Disaster Management Assignment [2500 words]

(a) Critically analyse the role of relevant stakeholders in the mitigation of the above disaster.

Introduction

A disaster is when the occurrence of an unexpected devasting event that disturbs the normal
functioning of a community or society who in turn cannot survive without the help of outsiders.
Natural calamities such as Earthquakes, floods or Health pandemics such as Covid-19 and even
industrial accidents such as explosions, the collapse of coal landmines in a village can be described as
a disaster as it negatively impacts a community.

The World Economic Forum (2019) states that extreme weather events and natural disasters are two
[1]
of the likeliest global risks with the largest impacts . A 2016 study from United Nations Office of
Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) wrote that floods, which have accounted for nearly half of all
disasters1 from 1995 to 2015, and droughts, which have affected the most people globally, are two
of the most common events with which governments must deal[2].

Disaster management is cohesive process of planning, organizing, coordinating and implementing

measures to effectively deal with their impact on people [3].

Literature Review

Disaster management and mitigation comprises of 3 components; namely: readiness, reaction, and
recuperation.

Readiness means to put crisis systems into place and channel organized efforts before the
occurrence of an event so as to improve the mitigation of the negative consequences of a disaster.
“Shubhendu S. Shukla (2011) mentions that India has developed an operational mechanism for
[4]
disaster warning especially cyclone and drought, and their monitoring and mitigation” . Pramod
Patil (2012) showed how India is at risk from floods and pointed out its Disaster Management in
India so that it can develop how to warn and communicate [5].

Reaction means the actions that are taken during and following a disaster. Reaction exercises include
beginning the crisis task design, evacuating and protecting casualties, searching, maintaining and
[6]
providing care . Altay and Green (2006) shows that triggering crises concentrates on evacuating
masses and vehicles, assessing monetary damages, coordinating administration and dispensing of
assets [7].
Recuperation exercises incorporate the restoration of the supportive networks and exercises to back
to the normal routine. They focus on rebuilding private and non-private structures and plan
administrative exercises. L. Bosher et Al. (2009) in an investigation mentioned that a post-fiasco
recuperation provides a chance to decrease of the danger of catastrophes [8],[9].

“Dr. Priyanka Banerji (2013) compared the Disaster Management plan in India and Japan and
concluded that there is faster recovery growth in Japan after disaster compared to India” [10].

Vicky Walters et al (2014) highlights the links “between the multi-faceted marginalisation of
homeless people and their sensitivities to disaster associated with everyday small-scale hazards and
[11]
large-scale natural hazards” . He argues that more attention should be given to them and we
should integrate the needs of people's and the risks in disaster research and policy.

Role of relevant stakeholders in the mitigation of the disaster

A stakeholder is any participant who can influence or is influenced by event. The different
stakeholders are as follows:

1. Government officials

The officials that are responsible for triggering the disaster management plan and focus. The
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams and the NRDF Director General have the main
responsibility of coordinating rescue teams to find victims that are reported missing and any people
who are trapped due to the floods. The Indo-Tibetan Police are requisitioned to recover the bodies
of the fourteen people who died. The Himachal Pradesh Chief Secretary and the Yamuna Nagar
district administration have called off the search and rescue mission as they are now trying to assess
and focus help in Lahaul and Spiti.

The Government also allocates a considerable portion of the budget towards disaster management.
The National Parliament forms part in this category. The Government officials have responsibility to
evacuate any people whose life is at risk and dedicate resources for that mission. For example; it is
closing all the roads that is being compromised due to the landslides as a result of the flash floods.

As for the restoration of electricity and drinking water, these are the essentials for the people of that
region, the Himachal Pradesh Chief Secretary and the Yamuna Nagar district administration have
met through video conferencing to talk to the relevant district councils who will be responsible to
restore these links to the people as soon as possible.
 2. Media

Media has been very active in its participation to communicate the news. India Today is the news
that have communicated to the Government officials for all the latest instruction releases to the
masses.

3. Indian Meteorological Department

“Chief Secretary Anil Khachi also said that the state meteorological department had issued a warning
for the next 48 hours”. Indian Meteorological Department has issued yellow and orange alerts for
Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana. “The Yamunanagar district administration has issued a flood alert
for low-lying areas in Haryana”.

