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Community Based Disaster Preparedness

Dhanbad Experience

It’s not that we should simply seek a new and better ways

for reducing the risk of disasters associated with the vulnerable community. The point is that the community should fundamentally change how they behave towards possibilities

of disasters. Past experiences elucidate that community has always adopted a culture of reaction after a hazard rather adopting a culture of pre-action before the same occurs. As a result, fate of affected community goes to the hand relief/rehabilitation agencies.

Is it because of the community’s lack of participation towards preparedness Is it because of the lack of interaction between the Govt. (the major disaster manager) and the community or lack of information available to both during the crisis Is there any inability to assess the vulnerable sections

Perhaps a ‘Yes’ towards the above questions support the answer

that why the community fall as prey in the face of disaster. Taking the above concerns, the ongoing Urban Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction Project (UEVRP) under Dhanbad District Administration made an attempt to initiate community based disaster preparedness activities and made the following platform to start the work.

Why So?

Developing Platform for Ward wise and Neighborhood level Multi-hazard Preparedness Plan and Mock Drill of Response Teams:

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Deputy Commissioner, Dhanbad

Chairman- CDMC

Nodal Officer/Additional Collector, Dhanbad

Municipality Special Officer-cum-President, Municipal Area

Sakshyarata Bahini

Project OfficerUNDP-UEVRP

Se

ns

itiz

at

ion

Me

et

ing

Ta

x C

ol

le

ct

or

s

Selected SakshyarataBahini Volunteers

(Literacy Mission) – One Women and one Man from

each Ward

Wa

rd

Co

un

cil

or

s

Sensitization meeting and Training

of trainers by PO-UNDP

Preparation of IEC materials,

Audio Visuals & CCP format

Ward Wise Sakshyarata Bahini Volunteers

And Community

Project OfficerUNDP-UEVRP

During the meeting of City Disaster Management Committee (CDMC) the need of preparing CBDP was raised and sensitized. In the meeting, it was decided that the Municipality Special Officer- cum- president, City literacy mission will motivate the volunteers of literacy mission, who were actively involved in total literacy achievement a few years before. The ward councilors as local leaders and the tax collectors as Govt representatives will provide the support to the volunteers at community level. Project Officer, UNDP will sensitize

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2 volunteer (one female and one male) of each ward consisting 64 key volunteers of 32 Wards using the audio-visuals, IEC materials and format of CBDP. Accordingly a sensitization programme was held on 9th and 10th Oct 2004 for 64 volunteers along with audio-visual show and distribution of IEC materials. The volunteers were addressed by the Deputy Commissioner and Deputy Development Commissioner of Dhanbad District Administration on the need of CBDP.

Lao Tsu, the Great Chinese Philosopher says, “Go to the

Community; live with them and love them; build with what they have. When the work is done; the task is accomplished, with the best leaders community will say, “ We have done this”.

Adopting the above spirit and considering the problems

discussed earlier, 64 volunteers of Literacy Mission after having a brief orientation from Dhanbad District Administration visited the community to find out the issues to seed a culture of pre-action before any catastrophe happens.

After conducting community level sensitization meeting at every

municipal ward of Dhanbad city the volunteers drew out the following issues in the 2nd follow up meeting with the Project Officer of UEVRP.

Dy Dev. Commissioner and Special Officer, Municipality addressing the volunteers on the need of CBPDP

64 key volunteers attending the 2 day orientation programme on CBDP

The volunteers learning the methods of CBDP through participatory process

A door-to-door Campaigning at every ward:

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☞ Community is least prepared to face any catastrophe ☞ Lack of resource inventory to tackle any disaster in their area. ☞ Communication gap and coordination between local govt. and

community. ☞ Lack of trained manpower available within community to save their

life and properties. ☞ Absence of any institutions within the community to face any

disaster in an organized way. Hence, a following model for operational strategy has been

adopted to carry out community based disaster preparedness activities.

Gathering the community using mike set and vehicle

Audio-visual show during late evening

community participation in meeting

sensitization by volunteers

The Issues

Operational Strategy It w

ill

en

ha

nc

e th

e k

no

wl

ed

ge

of

C

or

e G

ro

up

ov

er

th

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re

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av

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o

f 5

–1

0 t

ho

us

an

d P

op

nb

ef

or

e

Ma

pp

ing

Ex

er

cis

eWard Wise

Sakshyarata Bahini Volunteers

And Community

Special Officer, Municipality-cum-

President, Municipal Area Sakshyarata Bahini

Project OfficerUNDP-UEVRP

Representative from District Admn

Tax Collectors

Ward CouncilorsFormation of Core Volunteering Task Force –10-15 young men and women Disaster management Club(Member Volunteers from

