A report on

Activities carried out by the

GOI-UNDP’s DRM Programme in
Cuddalore District since Inception

Compiled by:
Sherine David SA, NUNV
District Disaster Management Project Officer,
Draft report United Nations Development Programme, 1
Cuddalore District , Tamil Nadu, India
 Introduction:
introduction:

We all know natural disasters such as hurricanes, flood, earthquakes, tsunamis, epidemics or
uncontrolled fire are common in any society or community. Knowing how to react in such a
situation is everyone's responsibility. Everyone should be familiar with this information for his or
her own safety. Particularly, the community must know what to do, when and where during a
Disaster. Thought and preparation will eliminate panic and assure that proper decisions will be
made and carried out step-by-step. Although we don’t know when a disaster will strike, if we are
prepared ahead of time, we will be better able to cope with the disaster and recover from it more
quickly.

The disaster-related activities of prevention, preparedness, emergency relief, rehabilitation and

reconstruction each occupy a distinct time period in relation to a disaster. The length of time any
one period will last can vary greatly depending on the type of disaster and other factors.
Nevertheless, it is important that people involved in disaster planning and response recognize the
different phases and the appropriate activities that occur in each phase. Pre-disaster activities are
normally subdivided into disaster prevention, disaster mitigation and disaster preparedness. In
general, disaster prevention is event-focused. In other words, the objective of prevention is to
prevent the disaster from occurring at all. Disaster mitigation accepts the fact that some natural
event may occur but tries to lessen the impact by improving the community’s ability to absorb the
impact with little damage or disruptive effects. Disaster preparedness assumes that the disaster
will occur and focuses on structuring response and laying a framework for recovery. To cut short,
Disaster preparedness is a product of planning and of implementing those plans.

United Nations defines the term Disaster as ““The occurrence of a sudden or major misfortune
which disrupts the basic fabric and normal functioning of a society or community”. It is an event or
a series of events which gives rise to the causalities and/or damage or loss of property
infrastructure essential services or means of livelihood on a scale that is beyond the normal
capacity of the affected communities to cope with unaided. The level of risk depends upon (1)
nature of the hazard (2) Vulnerability of elements, which are affected (3) Economic value of those
elements

Philippine Nation Red Cross (1994) in its Disaster

Preparedness training manual defines Hazards as
Hazard X Vulnerability - Capacity = “Phenomenon that pose a threat to people,
Risk structures of economic assets and which may
cause a disaster. They could be either man made
Hazard (Potential threat to humans and or naturally occurring in our environment. A
their welfare) disaster is the produce of a hazard such as
X earthquake, flood or cyclone coinciding with a
vulnerable situation, which might include
Vulnerability (Exposure and communities, cities or villages. "Vulnerability" is
susceptibility to loss of life or dignity) defined as a condition resulting from physical,
social, economic, and environmental factors or
- processes, which increases the susceptibility of a
Capacity (Available and potential community to the impact of a hazard. “Capacity” is
resources) the resources of individuals, households and
communities to cope with a threat or resist the
= impact of a hazard.
Risk (Probability of disaster occurrence) The term “risk” is defined as the expectation value
of losses (deaths, injuries, property, etc.) that
would be caused by a hazard.
Risk: definition

Draft report 2
 Disaster Risk Management Programme - India
Disaster Risk Management Programme - India:
To reduce the vulnerabilities of communities living in the most hazard prone areas, Government
of India in collaboration with United Nations Development programme implemented the Disaster
Risk Management Programme in 2002. In the first phase (2002 to 2004), the programme
concentrated on 3 states – Orissa (12), Gujarat (11) and Bihar (5) and in the second phase (2003
to 2007), Uttaranchal (8),Bihar (9), West Bengal (10), Assam (12), Meghalaya (7), Sikkim (4),
Uttar Pradesh (13), New Delhi (9), Maharashtra (14), Tamilnadu (6), Orissa (2), Gujarat (3),
Tripura (4), Mizoram (8), Manipur (9), Arunachal Pradesh (15), Nagaland (8). Totally it has
identified 169 Districts and 38 citites in 17 states to implement the community based disaster
preparedness concept through the Disaster Risk Management Programme. This programme
aims at community based disaster reduction and recovery through participation of communities
and local self governments. The goal of this programme is to create a sustainable reduction in
disaster risk in some of the most hazard prone Districts in the selected states of India. In Tamil
Nadu, this programme is being implemented in 6 Districts - Thiruvallur, Kancheepuram,
Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Kanyakumari, Nilgiris and 2 cities – Chennai and Coimbatore.

