Ministry of Home Affairs in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), India has been empowering communities since 2002 to manage disaster risk in rural and urban areas in the country. Since, 2002, following programmes / interventions with communities across India have been implemented with UNDPs support, in strengthening community-based preparedness to tackle disasters.

A Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Programme, having financial outlay of Rs. 185 Crore was successfully implemented for a period from 2002-2009. The programme contributed towards the reduction of vulnerabilities. of the communities at risk in 176 multi-hazard prone districts across 17 states of India. This was also recognized as Asia’s largest community-based DRM initiative.

The GoI-UNDP DRM Program was followed by a Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Programme (2009-2013), having financial outlay of Rs. 100 Crore was implemented in 26 states, 78 districts, and 56 cities, which aimed to strengthen the state and district disaster management authorities and city administrations to undertake DRR activities as outlined in the National Disaster Management Act, 2005.

Subsequent to the GoI-UNDP DRR Programme, a Programme for “Enhancing Institutional and Community Resilience to Disasters and Climate Change (2013-2020)” was implemented to provide technical support to strengthen capacities of government, communities and institutions to fast-track implementation of the planning frameworks on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA). The project was implemented in 10 states, across the country with an outlay of US$ 6.235 million.

This framework collaboration incorporated the MHA-USAID and UNDP Partnership Project on ‘Climate Risk Management in Urban Areas through disaster preparedness and mitigation’. The outcomes of the project were as under:-

• Reduced disaster risks in urban areas by enhancing institutional capacities to integrate climate risk reduction measures in development programs as well as undertake mitigation activities based on scientific analysis; and
• Urban communities better prepared with increased capacities to manage climate risks.,/li>

The 1st phase of four-year period of 2012-2016 of this USAID supported project titled “Developing Resilient Cities through Risk Reduction in context of Climate and Disaster Risks” covered eight project cities viz. Bhubaneswar, Gangtok, Madurai, Navi Mumbai, Shimla, Thiruvananthapuram, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada.

The second phase from 2016 to 2020 of the collaboration titled “Developing Cities through Risk Reduction in the context of DRR and CCA” covered six project cities viz. Cuttack (Odisha), Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra), Shillong (Meghalaya), Shimla (Himachal Pradesh), Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) and Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh).

The Central Government rendered its support in guiding, monitoring and suggesting policy level decisions for the GOI - UNDP project. While the Projects were implemented at the SDMA/Department of Disaster Management for overall strategic guidance and oversight, actual implementation was carried out by the respective Municipal Corporations / District Administrations.

Key studies / initiatives under the project

Study on Mainstreaming DRR and CCA in Development Planning: -Keeping in view the Government of India’s policy and programme focus on mainstreaming of DRR and CCA measures in development sectors, a review of 13 national flagship programmes was conducted in 2015 to analyse gaps and identify entry points for integration of disaster risk reduction and adaption measures. Subsequently, based on the Government’s realigning of some of the centrally supported schemes and based on the emerging priorities, seven additional programmes that have undergone changes were reviewed in 2017. The studies identify the strengths as well as the weaknesses observed in mainstreaming DRR & CCA measures in the national flagship programmes.

Study on Disaster Scorecard for the States/UTs: - -A study to develop a system of Disaster Score Card for the States and Union Territories of India was undertaken to assist the State / UTs in benchmarking their performances on different aspects of disaster risk management and to measure the progress achieved in building disaster resilience of the rural and urban communities. In order to make a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the pan-India progress on disaster risk management, an analytical study on disaster risks and resilience in States and Union Territories was presented.