every neighborhood of the ward should be ensured)

ward level Observatory Committee to

supervise the work during the Plan

Preparation Phase

Ca

ta

ly

st

s

Gathering Social,Vulnerability Resource Inventory

Data Base of the Ward as per the given

format

2. Hazard Mapping

4. Resource Inventory Mapping

1. Social Mapping Exercise

3. Vulnerability Mapping

Us

ing

P.L

.A . T

oo

ls

PLA: Participatory Learning Actions

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Gathering Social,Vuln

erability Resource Inventory Data Base

of the Ward as per the

given format

2. Hazard Mapping

4. Resource Inventory Mapping

1. Social Mapping Exercise

3. Vulnerability Mapping

Formation of Ward Level Disaster Management Committee (15-21 Nos)

Completion of Ward Wise Multi-Hazard Preparedness Plan

Uploading the Plan in NIC, IDRN and

UEVRP Websites

Ca

ta

ly

st

s

1.P

O-U

EV

RP

2.W

ar

d C

ou

nc

ilo

rs

3.T

ax

Co

ll

ec

tor

s

Completion of Ward Wise Multi-Hazard Preparedness Plan

Uploading the Plan in NIC, IDRN

and UEVRP Websites

Initiation of Mohalla/Para wise Neighborhood Level

Disaster Preparedness Plan

Formation of Core Group atNeighborhood Level

Ea

ch

M

oh

al

la

Co

ns

ist

s

50

0 to

10

00

P

op

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at

ion

At

le

as

t o

ne

R

ep

re

se

nta

tive

f

ro

m W

ar

d

Le

ve

l R

Ts

Gathering Social,Vulnerability Resource Inventory

Data Base of the Ward as per the given format

2. Hazard Mapping

1. Social Mapping Exercise

3. Vulnerability Mapping

4. Resource Inventory Mapping

Formation of Neighborhood Level Disaster Management

Committee (15 Nos)/Patrolling Group During the Crisis

Neighborhood Teams1.Rescue &Evacuation2.First Aid3.Water & Sanitation4.Clearing5.Shelter6.Trauma Counseling7.Damage Assessment8.Carcass Disposal

Completion of Neighborhoo

d Level Multi-Hazard

Preparedness Plan and Capacity

Building with Regular

Mock Drill

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Considering the issues discussed earlier, Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction Project of Dhanbad District Administration has identified three major activities for Community Based Disaster Preparedness.

☞ Developing community based disaster preparedness plan by community at municipal ward level through participatory approach.

☞ Institutionalization of Disaster Management at ward level with developing a chain of volunteers.

☞ Formation of Quick Response Teams (QRTs) at neighborhood level and their capacity building through training and mock drill.

The pilot work is being carried out through following steps after

creating a force of 64 key volunteers at city level. In the hope of making diaster management club (to have around

15-20 persons in each ward, idenfying one or two from each of their neighborhood) and generating resource inventory data base, key volunteers moved to their respective ward for having a community consultation meeting. The following dates were identified for 2nd phase community consultation meeting. The meetings were to be held in the presence of Project Officer, UEVRP and local leaders of the respective ward.

Local Lead Volunteers (From the hierarchy of Municipal level

Prakrut Bandhu) Date of Meeting

Municipal Ward No Time Venues of Ward wise

meetings/campaigns Female Male

17.12.04 24 2 PM Gandhi Nagar- Near Govt. Kuan, Champa Ke Makan

Sushri/Smt Shobha Mishra Sh. Hansraj Sonkar

18.12.04 13 4.30 PM

Harijan Saamaajik Karyalaya, Durga Mandap, Hills Colony, Dhanbad. Saraswati Devi Premchand Hari

19.12.04 2 2 PM Shiv Mandir, Simla Dih, Telipara, Krushna Devi Anil Hansda

1. 2nd phase Community Consultation meetings at earch Ward

Ward wise community consultation Meetings

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Dhanbad

21.12.04 3 2 PM Primary Middle School, Hatia, Hirapur, Dhanbad Mira Bhandari Ashok Bagchi

30.12.04 12 2 PM Durga Sthan, Ranga Tand, Dhanbad. Lalita Sinha Umesh Prasad

02.01.05 9 2 PM Baalbaadi School, Combined Building, Dhanbad. Priyanka Kumari Rajiv Ku. Singh

03.01.05 6 11 AM MADA Club, Hirapur, Dhanbad Urmila Sharma Ramjit Pandit

04.01.05 8 2 PM Bartand Middle School, Dhanbad Madhuri Pandey Satyendra Prasad Singh

