Disaster Management

Unit 4

By:
Prof. Alka Shah
Civil Engineering Department
Institute of Technology
School of Engineering
Nirma University
Content

 Challenges and Solutions

 Disaster safe design and constructions – Structural mitigations
 Non structural mitigations
Challenge 1
Insufficient levels of implementation for each monitored activity:

 DRM plans or risk sensitive building codes exist they are not enforced
because of a lack of government capacity or public awareness or because so
much development takes place in the informal sector
 Risk information acquired through assessments is often not translated into
policy partly because policy makers are not aware of how to use such
information.
 Staging public awareness raising campaigns, while useful, run the risk of
being a one-time event and may not any real change in people’s behavior or
actions
Challenge 2
Need to strengthen local capacities to implement DRM:

 Establishing local level mechanisms and risk assessments

 Weak capacity at the local level undermines the implementation of building
codes and land use plans
 National policies also need to be adapted to the local context (e.g. the
national school curricula on DRR that can be tailored to local risks and
needs).
 Small scale events that many countries struggle with are local in scope.
Challenge 3
Climate change:

 Climate Change will lead to shifts in risk patterns

 Some countries have already combined DRM and climate change adaptation
(CCA) policies and created a common platform to discuss how both need to
be mainstreamed into national and local-level policies
 Steps have been taken, there is still long way to go before effective policy
coordination on climate change and DRM is the norm.
Challenge 4
Policy maker’s difficulties:

 DRM policy makers are in need of clear evidence, including cost-benefit

analysis, to convince both the public and politicians that commitment to
DRM is as practical and necessary as any other priority.
Challenge 5
Poor coordination between stakeholders:

 Lack of information sharing, including with respect to risk assessment,

monitoring and evaluation, early warning, disaster response and other DRM
activities.
 Mainstreaming DRR in all policy areas and ensuring the commitment of
sector agencies is important in preventing new risks from arising and also
helps stakeholders address existing risks and strengthen the resiliency of
society.
Challenge 5
Poor coordination between stakeholders:

 Lack of information sharing, including with respect to risk assessment,

monitoring and evaluation, early warning, disaster response and other DRM
activities.
 Mainstreaming DRR in all policy areas and ensuring the commitment of
sector agencies is important in preventing new risks from arising and also
helps stakeholders address existing risks and strengthen the resiliency of
society.
Disaster Safe Design and Constructions – Structural
Mitigations

 Structural measures are any physical construction to reduce or avoid

possible impacts of hazards, or the application of engineering techniques or
technology to achieve hazard resistance and resilience in structures or
systems.
Disaster Safe Design and Constructions – Structural
Mitigations
 Resistance construction
 Building codes and regulatory measures
 Relocation
 Structural modification
 Construction of community shelters
 Construction of barrier, deflection, or retention systems
 Detection systems
 Physical modification
 Treatment systems
 Redundancy in life safety infrastructure
Example: the Netherlands
• To avoid future flood losses a
secondary channel & island
are planned.
• Restrictive development and
some removal of existing
buildings
Non Structural Mitigations

 Non-structural measures are measures not involving physical construction

which use knowledge, practice or agreement to reduce disaster risks and
impacts, in particular through policies and laws, public awareness raising,
training and education.
Non Structural Mitigations

 Regulatory measures
 Community awareness and education programs
 Non structural physical modification
 Environmental control
 Behavioural modification