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Disaster Preparedness among the Resident Community- A Case Study of Rajiv

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DOI: 10.6088/ijes.00202030048

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 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Volume 2, No 3, 2012

© Copyright 2010 All rights reserved Integrated Publishing Association

Research article ISSN 0976 – 4402

Disaster Preparedness among the Resident Community- A Case Study of

Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar, India
Rajiv Das Kangabam1, Panda.P.C2, Medhabati Kangabam3
1- Bioinformatics Centre, Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar -791112, Arunachal Pradesh,
India
2- Dept. of Geography, Dera Natung Government College, Itanagar-791113, Arunachal
Pradesh, India
3- Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development, Takyelapat Institutional Area,
Imphal-795001, Manipur, India
rajiv.kangabam@gmail.com
doi:10.6088/ijes.00202030048

ABSTRACT

A critical component of disaster preparedness is the knowledge of available local resource

information and how to response at the time of disaster. Impacts of natural disasters can be
reduced through pre-disaster activities for mitigating risks and such activities are among the
most crucial aspects of disaster risk reduction to consider in forming a coordinated strategy or
plan. Mobilising resources raises the awareness level within the community and aids in
assessing local knowledge and resources. This paper presents the results of a pilot study on
awareness level among the different community of Rajiv Gandhi University which is located
in one of the high seismic zone in the North eastern part of India. The study concludes that
disaster awareness among the community varies with the educational background, origin and
age and the level can be strengthened through a combination of appropriate community based
disaster preparedness, information technology and collaborative relationships between
government, Non Government Organizations and community-based organisations.

Keywords: Disaster preparedness, knowledge, mitigation, risk reduction, awareness,

seismic zone.

1. Introduction

In recent years, despite the age we live in being one of technological innovation, the
increased frequency, intensity, magnitude, and impact of natural disasters have claimed
thousands of lives and caused immense material losses throughout the world. In recent
decades this has been attributed to an increase in population worldwide and subsequent
developments like urbanisation, use of vulnerable regions or degraded land, and alterations in
the environment. In the second half of the twentieth century about 250 ‘great natural
catastrophes’ claimed the lives of about 1.4 million people, most of whom succumbed to
windstorms or floods. The 1990s alone had four times more disasters than in the 1950s and a
15-fold increase in economic losses during the same period (Munich Re Group 2000).

Most of the world’s worst disasters occur between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, Asia
being the most affected continent with 39% of the total disasters reported from 1992-2001,
accounting for 74.5% of the total casualties (IFRC 2002). Whereas hazard events cannot be
prevented from occurring, devastation and loss can be prevented to a great extent. Impacts of
natural disasters can be reduced through pre-disaster activities for mitigating risks; and such

Received on December 2011 Published on February 2012 1632

 Disaster Preparedness among the Resident Community- A Case Study of Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar,
India

activities are among the most crucial aspects of disaster risk reduction to consider in forming
a coordinated strategy or plan. Natural hazard mitigation is an important policy issue because
‘monetary losses from natural disasters are reaching catastrophic proportions’ and are
expected to increase. Mitigation is arguably the most critical activity of the four phases of
disaster management: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery (Godschalk et al.
1999). This is particularly relevant in the case of recurrent natural hazards, such as cyclones
and floods, in vulnerable locations where action to reduce damage can be more effective than
relief and recovery.

The burden of natural disasters falls most heavily upon developing nations where over 95%
of disaster related deaths occur (IFRC, 2001). In India, 60% of the land is prone to
earthquakes as shown in figure 1, 12% is susceptible to floods and 8% is vulnerable to
cyclones. Twenty-two states are categorized as multi-hazardous and the 8,000 kilometre long
coastline is exposed to tropical cyclones, storms and floods (CBSE, 2004).

The vulnerability of the country is compounded by indiscriminate and short-sighted

economic development, environmental degradation and the resultant changing topography.
The immeasurable loss of human life and damage to property not only drains the resources of
the state and damages the economy but also affects the social fabric of society.

Figure 1: Seismic zones of India

In order to address the complexities of natural hazards, India needs to develop a vigilant,
quick and disciplined response. As the geomorphology, topography, socio-economic
conditions, ethnicity and cultural traditions vary from region to region and from one village

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 Disaster Preparedness among the Resident Community- A Case Study of Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar,
India

to another within each region, it is important to develop as locally relevant a model as

possible within a standardized set of guidelines.

1.1 Why one should be aware of Disaster Preparedness?

Every country is at the risk of exposure to some type of disaster, whether natural or man-
made. In order for each country to prepare for any kind of disaster, it must inform its citizens
about the different types of disasters. The local residents must also be aware of how they can
effectively participate in preparing for a disaster, mitigating potential impacts of a disaster
and the recovery process after a disaster. One of the most effective mechanisms for a country
to prepare for a disaster is by conducting education and public awareness programmes at the
local community level. Public awareness in disaster preparedness is a process of educating
and empowering the population through sharing knowledge and information about the
various types of disasters and their potential risks as widely as possible so that people act
appropriately when a disaster happens.

