Karnataka Disaster Management Authority to get ₹365 crore overhaul

The facility will have training halls, a conference room, hostels which can accommodate at least 800 persons. The same campus will also have the Disaster Management Experiential Learning Centre as part of the World Bank project.

The State Government has proposed to build a dedicated swanky airport-like building for the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) at Yelahanka and overhaul the authority at an estimated cost of ₹365 crore. This was first revealed at a meeting of stakeholders in December 2024 with regard to the World Bank loan for Karnataka Water Security and Resilience Programme. 

The KSDMA operates from room number 546 (fifth floor) of M.S. Building. The State Government has proposed to establish a new building in the premises of the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC). The Revenue Department will be overseeing construction of this building. The government is also planning to change the nomenclature of the authority to Climate Action and Disaster Resilient Centre.

According to the Environment and Social System Assessment (ESSA) document of the Word Bank accessed by The Hindu, of the ₹3,500 crore World Bank fund, ₹800 crore will be disbursed to the Revenue Department for various projects, including a building for KSDMA. This comes under the disaster risk governance institutional reform program, one of the disbursement linked indicators of the World Bank. For this indicator alone, the bank will set aside $77 million (₹667 crore).

According to the document, work includes establishment of KSDMA (brand new building), launch of the Karnataka Climate and Multi-Hazard & Risk Information System (KCHRIS) data model, establishment of Centre of Excellence (CoE), and design of mitigation projects by KSDMA.

Rashmi V. Mahesh, Principal Secretary to Revenue Department, told The Hindu, “The ₹365 crore will be used to construct a state-of-the-art green building and campus for the KSDMA, and the State Institute of Disaster Management(SIDM) to be housed in KSDMA and operated through Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) with premier institutions who will prepare modules and operate the training programmes. The campus will have international airport-like infrastructure.”

The facility will have training halls, a conference room, hostels which can accommodate at least 800 persons. The same campus will also have the Disaster Management Experiential Learning Centre as part of the World Bank project.