UNIT -4: PLANNING & RISK PREVENTION

DISASTER PLANNING

 Effective disaster planning is efficient when the disaster responders start the planning processes
before any disaster.
 There are two types of disaster responses: proactive, meaning before the event, and reactive,
meaning after the incident. With the help of technology, especially with satellite imageries, most
natural disasters are predictable.
 Disaster planning requires a set of information for taking informed decisions by senior
management on the response.
This set of information includes:
• the geographic area and the population affected
• the possible location of the primary command center where relief material can be stored
• the mode of quickest (within 48 hrs.) transportation of the relief material to the site of disaster
• the distance and facilities available to the nearest health center
 DISASTER PLANNING

This set of information includes:

• equipment's and tools needed for evacuation of people from the risk zone
• the possible places for temporary shelter etc.
 In order to assess the immediate needs of the disaster affected communities, it is necessary
that such assessment is done by a gender balanced multidisciplinary team of experts.
 It has been observed from responses to large disasters in different parts of the world that
unplanned immediate disaster responses, inability to take appropriate relief and emergency
decisions and communicate these decisions with the disaster affected people in the beginning of
the disaster management cycle make recovery and reconstruction.
 Finally the basic structure for disaster planning includes the fours phases of comprehensive
emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Mitigation involves
preventive measures to reduce vulnerabilities.
 EARLY WARNING SYSTEM

 Early warning system is the most crucial component of disaster mitigation.

 There are two essential components of an early warning system - scientific basis & disseminate
the information
The first is a sound scientific basis for predicting potential catastrophic events.
• GIS technique is one of the most appropriate scientific tools to predict natural disasters like
cyclone, flood, drought and landslides.
• Earthquakes are not predictable in spite of the advancement of technology.
• Immediately after an earthquake, however, scientists are able to know from the seismic data: the
intensity of the quake in Richter Scale, the location of the epicenter and the depth to the
earthquake, the three most important aspects of earthquake that cause destruction.
• When the epicenter of a high-intensity earthquake (higher than 6.8 in the Richter Scale) is near a
sea or under a sea, there is possibility of a tsunami.
 EARLY WARNING SYSTEM

 Early warning system is the most crucial component of disaster mitigation.

 There are two essential components of an early warning system - scientific basis & disseminate
the information
The next important phase is to disseminate the information to those people at risk.
• This message must be clear and people centric, enabling proper responses by the people in the
potential risk zone and the local government functionaries.
• In case of floods due to water originating in another country, it is necessary to have proper
information sharing between the countries up and down the river for the early warning of possible
flood.
 CRISIS INTERVENTION AND MANAGEMENT

In terms of medical health, a crisis is the reaction of an individual to an event. Crisis, therefore,
does not necessarily refer to a traumatic situation.
A crisis is a period of transition in the life of an individual or a community. Most people go through
it in some period of their lives and most people come out of it without a professional help.
However, there are situations resulting in crisis which are beyond the bounds of a person's
everyday life or beyond the abilities to cope which may require professional assistance for recovery.
High-impact disasters can cause such an impact.
Crisis management refers to the activities and methods to offer short-term immediate
assistances to individuals, who have experienced an event that has produced mental, physical,
emotional and behavioural distress. Though crisis management is a skilled job done by the
professionals, the relief and development workers in the absence of such professionals or in a given
situation, can provide supportive role in crisis management after a disaster.
 CRISIS INTERVENTION AND MANAGEMENT

Example -1
Orissa super cyclone in 1999
A man on the highway near the Paradip Port who was behaving abnormal; as a consequence
he could have been run over by the passing vehicles on the road.
Sensing something unusual, the XYZ got down from the vehicle, grabbed him and seeing his
mental health decided to have a dialogue with him. After much effort, the man told that he was
apparently the only surviving member of his family in the village that had been ravaged by the
cyclone. He was alive because he worked as a wage earner in a factory in Paradip.
The XYZ spent almost an hour with him letting him express his grief, and in the process his
behaviour slowly returned to normalcy. He was then taken to a group of families living in a road side
temporary shelter with a request to include him in the group. Through this effort, the life of a person
was possibly saved by a person without any formal or informal training on stress management. It is
not only the people affected by a disaster who need crisis intervention and management.
 CRISIS INTERVENTION AND MANAGEMENT

Example -2
The XYZ was the team leader of CARE India's response to the earthquake in Kashmir in 2004.
One of the team members was on the road in Srinagar when a human bomb exploded not far from
his vehicle.
The sight of the consequences of this shocked and traumatized him to the extent that he was
barely able to speak. He came back to the base camp shocked and distressed. He wanted to go back
home immediately.
The XYZ did not want him to take with him the trauma and pass this on to his family members. He
was given a lot of space by the team leader to express his feelings. He was under the personal care of
the team leader for all the time he was awake, not letting him alone.
He was allowed to go home two days after intense care by all the team members. This helped him
to get over the initial trauma.
 RESPONSE AND REHABILITATION AFTER DISASTERS

