Int. J. Emergency Management, Vol. 15, No.

2, 2019 147

Exploring the status of community information and

training for disaster preparation and mitigation
practices: an appraisal of 2013 flash flood in
Uttarakhand

Asif Khan*, K.M. Baharul Islam

and Archan Mitra
Center of Excellence in Public Policy and Government,
Indian Institute of Management Kashipur,
Kashipur, 244713, India
Email: khanasif54@gmail.com
Email: bislam@iimkashipur.ac.in
Email: archan6644@gmail.com
*Corresponding author

Abstract: The occurrence of natural disasters has become a major global

problem. It poses serious threats to the concept of sustainable development.
Over the last two decades, more than 1.3 million people and nearly two trillion
dollars have been lost due to natural disasters. The paper discusses the status of
disaster mitigation information systems during the Uttarakhand disaster of June
2013. The researchers have discussed the status of such actions taken by both
Government and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) from a qualitative
perspective. The Software Package for Social Science (SPSS) software was
used for the analysis and the results are presented in descriptive statistical
format. As many as (n = 1500) respondents were interviewed, out of which
80% respondents were ill-informed. Over 80% respondents were found to be
untrained to respond in a disastrous situation. Hence, the researchers have
proposed the use of better information and communication mediums with the
assistance of public and private partnership (PPP model) to deal with disastrous
situations in the future along with some indigenous methods.

Keywords: community information; disaster training and preparation; disaster

mitigation; public-private partnership; information and communication;
Uttarakhand flash flood 2013.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Khan, A.,

Baharul Islam, K.M. and Mitra, A. (2019) ‘Exploring the status of community
information and training for disaster preparation and mitigation practices: an
appraisal of 2013 flash flood in Uttarakhand’, Int. J. Emergency Management,
Vol. 15, No. 2, pp.147–165.

Biographical notes: Asif Khan did his PhD in Social Work from Aligarh
Muslim University, Aligarh. At Present, he is working as an Assistant Professor
(Guest Faculty) at Department of Social Work, University of Delhi. Earlier,
he served as an Academic Associate in Communication Area at Indian Institute
of Management Kashipur, Uttarakhand. He has more than a year experience
working as a Research Assistant in an Indian Council of Social Science
Research funded research project on Disaster mitigation at Indian Institute of
Management Kashipur.

Copyright © 2019 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

148 A. Khan et al.

K.M. Baharul Islam has been teaching and researching in the area of English,
Law, Education and ICT for Development for more than two decades. He is the
Professor and Chairperson of Communications area at Indian Institute of
Management, Kashipur. He also holds the position of Chair at the Center of
Excellence on Public Policy and Government at the institute. Between 2007
and 2012 Dr Islam served as the Chairman and CEO of the South Asian
Regional Gateway set up by the Development Gateway (USA). Presently,
he serves as a Fellow at the US India Policy Institute in Washington DC and at
the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. Besides teaching Dr Islam has
also worked extensively on ICT Policy, Plans and e-Government Strategy with
the UN Commission for Africa (UNECA), UNESCAP, Bangkok and African
Development Bank. Since 2014, he has been leading a major World Bank
project on Environmental Impact in South Asia at IIM Kashipur as its Program
Director. He holds LLM degree from the University of Strathclyde (UK), MA
(English) from AMU, Aligarh and MBA from IK Gujral Technical University.
He did two PhDs: one in Educational Technology and another in Transitional
Justice. He completed his Post-Doctorate from Asian Institute of Technology
(Bangkok).

Archan Mitra is an Assistant Professor at iLEAD Institute, Kolkata and a PhD

Scholar at Visva-Bharati University, West Bengal, pursuing his research in the
area of Information and Communication logistical modelling for environmental
sustenance. Earlier, he served as an Academic Associate (Communication
Area) in Indian Institute of Management Kashipur.

1 Introduction

The natural disasters are not a new phenomenon which the world is witnessing (Rautela,
2005), and such incidences are now turn out to be a major global problem. The
occurrence of disasters poses serious threats to the concept of sustainable development.
The loss of human lives, injury and disease, destruction of property are some of the
impacts of disasters. They also cause social and economic disruption, loss of
infrastructure and harm to the environment (Twigg, 2015). Earthquakes, floods, droughts
and other natural disasters cause strong human and economic damage (Renner and Chafe,
2007). The natural disasters occur in different forms and take away lives of millions of
people around the world each decade, and displace millions of others (Schneid and
Collins, 2014). In relation to it, over the last two decades, more than 1.3 million people
and nearly two trillion dollars have been lost in the preparation and response of natural
disasters (UNDP, 2013). A calamity suggests serious hardships and also carries with it
deep sufferings and distress to the affected population. A disaster occurs in a particular
period and space in which people suffer from physical damage and social disturbance and
it also hampers the functioning of the society (Kreps, 1998). Therefore, the disasters
whether man-made or natural are like unwelcome guests and the world has played an
unfortunate host to them many times (Chowdhary, 2015). It is observed that disasters
cause more damage if the host country is entrapped under poverty and penury, unplanned
urbanisation, chronic malnutrition and population explosion. Unfortunately, a major part
of South Asia is particularly vulnerable to disasters of all kinds namely earthquakes,
 Exploring the status of community information and training 149

