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Disaster management is a multidisciplinary area, covering a wide range of issues such as monitoring, forecasting, evacuation, search and rescue, relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation. It also requires multi-sectoral governance as scientists, planners, volunteers and communities all have important roles to play. These roles and activities span the pre-, during and post-disaster phases. Besides, shift of emphasis from disaster response to risk reduction has opened up areas of exploratory research in the subject. Vulnerability refers to the susceptibility of a community to a hazard. Vulnerability analysis seeks to predict disasters by ensuring timely preparedness on the part of people and institutions and concerned government agencies. The emerging arena of disaster mitigation is also becoming an integral aspect of development planning, policy formulation and implementation.  This is where this book comes in. It contains 22 chapters in the form of conceptual and empirical case studies from India and other developed countries. The blend of theory, research and policy makes this book eminently worthwhile for anyone interested in disaster vulnerability and mitigation together with monitoring and forecasting and policy perspectives. It would be useful for students, researchers and teachers of geography, environmental studies, disaster management, civil engineering and policy science. About the Author R.B. Singh is presently Reader, Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. He has to his credit 26 books and about 150 research papers. The UNESCO/ISSC (Paris) awarded him 1998 Research and Study Grants Award in Social and Human Sciences. He has also presented papers in international seminars in more than 30 countries related to emerging frontiers of geography like disaster management, GIS, remote sensing, environmental studies, climate variability and urban and regional development.