Members of a community are the immediate victims of adverse effects of a disaster. They
have the best knowledge about their local surrounding in terms of the most disaster-prone
areas, the demography of their community and their social and traditional organization. It is
important that they have the capacity to cope with the impacts of a disaster and are involved
in the development of disaster preparedness activities right from the initial planning stages.
Community participation can also make them more confident in their capabilities to act in the
event of a disaster leading to a self-reliant community.

1.2 Community awareness: an analysis of the Rajiv Gandhi University Campus

Residents, Itanagar

Emergency preparedness refers to the readiness of a political jurisdiction to react

constructively to threats from the environment in a way that minimises the negative
consequences for health and safety. It results from a process in which a community examines
its susceptibility to hazards (vulnerability analysis), identifies the human material resources
available to cope with these threats (capability assessment), and defines the organisational
structures by which a coordinated response is to be launched (plan development) (Perry and
Lindell, 2003). Community-based disaster preparedness refers to a specific form of local-
level capacity building and represents increasingly important elements of vulnerability
reduction and disaster management strategies. CBDP strategies leverage the knowledge and
capabilities of local community resources. Successful implementation of CBDP requires an
understanding of the communities involved (Allen, 2006).

It is the community that has to respond immediately to any disaster, and hence, a culture of
preparedness needs to be inculcated in the minds of citizens. Thus, a community based
disaster preparedness (CBDP) education programme is a priority.

The first important step towards ensuring future safety as far as possible, from disasters of
any kind is to prepare an advance plan so that there is systematic, easy and comprehensive
action. Planning substitutes order for chaos and introduces rationality into decision-making
process. It reduces random and haphazard activity. Disaster Preparedness Plan facilitates the
handling of crisis especially in unforeseen circumstances. A preparedness plan made at the
community level is a comprehensive document which indicates measures to be taken up by
the community before, during and after disasters. It also needs to incorporate capacity
building measures for the community, development requirements of the area, etc. A plan

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 Disaster Preparedness among the Resident Community- A Case Study of Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar,
India

prepared at the grass roots level, with community's involvement ensures compliance by all
concerned stakeholders. In this project, we shall highlight the need and significance of
disaster preparedness and bring out the components of community based disaster
preparedness plan. An attempt is made to identify the key strategies of operationalising
community-based disaster preparedness plan in the Rajiv Gandhi University Campus shown
in figure 2.

Figure 2: Site of study area from aerial view

2. Materials and Method

2.1 Sample Design

The purpose of the study has been to assess how well the resident communities are prepared
for managing the disaster. In order to obtain the representative information from all the
communities including the associated departments, a survey was done. For the study, various
groups were divided on the basis of their educational background, like doctorate, post
graduate and primary education. The schematic plan for the selection of groups was as
follows:

Firstly, the community was grouped on the basis of educational background. They were
classified into three categories, viz.

a. The teaching group.

b. The administrative staff and associated group.
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 Disaster Preparedness among the Resident Community- A Case Study of Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar,
India

c. The student group

2.2 Activity Outline

Under this study, we conducted survey to study the levels of awareness on Disaster
Preparedness and promote community disaster reduction education through community-based.
In this method, we meet the residents of the Rajiv Gandhi community and collect the
information on disaster preparedness through a common questionnaire form from the various
community of the university campus, and then develop suggestion and measures for
addressing those problems through in-depth discussions. The study was conducted for from
September 2010 to May 2011.

A questionnaire was prepared in line with the standard protocol for disaster preparedness.

2.3 The student group

This group consists of the post graduate students, M Tech, M Phil and PhD Scholars. This
group constitute of a large number of students coming from the different communities as we
all know that Arunachal have a large number of ethnic community. More than 20 major tribes
are inhabited of this state. This group constitutes the largest number of population of the
university community.

2.4 The administrative staff and other officers

This group includes all the administrative staff and the departmental staff of the university
including the associated branch of the university. This group includes the security personal,
drivers, lab assistants, office attendant, electrician, resident doctors, nurses and other concern
persons. This group constitutes the second largest number of population of the university
community.

2.5 The Teaching group

The teaching group involves all the faculty members starting from the assistant professor to
professor. The qualifications of this group are mostly post graduate with doctorate in
philosophy in their respective subject or fields.

A thorough study of the available literature were done from the books, research papers,
journals, governmental organization report and other international agencies working in
disaster related issues. From the study, a number of articles and paper were collected which
were relevant to the work being done for the study.

A questionnaire was prepared by going through some of the previous studies on the said
subject and other important aspects related to the area of study were incorporated and a
questionnaire for 20 questions were set finally for the survey among the resident community.
The questionnaire is prepared by following the standard protocol.

