Ward Disaster Management Committee Making the Urban Communities Disaster Resilient

1. Ward Disaster Management CommitteeMaking the Urban Communities Disaster Resilient

2. Why Do We Need It • Urbanisation throws up the challenge of maintaining the equilibrium between the demands of development and conservation of natural resources. • While we need to modernise, it is imperative to take care of our land, air and water. • With land getting scarcer with every passing day we need to think if the existing land use pattern and practices are desirable for us and our future generations. • We have a stake in getting the land use pattern rightto ensure that the diverse needs of various sections of society and different sectors of our economic life are addressed in a sustainable manner. • We are aware that the our ambient air is getting overloaded with harmful gases like Carbon Dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide etc.

3. Why Do we Need It • We need to think if we are adequately informed of the level of pollution, factors causing pollution and how community can contribute to address the threat. • Our surface water resources are getting contaminated and are under severe stress. We need to grapple with the problems and find context-specific solutions. • Our wetlands are shrinking and groundwater resource is dwindling. Are we really informed enough to assess the threat and sources of the threat? • We need to think what we can do to protect our water resource and ways to demand accountability from those responsible to manage it.

4. Why We Need It • Our exposure to noise pollution is increasing with enhanced mechanisation in different walks of life. We need to know how it affects and how we can be part of the endeavour to contain it. • Our state lies in Seismic zone V and Earthquakes of higher magnitude are an inexorable reality of life. • There is little we can do to prevent them or predict with precision. • We can only mitigate their harmful impact by better preparedness. • The preparedness ranges from using appropriate building technology for the construction of houses to the way we manage the indoors of our houses. • Urban areas with higher density of population, more of pucca, multi-storied and high-rise buildings and less of open spaces around have greater exposure to threats.

5. Why We need It • City after city is faced with the increasing incidence of urban flooding for a variety of factors. • The impact of Global Warming and Climate change are manifest in the form of extreme, erratic and unpredictable weather conditions. • We have also experienced significant shifts in the rainfall pattern, causing flood in urban areas. • This has, however, not to be with erratic or heavy rainfall only, but also with a variety of factors like:

6. Why We Need it • Faulty and unplanned growth of the urban areas due to poor enforcement of zoning regulations and building byelaws; • Non-existent or unscientifically laid drainage system; • Rampant encroachment on wetlands, natural drainage systems, and open spaces; • Enrochement of hills, mindless hill-cutting, and destruction of green cover; • Creation of barriers in the way of natural waterways in the form of badly planned roads, bridges etc. • We need to understand these factors in the context of our locality and be part of the solution.

7. Why We Need It • In High-Income Nations, this general resilience is largely built by government agencies through measures that help protect populations from disasters. • In Developing societies this comprehensive web of institutions, infrastructure and services are missing or inadequate. • That is why involvement of community in DRR becomes of utmost important. • Ward Disaster management Committee(WDMC) is envisaged as an instrumentality to facilitate community involvement. • It will act as a platform to inform and educate the people of the Ward about the natural and man-made disasters. • It will help mobilise the community resources in meeting the challenges. • It will be the voice of the people of the Ward in respect of the issues outlined in preceding slides. • It will act as a watchdog for the authorities and institutions tasked with taking care of prevention and mitigation measures.

8. Some examples of Community Involvement in DRR • The Philippines Homeless People’s Federation is a national network of 161 urban poor community associations and savings groups with more than 70,000 members from 18 cities and 15 municipalities. • The city of Manizales in Colombia is well known for the involvement of the community in risk mapping and responses; bringing together all key local stakeholders, and the capacity to work where needed with government bodies. • Environmental observatories have been created in each of the 11 comunas into which the city is divided to support public engagement and the implementation of the city’s environmental plan.

9. Some examples of Community Involvement in DRR • The City of Manizales could do impressive things with the help of community: • Tax reductions to those who implement measures to reduce housing vulnerability, in areas with high risks of landslides and flooding. • An environmental tax on rural and urban properties spent on environmental protection infrastructure, disaster prevention and mitigation, community education, and relocation of at risk communities. • System of collective voluntary insurance to allow low-income groups to have insurance for their buildings.

