END COURSE PROJECT
Name: Amit Tuteja
Participant : Group A
1) Introduction: I belong to a small town Babrala, which comes under Distt.Badaun (UP-West).
This town is mainly famous for Tata Chemicals Ltd. (TCL) Fertilizer plant. It’s around 160 kms
away from Delhi. My community mainly covers TCL township, Babrala town and around 30
villages under the periphery of 5 kms. For detailed clarity & more info, pl.see map & Table 1.
Delhi
Babrala
Figure 1
Background Information
Location - Babrala, Distt Badaun (U.P.)
Latitude - 28.27 N,
Longitude – 78.4 E,
Altitude (mtr) – 176,
Population – 56,657
M/F Ratio – 53:47
Literacy Rate – 53%
Area – 71.72 sq. kms
Language – Hindi
(Source- Distt. Statistical Data Book, 2006)
Table -1
Existing Community Structure & Process (in context of Socio Economic Composition):
Although Babrala block is a small area, but it represents all kind of gentry. It covers not only
farmers, labour, unemployed youth but also covers the Doctors, Engineers, Businessmen &
Politicians as well. All in all, it’s a mix blend, however overall quantity wise lower middle class
dominates the segment. Babrala carries Nagar Panchayat status and follows the process. Main
occupation in this fertile belt is agri-farming. And apart from it, most of the villagers also have
their own livestock.
Strength:- Community is very united here in all seasons.Representatives from all communities
have come forward to help each other as & when required. Apart from it, here in this area, land is
very fertile. Hence farming is a big source of livelihood here.
Weakness:- Here main scarcity is of basic infrastructure like connectivity, education, housing,
employment etc. Resources exist a bit, but are far behind to match up demand. Development &
growth desperately needs rigour. In this environment, it’s very challenging to train villagers on
issues like how to deal with disasters, because they are currently struggling for their livelihood.
2.(i) Hazard and vulnerability Assessment: - Babrala & surrounding community area comes
under Zone IV from Earthquake vulnerability point of view. This segment is also liable to the
Flood, as river Ganga crosses this area. Apart from it, few incidents have also recorded related
to sudden firebreak out in this rural belt. Detailed Hazard Assessment is enclosed in Table 2A.
Table 2A: Hazard Assessment
Hazard
Assessment
1. Hazard type
Flood, Fire, Earthquake etc.
2. Warning sign
Flood  Excessive rainfall, inadequate drainage system.
Earthquake, Fire No such mechanism available as on date.
3. Forewarning
Rise in river level, Torrential rainfall related information
dissemination from Emergency Flood Control Center, Narora.
4. Speed of onset
Flood  Moderate,
Fire  Mild to Extensive,
Earthquake  Extensive
5. Frequency
Flood  Once in every 10 years
Earthquake  Frequency of such hazard not yet measured.
Fire  Once in five years
6. When
Flood  During monsoon (June-Sept)
Fire & Earthquake Anytime,anywhere
7. Duration
Flood  Days,
Fire  Hours,
Earthquake  Momentary
8. Extent
Flood  Low lying area near river Ganga & surroundings
may get flooded during monsoon, due to rise in river level.
Fire  Rural and backward areas, mainly near forest side.
Apart from it, may also hit industrial & commercial places.
Earthquake  Applicable to all the area under this zone.
Vulnerability is the extent to which, the community is affected. Hence it’s assessment is very vital.
Table 2B: Vulnerability Assessment
Vulnerability
Assessment
1. Hazard type
Flood, Fire, Earthquake etc.
2. Elements at risk:
 Infrastructure
River bridge at Narora, Farmland, Roads,
Crops, Hospitals, Schools, Industrial compound

Housing
Poorly built houses mainly in rural areas

Livestock, etc.
Cows, Buffaloes, Oxen, Goats, Dogs etc.
3. People at risk
Residing in weak structures, old age people,
children, ladies, handicapped & isolated persons.
4. Location of people at risk
Residing in huts near riverbank and forest side,
difficult to communicate,alert & evacuate them.
2.(ii) Socio-economic factors affecting vulnerability:The social and economic factors depict the actual vulnerability of any disaster. We have taken
the data of 1996 severe flood, which hit Babrala & surroundings. Details attached in Table 2C.
Factors
Economic
Income, employment,
livelihood, etc.
Gender
Male
Female
Age Groups
Ethnicity
Table 2C: Factors Affecting Vulnerability
No. of people affected
Major cause
1159 Families
(4857 persons)
Poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, no
source of livelihood are main causes
6
9
All age group people
People drowned due to deadly flood
Couldn’t survive during severe flood
Impact of Flood. (Most of the people
evacuated to safer places, in time).