Source: UNDP

Map showing DRM Programme districts and cities in Tamil Nadu

The approach of this programme is to a) Focus on building community capacities, community

based planning b) Partnerships with all stake-holders in Disaster Management like Governments,
professional bodies, training institutions, people’s representatives, technical institutions, etc. c)
Programme will boost capacities at all levels with special emphasis on Women, to address
disasters through an integrated approach for reducing vulnerabilities. And the Thematic focus is
on awareness generation, education, training and capacity building for better preparedness and
mitigation in terms of Disaster Risk Management and recovery at Community, District and State
level & strengthening of State and District Disaster Management Information Centers for accurate
and timely dissemination of warning.

Draft report 3
 DisasterRisk
Disaster RiskManagement
ManagementProgramme
Programme–-Cuddalore:
Cuddalore

Cuddalore as its name suggest, it’s a coastal District having coastal length of about 59.5 kms and
is highly prone to floods and cyclones. Whenever there is a depression, cyclonic formation
occurs in Bay of Bengal and it has its effect in
Cuddalore District which may range from light
rains in the coastal area to wide spread heavy
rains and flood throughout the district and
devasting effect of major cyclonic storm.

Cuddalore District has the landslope from west

to east and from north to south. Since the
district is situated at the seacoast, it drains rain
water not only of rainfall in the district alone but
also from the catchments of the rivers, relatively
mild land slopes makes drainage difficult. Low
lying areas and coastal areas have floods during
the period of heavy rains particularly during
North East monsoon period.
Cuddalore District Map
There are seven major rivers and 5 reservoirs tanks in Cuddalore District. They are as follows:

Sl.No Name of the river Name of the Taluk

1 Coleroon Chidambaram and Kattumannarkoil
2 Vadavar Kattumannarkoil
3 Vellar Tittakudi, Vridhachalam and Chidambaram
4 Manimuthanathi Vridhachalam
5 Gadilam Panruti and Cuddalore
6 Pennar Panruti and Cuddalore
7 Paravanar Chidambaram and Cuddalore
Details of major rivers in Cuddalore District

Sl.No Name of the reservoir/tanks Name of the Taluk

1 Perumal Eri Cuddalore
2 Sethiathope Chidambaram
3 Wallajah Chidambaram
4 Veeranam Kattumannarkoil
5 Wellington reservoir Thittagudi
Details of reservoirs/tanks in Cuddalore District

Heavy rains showers during the months of October, November and December inundates low
lying areas, coastal areas and the areas nearby major irrigation sources. Cyclones are also part
of the North East monsoon season. Due to floods, sudden outbreak of several water borne
disease was also experienced in the past.

The DRM programme is implementing its activities keeping in mind the following hazards which
also include natural calamities like drought, tsunami and man-made disaster like chemical
pollution, fire accidents etc., apart from flood and cyclones were also addressed to the
community. Necessary steps were taken to implement the programme in the district with the
proper guidance from State Government.

With the Goal of making Cuddalore District “model district for Disaster Preparedness”, the
District Administration took various innovative efforts to execute the Disaster Risk Management
Programme effectively since its inception in 2003.

