ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES(ES)

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Lesson 23: Disaster management

Main elements of a Mitigation Strategy

1. Risk assessment and vulnerability analysis: It involves the identification of hotspot areas of prime concern, collection of information on past natural hazards, information of the natural ecosystems and information on the population and infrastructure.
   
2. Based on the information, a risk assessment should be done to determine the frequency, intensity, impact and the time taken to return to normalcy after the disaster.
   
3. Applied research and technology transfer: There is a need to establish or upgrade observation equipment like remote sensing, satellite communications and Global positioning Systems (GPS), monitor the hazards properly, improve the quality of forecasting and warning.
   
4. Government organizations like ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation), NBRO (National Building Research Organization), Meteorological department, irrigation department, etc. can undertake applied research for devising locale-specific mitigation strategies in collaboration with educational institutions.
   
5. Public awareness and training: Training needs to be imparted to the officials and staff of the various departments involved at the state and district level.
   
6. Institutional Mechanisms: Essential to have a permanent administrative structure which can monitor the developmental activities across departments and provides suggestions for necessary mitigation measures. The National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) can perform such a task. Professionals like architects, structural engineers, doctors and chemical engineers can design specific mitigation measures.
   
7. Incentives and resources for mitigation: Need to develop mechanisms to provide stable sources of funding for all mitigation programmes. Eg: Incentives for the relocation of commercial and residential activities outside the disaster-prone areas; following special building specifications by housing finance companies in hazard prone areas; providing disaster linked insurance for human lives, household goods, cattle, structures and crops.
   
8. Land use planning and regulations: Promote appropriate land use in the disaster prone areas.
   
   1. Separate the industrial areas from residential areas, maintenance of wetlands as buffer zones for floods
      
   2. Create public awareness of proper land practices and formation of land use policies
      
9. Hazard-resistant design and construction:
   Promote the knowledge of disaster-resistant construction materials, techniques and practices among engineers, architects and technical personnel.
10. Structural and constructional re-inforcement of existing buildings: vulnerability of existing buildings can be reduced through minor adaptations to ensure their safety by the insertion of walls on the outside of the building, buttresses, walls in the interior of the building, portico fill-in-walls, specially anchored frames, covering of columns and beams, construction of new frame system, placing residential electrical equipment above floor level, designing water storage tanks to be able to withstand cyclonic winds, earthquakes and floods etc.