4. The people

People in areas that are more at risk have been displaced. All districts were asked to take all the
measures to protect themselves and people have been advised to leave their homes only for
essential work.

Pros and cons of the relevant stakeholders in disaster mitigation

Stakeholders Pros Cons

1. Government Officials All means of transport to The need for clear leadership
increase the survivors and to lead and direct all other sub
distribution of essentials clusters

Procedures to improve the More research on expectations

strength of buildings from politicians when disaster
strucks
To enhance the recovery
through insurance Lack of funds training

Natural & man-made Looking for alternatives is

constructions to reduce the neglected
effects of aftermath
2. Media Prerequisite for effective Propagation of fake news
communication to the public
Lack of communication for
people without electricity or
wifi
3. Indian Meteorological Sophisticated warning The need for practical
Department organizations technologies

“Satellite images and GIS to Poor communication

gather real time data of the
disaster impact and plan Lack of highly skilled
reconstruction” technicians to operate the
 tools
4. The People Education to raise awareness “The need for effective
and make the people more education, training and
prepared in case of calamity awareness raising programmes
to enhance culture of
preparedness”

To modify people’s way of

thinking and empower them
with self help thoughts when it
comes to floods

“Lack of consideration of social

factors”

Ways to improve the collaboration/commitment of relevant stakeholders

Strategic Planning

It is important that an effective national strategy and standard operating procedure is developed and
distributed to key stakeholders. These should include the clear step by step procedure on all the
sides of each stakeholder. Everyone should clear understand their roles. It is important that the
stakeholders learn and share examples of best practice and effective collaboration from past
experience.

Coordination, Communication and Points of Contact

The main issue is that when disaster hits, there may be no electricity in the area to inform the
masses about the latest developments. Almost everybody nowadays has cells phone. Therefore,
even in the remotest areas, the Government should work towards that people have access to a
functional phone that can communicate updates in times of disasters. This can be done by working
with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). It is important the Government works with Private
companies such as the mobile network providers so they identify a key contact from their
management to help co-ordinate the plan of action.

The Government should beforehand identify the readiness of the response team and the main
communication link within them. Formal and Informal dialogue should be encouraged between
government agencies. In the event of a disaster, a contact within the National Force should already
be allocated to be deployed with minimum time of response.

Technical and Operational Aspects

The prerequisites for the maintenance of network services should be clearly defined in moments of
disasters. The Government should grant access and priority for water access and electricity
restoration and as well as the essentials. Clear text messages should be sent with no ambiguity. For
example; the “Towards a Code of Conduct: SMS Guidelines for use in Natural Disasters”, developed
by the “GSMA Disaster Response Programme” can be used.

The Government should work with NGO’s and other parts of its department to identify all the people
that may be affected in an area for clear communication. It is important to no overburden networks
as well in times of crisis.
Discuss how training and development can be used as an effective means to limit the impact of flash
flood.

Literature Review

Training is a methodological way of acquiring skills and knowledge in order to effectively manage
performance in work environments. It is done in the preparedness stage of crisis management such
that a locality or community is more aware and ready to face the challenges associated with a
disaster.

According to Nik Nazli et Al. (2014), the public preparedness programs are an absolute must for
localities hit by disasters regularly through a team based hands-on training [12]. Pearce (1997) writes
that informal training needs to be provided to an individual that does not have any form of training
[13] [14]
so that they have an impression before the real exercise . Based on a study by Gebbie and
Hutton (2016), the only way to improve the awareness of students, it is very important that they are
educated about disasters and undergo training for disaster preparedness.

Although challenge that disaster management agencies go through is the lack of funding so that they
can do their job of raising awareness through training to communities before and after the event,
[15]
according to Mahmud et Al. (2006) . Additionally, it is important that the agencies have the tools
and resources to provide to people as part of training so that they know how to use it in season of
monsoon. This all, requires funding and this is a barrier for effective training.