Draft report 4
 DistrictDisaster
District DisasterManagement
ManagementCommittee:
Committee:

The State level consultation meetings with the District officials was organized to sensitize them
about the purpose of implementing DRM programme in Tamil Nadu and about nature of the
programme. Following this meeting, the
District Disaster Management Committee was
formed to monitor the effective
implementation of the DRM programme in the
District. The Committee is headed by the
District Collector. The consultation meeting
was organized at the District level for
representatives of various Government
departments and Non Governmental
Organisation to sensitise the officials about
the purpose of the DRM programme.
The District Disaster Management Committee
gathers once in three months to review the
DRM programme activities in the District and DDMC meeting.................
give their suggestions and recommendations
for the effective implementation of the Programme in the District. The Present District Disaster
Management Committee members are as follows:

Sl.No Name of the member with designation Responsibility

1 Mr. Gagandeep Singh Bedi, District Collector Chairman
2 Mr. Megaraj, Project Officer, DRDA Convenor
3 Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Superintendent of Police Member
4 Mr. R Srinivasan, Superindenting Engineer, PWD Member
5 Mr. Hasting Hope, District Revenue Officer Member
6 Mr. N. Raja, Joint Director of Health Member
7 Mr. M. Kannan, Divisional Fire Officer Member
8 Mr. Radha Krishnan i/c, Pa to Collector (PD) Member
9 Mr. P. Nagamani, Divisional Engineer (H & RW) Member
10 Mr. Chellappan, Municipal Commissioner, Cuddalore Member
11 Mr. R. Chandrakannan, Joint Director of Agriculture Member
12 Mr. Poonkuthan, Joint Directorof Animal Husbandry Member
13 Mr. Ramesh, Commander, NCC Member
14 Mr. Thirumugam, Coordinator, NSS Member
15 Mr. Mani Member
16 Dr. Shanmugasundaram, District Panchayat President Member
17 Mr. N.S. Ranganathan, President, Lion’s Club Member
18 Mr. Arumaichelvam, President, Rotary Club Member
19 Mr. R.M. Balasubramaniyan Member
20 Ms. Jayanthi, Secretary, Ishwariya Ladies Club Member
Details of District Disaster Management Committee members

Activity review

Several activities are being discussed and reviewed by the Collector, Project Officer -
DRDA & District Project Officer, DRMP in the weekly / fortnightly/ monthly meeting of
BDO’s & other officers and DRMP subject is also discussed in weekly BDO’s review
meeting.

Draft report 5
 Districtlevel
District levelMaster
MasterTrainers
Trainer’s training:
training:
31 Government officials and 6 representatives for various local NGO’s were identified as District
Master Trainers and were sent for training on Disaster Management to Anna Institute of
Management, Chennai. The First batch was sent for training on 22nd November 2003. Trainers
from Anna Institute of Management – Chennai, Institute of Public Health – Chennai and State
Institute of Rural Development, Chennai trained the District Master Trainers on First Aid, Rescue
and Evacuation & Water and Sanitation. These District Master’s trainers in turn trained the
representatives from the Block with approval from Block Disaster Management Committee. The
details of the District Master Trainers are as follows:

Sl.No Name Designation

1 Anu George, I.A.S., Asst. Collector (Trg.)
2 S. Kanagavalli District Project Officer - DRMP
3 S. Geetha District Project Officer - DRMP
4 H. Grace Annabhai District Social Welfare Officer
5 K. Kumaresan Assistant Director (Statistics)
6 V. Srinivasan District Educational Officer
7 C. Nataraja Tahsildar
8 V. Subramaniyan Tahsildar
9 R.T. Rangarajan Tahsildar
10 S. Srimalini Tahsildar
11 Vengatesan Assistant District Fire Officer
12 K. Paneerselvam Block Development Officer
13 T. Ramachandran Block Development Officer
14 S. Kaliyaperumal Block Development Officer
15 P. Rajendran Block Development Officer
16 G. Shanmugasundaram Block Development Officer
17 G. Velmurugan Block Development Officer
18 M. Periyasamy Block Development Officer
19 D. Ponmudi Block Development Officer
20 S. Athithan Block Development Officer
21 S. Selvaraj Block Development Officer
22 R. Manoharan Block Development Officer
23 N. Paranjothi Block Development Officer
24 D. Ranganathan Block Development Officer
25 A. Liyakath Ali Khan Block Development Officer
26 Subramanian Block Development Officer
27 Srinivasan Block Development Officer
28 Kandasamy Block Development Officer
29 Velusamy Tahsildar
30 Prabakaran Tahsildar
31 K. Marimuthu Tahsildar
32 Ramachandran AICOP (NGO)
33 Tamilanban CREED (NGO)
34 T. Mohan BLESS (NGO)
35 R. Marimuthu BLESS (NGO)
36 Samoundeeswari REAL (NGO)
37 Adhiraj BOWDA (NGO)