Farmer Community suffered huge tangible & intangible losses.
Above is the example of most probable vulnerability, in this area. Apart from it, if we consider
other cases like Earthquake & Fire, then the overall vulnerability may lead to higher figures/nos.
The combined effect of worst scenario may hamper economics of 4500 families, which is quite
high. In order to reduce the same, we shall discuss the required assets and resources in next step.
2(iii) Assets and access to resources for reducing vulnerability:To reduce the vulnerability aspect and make the community more resilient to disasters, we have
to develop our assets, in a way with which these should be easily accessible,as & when required.
These assets may be tangible like land, vehicle and intangible like Psychological care & support.
I have tried to cover the below mentioned aspects with assets and access addressing against each
in Table 2D.
Table 2D: Assets and access to resources for reducing vulnerability
Aspects
Assets
Access to Resources
Material/ Physical
Land, Building, Infrastructure, Via safe standards & practices,
Household items, Equipments trained DM specialists, masons
Financial
Social/ Organizational
Micro financing,
savings, funds
Insurance, Via Public Private partnerships,
Banks, Insurance companies,Govt
Schools, Hospitals, Social aids, Via National & Int. NGOs, Govt,
Relief–Rehab funds, Corporate Corporate firms, Relief agencies
Motivational/ Attitudinal Self Help, Income generation,
Psychological care, volunteerism Via Civil defense, SHGs & INGs,
NGOs, NCC, NDRF, Taskforces
3) Design of Community Preparedness Plan
i). Organizing the process and identifying/assigning the roles within your community:To organize the Community Preparedness Plan, ideally it should have 7 sequential stages, which
can be executed before the occurrence of a disaster, to reduce future risks. Each stage grows out
of preceding stage & leads to further action. Following are the 7 steps in this process:a) Formation of Disaster Mgt Committee
b) Community Profile
c) Summary of past disasters
d) Community resources
e) Vulnerability Profile
f) Community Task Forces
g) Assigning role to each group
Together, sequence can build up a planning and the implementation system, which can become a
powerful risk management tool.
What does the community need?
1) First and foremost, safety of lives (All stakeholders)
2) Safety & security of livestock, and physical assets
3) To improve the coping capacity of community
4) Well trained DM experts, who can come at rescue
5) Fully equipped Emergency Operations Centers
6) Advance and effective communication network
7) Sound early warning mechanism and evacuation plan
8) Emergency shelter homes, especially for poor & vulnerable.
9) Well coordinated R&R efforts, adequate support from Govt & NGOs
10) Block level & Village level Disaster Mgt. plan is the need of the hour, as the Distt.
Disaster Mgt Plan is a macro level umbrella, where it’s difficult to get micro details.
What does community have?
1) Community have skilled persons and adequate manpower
2) Community have at least basic infrastructure in place
3) Block level Flood Information Cell is available here
4) Distt. level plan is in place, which works as a lever
5) Safe building construction standards reference started
6) People are aware of disasters (not unknown), through mock drills, programs
How to combine these?
1) By preparing a community level safety plan
2) Rigorously follow the building standards & codes
3) Handouts, leaflets to be circulated in local language
4) For mobilizing mass in emergency, solid evacuation plan should be in place.
5) To empower the community in terms of role, responsibility & accountability
Past data
analysis
& review
Pt
data
3. ii) Community Response Plan
Early Warning
dissemination
Disaster
Evacuation & Shelter
Search & Rescue
First aid & trauma counselling
Relief & Recovery
Damage Assessment
Monitor
Flow Chart
The above flow chart is self-explanatory. It depicts all the key stages and activities one by one. It
will act as a macro level activity planner. By following it,community can respond to any disaster.
iii) Community Level Mitigation Program:Structural Measures: Safe construction, Retrofitting, Community shelters, legal framework etc.
Non-Structural Measures: Access to financial resources for mitigation investments, Insurance.
Involvement of various agencies:This may cover Municipalities, Corporations, Boards, Nigams
, Distt.Admin, Panchayats, Block level and Village level committees as well. The list is too long.
4) Conclusion
Key Challenges and Proposed Actions:Challenge 1) The biggest challenge in front of us is to generate the attention of community
towards Disaster Mgt. and keep them aware of disasters & its consequences. Forget about
the role and responsibility part, generally community won’t spare time, to listen to it. And
that’s probably because they haven’t faced any disaster as yet, hence it’s quite difficult to
rouse their interest in prevention, particularly in face of basic needs of livelihood, water,
accommodation etc.