Details of state-wise activities

• Andhra Pradesh:
  • A pilot project to build resilience of the fishermen community in Visakhapatnam district has been undertaken.
  • Preparation of an Action Plan for Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation for the Department of Urban Development, Agriculture, Forest and Education. Four sectors, namely- Public Health, Education, Planning and Engineering were selected for mainstreaming CCA/DRR in Vishakhapatnam.
  • Technical support has been provided to Andhra Pradesh for the following activities:
    • Hazard and vulnerability mapping of 13 districts and 10 cities in the State
    • Preparation and revision of 13 district disaster management plans
    • Preparation of 10 city disaster management plans
    • Preparation of departmental disaster management plans of 10 departments
    • Development of SOPs for the state and District Emergency Operation Centres
• Assam:
  • Creation of budget heads in 30 line departments for Disaster Management and allocated funds for undertaking DRR activities.
  • Support to the State Government to develop a “Community based Climate Change Adaptation” manual/module
  • Operationalization of Android mobile application “Disaster Ready Assam
• Himachal Pradesh:
  • A pilot project on the integration of flood risk management into ongoing development schemes in select Gram Panchayats in Himachal Pradesh and Tripura to enhance community resilience.
  • Development of draft Action Plan for integrating DRR & CCA in their regular programs and schemes for Rural Development and Education Departments.
• Jharkhand:
  • Support provided to Education, Mining and Geology, Forest and Environment, and Urban Departments of Jharkhand for developing action plans to integrate DRR & CCA.
  • Establishment of State Disaster Knowledge Network / Knowledge cum Demonstration Centre
  • Development of an Action Plan to address drought in Jharkhand in consultation with different departments.
• Kerala:
  • Consultative workshop was organized by KSDMA with relevant departments to discuss mainstreaming of DRR and CCA in their development plans. Follow-up meetings with the Panchayats, Health and Rural Development departments were held to initiate the process of developing departmental action plans.
• Maharashtra:
  • Preparation of School Disaster Management plan for all schools under the jurisdiction of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation.
  • Officers of line departments have been oriented in mainstreaming DRR & CCA. The district officials of Raigad and Satara districts were trained on DRR and the process of mainstreaming as well as how to link it to the ongoing development schemes in the districts. Further, State Level workshops were held with representatives from relevant departments, namely, education, health, environment, irrigation, RDD etc to orient the officials on mainstreaming DRR-CCA into ongoing programs.
• Odisha:
  • Three project districts of the District Disaster Management Plan (Kendrapara, Ganjam and Puri) were reviewed and revised to integrated DRR/CCA aspects. Three trainings on mainstreaming DRR & CCA into development plans were also conducted in the districts.
  • Preparation of Flood Inundation Mapping for Kendrapara district.
• Sikkim:
  • Pilot Project for Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority on reviving water springs (Jhora) with active community participation and engagement.
  • The Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority reviewed and revised the State Disaster Management Plan to include the components of DRR & CCA. Further, consultative workshops to mainstream DRR/CCA in District Disaster Management Plans were held in the Districts of East, North and South Sikkim under the chairmanship of District Collector.
  • Preparation of an Evacuation Plan for Gangtok city of a possible earthquake scenario and its linking with the Disaster Management Plan.
• Tripura:
  • Development of guidelines for State Government of Tripura for using 10% of flexi-funds for DRR and CCA in Central Sponsored Schemes involving 15 line departments.
  • Upgradation of Tripura Disaster Management Authority (TDMA) website and its embedding with a system to capture Daily Situation Reports.
• Uttarakhand:
  • Organization of Sensitisation /awareness workshops for mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) issues in district disaster development planning with Agriculture, health and education departments. Action Plans for mainstreaming DRR and CCA in health and education sectors.
  • Organization of Training programmes with the engineers of line departments, Urban Local Bodies and Search and Rescue trainers.
  • Organization of Trainings for village level volunteers on Participatory Risk Assessment and Response held at Hawalbagh block of Almora.
  • A study was conducted on Solid Waste Management (SWM) to evaluate the current status of solid waste management in Gopeshwar city and to provide recommendations to reduce the waste. Also, a manual was developed on Solid Waste Management.
  • A study on socio-economic impact of Uttarakhand flood was conducted in three districts of Uttarkashi, Bageshwar and Pithoragarh.
  • An assessment of gender impacts of Uttarakhand floods- 2013 conducted in the disaster affected villages of Rudraprayag.
  • Review of State and District Emergency Operation systems were conducted.
  • A study of the formal, informal and non-formal disaster management education in Uttarakhand conducted.
  • Workshop/consultation organized for linking Community Radio station with State Emergency Operation Centres and District Emergency Operation Centres for effective dissemination of warning and alerts. Awareness was created in the rural areas, through talk shows, programmes and advertisement on disaster management and climate change.