District level Master Trainer’s – Cuddalore

Draft report 6
 Orientation to DDMC members

Two days orientation on Disaster Risk Management

Orientation to DDMC members
Programme was conducted for the District Disaster
Management Committee on 28th and 29th July 2004 at
DRDA Conference Hall, Cuddalore. Thiru. Aruputharaj,
Faculty Member, SIRD and District Level Master Trainers
of this District conducted the training. Detailed
information on the importance the goals and objectives of
the DRM programme, activities to be carried out in the
District by the programme, the role of the local
government officials in this programme was discussed in
this programme. The District Master Trainers gave
orientation to the District Disaster Management
Committee about First Aid, Search & Rescue and Water &
Sanitation. In total 45 officials comprising DDMC Members
and Line department officials participated in the training.

Block
Block level
level Master
Master Trainer’s training:
Trainers training:
Three days Block Level Master Trainer’s Training was conducted from 25th June 2004 to 27th
June 2004 at Conference Hall, District Rural Development Agency - Cuddalore with field visit at
Chithiraipettai Village in Kurinjipadi block of Cuddalore District. The District Level Master Trainers
trained by the Anna Institute of Management, Deputy Director - Health Services, Assistant
Divisional Fire Officer and Tahsildar (Rehabilitation) served as trainers for the programme. 65
participants (5 per Panchayat Union) attended the training.

Training inaugural……… Field visit to Chithraipettai village

The Block level Master Trainers were trained in first aid, water & sanitation and search & rescue.
They were sensitized about their role in their respective blocks in community based disaster
preparedness. To get a feel of community based disaster preparedness, the team was taken to
Chithiraipettai block and was asked to analyze the situation of the community and to do mapping
of the community in consultation with the community people. The trained block level master
trainers in turn served as master trainers in their respective block level training and trained the
master trainers at Gram Panchayat level. 197 people were trained as master trainers at the block
level and Gram Panchayat level in the District on Search and Rescue, and First Aid.

Draft report 7
Orientation
OrientationtotoBDMC
BDMCMembers
memberson
onDRM
DRMProgramme:
Programme:
One-day BDMC Orientation and Sensitization programme for members were conducted at
division level from 5th August 2004 to 7th August 20.04, i.e., for Cuddalore Division (4 blocks) on
5th August 2004, for Chidambaram Division (5 blocks) on 6th August 2004 and for Vridhachalam
Division (4 blocks) on 7th August 2004

Participants during the training programme…….

Thiru. Aruputharaj, faculty member,SIRD and District Master Trainers conducted the Orientation
programme. In these divisional level, orientation classes and field demonstration was performed
by Asst. Divisional Fire Officer. Hand Book for DRMP has been prepared by the District
Administration with the help of SIRD and CRA Office materials. Sufficient copies were printed and
supplied to all the participants. St. Johns Ambulance Association’s First Aid Book and other
training materials were also issued to participants. Evaluation report has also been obtained from
all the participants.
Orientationfor
Orientation to PRIs
PRI’sand
andEOs:
EO’s:
Block level one-day orientation for Panchayat Raj Institution members i.e., Panchayat Union
Chairmen, Councilors and Panchayat Presidents, and Extension Officers of Panchayat Union on
DRMP Programme has been conducted from 1st September 2004 to 9th September 2004 at block
Head Quarters. 950 PRIs and Officials attended the orientation progarmme.

