 2015 Available online 19 October 2015 Keywords: Flood Institution Framework Stakeholders Preparedness Response abstract Delhi has experienced six major floods in the past with the most recent one being in June 2013. Flood related risks are compounded by increasing vulnerability due to rapid urbanisation and growing po- pulation. This increase is an indication of the need for enhancing the preparedness and response of institutions dealing with floods. The study is based on personal interviews and discussions with officials engaged in managing disasters from national to local level. Study attempts to identify the key issues and challenges faced by institutions engaged in disaster management in Delhi in order to reduce the potential impact from future disasters. Results reflect that a number of factors such as awareness and perception, financial resources, technical resources, policy, institutional arrangements, leadership and human re- sources prevent effective and timely institutional preparedness and response to disasters. Wide varia- tions exist in awareness and perception of disasters among the officials engaged in managing disasters from national to local level. Thus, local institutions and the community being at the forefront, need to develop direct linkages with institutions at different levels by following a participatory approach for preparedness. & 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Urbanisation coupled with growing population and urban concentration has contributed to an increase in the frequency, severity and magnitude of disasters. This increase has resulted in impacts all across the globe exposing the poor and marginalised people to higher risks and vulnerabilities. Asia faces the greatest exposure in terms of population and assets [18] since the under- lying natural risks when combined with the region's large popu- lation, inadequate infrastructure, and socioeconomic conditions result in high vulnerability to disaster impacts. Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) recognises China, United States, Indonesia, Philippines and India as the top five countries frequently hit by natural disasters between 2002 and 2012. Dis- asters will continue to occur at an unprecedented scale if steps are not taken in advance [6] with the poorest households getting the most affected by natural disasters [23]. With many developing countries within Asia-Pacific region, floods account for the largest number of people affected, as well as the largest number of people killed by disasters [32]. Urban flooding results from high density of settlements, habitation in flood plains, impenetrable surfaces, poor drainage and waste management [13]. Latest report on Impacts, Adaptation and Vul- nerability points out that Delhi is among the three of world's megacities at high risk of floods [15]. This is evident through the occurrence of early floods in June as compared to floods in the past which occurred in August. In addition, there has been an increase in the number events where water level of river Yamuna went beyond the danger level of 204.83 m. Thus, disasters will continue to occur in the near future due to people settling in hazard prone areas [14,16] resulting in damage and loss from future disasters. 1.1. Floods in megacities With changing climate, rapid urbanisation, high population growth and widening territorial boundaries, most of the urban growth has concentrated in hazard prone low lying coastal areas and other hazardous topographies. For example, huge cities of Asia have been growing at over 4 percent every year including Dhaka, Delhi, Karachi, Jakarta and Bangkok (Chen and Heligman, 1994). In many of such big cities of Asia, urban population growth and spatial expansion to a large extent has been unplanned with massive changes in the city's land use. This poor and unplanned development has resulted in socio-economic and environmental consequences [12,7]. Dhaka with a population of slightly more Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijdrr International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2015.10.004 2212-4209/& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. n Corresponding author. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 14 (2015) 545–555