floods, droughts, landslides and forest fires (Gangrediwar, 2014; Sahni and Ariyabandu,
2013). The countries of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC,
including Afghanistan, Bangladesh., Bhutan, India, Maldives., Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri
Lanka) are extremely vulnerable and exposed to natural disasters (Shaw et al., 2010).
Disaster leads planners to follow not only the principle of compensation but also the
principles of restoration and increase which give more benefits for the low-income group
on the coast. Nevertheless, on the coast, the higher the loss of the property, the weaker is
the trend among residents to invest that has a long duration effect on capital formation
and social development (Alam and Rahman, 2014).
The largest and highest area of mountain lands is in the Himalaya-Tibet Region
(HTR). The region is surrounded by the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), which is also
the youngest mountain system and is still undergoing tectonic movements. Owing to
its complex geological structures, dynamic geomorphology, and seasonality in
hydro-meteorological conditions the region is vulnerable to multiple hazards like
earthquakes, landslides, mudflow, debris flow, cloudburst, flash floods, etc. The region
experiences natural disasters very frequently, especially earthquake and water-induced
hazards, mainly floods (Pal, 2015; Shaw and Nibanupudi, 2015) and the human race,
from its appearance on this planet, has faced the fury of the natural dangers and through
its superior sense designed to minimise and impact of these events (Rautela, 2005).

1.1 The Uttarakhand flash flood 2013

The state of Uttarakhand, India is the place of great Hindu sanctuaries such as Badrinath,
Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri and also the place of origin of many sacred rivers,
including the Ganges. The state is worldwide famous for the religious tourism.
The population of the state is about 10 million but more than 25 million tourists have
visited here in 2011 despite the fact that the state faces frequent natural hazards mainly
during the monsoon (Kala, 2014). On June 16–17, 2013, heavy outbreaks of rain
occurred in the state of Uttarakhand and led to one of the worst floods in history and
massive landslides afterwards. Resultantly, more than 5000 human lives vanished
with a huge loss of ownership (Cho et al., 2016). Though released figures of dead bodies
by the governmental agencies were more or less the same, the relief workers and the
locals, the first responders during the tragedy who were of vital importance for the relief
operations, estimated that the number of deceased was as many as 12000–15000. They
say that even after three years of that massive nature’s fury, skeletons can still be seen
whenever digging takes place for making roads (Joshi, 2016). Uttarakhand flash
flood caused destruction of bridges and roads and left about 100,000 pilgrims and
tourists trapped in the valleys leading to three of the four Hindu Chota Char Dham
(four religious) pilgrimage sites. The magnitude of the 2013 disaster can be well
understood by looking at a fact that the disaster severely affected 12 out of
13 districts. Out of which, four districts that were worst affected were Rudra Prayag,
Chamoli, Uttarkashi, and Pithoragarh. The situation was extremely chaotic and can be
understood by the fact that in Kedarnath only, more than 75,000 pilgrims were stuck
because roads were washed away and there was no other way for the connectivity to the
people (Chopra, 2013). The magnitude of the disaster could only be gauged by the
destruction evident all over the place. It is estimated that 10,000 mules perished during
the surge of the Mandakini River, representing a humungous loss of livelihood for the
already devastated surrounding villages (Joshi, 2016).
150 A. Khan et al.

1.2 Origin of the flood

In June 2013, there was heavy rain in the state of Uttarakhand and adjoining areas which
witnessed around 375–400% more rain than the usual one in a normal monsoon,
according to the report submitted by the National Disaster Mitigation Authority. This
caused the melting of Chorabari Glacier at high altitude of 3800 metres, and eruption of
the Mandakini River (3865 metres) which led to heavy floods near Gobindghat, Kedar
Rome, Rudra Prayag district in Uttarakhand as well as in neighbouring state of Himachal
Pradesh. Western Nepal also got acute rainfall along with regions like Delhi, Haryana,
Uttar Pradesh and some parts of Tibet (Gangrediwar, 2014; Joshi, 2016). Ironically, the
flood of 2013 of Uttarakhand state which wrought havoc and took lives of scores of
people was an outcome of the rage of the Mandakini, which is a tributary of the
Bhagirathi and Alaknanda (Joshi, 2016). The Chorabari Lake (at 3835 m) is located 6 km
from the temple upstream from the Alaknanda. Ensuing rains cut off the hilly districts of
Uttarkashi, Rudra Prayag, Chamoli, and Pithoragarh from the mainland and battered the
land till it crumbled (Semwal, 2013). The upper parts of Uttarakhand have many religious
places and therefore, hundreds of people visit those places on regular basis. In the month
of June, the meterological department had issued a warning of heavy rain but that
message was not given wide publicity. As a result, thousands of people got stuck in the
middle and faced some of the most challenging times of their life, they all witnessed
people perish, lost members of their family, washed away their houses and other
belongings (Gangrediwar, 2014; Singh, 2013). The unusual and prolonged rainfall and
severe melting of snow and the glacier were blamed as major causes of the flood
(Rahman and Shaw, 2015). The 2013 flash flood caused almost 6000 people to be
‘presumed dead’ (CBS News, 2013; Fox News World, 2013; Gangrediwar, 2014).

