Vol. 4, Issue 3, Part I (2018)

Abstract
A spontaneous response by individuals and emergent voluntary groups is a common and long-standing feature when disasters occur in any regions. Their activities direct and latent, include search and rescue, first aid, transporting and distributing relief supplies, and providing food and drink to victims and emergency workers. The process also, often, add healing touch that cannot be valued in money terms. However, informal actors are rarely incorporated into formal disaster management planning. This paper reviews the current state of knowledge concerning the nature and scale of emergent activity around the disasters occurred in India, its impact in the short and long terms, challenges associated with it in different contexts, and lessons for future disaster management practice.