Training for PRI’s, Kurinjipadi Block Training for PRI’s, Mangalur Block

Draft report 8
 Identificationof
Identification ofActive
ActiveVolunteers:
Volunteers:
Training active and interested volunteers in Disaster
Management is one more strategy adopted to support the
implementation of DRM programme activities in their Gram
Panchayats. Four to five volunteers were identified from
681 Gram Panchayat and were given training on
introduction to Disaster Management, basics on
Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) exercise, their role in
the PRA exercise, importance of conducting such exercise
in each village and tips on plan preparation. The training
was organized for these volunteers for three days at their
Demonstration on fire safety equipments respective blocks.

Sl.No Name of the Block Date

1 Cuddalore 1st to 3rd November 2004
2 Annagramam 1st to 3rd November 2004
3 Panruti 4th to 6th November 2004
4 Kurinjipadi 8th to 10th November 2004
5 Kattumannarkoil 27th to 29th October 2004
6 Kumaratchi 1st to 3rd November 2004
7 Keerapalayam 4th to 6th November 2004
8 Melbhuvanagiri 8th to 10th November 2004
9 Parangipettai 16th to 18th November 2004
10 Vridhachalam 1st to 3rd November 2004
11 Kammapuram 27th to 29th October 2004
12 Nallur 4th to 6th November 2004
13 Mangalur 8th to 10th November 2004

Disaster
DisasterManagement
ManagementPlans:
Plans:
With proper sensitization about the Disaster Management plans to the Block officials, Panchayat
Raj Institute members and Volunteers, the Village Disaster Management Plans were compiled in
1081 villages. The plans were prepared with proper sensitization of the community with the
community based disaster preparedness methodology through Participatory Rural Appraisal
exercise.

Resource mapping………

Draft report 9
Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) comprises a set of techniques aimed at shared learning
between local people and outsiders. PRA relies heavily on participation by the communities, as
the method is designed to enable local people to be involved, not only as sources of information,
but as partners with the PRA team in gathering and analyzing the information. The combination
of techniques that is appropriate in a particular development context will be determined by such
variables as the size and skill mix of the PRA team, the time and resources available, and the
topic and location of the work. Generally, a PRA is best conducted by a local team (speaking the
local languages) with a few outsiders present, a significant representation of women, and a mix of
sector specialists and social scientists, according to the topic. As PRA-generated data in their
original form are seldom conducive to statistical analysis (given its largely qualitative nature and
relatively small sample size), alternative ways have been developed to ensure the validity and
reliability of the findings. These include sampling based on approximate stratification of the
community by geographic location or relative wealth, and cross-checking, that is using a number
of techniques to investigate views on a single topic (including through a final community meeting
to discuss the findings and correct inconsistencies).

Vulnerability mapping……….

The Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) exercise was conducted in the villages and the
community people were asked to observe their communities resources and to bring them out in
the form of a map. Anganwadi worker, female health worker, female teachers were involved in
mobilization of women participants. The community people were divided into two homogenous
groups. The first group was asked to go within the community to observe the resources in their
community. The second group was asked to go around the community to observe the resources
surrounding their community. Then each group was divided into three groups and was mixed in
heterogeneous proportion. The groups were given task to map out their community assets with
regard to Disaster history, Hazard profile, social analysis of the community, risk and vulnerability
identification, analysis & assessment, resource analysis and rescue/safe route analysis. Then
with the support of the PRI members and volunteers, their response were documented and
prepared as plans for a village with inclusion of basic data about the community. Such plans are
prepared for entire 1081 villages, 681 gram Panchayats and 13 blocks in Cuddalore District.

Draft report 10
 MockDrills:
Mock Drill:

The approach for conducting a mock-drill varies as per the complexity of scenario depending
upon the potential hazards, response system of the institution and the target community.
Therefore, to ensure proper implementation of a drill programme, roles and responsibilities
(SOPs) of the concerned personnel, departments, corporate bodies, stakeholders, and
mechanisms for conducting the drill should be delineated clearly.

In all the trainings and other sensitization programmes relating to DRM Programme, mock drill
has been conducted by the Fire Service Officials. The fire service officials made arrangements
and conducted the mock drills in the remote villages also inorder to create awareness to the
general public about the rescue operations during the times of disaster occurrence. Till now, 25
mock drills have been organized at Block level. Apart from this, 38 mock drills were organized at
gram panchayat level and 106 mock drills at village level.

