The
The
Government of
The
Finance Commission makes recommendations with regard to devolution of funds
between the Central Government and State Governments as also outlays for relief
and rehabilitation. The earlier
Finance Commissions were mandated to look at relief and rehabilitation.
The Terms of Reference of the Twelfth Finance Commission have been
changed and the Finance Commission has been mandated to look at the
requirements for mitigation and prevention apart from its existing
mandate of looking at relief and rehabilitation.
A Memorandum has been submitted to the Twelfth Finance Commission after
consultation with States. The
Memorandum proposes a Mitigation Fund.
The
Government of
Measures
for flood mitigation were taken from 1950 onwards.
As against the total of 40 million hectares prone to floods, area of
about 15 million hectares have been protected by construction of embankments.
A number of dams and barrages have been constructed.
The State Governments have been assisted to take up mitigation programmes
like construction of raised platforms etc. Floods
continue to be a menace however mainly because of the huge quantum of silt being
carried by the rivers emanating from the
In order to
respond effectively to floods, Ministry of Home Affairs have initiated National
Disaster Risk Management Programme in all the flood-prone States. Assistance is
being provided to the States to draw
up disaster management plans at the State, District, Block/Taluka and Village
levels. Awareness generation campaigns to sensitize all the stakeholders on the
need for flood preparedness and mitigation measures. Elected representatives and
officials are being trained in flood disaster management under the programme.
Bihar Orissa, West Bengal, Assam and Uttar Pradesh are among the 17 multi-hazard
prone States where this programme is being implemented with UNDP. USAID and
European Commission.
A
comprehensive programme has been taken up for earthquake risk mitigation.
Although, the BIS has laid down the standards for construction in the
seismic zones, these were not being followed.
The building construction in urban and suburban areas is regulated by the
Town and Country Planning Acts and Building Regulations.
In many cases, the Building regulations do not incorporate the BIS codes.
Even where they do, the lack of knowledge regarding seismically safe
construction among the architects and engineers as well as lack of awareness
regarding their vulnerability among the population led to most of the
construction in the urban/sub-urban areas being without reference to BIS
standards. In the rural areas, the
bulk of the housing is non-engineered construction.
The mode of construction in the rural areas has also changed from mud and
thatch to brick and concrete construction thereby increasing the vulnerability.
The increasing population has led to settlements in vulnerable areas
close to the river bed areas which are prone to liquefaction.
The Government have moved to address these issues.
National Core Group for Earthquake Risk Mitigation
A National
Core Group for Earthquake
Risk Mitigation has been constituted
consisting of experts in earthquake engineering and administrators.
The Core Group
has been assigned with the
responsibility of drawing up
a strategy and plan of action for mitigating the impact
of earthquakes; providing advice and guidance
to the States on various
aspects of
earthquake mitigation; developing/organizing
the preparation of handbooks/pamphlets/type
designs for earthquake
resistant construction;
working out systems for assisting the States in the seismically vulnerable
zones to adopt/integrate appropriate
Bureau of Indian Standards codes in their building byelaws; evolving
systems for training of municipal
engineers as also practicing architects
and engineers in the private sector in the salient features
of Bureau of Indian Standards
codes and the amended byelaws;
evolving a system of certification
of architects/engineers for testing
their knowledge of earthquake
resistant construction; evolving systems for training of masons
and carry out intensive awareness
generation campaigns.
Review of building bye-laws and their adoption
Most
casualties during earthquakes are caused by the collapse of structures.
Therefore structural mitigation measures are the key to make a
significant impact towards earthquake safety in our country.