05.01.05 17 2 PM Matkuria Check Post, Near Shiv Mandir Manju Devi Ramkeswar Saw

07.01.05 10 3 PM Rahdgoda Shiv Mandir, Dhanbad Rita Devi Uttam Yadav

08.01.05 7 3.30 PM Koranga Basti School, Dhanbad Priyanka Singh Pradeep Kumar

09.01.05 19 2 PM Premnagar, Dhanbad Kanchan Kumari Dashrath Paswan

10.01.05 5 3 PM H.E.School, Visti Para, Dhanbad. Sweety Prasad Raghu Rawani

11.01.05 27 3 PM Primary School, Ward No 27. Sangeeta Devi Sankar Mahato

12.01.05 29 2.30 PM

Primary School, Bhuda Basti, Dhanbad Uma Kumari Jeetendra Gorai

13.01.05 11 11 AM Bekar Bandh, Jhadudih School, Dhanbad Urmila Devi Pawan Kumar

16.01.05 1 2 PM Gauri Pada, Baarud Club, Police Line, Dhanbad. Reeta Devi Rookshad Alam

17.01.05 30 2 PM Bajrang Bali Mandir, Kumhar Patti, Manai Tand, Dhanbad. Lata Devi Jnanchand Lal

18.01.05 31 2 PM Singhada Talab, Satyen Mitra Poostakalaya, Dhanbad. Anjali Hembram Manoj Sonkar

19.01.05 32 11 AM Aangan Badi, Near Baalbadi School, Manai Tand, Dhanabd Sukumari Devi Yamuna Kumar Ram

20.01.05 26 2 PM Tikia Para Club, Dhanbad Rooksana Khatun Nimai Mallik

23.01.05 4 10 AM Hari Mandir, Hirapur Dhanbad. Jeenat Aara Lakhi Ram Murmu

25.01.05 25 11.30 AM Ra.Aa.Balak Madhya Vidyalaya Anita Jaiswal Rajkumar Rajak

27.01.05 18 12 Noon Dhansar, Dhanbad. Manju Devi

Paswan Ramdhani Prasad Gupta

28.01.05 20` 2 PM Primary School, Ward No 20. Neetu Devi Ramikwal Sawo

29.01.05 21 2 PM Primary School, Ward No 21. Manju Mallick Madan Paswan

30.01.05 16 2 PM Shiv Mandir, Kabadi Patti, Dhanbad. Seema Kumari Balram Kumar

31.01.05 14 2 PM A.T.P. School, Gaddi Muhalla, Naya Bazar, Dhanbad. Reeta Kumari Phiroj Khan

02.02.05 28 2 PM Primary School Sandhya Sarkar Rajesh Prasad

03.2.05 15` 2 PM Primary School Hazra Khatun Bablu Rai

04.02.05 22 2 PM B.P.Sinha Club,Dhanbad Sabita Sinha Birendra Baitha

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During the community consultation meetings, the local leaders of the ward and young men/ women were senistised about the need of CBDP in their community. Leaflets/handbills about how to carry out CBDP were distributed. The loss of life and properties during last 26th Dec 2004 Tsunami disaster were also briefed and the example of Samiaparti village of Tamilnadu were narated along with newsclipping which highlighted on the community which had survived from catastrophe due to its excellent community level preparation. The idea was to motivate around 15-20 young chaps for carrying out CBDP in sustainable way.

Community Consulation Meetings for developing Wardlevel DM Clubs

Community Consulation Meetings for developing Wardlevel DM Clubs

In the community consulation meeting in the presence of Ward

councillors and tax collectors, one or two young persons from each neighborhood were motivated to join in the core club of the ward identified as disaster management club, where the club having 15-20 people with 2 key volunteers will be invloved in preparedness activities under the vision of UEVRP. In this process around 570 volunteers were registered and motivated to work in the city. Presently the disaster management clubs are invloved in Resource

2. Identification of 2 volunteers from each neighborhood at every ward (hence 15-20 volunteers in each ward)

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Invetorisation and mapping exercises. In the follow up fortnight meeting with the 64 key volunteers the progress of each ward is being monitored and area specific strategy is being identified to expedite the work through frequent visits of Project Officer, UEVRP with the key volunteers.

Taking the following stepwise objectives, data collection and resource iventorisation are being carried by the volunteers using PLA tools under the guidance of Project Officer, UEVRP.

☞ to understand the social status of the ward ☞ To identifythe possible hazards ☞ to identify the vulnearble sections ☞ Inventorising the resoures availble within and around the

ward to tackle any hazard ☞ Participatory Mapping exercise using PLA methods at ward

level or neighborhood level (depending upon its areal extent). Four maps are being prepared in each area namely Social map (to

understand the social status), Hazard identification map (to identify the possible hazards), Vulnerabilty map (to identify the vulnerable sections of the community) and Resourse Inventory map (to iventorise the resources available within the ward or around the ward).