The pros and cons of T & D

Advantages of T & D Disadvantages of T & D

Better understanding of flood management Lack of funding
Raise awareness among different stakeholders Lack of support from government for training
Help form community with important survival Lack of physical resources such as equipment
skills that helps in flooding
May empower vulnerable parts of community Lack of human resources to train people and
like women and older people offer assistance
Training sessions offer sense of belonging to Lack of highly educated people to use
community complicated technology
Creates a systematic approach to disaster Technology might be difficult to learn to
management to preparedness operate
Efficient management of disasters Lack of engagement from community
Elaborate on the ways to improve T & D with regards to disaster mitigation

There currently exist a variety a training method which can be used in this regard. These exercises
can also be used purposefully to assess people’s performance under controlled and simulated
conditions. It is also important to note that the exercises and manoeuvres implemented for
vulnerable people with special needs are different. Historically, this is an issue that has been poorly
addressed and additional and tailored attention needs to be given to these individuals. It is therefore
imperative that frameworks to identify and specially train the disaster vulnerable group should be
developed and implemented. These frameworks should be thoroughly tested to analyse their
advantages and drawbacks in order to make them as robust as possible.

Collaboration between government and public agencies is key to educating and encouraging
members of the general public to engage in disaster management programs (Roosli & O’Brien,
2011). This can be advantageous to agencies dealing with relief and rescue as it can make sure that
the “Disaster management training program” is an effective tool for the general public (Mahmud et
al., 2006). Training programs should be tailored and focused depending on the risks to a
geographical region. Similarly, such an exercise helps develop strong disaster plan (Leonard H.
Guercia, 2011).

Importance and limitations of stakeholders and T & D for the case study

The Government should in his budget make provisions and set aside funding to support the training
and development of other stakeholders of disaster management. It is to provide sufficient funding so
that they have enough resources to train the community and have the tools to familiarize
themselves before the flood comes. The limitation of the Government is that it might not know how
to effectively use the funding to reallocate due to other urgent political projects going on.

Regarding the media and the meteorological services, their training and development is crucial in
the event of disasters as they need to be effective and rapid in their delivery of news and other
important updates. Their training needs to include to know how to use these. The downside to this is
that the equipment is costly, the procedure is time consuming and the know-how of how to use
latest sophisticated technology is it can be complicated to operate. Therefore, people with advance
education can be called for. Sometimes, there is lack of human resources for these jobs.

As for the community, one of the main importance of training them is that they gain awareness and
can better prepare for disasters. But training sessions are costly to run and depending on the areas,
for example if remote Indian area where women are not allowed to attend training sessions, it can
be difficult to train all community and educate them.

Strategy for effective implementation of T & D for the case study

Exchanging information at all

levels of the society through
symposiums, workshops,
seminars and training
can increase the intensity of
awareness and participation of
the communities in the
prevention and preparedness
programme (InterWorks,
1998). Information sharing can
retain the skills learned (Jasper
et al., 2013) and will be
make us ready when facing
disaster.
The Prime Minister’s
Department may wish to
reconsider the training
programme given to the staff
or
volunteer with updated
contents. More modules,
particularly in regulatory
compliance need to be
incorporated in the
pre-service training ( Roosli &
O’Brien, 2011).
To enhance the level of awareness as well as participation of our societies in prevention and
preparedness programmes, there should be a free and transparent flow of information across all
levels of society. This can be achieved through the use of workshops, seminar and symposiums
(InterWorks, 1998). Sharing of information in a free and transparent manner can also ensure that
the skill gained by society in relation to disaster management are preserved enhancing our
capabilities to maneuver disasters (Jasper et al., 2013).

Another key component of disaster management lies in ensuring the existence and maintenance of
disaster warning systems. These systems can be complex in their maintenance as well as
interpretation and therefore adequate resources need to be dedicated in order to make sure these
skills are available. Therefore, systems must be in place to avoid the misuse of social media and
people working with disaster warning systems should have adequate training to identify and
preventing false information from reaching the public.

Governments and mass media, with the aid of social media are the key actors in making sure the
disaster warning information reaches the public. This makes good coordination between these
parties key to any effective strategy.

Conclusion

In conclusion, different stakeholders have crucial roles to play in implementing and management of
disaster plans. The training and development is an important part of disaster management plan and
lack of funding stays one of the most challenging issues faced by disaster management bodies.
References:

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