Disaster Management Plan

Note on Thrivikramji Disaster Management Plan

Disaster strikes without any warning, any time of the day or night or without any heed to the season of the year in general. In general disasters are grouped as below in table.1.

Table 1. Classifiction of Disasters.

Disaster Type	Manifestation
Natural	Floods (River flood and storm surge coastal flooding); Landslides (sudden downward and outward slippage of large volumes of soil or rock or mixture of both under the pull of gravity and lubricated by water; Beach erosion during monsoons Rarely Tsunamis and Earthquakes
Technological	Factory fire or explosion (releasing large volumes of fluids causing damage to water, vegetation, animal and humans}: Road and Rail road Tanker (gases and industrial chemicals) accidents releasing poisonous fluids threatening environment by pollution and damage to organic world in the immediate neighbourhood.
Mechanical	Explosion or fire accidents in small workshops/worksheds; Bus/Truck mishaps involving loss of life..
Other	Pyrotechnics and tamed elephant going rowdy during festivals. Factions in riot etc. Dengu fever and other vector borne diseases

In the GP territories one or another type of disasters listed in table -1 might strike, occasionally or frequently. Disastrous floods are due to river floods, rare floods due to dam breaks and coastal flooding due to storm surges. Monsoon beach erosion of Kerala beaches occasionally reaches disastrous proportions affecting several coastal villages. Many of the natural disasters are site or region specific events and so some knowledge of the Physiography is imperative as the GPs are located in one or another category of the following divisions of the physiography (Table 2).

Table 2 Physiographic divisions of Kerala

Category	Elevation	Description
Highland	>75.0 m	Most of the rugged high rocky ridges of Western Ghats on the east, followed by midranges to the west, bordered by rocky hills and ridges merging with lateritic foothills of midland. Prone to risks of landslides in monsoon season. Tracts of higher elevation planted under coffee, cardamom and tea. Rubber planted in tracts of lower elevation. Steeper westerly slopes are in some degree of disequilibrium and are prone to land slips or land slides during wet monsoon season.
Midland	7.5-75.0 m	Mostly laterite covered hills with cores of crystalline rocks- gentle lateral profiles with smooth slopes especially in districts south of Thrissur – near flat tableland like hill tops - steeply sloping profiles with steep free faces or waning slopes and waxing foot slopes. River shores infrequently with steep and eroding (landslips) outer banks.
Coastal land	<7.5>	Two types: high coastal land with cliff line like at Kovalam, Varkala and Kannur and low coastal land like for e.g., between Chavara and Chavakkad – Low coastal land is prone to beach erosion and coastal flooding annually.

Truly based on their geographic site, GPs are affected variously. Yet it should be the general policy of the GPs to have a disaster management plan (DMP), so that loss to life and property are minimized or even eliminated. Information, communication, awareness and action are essential ingredients of any DMP.

Essentially, what is required is the creation of a striking force of trained volunteers including members of the community like social and political activists, officials of GP and district administration readied with awareness, action plans for requirements in respect of facing and minimizing the consequences of a disaster. Preparing a force of volunteers under a leadership of two or more individuals and training and coaching the members in various emergency measures and plans of action are very crucial in the event of a disaster striking a GP.

Training scheme

The program should be imparted to the volunteer force based on a syllabus that shall cover the various possible types of disasters, cause/s of origin and immediate triggering mechanism, possible vulnerable groups of population and their geographical location/s, strategy/ies of rendering assistance like providing first aid, medical assistance, providing shelter, drinking water and food, rehabilitation etc. should find a place in the course content.

Table 3 Disaster preparedness and management- General Training Program

Disaster	Content
Natural	Brief description of common natural disasters- magnitudes and frequencies – striking seasons - origin: ultimate and immediate causes, anthropogenic triggers- prone areas of occurrence. General picture of manifest consequences- type of loss of property, humans and domestic animals.
Technological	Gaseous and liquid chemical cargos – types of harms to humans and animals and immediate environment both aquatic and pedologic-basics of daily weather – channels of collection of weather forecast- first response-precautions-evacuation-types and strategies-connectivity to outside world-
Other	Costal erosion-causes, rates and intensities – types of threats to life and property- first responses- precautions and evacuation strategies- basic infrastructure in the relief camps- vector borne diseases, preventive measures, trauma care and rehabilitation.

A rapid action force trained, informed and ready to strike force be trained and kept in readiness so that inn the event of a strike of disaster, deployment will be complete, and rewards will be good and trauma will be minimal.

{thrivikramji@gmail.com}