Presently the disaster management clubs are invloved in

Resource Invetorisation, data collection and mapping exercises. In the fortnightly follow up meeting with the 64 key volunteers the progress of each ward is being monitored and area specific strategy is being identified to expedite the work through frequent visits of Project Officer,UEVRP with the key volunteers of respective ward.

3. Resource Invetorisation and PLA mapping exercises at ward level

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In each neighborhood there will be a Quick Response Team

(QRTs) trained with first aid and search & rescue skills. The 2 voluteers identified from each neighborhood will lead to complete this task. There will be also a back up force of such team, which will be trained by trained QRTs. The back up force will be useful during a major disaster where search and rescue operation will continue for 24 hours. Other than QRTs, other identified response teams may be enlisted in the plan for time to time orientation. The QRTs will exercise community level mock drills and will have coordination with Wardlevel disaster management committee. and The QRTs and other identified response teams and their addresses with contact nos will be enlisted in the ward level disaster preparedness plan.

Ward level Disaster Management Committees are being formed in each ward with the following objectives:

☞ to monitor and manage the volunteers activated for disaster preparedness.

☞ to update the database or informations of their respective ward

☞ to refer the timely guidance to the ward level disaster management club.

☞ to coordinate with govt. functionaries with regard to vulnerablity and hazard risk reduction.

The trained disaster management club as an extending agency of

WDMC will be updating the data base; will be giving training to the new volunteers of the neighborhood in first aid, search and rescue skills etc to keep it sustainable. Overall it will be acting as a hub of knowledge.

4. Formation of Quick Response Teams, Their training and mock drill

5. Formation of Ward level Disaster Management Committee (WDMC)

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A city level website is being launched in NIC-Dhanbad under the

guidance of District Administration. The wardwise resource inventory database and community based disaster preaparedness plans of the all ward will be uploaded in the website to utilise these life saving informations irrespectively over space and time.

To support the ongoing CBDP activities, following materials have

been developed and being utilized. 20,000

leaflets/handbills highlighting about how to prepare CBDP.

One thousand formats of community based disaster preparedness plans.

big size hoardings exhibited at crowded place

Banners highlighting the need of CBDP placed in the wards. Stationeries (such as coloured chalks, drawing sheets, sketch pens,

pencils, sharpener, eraser etc) provided for volunteers to carry out

Leaflets developed for CBDP

Plant format developed for CBDP

6. Uploading of Community LevelDisaster Preparedness Plan at NICwebsite.

IEC and supporting materialsdeveloped and arranged for CBDP

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Prakrut Bandhu (Real Friends)

Apda Bandhu (Friends during Disaster)

Apda Bandhu(Friendsduring Disaster)

Bipad Bandhu

(Friends during Danger)

Municipality Level

Ward Level-DM Clubs Neighborhood

Level

- A MISSION For Community Level Disaster Management in Urban Area

Bipad Bandhu

(Friends during Danger)

the information generation and mapping exercises in their community.

In the ongoing process of developing chain of volunteers for

community level disaster management a huge force of volunteers from

neighborhood level to city level are coming out due to enhancement of community participation towards the common goal. In this regard a vision map for keeping it as sustainable has been prepared as per the following feature. Presently the municipality level volunteers and DM clubs, the supporting youth group at Ward level Disaster Management

Volunteers Management for Sustainability of the CBDP activities.

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Committee (WDMC) have been brought in to the force. After a TOT programme, DM clubs will be giving training to neighborhood level volunteers on Search and Rescue and First aid skills.

Accordingly to institutionalize the whole system, the 64 key

volunteers at Municipality level will be identified as PRAKURT BANDHU (Real Friends), in the next hierarchy the young members of DM clubs will be called as APDA BANDHU (Friends during Disaster), then in the next lowest hierarchy i.e., at neighborhood level, the forces of various teams like first aid and search and rescue teams trained by the DM clubs will be called as BIPAD BANDHU (Friends during danger). The two PRAKRUT BANDHUS, all APDA BANDHUs and all the BIPAD BANDHUS will be reporting to their respective Ward Disaster Management Committee. However, to give an identity to all the volunteers involved in this movement a FAMILY will be formed at City level i,e. BANDHAN- A mission for community based disaster management. The Bandhan will also be registered as a CBO.

What we hear, we forget. What we see, we

remember and What we do, we do know. The pilot initiative on CBDP is on the way. We are learning many things from the field, accordingly the vision map of is being moulded. Hence, an initiative getting tested with the urban community in Dhanbad context is leading us towards the concept of “What we do, we do know”