Mock Drill demonstration on safety and rescue methods during emergencies….

Mock Drill demonstration on do’s and don’ts during emergencies….

Article

It’s a question that will haunt Cuddalore for a long time. Had the tsunami struck next
year, could they have lost fewer lives? The answer to that lies in the district’s
Samiyarpettai village, among its most hazard-prone and vulnerable, that lost 22 lives
against 102 in Pudukuppam, thanks to the training they received under the UNDP-
funded District Disaster Management and Mitigation Project a few months ago. Almost
all other worst-affected Cuddalore villagers were to be covered under the programme
next year. Cuddalore is one of the six districts in Tamil Nadu selected for the exercise.
District Collector Gagandeep Singh Bedi had identified Samiyarpettai as a model
village for the project as it was multi-hazard prone, vulnerable to floods, droughts and
earthquakes.
Source: http://www.undp.org/bcpr/disred/english/news/archives/2004/dec04.htm#india

Draft report 11
 DisasterManagement
Disaster ManagementTeam
Teamtraining:
training:
Disaster Management Teams (DMT) was formed at all levels in the District. Each DMT’s ensured
adequate representation of women. Seven different types of Disaster Management Teams were
formed at 13 blocks on information management, rescue and evacuation, emergency health
management, relief, transportation management, infrastructure management and animal resource
management. Nine different types of Disaster Management Teams were formed at 681 gram
Panchayats and 1081 villages on vigilance and patrolling, rescue and evacuation, water and
sanitation, first aid, early warning, shelter management, carcass disposal, relief and damage
assessment. Trainings were given for the block, gram panchayat and village level teams at block
level on first aid, rescue and evacuation and water and sanitation.

Sl.No Name of the Block Training date

1 Parangipettai 16th & 17th July 2005
2 Kurinjipadi 27th & 28th August 2005
3 Vridhachalam 10th & 11th September 2005
4 Panruti 24th & 25th September 2005
5 Manglore 15th & 16th October 2005
6 Kammapuram 7th & 8th January 2006
7 Nallur 21st & 22nd January 2006
8 Annagramam 18th & 19th February 2006
9 Kattumannarkoil 25th & 26th February 2006
10 Cuddalore 18th & 19th March 2006
11 Keerapalayam 25th & 26th March 2006
12 Melbhuvanagiri 20th & 21st May 2006
13 Kumaratchi 10th & 11th June 2006
Details of Disaster Management Team training

Success story

Tmt. Meera w/o of Ramalingam (aged 42 years) belongs to Samiyarpettai Village in

Chidambaram Taluk. She is a member of the ‘Early-Warning Team’ under Village
Disaster Management Plan and had obtained training in the month of October 2004 as
a part of Disaster Risk Management Programme activities to train the villagers in
handling disasters. On 26th December 2004, at the time of Tsunami, on knowing that
the water was entering the village, she boldly rushed to the seashore to do her duty of
warning the people who were there, without caring for her own life. There were about
500 people on the seashore area. Due to her efforts in mobilizing the people to run
towards the land, many lives were saved in the seashore. On seeing the water level
further rising, when the second set of waves came, she also ran away but the waves
reached her and she could manage to save herself only by clinging to the gate of a
house of Tmt. Pattanichi on the beach road near the seashore area. Even after having
saved herself from the jaws of death, she continued her service with exemplary
courage & bravery and saved more lives by making efforts to rescue others who were
struggling in water. She held the hands of four such persons namely Anandan (14
years, male), Tmt. Mathi (28 years, female), Tmt. Indira (29 years, female) and
Subramaniyam (40 years, male) and dragged them inside the house of Tmt. Pattanchi.
Due to her act of courage and bravery, Tmt. Meera was awarded “THE KALPANA
CHAWLA AWARD FOR COURAGE AND DARING ENTERPRISE” for the year 2005-2006
with the cash prize of Rs. 5,00,000/- (Rupees five lakh only/-).

