India, March 4 -- A compendium of 10 recent disasters prepared by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) holds lessons for the government. In at least half of them, NDMA traced the origins of the disaster to poor planning and changes in land use patterns. The insights should permeate the bureaucracy so that the development framework aligns with local geography. Take the Chamoli disaster of February 7, 2021. A glacier dislodged in the Himalayas, causing flash floods that destroyed two hydropower projects and killed scores of workers. NDMA has cited Chamoli to underline the necessity of "comprehensive risk assessment that goes beyond traditional engineering parameters" and called for technical feasibility to include geological, s...