PRINCIPLE
Response after disasters both by the public or the private sectors like the civil society organizations
involved in disaster response, must follow the principle of "good governance".
Though the term good governance has become a new lexicon in the development and humanitarian
sectors, the concept is not new; it is as old as human civilization. The term governance essentially
means the process by which decisions are made and the process by which these decisions are
implemented.
Good governance has the following characteristics:
Participatory Accountable
Transparent Responsive
Effective and efficient
Equitable and inclusive
Follow the rule of the law
 RESPONSE AND REHABILITATION AFTER DISASTERS

The International Code of Conduct for humanitarian response captures much of what good
governance is.

Suggested operational guidelines

• Development and relief workers are advised to live with the affected people forgetting temporary
basic amenities of life. This is bound to pay rich dividends in the future.
• Equal emphasis is given to initiate a process leading to achievement of the target instead of being
completely target oriented.
• Efforts on the inception of any recovery program should aim at converting it to a developmental
one.
• Sustainability depends on the creation of 'social capital'.
 RESPONSE AND REHABILITATION AFTER DISASTERS

The International Code of Conduct for humanitarian response captures much of what good
governance is.

Suggested operational guidelines

• Disaster response should have a disaster risk reduction component integrated with it from the
beginning, apart from meeting the needs of the people affected by it.
• Valuable information like minimum wage, equal wage for equal work irrespective of gender
identity, children below 14 having a right to their childhood, etc., could be conveyed through
program implementation.
• One should be flexible in approach and should also learn to keep pace with the communities, not
expecting the communities to keep pace with them.
• Organizations and individuals should be accountable to the communities.
 RESPONSE AFTER FLOOD

• Emergency response must be based on the assessed needs of the disaster affected communities,
and not on their perceived needs.
• It has been mentioned earlier that a disaster might affect everybody in a society, but it is the poor
and vulnerable people who are most affected by it. The children, the women, the aged, the
invalid people and the disabled are the most vulnerable among the vulnerables.
• The immediate phase after a large-scale high-impact disaster like flood could be extremely chaotic.
Also, during this phase, the needs of the affected people change very fast: what seem to be the
most pressing needs today may become secondary day after tomorrow.
• Hence, carefully thoughtout disaster management planning is imperative and what is more
important is that this planning must be a forward looking one.
• Appropriate social targeting also becomes imperative and special emphasis should be given to the
poor and the marginalized sections of the society affected by flood.
 RESPONSE AFTER FLOOD

Immediate Response Stage

What could be the possible immediate basic needs of communities affected by flood?
These could be:
• Rescue and evacuation to safer places
• Temporary shelter
• Food and nutrition
• Safe drinking water
• Environmental sanitation including toilets
• Non-food items
• Hygiene kits (soap, sanitary napkins, ORS packets etc.)
 RESPONSE AFTER FLOOD

1. Temporary Shelter
Case 1
Generally, after floods, people affected by it return to their villages once the flood water recedes.
However, in extreme circumstances like the Bihar flood of 2008, the affected population is forced to
stay in temporary shelter over a protracted period. This is when extreme care has to be taken to
safeguard the safety and security of women and girl children.
 RESPONSE AFTER FLOOD

1. Temporary Shelter
Case 2
In Bangladesh, with public private partnership, flood shelters have been constructed, more so along
the Yamuna river. These 'flood shelters' are elevated landmasses with tube wells and toilets. There
is no other infrastructure. People living in the "chars" of Yamuna, primarily the fishing community,
have been trained to dismantle their houses in case of flood and reach the flood shelter with
their belongings, however meager that may be, and the tins they use for their roofs.
 RESPONSE AFTER FLOOD

1. Temporary Shelter
Case 2
On reaching the flood shelter, they use the same tins for construction of temporary shelters and
once the flood water recedes, they go back to their villages.
Similar 'flood shelters' could be constructed in the known flood prone river basins in India which
would definitely reduce the sufferings of people affected by flood.
Resources available under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme could
be utilized in such Disaster Risk Reduction activity.
 RESPONSE AFTER FLOOD

1. Temporary Shelter
Case 2
When the flood affected people are forced to live on river embankments or on high roads or in the
open ground, it becomes essential to provide them temporary shelter to shield them from the sun
and the rain. It is a normal practice among the government and the civil society institutions to
provide tarpaulin sheets. According to the Sphere minimum standard, 3.5 sq. m of minimum
sleeping space should be provided to each person. Therefore, a standard size tarpaulin sheet of 15
sq ft to 12 sq ft available in the market, meets 95% of the Sphere Standard for a family of five.
 RESPONSE AFTER FLOOD

2. Food and Nutrition

If an organization decided to provide food assistance to the disaster affected people, it must follow
the Sphere standard and provide approximately the a aforementioned food quantity for two adults
and three children.
Similar calculation would have to be made to quantify the minimum food to be provided in wheat
eating areas.
At times, post disaster, the nutritional status of under 5 children and adolescents may dip to
such an extent that provisions of supplementary food becomes necessary.

