Introduction
The Yokohama message emanating from the international
decade for natural disaster reduction in May 1994 underlined the need for an
emphatic shift in the strategy for disaster mitigation. It was inter-alia stressed that disaster
prevention, mitigation, preparedness and relief are four elements which
contribute to and gain, from the implementation of the sustainable development
policies. These elements along with
environmental protection and sustainable development, are closely inter
related. Therefore, nations should
incorporate them in their development plans and ensure efficient follow up
measures at the community, sub-regional, regional, national and international
levels. The Yokohama Strategy also
emphasized that disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness are better than disaster response in
achieving the goals and objectives of
vulnerability reduction. Disaster response alone is not sufficient as
it yields only temporary results at a very high cost. Prevention and mitigation contribute to
lasting improvement in safety and are essential to integrated disaster
management.
The Government of
India have adopted
mitigation and prevention as essential components of their development
strategy. The Tenth Five Year Plan
document has a detailed chapter on Disaster Management. The plan emphasizes the fact that development
cannot be sustainable without mitigation being built into developmental process.
Each State is supposed to prepare a plan scheme for disaster mitigation
in accordance with the approach outlined in the plan. In brief, mitigation is being
institutionalized into developmental planning.
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
India have issued
guidelines that where there is a shelf of projects, projects addressing
mitigation will be given a priority. It
has also been mandated that each project in a hazard prone area will have
disaster prevention/mitigation as a term of reference and the project document
has to reflect as to how the project addresses that term of reference.
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 Himalayas . This
silt has raised the bed level in many rivers to above the level of the
countryside. Embankments have also given
rise to problems of drainage with heavy rainfall leading to water logging in
areas outside the embankment. To evolve both short-term and long-term strategy
for flood management/erosion control, Government of India have recently
constituted a Central Task Force under the Chairmenship of Chairman, Central
Water Commission. The Task Force will
examine causes of the problem of recurring floods and erosion in States and
region prone to flood and erosion; and suggest short-term and long-term
measures. The Task Force will submit
its report by December 2004.
Due
to erratic behaviour of monsoons, both
low and medium rain fall regions, which constitute about 68% of the total area, are vulnerable to periodical droughts. Our experience has been that almost
every third year is a drought year.
However, in some of the States, there may be successive
drought years enhancing the vulnerability
of the population in these areas.
Local communities have devised indigenous safety mechanisms and drought
oriented farming methods in many parts of the country. From the experience of managing the past
droughts particularly the severe drought of 1987, a number of programmes have
been launched by the Government to mitigate the impact of drought in the long
run. These programmes include Drought
Prone Area Programme (DPAP), Desert Development Programme (DDP), National
Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas (NWDPRA), Watershed Development
Programme for Shifting Cultivation (WDPSC), Integrated Water Development
Project (IWDP), Integrated Afforestation and Eco-development Project Scheme
(IAEPS).
Flood
preparedness and response
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.
Earthquake
Risk Mitigation
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.
Hazard Safety Cells in States
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, West Bengal and Chhatisgarh have already constituted
these cells and other States are in the process.
National
Programme
for Capacity Building of Engineers
and Architects in Earthquake Risk Mitigation
Two National Programmes for Capacity Building in Earthquake Risk
Mitigation for Engineers
and Architects
respectively, have been approved to assist the State Govts in building
capacities for earthquake mitigation. These two programmes are being
implemented for training of 10,000 engineers and 10,000 architects in the
States in seismically safe building designs and related techno-legal
requirements. Assistance is being provided to the State/UTs to build the
capacities of more than 125 State
Engineering
Colleges
and 110 Architecture Colleges
to be able to provide advisory services to the State
Govts to put in place appropriate techno-legal regime, assessment of building
and infrastructures and their retrofitting.
These institutions will function as State Resource Institutions.
Twenty-one National level Engineering and Architecture Institutions have been
designated as National Resource Institutes to train the faculty members of
selected State Engineering and Architecture colleges. 450 engineering faculty
members and 250 architecture faculty members of these State Resource Institutions
will be trained during the current year.
Training of rural masons
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 Emergen
cy 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 India to issue suitable
instructions to all the Banks and Financial Institutions to see that BIS
codes/bye laws are scrupulously followed while financing/refinancing
construction activities in seismically vulnerable zones.
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 .
No comments:
Post a Comment