10. Some Example of Community Involvement in DRR • Cebu is the single biggest city in Philippines. • The Cebu Environmental Sanitation Enforcement Team (CESET) was formed for mobilizing the participation of communities in enforcing the environmental laws and policies. • The city enforced the ‘No Segregation, No Collection’ and No Burning of Garbage’ Policy and started to educate citizens to separate waste at source into biodegradable, non-biodegradable, recyclable and residual. • It distributed composting baskets as a simple way to treat organic waste in the household. • It took up eestablishment of micro and small composing centres.And created llivelihood opportunity and additional income from recycled and processed goods.

11. Some examples of Community Involvement in DRR • The Municipality of San Francisco in Philippines won the prestigious United Nations Sasakawa Award for outstanding disaster risk reduction management (DRRM) programs in their communities. • The Solid Waste Management System as revolutionised in the municipality by involving community in the process. • It followed five principles to achieve this feat– Define the system, imagine the outcome, engage in dialogue, Embrace social capital and Learn constantly. • Youth were trained in household composting for waste reduction at the source. • Educational institutions are encouraged to initiate the same to manage biodegradable wastes inside their premises.

12. Some examples of Community Involvement in DRR • The Township of Yala in Thailand mobilises residents’ cooperation in separating waste and bringing valued recyclables to exchange points. Residents receive eggs in exchange for their recyclable waste in Yala city of Thailand. • Bangladesh is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. To reduce the vulnerability of flood prone communities in the Municipalities of Tongi and Gaibandha, CARE-Bangladesh has implemented the Bangladesh Urban Disaster Mitigation Project (BUDMP) since July 2000. • Its community based approach involved capacity building of local volunteers who later conducted the baseline surveys and vulnerability assessments with the community members.

13. Municipal Disaster Management Committee (MDMC) were formed and trained on prevention and mitigation measures to cope with urban flooding.. • Community participation resulted in mitigation measures such as the raising of homesteads, tube wells, roads, community place, and cluster village raising as well as construction of new dams, drainage, and roads, distribution of new tube wells and installation of new latrines above flood level. • The MDMC members participated in the BUDMP training course reviewed and approved the community Disaster Mitigation and Preparedness Action Plans. • Posters, billboards in vulnerable wards, signboard on rickshaws, newsletters, bulletin, actual demonstration, cultural events, ideas sharing workshop, cross visits, rallies, discussion forums etc. were used for awareness generation. • Disaster management Day was celebrated.

14. Some examples of Community Involvement in DRR • Although Sri Lanka suffers most from the hazard of civil strife, natural hazards are also significant. • The Sri Lanka Urban Multi-hazard Disaster Mitigation Project (SLUMDMP) has been implemented to reduce the vulnerability of Sri Lankan cities to landslide, flood, erosion, subsidence, pollution, and contamination of water supplies. • The Nawalapitiya Urban Council in Kandy District has decided to undertake the community based approach to mitigate landslide/rock-fall hazard in search of innovative solutions despite budgetary constraints. • Women and senior citizens actively participate in decision-making. • Mitigation measures include development of community forest, community forest fire break and construction of community drainage system.

15. Some examples of Community Involvement in DRR • Patanka Village was among the worst hit but least served villages following the Gujarat earthquake on January 26, 2001. • A community-based approach was adopted to undertaken the rehabilitation project in the village. • At the onset, a community workshop was convened for ideas exchange on how the community and outside organizations could work together and demonstration through construction of a prototype on earthquake resistant technology. • Intensive capacity building exercises strengthened people’s knowledge about the risks they faced. • Shake table demonstration tests helped in building their confidence in the safety of earthquake resistant structures. Community leaders were involved in the risk assessments. • As part of the training of the local masons, trained masons from Nepal from the KVERMP stayed for 3 months in Patanka.

16. Some examples of Community Involvement in DRR • Subsequently, all construction was finally taken up by the house owners themselves. • The community had a tremendous sense of ownership of the project. • All houses were reconstructed in record time. • Cost of the house is half when compared to other rehabilitation interventions made when the external agency did everything, leaning very little scope for the community members.