What is the purpose of food aid?

• Prevent malnutrition in the population affected by the disaster.
• It is necessary, however, to plan for the treatment and management of cases of malnutrition.
 RESPONSE AFTER FLOOD

How do disasters affect the status of food and nutrition?

• Not all disasters produce food shortages which are so severe as to have a critical impact on the
nutritional status of the affected population.
• The nature of food and nutrition problems depends on the type of disaster, its duration and the
size of the area affected, and the nutritional status of the population prior to the disaster.
• Earthquakes usually have little effect on long-term food supplies. By contrast, hurricanes,
floods, and tsunamis directly affect the availability of food, by ravaging crops, killing livestock
and domestic animals, and destroying stored food.
• Any type of disaster will disorganize transportation systems, communications, and social and
economic routines. Thus, even though food stores may exist, the population may not have access
to them.
 RESPONSE AFTER FLOOD

Steps - effective food aid program?

• Estimate the quantity of food available.
• Calculate the dietary needs of the affected population.
• Determine the food rations in accordance with the characteristics of the population and
estimated duration of the effects of the disaster.
Priorities - food aid program during disasters
• Immediately provide food where need is urgent, - institutions, hospitals, refugee camps etc.
• Make an initial estimate of the food needs of the affected population.
• Identify food stocks, transportation, storage, and distribution.
• Ensure the safety and suitability of locally available food and supplies received.
• Monitor the food and nutrition situation closely, so that the supply and rationing of food can be
modified in keeping with changing conditions.
RESPONSE AFTER FLOOD
 RESPONSE AFTER FLOOD

• There is tested and WHO-approved low-cost supplementary food that could be prepared by those
living in temporary shelters, with some training.
The process is as follows:
• One kg of wheat is cleaned and washed. Thereafter, when it is dry, it is roasted. Similarly, 250
grams of 'chana dal' is separately cleaned, washed and roasted. Both of these are mixed together
and this mixture is then crushed.
• The crushed mixture is then fried in a pan with a little oil and when the mixture turns brownish,
a little jaggery or sugar is added. This is now ready to eat. This ready to eat material is sufficient
supplementary food for two children for two weeks.
• To store the mixture for two weeks, it is advised not to add sugar and jaggery. Children should
be provided this twice a day, preferably three hours before the major meals. Approximately, the
calorie intake from this mix is 750 kcal per day.
 RESPONSE AFTER FLOOD

3. Safe Drinking Water

• This is a major area of concern after a disaster, more so after the floods.
• The flood water could infect all the wells and other water bodies and even the tube wells could
be completely submerged for days.
• However, a study done by the Oxfam Kolkata office, after the Bihar flood of 1998, revealed
that the water of the tube wells that were not fully submerged, was bacteria free, but the same
water used at home had 22 different types of bacteria because of unhygienic storage and usage
of water.
• It is, therefore, of prime importance that the quality of water should be safe not only at the
source but till the end user.
 RESPONSE AFTER FLOOD

How to purify dirty water - the items required are:

• Two buckets of 15 and 10 liters.
• 25 gram alum crystal.
• 2 pieces of clean cloth and a long piece of stick.
• Halogen tablets 20 to 30 (4 mg each).
The Process:
• The 15 liter bucket is filled with dirty water.
• The alum crystal is wrapped in a clean cloth and tied firmly with the stick.
• The end of the stick with the alum is dipped into the bucket of dirty water and the water is stirred
at least 15 times.
• The bucket is kept under cover for one hour.
• After an hour, the water from this bucket is transferred into the 10 liter bucket with a clean mug.
• 20 halogen tablets of 4 mg each is put into 10 liters of water, • After half an hour, the water is
safe to drink.
 RESPONSE AFTER FLOOD

How to disinfect a tube-well submerged in flood - The items required are:

