The State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) is a statutory institution established under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. Its creation was mandated by Section 14 of the Act. The Act itself received the President's assent on December 23, 2005, marking a shift from a reactive, relief-focused approach to a proactive, integrated system emphasizing prevention and preparedness, a necessity highlighted by events like the 2001 Gujarat earthquake and the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.
The SDMA is chaired by the State's Chief Minister and can have up to eight other members. Its core mechanism, detailed in Section 18, involves laying down the State disaster management policy, approving the State Plan, and coordinating its implementation. The SDMA also reviews the development plans of state departments to ensure the integration of disaster prevention and mitigation measures. The State Executive Committee (SEC), constituted under Section 20, assists the SDMA and is responsible for implementing the State and National Plans.
The SDMA is the middle tier of India's disaster governance structure, connecting the apex National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), whose guidelines it must follow, with the District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMA) at the grassroots level.
The framework has recently undergone changes with the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024. A key change is the transfer of responsibility for preparing the State Disaster Management Plan directly to the SDMA from the SEC. New functions added to the SDMA include taking periodic stock of disaster risks, including those from extreme climate events, and preparing a state disaster database. The amendment also empowers state governments to constitute Urban Disaster Management Authorities (UDMA) for state capitals and cities with municipal corporations.