In view of this the States in earthquake prone zones have been requested
to review, and if necessary, amend their building bye-laws to incorporate the
BIS seismic codes for construction in the concerned zones. Many States have
initiated necessary action in this regard. An Expert Committee appointed by the
Core Group on Earthquake Risk Mitigation has already submitted its report
covering appropriate amendments to the existing Town & Country Planning
Acts, Land Use Zoning Regulation, Development Control Regulations & Building
Bylaws, which could be used by the State Governments & the local bodies
there-under to upgrade the existing legal instruments. The Model Building Bylaws
also cover the aspect of ensuring technical implementation of the safety aspects
in all new constructions & upgrading the strength of existing structurally
vulnerable constructions. To facilitate the review of
existing building byelaws and adoption of the proposed amendments by the
State Governments & UT administrations, discussion workshops at regional
level in the country are being organized. It
is expected that all planning authorities and local bodies will soon have
development control regulations and building byelaws which would include
multi-hazard safety provisions.
Development and Revision of Codes
There are Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) codes which are relevant for multi-hazard resistant design and construction. These codes have to be regularly updated. An action plan has been drawn up for revision of existing codes, development of new codes and documents/commentaries, and making these codes and documents available all over the country including on-line access to these codes. An Apex committee consisting of representatives of Ministry of Consumer Affairs, BIS and MHA has been constituted to review the mechanism and process of development of codes relevant to earthquake risk mitigation and establish a protocol for revision by BIS.
The
States have been advised to constitute Hazard Safety Cells
(HSC) headed
by the Chief Engineer (Designs), State Public Works Department with necessary
engineering staff so as to establish
mechanism for proper implementation of the building codes in all future Govt.
constructions, and to ensures the safety of buildings and structures from
various hazards. The HSC will
also be responsible for carrying out appropriate design review of all
Government buildings to be constructed in the State, act as an advisory cell to
the State Government on the different aspects of building safety against hazards
and act as a consultant to the State Government for retrofitting of the lifeline
buildings. Rajasthan,
National Programme for Capacity Building of Engineers and Architects in Earthquake Risk Mitigation
Two
National Programmes for
A programme to assist the States/UTs in training and certification of 50000 masons has been formulated in conultation with Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) and the Ministry of Rural Development. The training module for masons to include multi-hazard resistant construction has also been prepared by an expert committee, and revised curriculum will be introduced in the vocational training programme of Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Earthquake Engineering in Undergraduate Engineering/Architecture Curricula
The role of engineers and architects is crucial in reducing earthquake risks by ensuring that the construction adhere to the norms of seismically safety. In view of this, the elements of earthquake engineering is being integrated into the undergraduate engineering and architecture courses. The model course curricula for adoption by various technical institutions and universities have been developed and circulated to the Universities and Technical Institutions for adoption in the under graduate curricula. Ministry of Home Affairs is working with All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) and Council of Architecture (COA) for introduction of revised curricula for engineering and architecture course from 2005-2006.
Hospital Preparedness and Emergency Health Management in Medical Education
Hospital
preparedness is crucial to any disaster response system. Each hospital should
have an emergency preparedness plan to deal with mass casualty incidents and the
hospital administration/ doctor trained for this emergency. The curriculum for
medical doctors does not include Hospital Preparedness for
emergencies. Therefore capacity building through in-service training of
the current heath managers and medical personnel in Hospital Preparedness for
emergencies or mass causality incident management is essential. At the same
time, the future health managers must acquire these skills systematically
through the inclusion of health emergency management in the undergraduate and
post graduate medical curricula. In consultation with Medical Council of
India(MCI), two committees have been constituted for preparation of
curriculum for introduction of emergency health management in MBBS curriculum,
and preparation of in-service training of Hospital Managers and Professionals.
Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences Karnataka have been identified as the
lead national resource institution for the purpose.
Retrofitting of Lifeline buildings
While
these mitigation measures will take care
of the new constructions, the
problem of
unsafe existing
buildings stock would still
remain. It will not be
possible to address the entire existing building stock, therefore the life line
buildings like hospitals, schools or buildings where people congregate like
cinema halls, multi-storied apartments are being focussed on.