• A standard matchbox full bleaching powder.
• A water container and One liter bottle.
• A piece of clean cloth for straining, A thin piece of stick.
• Slide range to open the tube well.
• Hacksaw and Screw driver.
Process:
• The matchbox full bleaching powder is completely dissolved in one liter of water.
• The body of the tube well is removed with a range and the check valve is removed from the joint of
the pipe.
• The mixture of bleaching powder and water is poured into the tube-well.
• The tube-well is reinstalled. The tube-well is kept unused for three hours.
• After three hours, at least 30 to 40 buckets of water is pumped out. The tube well water is now
safe for drinking.
RESPONSE AFTER FLOOD
 REHABILITATION AFTER CYCLONE

• The destructive power of a high-impact disaster, like cyclone, depends on its intensity. India,
with a coastline of more than 7,500 km with high density of population is, therefore, prone to
cyclonic storms and water surges.
• The East coast is more prone to cyclones than the west coast. The Bay of Bengal is the
most cyclone prone region in the world.
• The Orissa Super Cyclone, the worst in living memory, with wind speed of more than 220 km
per hr., killed more than 10,000 people and as the international experience suggests, more
than 10,000 X 3000 = 30,000,000 were severely affected by this (for every person killed, 3,000
people are severely affected).
• Of all the natural disasters, cyclones are most predictable
• The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) with the help of radars and satellites is
responsible for monitoring the formation of depression over the sea till it reaches the inland.
 REHABILITATION AFTER CYCLONE

• In a cyclone, the people living closest to the sea are obviously the worst hit. Among them, the
fisher folk are the worst affected. It has been an experience both in India and Bangladesh that
people, who suffered the most, in spite of repeated warnings did not move to safer places.

The reasons could be:

• Many of them might not have the legal entitlement of the land in their possession and hence
were afraid of losing possession if the warning turned out to be false.
• They might not have the access to the information.
• They might have felt that they would be able to cope with the impending hazard as they have
braved in the past.
Immediate response after strong cyclone becomes difficult because of uprooted trees and power
lines on the road. Reaching the most affected, the ones who live closest to the sea is, therefore, a
challenge.
 REHABILITATION AFTER CYCLONE

• Immediately after the Orissa Super Cyclone, when aid workers could reach the worst affected
areas, most of them felt the need of psycho-social counseling, particularly those who lost
members of their families.
• Heavy rains that follow or accompany a cyclone create additional problems to the cyclone
affected people.
• It however, washes away the salinity of the agricultural land inundated by sea water. Because
of this, the agricultural land becomes cultivable for the immediate next crop. It is possible that
tube wells close to the shore line have been completely submerged creating acute water
scarcity.
• In such a situation, provision of safe drinking water assumes top priority. The cyclone
affected people may also immediately need health services to cater to the wounds caused due
to house collapse, uprooting of trees, etc. From the experience of Orissa Super Cyclone, it is
recommended that 'normalcy' is restored as early as possible after a major disaster.
 REHABILITATION AFTER CYCLONE

What is “Normalcy”

• The affected people go back to their villages, even if they need to stay in temporary shelters
there.
• Electricity is restored - an electric bulb apart from giving the much needed light also sends a
message that life goes on.
• Schools reopen even if the books and the school buildings have been completely destroyed.
Being with peers acts as a psycho-social support to the children, it also protects children from
trafficking.
• Markets reopen.
• The affected people get back to the productive activities they were engaged in.
• The other immediate needs after cyclone are same as that described for floods.
 RESPONSE TO TSUNAMI

A tsunami is a series of enormous ocean waves caused by earthquakes, underwater landslides,

volcanic eruptions or asteroids. A tsunami can kill or injure people and damage or destroy
buildings and infrastructure as waves come in and go out.

• India in the past had not been classified as a tsunami prone country.
• December 26,2004 tsunami was caused due to an earthquake under the sea of intensity 9 in
the Richter Scale in the Sumatra-Andaman range, it took everyone in India by surprise.
• The tsunami waves move along the bed of the sea with tremendous velocity and unleash
huge energy when they reach the shore.
• These waves along the sea bed are not noticeable from the surface of the sea and hence cannot
be detected unless sophisticated instruments are placed on the sea bed.
• The tsunami waves could reach up to 30 ft above the sea level while reaching the shore.
 RESPONSE TO TSUNAMI

• This huge column of water with very high speed gathers tremendous amount of kinetic
energy that is capable of destroying everything that comes in its way.
• As a result of this, the December 2004 tsunami killed more than 230,000 people in 11
countries of south east Asia, India is one of these.
• After the devastating tsunami of 2004, early warning systems have now been put in place.
• There was a tsunami warning issued by Indonesia in 2010 following a 7.8 Richter Scale quake
in Sumatra; fortunately, there was no tsunami.
Rehabilitation after tsunami becomes difficult for two reasons:
• The government would have to allot alternative land to the fisher folk at a safe distance but
not very distant from the sea because their source of livelihood is the sea and they study the
sea very closely and intensely through the day and night.
• Vast agricultural land may be inundated by the sea water making it difficult to grow crops
immediately after a tsunami.
 RESPONSE TO TSUNAMI

