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National Crisis Management Committee reviews Cyclone Arnab, targets zero deaths

By CAShorts DeskPublished Source: PIB (Cabinet Secretariat release, 26 Oct 2026); Disaster Management Act, 2005 and Amendment Act, 2025; NDRF

National Crisis Management Committee reviews Cyclone Arnab, targets zero deaths
Illustration (AI-generated)

The Cabinet Secretary chaired the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) on 26 October 2026 to review preparedness for Cyclone Arnab. He set zero loss of life as the goal. He directed that Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar be alerted. The India Meteorological Department expects Arnab to cross the Andhra Pradesh coast as a very severe cyclonic storm by 28 October.

Syllabus: GS2 · Statutory & Regulatory Bodies; GS1 · Geophysical Phenomena; GS3 · Disaster Management

Why this matters for UPSC

GS3 disaster management and GS1 cyclones: Prelims can ask who chairs the NCMC, the NDMA and the National Executive Committee under the Disaster Management Act, 2005; Mains, how India's crisis-management structure prepares for a cyclone.

Why it matters

A fishing family on the Andhra coast, or a village in a low-lying delta, depends on decisions taken in Delhi days before the wind arrives. When the top civil servant sets zero deaths as the goal, every district must move people to shelters before landfall, not after. Warning distant inland States matters too: a storm that weakens over land can still dump heavy rain far from the sea, flooding farms and towns that never saw the coast. The meeting shows how India has shifted from relief after a disaster to preparing for it, with the Centre, the States and the armed forces working together.

Prelims pointers

  • Section 8A: the Cabinet Secretary chairs the NCMC, its other members are notified by the Central Government, and the chair may invite any Central or State officer.
  • Section 8B: the High Level Committee, chaired by the Union minister in charge of disaster management, approves aid to States from national response and mitigation funds.
  • Section 3: the Prime Minister chairs the NDMA ex officio, with up to nine members he nominates; since 2025 its Vice-Chairperson performs its day-to-day functions.
  • Section 8: the NEC's members include the Secretaries for agriculture, defence, health and power and the Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee.
  • Section 45: general superintendence of the NDRF vests in the NDMA; command vests in a Director General appointed by the Central Government.
  • The NDRF, raised in 2006, draws its battalions from the BSF, CISF, CRPF, ITBP, SSB and Assam Rifles.
  • Section 14 and section 20: a State Disaster Management Authority is chaired by the Chief Minister; the State Executive Committee by the Chief Secretary.
  • The Cabinet Secretary heads the civil services and chairs the Civil Services Board; the Cabinet Secretariat administers the Transaction of Business Rules, 1961, framed under Article 77(3).

Practise a UPSC-style question

With reference to the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), consider the following statements:

1. It got statutory status through the Disaster Management (Amendment) Act, 2025.

2. Under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the Union Home Secretary is its Chairperson.

3. The procedure it follows is to be prescribed by the Central Government.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a) 1 and 2 only
  2. (b) 2 and 3 only
  3. (c) 1 and 3 only
  4. (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only. The NCMC is statutory since 2025 and is chaired by the Cabinet Secretary.

Statement 1: correct. The Disaster Management (Amendment) Act, 2025 inserted section 8A, which makes the existing NCMC the committee for the purposes of the 2005 Act.

Statement 2: incorrect. Section 8A(2) names the Cabinet Secretary as Chairperson; the Union Home Secretary attended the October 2026 review but did not chair it.

Statement 3: correct. Section 8A(4) leaves its procedure to be prescribed by the Central Government.

Eliminate: Statement 2 is surely wrong, since the Cabinet Secretary chairs the NCMC. Out: (a), (b), (d).

Trap: Swapped attribution. The Union Home Secretary sits in NCMC reviews and speaks for the Ministry of Home Affairs, so the question pins the chair on that office.

Remember: NCMC = Cabinet Secretary; NEC = Secretary of the disaster management ministry; NDMA = Prime Minister.

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