The States have been advised to have these buildings assessed and where
necessary retrofitted. The
Ministries of Civil Aviation, Railways, Telecommunication, Power and Health and
Family Welfare have been advised to take up necessary action for detailed
evaluation and retrofitting of lifeline buildings located in seismically
vulnerable zones so as to ensure
that they comply with BIS norms, Action plan have been drawn up by these
Ministries for detailed vulnerability analysis and retrofitting/ strengthening
of buildings and structures. The
Ministry of Finance have been requested to advise the financial institutions to
give loans for retrofitting on easy terms. Accordingly the Ministry of Finance
had advised Reserve Bank of
National Earthquake Risk Mitigation Project
An
Earthquake Mitigation Project has been drawn up, with an estimated cost of
Rs.1132 crore. The project has been
given in-principle clearance by the Planning Commission.
The programme includes detailed
evaluation and retrofitting of
lifeline buildings such as hospitals,
schools, water and power supply units,
telecommunication buildings, airports/airport control towers, railway stations,
bus stands and important administrative
buildings in the States in seismic zones IV
and V.
The programme also includes training
of masons in earthquake resistant constructions.
Besides, assistance will be provided
under this project to the
State Governments to put in place appropriate
techno legal regime. Startup activities for implementation of this
project have already been initiated.
Acceleration Urban Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction Programme
An accelerated urban earthquake vulnerability reduction programme has been taken up in 38 cities in seismic zones III, IV & V with population of half a million and above. 474 Orientation programmes have been organized for senior officers and representatives of the local planning and development bodies to sensitize them on earthquake preparedness and mitigation measures. The training programme for engineers and architects are being organized to impart knowledge about seismically safe construction and implementation of BIS norms. So far 1088 engineers and 825 architects have been trained. For enhanced school safety, education programmes have been organized in schools, colleges and other educational institutions. This programme will be further extended to 166 earthquake prone districts in seismic zones IV & V. Awareness generation programmes, community and neighbourhood organizations have been started in these cities. These cities are also being assisted to review and amend their building bye-laws to incorporate multi hazard safety provisions. City Disaster Management Plans are being developed under the project. Nine Cities have prepared city Disaster Management Plans.
Mainstreaming Mitigation in Rural Development Schemes
Rural
housing and
community assets for
vulnerable sections of the
population are created at a fairly large scale
by the Ministry of Rural
Development under the Indira Awas
Yojna(IAY) and Sampooran Grameen Rojgar
Yojna(SGRY). About 250 thousand
small but compact housing
units are constructed every year, besides
community assets such as community
centres, recreation centres, anganwadi centres etc.
Technology support is
provided by about
two hundred rural
housing centres spread over
the entire country.
The Ministry of Home Affairs is working with the Ministry of Rural
Development for changing the guidelines so that the houses constructed under IAY
or school buildings/community buildings constructed under SGRY are
earthquake/cyclone/flood resistant; as also that the schemes addressing
mitigation are given priority under SGRY. Ministry
of Rural Development are carrying out an exercise for this purpose.
This initiative is expected to go a long way in popularization of
seismically safe construction
at village/block level
National Cyclone Mitigation Project
A project for Cyclone Mitigation (estimated cost Rs. 1050 crore) has been drawn up in consultation with the cyclone prone States. This project envisages construction of cyclone shelters, coastal shelter belt plantation in areas which are prone to storm surges, strengthening of warning systems, training and education etc. This project has also been given in-principle clearance by the Planning Commission and is being taken up with World Bank assistance.