The immediate needs of the tsunami affected people would be similar to other high-impact
disasters. These could be:
• Rescue of survivors.
• Care of the injured.
• Temporary shelter.
• Removal and disposal of dead humans and animals.
• Food and water.
• Clothes for all age groups.
• Sanitation including environmental sanitation.
• Hygiene kits.
• Psycho-social: support.
• Care and protection of children who may have lost both parents.
 RESPONSE AFTER RIVER EROSION

Erosion is the process that wears away the river bed and banks. Erosion also breaks up the
rocks that are carried by the river.

• All people affected by river erosion may not be economically poor prior to erosion.
• But they were certainly vulnerable to hazards because of the geographic location of their
habitation and agricultural fields.
• People affected by erosion - their houses and lands are eaten away by the river, may not
have an alternative place to restart their lives unless safer homestead land is allotted to them
with its legal rights.
• This aspect and the fact that they need to stay in temporary arrangements till alternatives are
provided by the state, make them more vulnerable compared to other natural disasters.
 RESPONSE AFTER RIVER EROSION

• The rate of erosion becomes more due to human intervention like construction of barrage
or other structural measures to contain the river from flooding.
• Often, rivers are the boundaries between states. With the shifting of the river, does the
boundary also shift?
Case study
• In Malda District of West Bengal, the Ganges has shifted eastward by 30 km in the last 50
years or so. Due to the Farakka barrage on the river, there has been heavy silting and as a
result, an island measuring 190 km² has been formed. About 100,000 people living there are
denied of basic human rights: they are stateless people.
• The survey of India considers this as a "disputed land". There had been many commissions set
up in the past to resolve the issue without success. River erosion may take place in moments
but the process leading to erosion takes a long time and gives opportunities for the state and
the civil societies to take proactive actions.
 RESPONSE AFTER RIVER EROSION

Rescue and evacuation

• Shelter, Food and water
• Clothes, Sanitation
• Hygiene kits
• Protection of children and girls from trafficking
REHABILITATION AFTER RIVER EROSION
• The obvious difficulty in post-erosion rehabilitation is the availability of appropriate land for
resettlement of the people affected by it. This could be made available by the government.
• However, National Disaster Management Authority of India (NDMA) recognizes river erosion as
a disaster but the existing relief codes that guide the government's response after a disaster
does not include it.
• Hence, even if people affected by it have lost land, houses, cattle, etc., they get no financial
compensation for it from the government; at least, that has happened so far in Malda.
RESPONSE AFTER RIVER EROSION
 DROUGHT

• The perennial problem of this nation - a problem so slow moving - predictable yet so
dangerous in its effects - a problem which is present in a large portion of our country - is
the problem of droughts. This is also a water and climate related disaster.
• Drought is defined by the delicate balance between water supply and demand. Drought is a
condition of acute scarcity of water, food, fodder and employment due to scanty or no rainfall
in an area.

• Whenever human demands for water exceed the natural availability of water the result is
drought. The inability of annual rainfall to recharge tanks and wells or underground water
sources results in reduced supply of water to meet the requirements of the population. The
greater the imbalance in supply of water, the higher is the intensity of drought.
• Since drought conditions develop over a period of time, people do not react to drought like
they do to other sudden disasters like earthquakes and floods.
 DROUGHT

• The distribution of all the water on the earth's surface is not even. Some places have lots of
fresh water (rivers, lakes, lagoons, ponds etc.) and are continuously replenished by rainfall
and water from underground. Others places are known to have very little water.

• Therefore, if a region that has lots of rainfall, goes for a couple of weeks without rains, and
people, animals and plants begin to experience a bit of dryness, it can be called a drought. At
the same time, that condition may be very normal for places with no water, they can go for
months without any rains with little problems.

• Drought is caused by not only lack of precipitation and high temperatures but by overuse
and overpopulation too. Although a slow onset and to an extent predictable emergency,
drought has caused severe suffering in the affected areas in recent years, including effects on
poverty, hunger, and unemployment.
 DROUGHT

• Droughts may not be an issue just because there is less or no precipitation. However, it
becomes an issue when it begins to affect water supply for irrigation, municipal,
industrial, energy, and ecosystem function.

Drought means different things to different people.

• To a meteorologist - it is the absence of rain, while to an agriculturist it is the deficiency of
soil moisture to support crop growth and productivity.
• To the hydrologist - it is the lowering of water levels in lakes and reservoirs, while for the city
management it may mean the shortage of drinking water.
 DROUGHT

• About 50 million people in India are affected annually by drought. Of approximately 90

million hectares of rain-fed areas, about 40 million hectares are prone to scanty or no rain.
• Rainfall is poor in nine meteorological subdivisions out of 36 subdivisions.