Draft report 12
 Orientation to team members on safety & rescue, first aid and water & sanitation

Mock Drill demonstration by Team members…..

Mock Drill demonstration by Team members…..

Trainingfor
Training forSchool
SchoolTeachers
Teacherson
onDisaster
DisasterManagement:
Management:

Disaster Management was included in school curriculum to give the school children basic
knowledge about handling a disaster. The Trainers of DIET were asked to sensitize the teachers
on the Disaster Management at block level. In Cuddalore District, teachers Training was
conducted in all 13 Blocks at their respective block resource centers. Brief History of various
disasters, basic idea on disaster preparedness, importance of school mapping and importance of
creating disaster awareness among school children were dealt in this training programme. The
training was conducted by DIET and organized by District Disaster Risk Management Programme
with the support of Chief Educational Officer, District Educational Officer and District Elementary
Educational Officer of Cuddalore District. Nearly 900 teachers from the District benefited through
this programme.

Draft report 13
 Orientation to teachers about DM Demonstration on rescue operations

DisasterManagement
Disaster Managementtraining
Training
forfor NSS
NSS Volunteers:
Volunteers:
As part of implementing Disaster Risk Management Programme, Disaster Management has been
included in the training curriculum of NCC, NSS, Scouts and Guides, NYKs, Civil Defence, Sainik
Board etc., The Programme envisages to discuss strategy to include disaster management as
part of their training and link the volunteers at State, District, Block, Gram Panchayat and village
level for Disaster Management.

Pursuant to this, a group of 5 NSS, NSS, Scout & Guides Project Officers from Vulnerable
districts in Tamil Nadu were trained at Anna Institute of Management (AIM-Chennai) about
Disaster Management during the month of February 2006. Mr. Kabilan, Mr. Umapathy, Mr.
Thirumurugan, Ms. Pongulai and Ms. Pushpamary (Project Officers of National Service Scheme)
were identified as Master’s Trainers from Cuddalore District and were sensitized on Disaster
Management.

These 5 Master Trainers in-turn organized the same sensitization training programme for all the
54 NSS Programme Officers in the district on 23.06.2006 as per the instruction from the
Commissioner of Revenue Administration (CRA) office to the Chief Educational Officer (CEO)
office. Information regarding disaster management, importance of knowing the principles and
practice of first aid especially during mass calamities and various steps to be taken while
encountering natural disasters were dealt during this training programme.

The 54 Programme Officers were asked to organize the sensitization programme for the NSS
volunteers in their respective schools in Cuddalore District. As per the schedule provided by the
Programme Officers, the sensitization programme on Disaster Management for NSS Volunteers
was organized in their respective schools from 11th to 20th July 2006. This training programme
was organized with eminent persons from Health, fire service and education department of Tamil
Nadu Government. The children participated in the programme with lot of interest and eager to
know about Disaster Management.

In these programmes, the student volunteers were taught on basics of disaster, types of disaster,
overview of disaster management programme, emergency first aid, do’s and dont’s during
disaster phase and post-disaster phase, how to act fastly and energetically as a NSS Volunteer
before, during and after a disaster. Especially, the Volunteers were given demonstration about
the role they could play in relief camps in the event of any disaster. Through this programme, the
student volunteers were given training to gain the confidence to face any sort of disastrous
situations and to assist the deserving community in the event of a disaster. More than 2,000 NSS
volunteers from various schools in Cuddalore District benefited through this programme.

Draft report 14
 Pilotprogramme
Pilot Project on Early Warning
on Early Systems
Warning in Cuddalore:
Systems:

With considerable progress already made with the post tsunami recovery and reconstruction
efforts, incorporating disaster risk management in all reconstruction and development activity is
seen as critical as Tamil Nadu now looks to build a secure and lower risk future for its citizens.

The tsunami which was a rare but high-impact phenomenon exposed the vulnerability of coastal
populations to other natural hazards. The
recovery and reconstruction programme is an
opportunity to rebuild at higher standards of
safety. Disaster risk emanates not only from
natural hazards but also from a range of
underlying factors – physical, social,
economic and cultural – that contribute to
people’s vulnerability.