A survey was then carried out using the questionnaire. Before the questionnaire was given to
the participants, general information and instruction was given explaining the aim and
objective of the survey so that they can understand the main idea behind this survey. After
providing the detail information, the participants i.e. faculty, staff and students were asked to
give their view on the questions by selecting the specific answer according to them from the
list of the answer provided in the questionnaire. The participations were given sufficient time
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 Disaster Preparedness among the Resident Community- A Case Study of Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar,
India

to think and answer the questions. The survey work covers almost all the university
departments, administration, library, community health centre, banks and other office
associated with the university.

After the completion of the survey, a systematic sorting out of the respondent was done on
the basis of their group. The collected data were then analysis by using the common analysis
tools like M.S Excel to find out the result from the survey and come up with the conclusion.

3. Results

Those involve in the study almost know about disaster and half of them even experience it
also. As the place is highly prone to natural disaster due to its geographical location, the
groups were well aware of the natural disaster. The groups feel that the most likely form of
disaster associated with the place is landslide follow by earthquake. The groups strongly feels
that mock drill is very much essential for making people aware on how to cope up at the time
of disasters. Most of them don’t have any disaster home plan and family disaster plan except
few of the members of the group. There is lack of knowledge on the group’s members about
the community condition and resident of the community. The groups as a whole have poor
knowledge on the governmental and other services available following a natural disaster and
they are not well prepared to meet disaster in case of it occurs anytime in the locality or
community.

The overall result of all the groups are almost same in the result with each other, accept in
some case where the faculty members and students were more concerned of family welfare
and disaster awareness as compared to the staffs who are not so well aware of this things and
mostly fell about the salary and busy with dear day to day life on bringing up of their
children’s and family members. The daily wage earner were mostly not concern about the
disaster as they are very much in need of wages in order to meet their daily expenses and they
are the people who suffered most during the disaster.

4. Conclusion

Advance planning and regulation must remain as a continuous and comprehensive plan. We
can identify disaster- prone area. Industrial area may be separated from residential area.
Emergency task force to tackle earthquake and disaster is to be organized.

Disasters are natural forces difficult to tackle but awareness and preparedness to face the
calamity will help solve the magnitude of the problems. The people at large must be well
aware of the occurrence of disaster. Preparedness for disaster can be the only effective means.
It should be treated on priority basis.

Long-term planning and preparedness for disaster mitigation is gradually being made part of
the process of development planning in India. Science & technology inputs constitute its
basic thrust, manifested in development of forecasting and warning systems, disaster resistant
construction technologies and appropriate cropping systems.

The following guidelines and recommendations need to be implemented urgently for

effective disaster preparedness programme in the community under study

4.1 Guidelines

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International Journal of Environmental Sciences Volume 2 No.3, 2012
 Disaster Preparedness among the Resident Community- A Case Study of Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar,
India

1. Pre disaster mitigation can help ensuring faster recovery from the impact of disaster
2. Mitigation measures must ensured protection of the material and cultural asserts of the
community
3. Hazard reduction method just take into account the various hazards face by the
different community and their desire
4. Any mitigation programme must also be aware of effective partnership between the
government, scientific, private and NGO’s living in the community.

4.2 Recommendation

The main elements of disaster preparedness strategy are as follows

i. Risk assessment analysis

It involves the identification of the hotspot areas of prime concern. Past history of the area
under study is to be identified and recorded. We can find out regular mechanism to monitor
the occurrence of disaster in terms of the frequency and magnitude of earthquake.

ii. Role of applied research

There is a need to establish or upgrade constant observations of the occurrence of earthquake.

iii. Public awareness and training

One of the most important components of mitigation strategy is the training of technical staff
members who are going to play in the forefront in case any occurrence of the earthquakes in
the region.

iv. Institutional mechanism

At the national level the most important need is to strengthen or developed the capacity
building to handle disaster mitigation strategy. There is a need for pre disaster awareness
rather than post disaster response.

v. Incentive and resources for mitigation

Success of the operation of mitigation programme of earthquake will depend upon the
availability of funds and experts services. This will include incentive for the allocation of
sufficient funds for the programme.

Minimizing damage requires sustained efforts and can only be achieved when the community,
government, experts, and citizens work together based on a strong awareness of the issues.
Thus, disaster reduction education is not a one-time isolated event, but requires the
construction of a system under which the authorities can take the initiative to continue
conducting disaster reduction education even after externally supported projects end.

Acknowledgement

The authors is thankful to the faculty members, officers, administrative staffs, students and
other members of Rajiv Gandhi University community who whole heartedly participate in the
study by sharing the valuable information.The consent of the people was taken prior to the
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 Disaster Preparedness among the Resident Community- A Case Study of Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar,
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filling up the survey questionnaire and information was collected in the common language or
vernacular language. We are deeply grateful to all of those who were involved in this project.

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