• Drought in India has resulted in tens of millions of deaths over the course of the 18th,
19th, and 20th centuries. Indian agriculture is heavily dependent on the climate, as a
favorable south-west summer monsoon is critical in securing water for irrigating Indian crops.

• In some parts of India, the failure of the monsoons result in water shortages, resulting in
below-average crop yields. This is particularly true of major drought-prone regions, such as
southern and eastern Maharashtra, northern Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha,
Gujarat, Telangana and Rajasthan.
 DROUGHT

• The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has defined drought as a situation occurring in
any area when the mean annual rainfall is less than 75% of the normal rainfall.

• IMD has further classified droughts into two broad categories, that is, a severe drought when
the deficiency of rainfall exceeds 50% of the normal rainfall and moderate drought when the
deficiency of rainfall is between 25 and 50% of the normal rainfall.
 DROUGHT

What causes drought the world over? There are four major reasons for this

• The first reason is lack of rainfall (or precipitation). Droughts can occur when there is the
lack of 'expected' precipitation (rain and snow).
• Lack of rain alone does not mean a drought. Some regions can go for months without any
rain, and that would be 'normal' for them. Farmers plant in anticipation of rains and so when
the rains do not come, and irrigation infrastructure is absent, agricultural drought occurs.

• The second reason is surface water flow. Some regions are also well distributed with surface
water (streams and rivers), that have their sources from far away mountains and watersheds.
• These surface waters may dry out if the flow from their sources upstream is affected. Hydro-
electric dams and irrigation systems are some of the economic activities that can reduce the
amount of water flowing to other areas downstream.
 DROUGHT

What causes drought the world over? There are four major reasons for this

• The third cause is human factors. Forests (trees) play a key role in the water cycle, as they
help reduce evaporation, store water and also contribute to atmospheric moisture in the form
of transpiration. This means, cutting down trees (deforestation) in the name of economics, will
expose surface water to more evaporation.

• The fourth major reason is global warming. Even though some people do not accept that the
average temperature of the earth has risen, it is on record that human actions have
contributed to more greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. As a result, there are warmer
temperatures, often resulting in more dryness and bush fires. These conditions also tend to
speed up drought conditions.
 RESPONSE TO DROUGHT

• Drought is a slow impact disaster. The international communities or civil societies respond to
it when the worst symptoms of it: deaths due to hunger, surface.
• 68% of the country is prone to drought. In major parts of India, monsoon lasts for four
months. Major crops are raised in this period and harvested after the monsoon and in parts of
the country. where irrigation facility is not available, poor peoples' well being depends on rain-
fed agriculture.

• An area as large as a state, district or as small as a block is considered drought affected if the
rainfall during monsoon is less than 25% of the average annual rainfall.
• If it is less than 50%, the area is considered by the government as severely drought affected.
This drought is called as meteorological drought.
• The Government of India has been implementing Drought Prone Area Program (DPAP) in
identified districts of the country.
 RESPONSE TO DROUGHT

• This is also true that 73% of the sugarcane produced in Maharashtra comes from drought
prone areas". However, there could be more or less the same annual rainfall but with long
absence of rain during the critical growth of the major crops. This is referred to as agricultural
drought.

• Droughts can have serious impact on the economy of India: agriculture's contribution to
the GDP is second highest and maximum percentage of the people in India is engaged
in this sector.

• Drought Planning is defined as actions taken by individual citizens, industry, government, and
others before drought occurs to mitigate impacts and conflicts arising from drought.
 RESPONSE TO DROUGHT

• Civil society response to drought is generally after media reports of starving children.
However, there are few international and national civil society organizations that have
developed tools to monitor the situation in known drought prone areas.

• The tools used are: the rainfall, the growth of crops, out migration of able bodied men, the cost
of essential food items in the local market in comparison to previous years, etc.
• The typical civil society response to drought has been creating employment opportunities
through cash, or food, or both for work.

• Such programs are aimed at providing much needed cash, meeting the immediate needs of
people affected by drought and to create community assets that could store rain water to cater
to the agricultural needs in the subsequent years.
 RESPONSE TO DROUGHT

Today, the Government of India has the flagship program:

• Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Generation Programe, the civil society organizations
technically do not need to mobilize external resources to respond to drought.

• This is more so, when the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, in
association with UNDP has decided to converge all development activities with NREGA in 150
poor districts of India (the list is available on the internet).
 RESPONSE TO DROUGHT

Case 1:
In 1988, with Oxfam's support, a systematic nutrition assessment was carried out by a Kolkata
based institution with distinctive competence of similar work in response to three years of
consecutive drought in undivided Ganjam District and in Gunupur sub division of undivided
Koraput District of Orissa.

