Why in the News?

• The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in collaboration with the Southern Command of the Indian Army, organized a two-day national symposium, 'Exercise AIKYA,' on disaster management in Chennai.

About the Exercise

• ‘Aikya’ means ‘Oneness’ in Tamil, reflects the exercise's aim to integrate India's Disaster Management community.
• Participants included representatives from six southern states and Union Territories: Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Puducherry.
• Organisations Involved: India Meteorological Department (IMD), National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Central Water Commission (CWC), Forest Survey of India (FSI), Geological Survey of India (GSI) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT)
• It addressed natural disasters like tsunamis, landslides, floods, cyclones, industrial accidents, and forest fires, with particular focus on recent incidents in Tamil Nadu, Wayanad, and Andhra Pradesh.

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)

• It is the apex body in India responsible for formulating policies, plans, and guidelines for disaster management.
• It was formally constituted on 27^th September 2006, in accordance with the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
• Its primary purpose is to coordinate response to natural or man-made disasters and for capacity-building in disaster resiliency and crisis response.
• Objective: To build a safer and disaster-resilient India through a holistic, proactive, and technology-driven approach.
• It operates under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• The Prime Minister is the ex-officio chairperson and nine other members and one such member to be designated as Vice-Chairperson.