A
National Core Group has been constituted under the Chairmanship of
Secretary, Border Management and comprising of Secretary, Department of Science
and Technology, Secretary, Road Transport & Highways, and the Heads of
Geological Survey of India and National Remote Sensing Agency for drawing up a
strategy and plan of action for mitigating the impact of landslides, provide
advise and guidance to the State Governments on various aspects of landslide
mitigation, monitor the activities relating to landslide mitigation including
landslide hazard zonation and to evolve early warning systems and protocols for
landslides/landslide risk reduction. The Government have designated Geological
Survey of India (GSI) as the nodal agency responsible for coordinating/
undertaking geological studies, landslides hazard zonation, monitoring
landslides/avalanches, studying the factors responsible and suggesting
precautionary and preventive measure. The States/UTs have been requested to
share the list of habitation close to landslide prone areas in order to
supplement GSI’s on going assessment of such areas based on the Survey of
India’s Toposheet and their existing data base on landslide for the purpose of
landslide hazard zonation being carried out by them. A national strategy for
mitigating landslide hazard in the country is being drawn up in consultation
with all the agencies concerned.
Disaster Risk Management Programme
A
Disaster Risk Management Programme has been taken up in 169 districts in 17
multi-hazard prone States with the assistance from UNDP, USAID and European
Union. Under this project, the States are being assisted to draw up State,
district and Block level disaster management plans;
village disaster management plans are being developed in conjunction with
the Panchayati Raj Institutions and disaster
management teams consisting of village volunteers are being trained in various
preparedness and response functions such as search and rescue, first aid, relief
coordination, shelter management etc.
Equipment needs for district and State Emergency Operation Centres have
been identified by the State nodal agencies and equipment is being provided to
equip these EOCs.
Orientation training of masons, engineers and architects in disaster
resistant technologies have been initiated in these districts and construction
of model demonstration buildings will be started soon.
Under
this programme Disaster Management Plans have been prepared for 8643 villages,
1046 Gram Panchayat, 188 blocks and 82 districts. More than 29000 elected
representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions have already been trained,
besides imparting training to members of voluntary organizations. About 18000
Government functionaries have been trained in disaster mitigation and
preparedness at different levels. 865 engineers and 425 architects have been
trained under this programme in vulnerability assessment and retrofitting of
lifeline buildings. 600 master trainers and 1200 teachers have already been
trained in different districts in disaster preparedness and mitigation. Disaster
Management Committees consisting of elected representatives, civil society
members, Civil Defence volunteers and Government functionaries have been
constituted at all levels including village/urban local body/ward levels.
Disaster Management Teams have been constituted in villages and are being
imparted training in basic functions of first aid, rescue, evacuation and
related issues. The thrust of the programme is to build up capabilities of the
community since the community is invariably the first responder. During the
recent past, it has been experienced that the capacity building of the community
has been very helpful even in normal situations when isolated instances of
drowning, burns etc. take place. With the creation of awareness generation on
disaster mitigation, the community will be able to function as a well-knit unit
in case of any emergency. Mock drills are carried out from time to time under
the close supervision of Disaster Management Committees. The Disaster Management
Committees and Disaster Management Teams have been established by notifications
issued by the State Governments which will ensure that the entire system is
institutionalized and does not disintegrate after the conclusion of the
programme. The key points being stressed under this programme are the need to
ensure sustainability of the programme, development of training modules; manuals
and codes, focused attention to awareness generation campaigns;
institutionalization of disaster management committees and disaster management
teams, disaster management plans and mock-drills and establishment of
techno-legal regimes.
Recognizing
that awareness about vulnerabilities is a sine qua non for inducing a mindset of
disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness, the Government has initiated a
nation-wide awareness generation campaign as part of its overall disaster risk
management strategy. In order to devise an effective and holistic campaign, a
steering committee for mass media campaign has been constituted at the national
level with due representation of experts from diverse streams of communication.
The Committee has formulated a campaign strategy aimed at changing peoples’
perception of natural hazards and has consulted the agencies and experts
associated with advertising and media to instill a culture of safety against
natural hazards.
Apart
from the use of print and electronic media, it is proposed to utilize places
with high public visibility viz. hospitals, schools, railway stations and bus
terminals, airports and post offices, commercial complexes and municipality
offices etc. to make people aware of their vulnerabilities and promote creation
of a safe living environment.