• The study team measured the food intake by a family in a day and converted it to calorie
intake per person per day.
• The under-five nutrition assessment was conducted by the measurement of the Mid Upper Arm
Circumference (MUAC) and the Body Mass Index of women was calculated.
• The survey revealed: more than 55% of the under-five children were severely malnourished: the
calorie intake per person per day was nearly half of the prescribed 2,400 kcal and 80% of the
women were at risk during child delivery because of low weight and height.
 RESPONSE TO DROUGHT

Case 1:
• The nutritional status of children from the predominantly tribal communities of Ganjam and
Gunupur, after three consecutive years of drought was then compared with the children of
Kalahandi in a 'normal' year.
• The under-five children of Kalahandi were more malnourished in a normal year as compared to
those of Gunupur and Ganjam after three years of consecutive drought.
 RESPONSE TO EARTHQUAKE

• Earthquake above 5 on the Richter scale can damage poorly

constructed houses.
• The destruction of houses is the main cause of mortality during
earthquakes.
• The earthquake in Latur in Maharashtra in September 1993,
measured 6.4 on the Richter scale, was not a high intensity one, but
was a shallow earthquake at a depth of 12 km below the surface.
• The death toll due to this earthquake touched more than 9,700.
• Half of the fatalities were children below 14 years and 55% of the
dead were women.
• In Latur, the traditional housing stock consisted of walls made of
large stones of various sizes and shapes with very little cementing
material and the roof was made of concrete, hence heavy.
 RESPONSE TO EARTHQUAKE

• When the earthquake struck, the houses collapsed because of caving in or out of the walls and
the heavy roof fell on the people inside the house.
• The belief that Latur was situated on a seismic activity free zone was wrong.
• It is situated on a fault zone and hence prone to earthquakes.
• Had the houses been built with quake-resistant features, the mortality could have been much
lower.
• An origin of a disaster could be natural but its consequences on life and property could be man-
made.
• A 6.5 Richter Scale earthquake in Los Angeles in 1993 took only 2 lives.
• Changes in the existing practices of people in disaster prone areas coupled with appropriate
policies of the government can reduce the impact of any disaster.
 RESPONSE TO EARTHQUAKE

• A comparison of destruction of lives between Latur and Kashmir earthquakes (Kashmir quake
was 7.6 in the Richter Scale, therefore more than 10 times stronger) clearly shows the strength
of the community wisdom.

• The total civilian death in the Indian side of Kashmir was 1,500 compared to Latur's 9,748 (the
death on the other side of Kashmir across the border was reported to be high).

• The housing stock in these two places made the difference.

• Earthquake-proof houses are a misnomer; earthquake resistance housing is more practical.

• Kashmir has weathered many earthquakes of various intensities and hence the traditional
housing practices take that into cognizance.
 RESPONSE TO EARTHQUAKE

Similarly, the century old houses in Uttarkashi

were built with basic quake resistant features
like:
• Tie-bonds: Wooden beams which literally bind
together all the walls of a house.
• Tying inner and outer walls.
• Corner reinforcements
• Low roofs which drop the center of gravity.
• Small openings like doors and windows that
enhance the rigidity of the house.
 RESPONSE TO EARTHQUAKE

• The Gujarat earthquake of 7.9 on the Richter scale

took place on the morning of the Republic Day of 2001.
• The epicenter was located near Bhuj town, the district
headquarters of Kutch district.
• The quake affected a large geographic area: Kutch district
is geographically larger than two states of India, Kerala
and Haryana.
• The number of dead was more than 10,000.
• The school going children and their fathers were
celebrating the Republic Day in the open when the
disaster struck.
• This fortunately caused lesser number of fatalities on
that fateful morning. Most casualties were women,
children below school going age and the aged.
 RESPONSE TO EARTHQUAKE

• One of the strongest earthquakes that ever hit India was the
great Bihar-Nepal earthquake of January 15 1934.
• The quake wrecked havoc in the northern part of Bihar
bordering Nepal.
• The shock due to this was registered over 4,920,000 km² of
undivided India and Tibet- from Lhasa to Peshawar and
Vijayawada to Bombay.
• About 12.000 km² showed ground liquefaction, ground
subsidence and ground water irruption.
• Just before the quake, several rivers of north Bihar went dry
and several rivers changed the course. Such was the impact
of the quake.
• The mortality due to this was estimated to be around 25,000.
 RESPONSE TO EARTHQUAKE

The immediate response after an earthquake is:

