Plan in place, but more steps required

Risk sensitive land-use planning necessary

Community sensitisation should be the priority

The importance of civil defence and awareness drives

The Great Flood of ‘99

Major natural hazards Kerala is prone to:

Over the past 45 days, hurricanes Harvey, Jose and Irma have ravaged most of the Southern USA and its West Coast while Hurricane Maria is unleashing its wrath in Latin America and across the Caribbean – killing hundreds, leaving thousands displaced and inflicting millions of dollars in damages. The death toll from the devastating earthquake in Mexico City on Tuesday crossed 295 with over 2,000 injured and the numbers are only climbing as rescue efforts are continuing. In such a scenario, with natural disasters recurring and often without any warning signs, the question in many minds has been how prepared is the multi-hazard prone Kerala to deal with such calamities?In fact, last week with the rain-induced floods , the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) was called into action, elevating it to a Level 2 (L2) event and it reflected the readiness of Kerala’s forces to combat calamities. An L2 event means the Army, defence service corps, navy, police and fire and rescue are all geared up and in an L3 event, even the National Disaster Response Force battalions are called into action.Sekhar L Kuriakose, member secretary of SDMA, says, “Once the rainfall increased last week, we had mobilised the forces and specifically instructed what should be done and how. Based on the analytical inputs, we decided which schools should be given holidays and how even traffic should be directed to prevent further damages. The forces were kept on standby for three days, till the level was brought down.”SDMA officials say the disaster management plan, which the State came out with last September, makes up for lost ground in preparedness, which was shockingly lacking five years ago. Not everyone is sure, though. Experts like KG Thara, former head of the State Disaster Management Centre, say that though theoretically the plan sounds all hunky dory, it may not quite translate into action in the event of a disaster.“In terms of preparedness, we are still not entirely ready. That’s because the plan has no clear cut directions on what exactly has to be done. Vulnerability and risk assessment must be done at the field level. It’s no use if we have high-tech warning systems but those on the ground have no idea what to do with the information that is passed down,” she says. "Also, there's a need for community capacity building."Supporting her, A Sankarankutty Nair, chief scientist of Centre for Environment and Development, says that a good disaster management plan has to classify each zone in the State based on the specific disaster that it is prone to and there must be measures devised to train personnel to tackle those disasters. “These aspects have not been addressed in the plan at all,” he says.Another aspect that puts Kerala’s preparedness at risk is the haphazard land-use planning of the State, according to Muralee Thummarkudy, chief of disaster risk reduction in UN Environment Programme. “Historically, Kerala has been shielded from mega disasters, or disasters that killed thousands of people in one go. However, this has also made us complacent and over the past 100 years, as our population and prosperity grew, we have ignored basic principles of land use planning. Our houses, factories and other infrastructure, both social and critical, have been built in areas which are potentially vulnerable to natural hazards. If we take the floods in 1924 as a benchmark, we will see that we have built airports, factories, schools, hospitals, supermarkets and flats in locations which were flooded at that time. If the floods of same intensity were to return, all these will be underwater which will be a big blow to our development and result in loss of lives.”Concurring with him, scientist Sankarankutty adds that risk sensitive land use planning and community sensitisation are the need of the hour. “Let’s take Idukki for instance. The land is vulnerable to landslides, but is a hub for construction sites and quarrying. Also, the agricultural pattern is not congenial. Yet the people, despite being informed of the dangers, continue with what they are doing. Similarly, people living in the 580 km-long coastal line have been warned of erosion and the rise in sea level and yet they persist to reside there as they get government subsidies,” he says. “So, there has to be a social conditioning in Kerala first. The change in perception is the first step to be prepared for natural disasters.”SDMA official Sekhar agrees with their views about the need for social discipline among people and says, “Earlier, the idea was to train everybody but we realised it wasn’t yielding any results. So, the focus right now is to identify the vulnerable areas and train responsible community volunteers. We inform them what exactly they have to do in case of a natural disaster.”As part of community sensitisation, the team had identified the most prone villages – Munroe Island in Kollam, which is dubbed as Kerala’s climate change graveyard, Peringara in Pathanamthitta and the downstream villages of Mullaperiyar Dam. “There are a large number of trained volunteers in these areas who are adept at taking the necessary precautionary measures in the event of a disaster,” he explains, adding that the SDMA has also conducted training in 80 wards in Thiruvananthapuram district over the last two years and other urban areas in the State.Apart from having a community rescue volunteer in each fire station and also such personnel down to the gram panchayat level, the State’s priority plan right now is to train 3,000 civil defence volunteers in the next few years, starting with the Apthamitra initiative that would coach 200 volunteers in Kottayam this year. Also, with the State being vulnerable to climate change from rising sea levels, increasing storm possibility and heavy rainfall intensity, all coastal villages will be trained under National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project, says Sekhar, adding that the SDMA has partnered with several NGOs such as the Malappuram Trauma Care Centre to encourage more volunteers.Disaster response expert Muralee too praises these initiatives as “in every disaster, be it flood or earthquake, 99% of the people are saved by their family members or neighbours”. “Centralised emergency response team can only have a role in coordinating, supporting and training local efforts. In developed countries, safety awareness including emergency preparedness and first aid are an integral part of their education system. Schools conduct orientation programmes for their students on basic safety skills from the very first day of their education. We have a huge opportunity to increase awareness among local community and enhance skills through mechanisms such as civil defence,” he explains.Apart from the training programmes, the SDMA plans to come up with more campaigns. “Earlier this year, we launched Sandeshavahini buses carrying pamphlets and publicity materials on how to fight drought . Soon, we will be exhibiting videos on drowning prevention in theatres across the State. Also, we have several social media campaigns,” he says.Sekhar clarifies though that in the event of a natural disaster, “the requirement is always behemoth but the available resources are limited”. That’s why the priority will have be, all hands on deck.The deluge occurred when River Periyar overflowed in July 1924 or the year 1099 in Malayalam calender because of heavy rainfall that lasted almost three weeks. Districts submerged due to the floods included Thrissur, Ernakulam, Idukki, Kottayam and Alappuzha. There was widespread destruction in Munnar with the deluge bringing down an entire hill and completely destroying the Ernakulam-Munnar road and the Kundala Valley Railway.1. Floods - 27 taluks highly vulnerableMajor event in the last 20 years: 2013 floods that resulted in 145 deaths and Rs 899 crore in damages2. Landslides - 10 taluks highly vulnerableMajor event in the last 20 years: Landslide at Amboori, Thiruvananthapuram, in November 2001 that resulted in 38 deaths3. Drought - 50% of Kerala's land area is moderately to severely susceptible to droughtMost recent major drought: Drought of 2016-17. It was declared that the State was facing its worst drought in 115 years and the govt even considered artificial rain4. Coastal hazards - 36.6% of Kerala's 580km coastline is susceptible to coastal erosion with Thiruvananthapuram being the most vulnerable.Major event in the last 20 years: 2004 Tsunami that claimed the lives of 171 people