Proposed action: In order to bring their attention, we can take help of PRA tools. This process is
very down to earth, and gives chance to everybody to speak and present his views, afterwards the
members don’t feel shy, become comfortable and ready to spare some time for benefit of society.
Further Govt and NGOs should come forward to conduct the awareness workshops etc. In these
programs, recent cases & live examples to be explained in order to really sensitize community.
Apart from it, media help can also be taken in for advertisement via TV, Cinemas, posters etc.
Challenge 2) Funding is a big challenge in a country like India, especially in its backward
areas like our own Dist.Badaun of UP. Nowadays it’s a big threat, which is to be definitely
addressed.
Proposed action: When there is will, there are ways. Here we can take examples of Cambodia’s
Community Based Disaster Mgt Plan, when it was realized that flood preparedness demands are
greater than financial resources available, hence it was considered essential to train and mobilize
the local communities to seek funding outside. Other examples are Mexico, USA, Honduras etc.
In Mexico, there are separate funds for Self Insurance,which are approved by Treasury Ministry.
Our country can also adopt good practices from outside, & can plan for Social funds, Credits etc.
Challenge 3) Lack of facilities, inadequate equipments and infrastructure, less scientific
advancements may lead to limit/block the efforts. For Ex: In Early Warning, some work
has been done, more yet to be done. In GIS/ RS, Dispersion modeling work is in progress.
These elements are of no use, and won’t serve the purpose, if not implemented properly.
Proposed action: In order to match with the pace of time, we have to keep updated all the time..
In existing scenario, the best way is to keep practicing with whatever available to us presently.
Like, to conduct and participate in Mock drills. And afterwards improve upon their grey areas.
Hazard & Vulnerability Analysis also help us in extracting data for Detailed Risk Assessment.
Disaster has no particular face & schedule,it can come at any time,in any form.So be ready to it
Challenge 4) Need to generate rigour, presently the commitment is lagging from all ends.
For Govt & other allied agencies, it is not a priority job. The belongingness to attain the
desired objective is purely missing.
Proposed action: At this point of time, it’s difficult to change the approach from Govt’s end.
But we should see other countries like Japan, USA etc. Currently in India, look at the recent
Mumbai flood. Presently, both Mumbai Commissioner & State Chief Minister are sitting in
abroad. And nobody is willing to take the responsibility. It’s high time for their subordinates,
team members to come forward, in order to avoid the repetition of previous infamous Flood.
The outside scenarios can create the environment, but the rigour should come from within.
Once this commitment will come, most of the problems will be shown the solution doors.
Challenges are many, but above are the key ones to start with & are applicable anywhere.
Table 4: Program Evaluation
Attributes
Advantages
Disadvantages
Goals and
objectives
Play very vital role in
institutionalization of
CBDRM at grass root.
No
disadvantages
Roles and
responsibilities of
agencies
Will set the tone for
sensitization of the
community
No
disadvantages
Roles and
responsibilities of
community
Will resolve half of the
problem, in order to
face disaster in future
Taskspreparedness
Tasks- response
and recovery
Access to
resources
Integration of
agencies and
community
Synergies with
other community
projects
Early warning
system
Short-term
activities
Long-term
activities
Sustainability
Education and
awareness raising
Lack of training
/ clarity, bit of
illiteracy may
create barriers
Will make the more
No
resilient community
disadvantages
Will help in prevention Time taking
and mitigation as well
process
Will save precious time, No
money and effort
disadvantages
Alignment increases
May increase
competency the level
complexities
Will generate rigour to
get the things done
One weak link
may lead to the
entire failure
Help a lot in taking the Some time it
timely prompt actions,
may create the
evacuation,mobilization panic situation
Easy to handle and
Require strict
control
deadlines
Help the needy people
Require surplus
to recover from trauma money/sponsors.
and rebuild their lives
Lead to the safe and
No takers / no
steady future of all
media coverage
(lighter part..)
Easy to preach,
Can save lives of
tough to reach
people & property
Community
participation
Difficult to set goals &
targets for them.
Enhancement of skills will
definitely reduce the
vulnerability
Community is the first
responder, hence should
come ahead
Will definitely pay the
dividends in long run
Will help in the
sustenance
Will help them in early
recovery
Community participation
is must for the integrated
approach
Participation will create
enthusiasm, which will be
beneficial for all
Can save lives & property,
prevent the casualties and
minimize disaster impact
Getting the prompt relief
Very difficult to spare
time & money, without
any interest / credits
Community should be
more committed, and
participative for this
Can be done by various
means, self-willingness is
required first.