• To search for survivors;
• To attend to the emergency medical needs of the injured; and
• To meet other needs like food, shelter, clothes for all ages,
sanitation, hygiene, kits, etc.
• An earthquake does not affect the tube wells and therefore,
safe drinking water is not an issue of concern.
• It is however obvious that people affected severely by a high
intensity quake where the houses have fully collapsed would
have to stay in the temporary shelter for a protracted period
of time. The temporary shelters set up in response to an
earthquake.
 RESPONSE TO EARTHQUAKE

THE EXPERIENCE OF POST-EARTHQUAKE HOUSE RECONSTRUCTION IN LATUR AND BHUJ

In Latur, there was no attempt made by the government to have a uniform house
reconstruction package.
As a result of this, the cost of houses built by different agencies ranged from INR 12,000 to INR
40,000 per house. This was not fair. Why should one village or a set of few villages be deprived
compared to others? Such different packages had put the implementing team in to great
difficulties: people receiving a low cost budget house doubted the integrity of the staff in the field.
There was a competition in Latur between agencies to build relatively expensive houses bringing
machineries that are used for construction of high rise buildings.
In Bhuj, the Government of Gujarat laid down definite policies that should be adopted by any
agency involved in the house reconstruction program. The Government of Gujarat proactively
looked for public private partnership in the post-earthquake housing program.
 RESPONSE TO EARTHQUAKE

THE EXPERIENCE OF POST-EARTHQUAKE HOUSE RECONSTRUCTION IN LATUR AND BHUJ

The civil society organizations involved in the house reconstruction work in Bhuj experienced
the greatest hurdle to meet the first condition of the government: to get a resolution signed by all
in a village that they accepted the proposed model of the house.
The reasons for apparent problems in house reconstruction in Latur and Bhuj were:
• Agencies adopted a village based approach. Villages were not homogeneous units, they are as
heterogeneous as India: there were some people who were more equal than others and therefore
agreeing to a model catering to all posed the greatest obstacle
• Latur grapes were once considered the best grapes in the world. This would mean that there
were few people in Latur who were rich and their expectations were very high. Similarly,
Bhuj as a district, receives the maximum remittance from outside the district and there were
many houses belonging to non resident Indians,
 RESPONSE TO EARTHQUAKE

THE EXPERIENCE OF POST-EARTHQUAKE HOUSE RECONSTRUCTION IN LATUR AND BHUJ

The reasons for apparent problems in house reconstruction in Latur and Bhuj were:
• The houses in both places were planned to be of made of bricks, cement and concrete. Trained
workforces were brought in from the neighboring areas leaving no space for the local unskilled
laborers. The affected people were treated as passive recipients.
• It was very difficult to satisfy both the poor and the rich.
With many promises made, the earthquake affected peoples' expectations were raised.
 HUNGER AND DISASTER

• Natural or man-caused hazards turn into disasters, if people exposed to it are poor and
vulnerable.
• In spite of many achievements on the economic front, India is a home for a very large
number, as large as 200 million, of hungry people.
• The under-five nutrition is a well-established indicator of poverty, vulnerability and household
food security or insecurity.
• A report by International Food Policy and Research - 43% of Indian children were
underweight, 7 million children were severely malnourished and 55% of women were anemic.
• According to one member of the National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by Mrs. Sonia
Gandhi, the of UPA Government of India, as reported in the Telegraph of October 24, 2010, 36%
of the total population of the country lives below the poverty line!
• Newspapers of late, have been reporting that the total number of hungry people in India is
more than that of 17 sub-Saharan countries of Africa put together.
 HUNGER AND DISASTER

USA on Global Hunger Index (GH). This study was conducted in "88 developing countries and
countries in transition".
According to the Global Hunger Index which denotes the proportion of people that do not consume
adequate calories, India is slightly above Bangladesh, but below all other countries of South Asia.
Based on the GHI, India ranks below Kenya, Nigeria, Cameroon and even Congo and Sudan,
although the per capita income of these sub-Saharan countries ranks much lower than India.
 HUNGER AND DISASTER

• Within the country, there is a vast variation of the hunger index. Madhya Pradesh has the
highest percentage of hungry people in the country: a situation considered as highly alarming
with Flunger Index as high as 30.9.
• This is one and a half times higher than Nigeria. Madhya Pradesh is closely followed by
Jharkhand (28.67) and Bihar (27.30).
• "The India Hunger Index represents the index calculated using a calorie undernourishment
cutoff of 1632 kcal per person per day to enable compatibility of the India State Hunger Index
with the Global Hunger Index 2008".
• In such a situation where more than 200 million people in the country are hungry, the
consequences of even a moderate shock, be it natural or man-caused, could have a devastating
impact on the life and livelihood of such a large section of the Indian society.