As part of medium to long term Disaster Risk

Management initiatives the establishment of
Early Warning Systems (EWS) is seen as
being vital to warn the masses of an imminent
natural hazard. Despite efforts being EWS District consultation meeting
underway at the national and regional levels
to establish effective tsunami warning systems there is a clear need for the development of EWS
at the local level, with specific emphasis on top to bottom information flow mechanisms and the
capacity to take actions against these warnings at the community level. The efforts to generate
technically improved forecasts and warning need to be matched with equal if not greater
emphasis on effective communication systems, public awareness and social infrastructure at the
community level so that the warnings can be acted on soon enough.

In order to meet this demand of an effective EWS mechanism at the local level the current
institutional capacities need to be further strengthened to manage future disaster risks better and
ensure that disasters do not erode future development gains.

Draft report 15
 The Government of Tamil Nadu in association with the United Nations Development Programme
is implementing a project that envisages to strengthen and institutionalize the Early Warning
System (EWS) in the Tsunami affected coastal districts. This project therefore looks to adopt a
strategy of strengthening Early Warning Systems with special emphasis on the delivery of
‘understandable’ early warnings to the communities at risk. The objectives of the project are: 1.
review Early Warning Systems existing for different hazards 2.strengthening dissemination
mechanisms of early warnings to communities, via community participation and training
3.institutionalization of Early Warning Systems within Disaster Management Committees and
Disaster Management Teams at the community level.
At the time of occurrence of hazards such as cyclones, floods, tsunamis, landslides etc. timely
communication of warning is a major challenge. The location of communities, their differential
access to Early Warning information, lead
time available etc. have to be taken into
account while designing a robust EW
Communication system. The range of
technological solutions available (such as
HAM, Satellite Radio, Community Radio,
Mobile Phones, and ICT Kiosks etc.) for
warning dissemination needs to be analyzed
and their strengths and weaknesses have to
be identified in this process. To reach out to
the last person and avoid failure, sometimes
combination of such technologies can be
used and any such Communication System
should be able to adopt new technical
evolution if they respond better to
communication issues and local needs.

To discuss such issues relating to

technological solutions for communicating
Early Warning Messages, a District level
Mr. Gagandeep Singh Bedi testing the PA system Consultation Meeting was organized at
Cuddalore Collector’s Camp Office on 30th
May 2006 from 10.30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. This was a follow-up of State level Consultation meeting
that was organized at Chennai on 21st April 2006. Mr. Gagandeep Singh, District Collector,
Cuddalore presided over the function and Mr. Biswanath Dash, Consultant, EWS and MHM,
UNDP facilitated the programme. Representatives from Government Sector, CSO Sector,
Academic Sector and Media Sector participated the meeting.

Dissemination & Communication and Response Capability are the two components of Early
Warning Systems UNDP is concentrating in this proposed pilot project at Cuddalore District. As a
part of Dissemination & Communication component in the EWS, UNDP-India is in the process of
installing 55 Public Addressing systems with sirens for the coastal villages, flood prone areas and
15 mobile loud speakers for the 13 block office, EOC and Cuddalore Collectorate in Cuddalore
District. Master Trainers comprising of representatives from local NGO’s and District
Administration were given training on Early Warning components at Anna Institute of
Management, Chennai. Two NGO’s, CREED and IGSSS were identified for the Response
Capability component of the EWS in coastal and flood prone areas of Cuddalore District. The
NGO’s were engaged in training the identified 480 flood prone/coastal villages in Cuddalore and
the main aim of this activity is to provide knowledge on EWS components and preparedness to
act during emergency warning.

For more Information about the DRM Programme – Cuddalore, Kindly contact:

Mr. Gagandeep Singh Bedi, District Collector – Cuddalore at collrcud@tn.nic.in

Ms. Sakinabee, District Project Officer – DRM Programme, Cuddalore at podrda@cud.tn.nic.in
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Mr. Sherine David, District Disaster Management Project Officer, UNDP - Cuddalore at sherine.david@undp.org