The Prime Minister of India Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao
inaugurating the Indian Institute of Disaster
Management (IIDM) on 13 October 1991 at New Delhi.

The International Day for Disaster Reduction was started in 1989, after a call by the United Nations General Assembly for a day to promote a global culture of risk-awareness and disaster reduction. Held every 13 October, the day celebrates how people and communities around the world are reducing their exposure to disasters and raising awareness about the importance of reining in the risks that they face.

The activities of IIDM include studies, training, publications, conference organizations and consultancy in selected areas of contemporary, man-made and natural disasters besides disaster preparedness, earthquakes, floods, dam bursts, tsunami, el-nino, avalanches, forest fires and technological disasters.