17. Takeaways • The success stories from different parts of the world show that active citizen engagement in DRR is the best approach to cope with disasters. • WDMCs by facilitating citizen engagement are expected to make our urban communities disaster resilient.

18. Coping with Disasters Before we discuss the SOP for preparation of Ward Disaster Management Plan, it will be better to be aware of the coping strategy some of the frequently experienced disasters : • Earthquake • Urban flooding • Landslides • Fire • Waste Management • Water pollution • Air pollution • Shrinking of open spaces

19. Before the Earthquake Strikes

34. When Earthquake strikes

41. Preparing for Floods

42. What WMDC should Do • Risk Mapping is critical to coping with the challenge of Urban floods, which may get worse because of the factors discussed before . • Risk Mapping should involve – • Tracing out the history of floods in the locality and the recent trends. • Identifying the rivers, rivulets, water channels, drains etc. which cause flooding. • Identifying the factors that have reduced the carrying capacity of this water bodies. • Identifying the Wetlands and low lying areas which acted as absorbance for excess water . • Identifying the sources of depletion or disappearance of wet lands. • Listing out the houses located in the vicinity of water bodies ,flood plain of the water bodies or other low lying areas and rate their vulnerability for floods of varying intensity.

43. What WMDC should Do • Assessment of the availability of water evacuation facilities like water pump sets, pumping stations etc. • Assessment of the threats of dirty solid and liquid waste getting mixed with flood waters. • Identification of evacuation & Relief centre for varying intensity of floods. • Listing out of the people who are homeless and shelter less. • Listing out other vulnerable sections of populations. • Listing out the availability of trained Volunteers in S & R operation, first aid. • Listing out the availability of equipment's like boats & rafts etc. • Drinking water, sanitation facility, food , fodder and medicines are the critical necessities for the flood-affected people. • Make an assessment of the stocks and resources available with the community and village level organisations and familiarise yourself with the arrangements made by the government departments. • Assess the familiarity of residents with simple methods to purify drinking water and construct safer toilets.

46. What WDMC should Do • Organize Mass education and awareness programme for the residents on all the critical areas that emerge out of the Risk Mapping. • A multi pronged strategy should be adopted for Education and Awareness programme on the pattern of the programme in Bangladesh as discussed above. • It should include –Procession by School & college students on flood management themes , organizing debate & poster making competitions in the Schools & colleges , printing of pamphlets & hand bills, household visits with the help of trained volunteers, street plays, celebrating important days like Disaster Management Day, World Earth Day, World Water Day etc. • Printing Self Help kits on various Disasters Management Themes with the help of Municipal bodies and Govt. Departments.

47. What WDMC should Do • Proposing relocation programme for the Households living in flood plains and low lying areas. • Undertaking advocacy programme for Rejuvenation of the Wetlands. • Preparing and evidence based plan for making the drainage & sewerage system functional. • Mapping of the places / buildings with help of GPS technology to be used as Relief Centre in High flood situation. • Developing a Community based early warning system for disseminating precautionary measures to be taken

48. What WDMC should Do • Form Quick Response Teams with WDMC level volunteers for effective response to the challenges in the same manner as for the earthquake. Such Teams may be formed for: • Rescuing and carrying the persons to safer places. • Helping vulnerable sections of population in evacuation. • Carrying the cattle to safer places. • Providing first aid. • Carrying seriously ill persons to hospitals/Health Centres. • Setting up temporary shelters/camps. • Disposal of dead bodies and carcasses.

49. During floods • Floods may strike in four forms: Low floods, High floods, Sudden flooding due to breach in embankment or unannounced release of water from dams, and Flash floods due to heavy downpour in the upper reaches. • Following steps should be taken: • Share/disseminate the warning/information received from confirmed sources with optimum speed. • Mobilise the Quick response teams to evacuate and carry people to temporary shelters/relief camps. • Get in touch with the authorities for assistance through DEOC, SEOC or other Helpline numbers. • Take other measures as discussed in respect of coping with the earthquakes. • Beware of rumours and don’t disseminate exaggerated reports of threat or damage.

50. Damage Assessment