A novel
method being tried is the use of government stationery viz. postal letters, bank
stationery, railway tickets, airline boarding cards and tickets etc. for
disseminating the message of disaster risk reduction. Slogans and messages for
this purpose have already been developed and have been communicated to concerned
Ministries/agencies for printing and dissemination. The mass media campaign will
help build the knowledge, attitude and skills of the people in vulnerability
reduction and sustainable disaster risk management measures.
Disaster
management as a subject in Social Sciences has been introduced in the school
curriculum for Class VIII & IX. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)
which has introduced the curriculum runs a very large number of schools
throughout the country and the course curriculum is invariably followed by the
State Boards of Secondary Education. Teachers are being trained to teach
disaster management Syllabus for Class X is being finalized and will be
introduced in the course curriculum soon. The State Governments have been
advised to take similar steps vis-à-vis their school boards.
Several Provincial Governments have already introduced the same
curriculum in Class VII. Ministry is working
with the Council of Board of School Education (COBSE) to facilitate inclusion of
disaster management in public education in all 39 School Boards in the country.
Information, Education and Communication
In
order to assist the State Governments in capacity building and awareness
generation activities and to learn from past experiences including sharing of
best practices, the Ministry of Home Affairs has compiled/prepared a set of
resource materials developed by various organisations/institutions to be
replicated and disseminated by State Governments based on their vulnerabilities
after translating it into the local languages. The voluminous material which
runs in about 10000 pages has been divided into 4 broad sections in 7 volumes.
These sections cover planning to cope with disasters; education and training;
construction toolkit; and information, education and communication toolkit
including multi-media resources on disaster mitigation and preparedness. The
Planning section contains material for analyzing a community’s risk,
development of Preparedness. Mitigation and disaster management plans,
coordinating available resources and implementing measures for risk reduction.
The model bye-laws, DM Policy, Act and model health sector plan have also been
included. Education and Training includes material for capacity building and
upgradation of skills of policy makers, administrators, trainers, engineers etc.
in planning for and mitigating against natural disasters. Basic and detailed
training modules in disaster preparedness have been incorporated along with
training methodologies for trainers, for community preparedness and manuals for
training at district, block, panchayat and village levels. For creating a
disaster-resistant building environment, the Construction Toolkit addresses the
issue of seismic resistant construction and retrofitting of existing buildings.
BIS Codes, manuals and guidelines for RCC, Masonry and other construction
methodologies as also for repair and retrofitting of masonry and low-rise
buildings have been included.
IEC
material seeks to generate awareness to induce mitigation and preparedness
measures for risk reduction. Material
and strategies used by various States and international organizations, including
tips on different hazards, have been incorporated along with multi-media CDs on
disasters. The material has been disseminated to all the State Governments/UT
Administrations with the request to have the relevant material, based on the
vulnerability of each district, culled out, translated into local languages and
disseminate it widely down to the village level.
Special Focus to Northeastern States
A
special focus is being given to
The
various prevention and mitigation measures outlined above are aimed at building
up the capabilities of the communities, voluntary organisations and Government
functionaries at all levels. Particular stress is being laid on ensuring that
these measures are institutionalized considering the vast population and the
geographical area of the country. This is a major task being undertaken by the
Government to put in place mitigation measures for vulnerability reduction. This
is just a beginning. The ultimate goal is to make prevention and mitigation a
part of normal day-to-day life. The above mentioned initiatives will be put in
place and information disseminated over a period of five to eight years. We have
a firm conviction that with these measures in place, we could say with
confidence that disasters like Orissa cyclone and Bhuj earthquake will not be
allowed to recur in this country; at least not at the cost, which the country
has paid in these two disasters in terms of human lives, livestock, loss of
property and means of livelihood.
Tips on Earthquake Resistant Building
Essential Earthquake resistant Provisions in Masonry Buildings
Short Guide for home Owners for Building Houses using Reinforced Concrete framed Construction
Short Guide for home Owners for Building Houses using Load Bearing Masonry Construction