1.3 Disaster mitigation

The primary objective of disaster mitigation is to lessen the threats to life of human
beings exposed by disasters; the secondary aim is to reduce damage, ensure public safety
at the time of disaster and aftermath, and also to care for those who have survived
(Alexander, 2002). Mitigation and preparation are sometimes confused, partly because
they are intertwined in practice (Sutton and Tierney, 2006). Mitigation measures can be
defined as actions that are well taken in advance designed to reduce/mitigate the damage
caused by the disasters. It may also include moving from one place to another in order to
dodge future losses. Raising houses for flood protection, constructing wooden habitats as
well as process-related activities, such as risk and vulnerability analyses, designed
to drive to future mitigation actions (Pandey, 2014; Chowdhary, 2015; Shaw et al., 2009).
Providing training to the community, educating the public also comes under the category
of disaster preparedness (Sutton and Tierney, 2006). The national policy on disaster
management in India has very specifically mentioned that institutional structures/
appropriate chain of command will be built and appropriate training provided to disaster
managers at different levels to ensure a coordinated and timely response at all levels; and
development of inter-state arrangements for resource sharing in emergencies. The
provision of training has also been mentioned for the professionals (engineers, members
 Exploring the status of community information and training 151

of voluntary organisations, masons, and others) who will be the part of the disaster
management team (Disaster Management in India, 2005). Due to the occurrence of
natural disasters, the normal social functioning of the people is badly affected. Disaster
affects human lives so much that it becomes extremely difficult for them to cope
(NDMA, 2014). The destruction caused in a few seconds or minutes takes years and
decades to recompense. Therefore, one of the aspects of disaster management is that,
though they cannot be done away with, but surely the extent of damage can be reduced
considerably (Alexander, 2002; Farazmand, 2014). The disaster mitigation is the first
phase of the whole disaster management process. It involves measures that are aimed to
reduce the impacts and risks of hazards through pro-active and pre-determined actions.
The mitigation efforts include an assessment of risks and recurring problems, making a
plan to solve the problems and taking subsequent actions to implement the same (Pandey,
2014; Penner and Wachsmuth, 2008). Advanced planning allows for more effective
response and recovery (Stojic, 2013). Inadequacies in planning result in more injuries and
damage to human beings that could have been avoided. Thus, planning for disasters is an
ethical and perhaps also a lawful responsibility for all those who are engaged with the
safety of the people. When a known significant risk exists, failure to plan can be taken as
culpable negligence because planning cannot be improved during and at the time of
crisis. This situation is indicated as one of the worst forms of the inefficiency of the
concerned agencies (Alexander, 2002; Pandey, 2014).
Figure 1 exhibits that disaster management workflow requires integration of different
activities e.g., recovery of the disaster, planning/preparation, response and mitigation
together make it possible to put efforts in returning back to normalcy afterwards a
disaster. Disaster mitigation calls for reduction of losses by identifying potential
problems and mitigating them in advance. The concept of disaster preparedness includes
measures to improve the safety of life when a disaster occurs. It also includes actions to
improve the capacity to undertake emergency actions to protect property and to contain
damage and disruption, as well as the ability to engage in reintegration and early recovery
activities. Preparedness consists of three basic steps, preparing a plan, training to the plan
and executing the plan (Sena and Micheal, 2006). Mitigation and preparation are
sometimes confused, partly because they are intertwined in practice (Sutton and Tierney,
2006). Mitigation measures can be defined as actions that are well taken in advance
designed to reduce/mitigate the damage caused by the disasters. It may also include
moving from one place to another in order to dodge future losses. Raising houses for
flood protection, constructing wooden habitats as well as process-related activities, such
as risk and vulnerability analyses, designed to drive to future mitigation actions (Pandey,
2014; Chowdhary, 2015; Shaw et al., 2009). Providing training to the community,
educating the public also comes under the category of disaster preparedness (Sutton and
Tierney, 2006). The national policy on disaster management in India has very specifically
mentioned that institutional structures/appropriate chain of command will be built and
appropriate training provided to disaster managers at different levels to ensure a
coordinated and timely response at all levels; and development of inter-state
arrangements for resource sharing in emergencies. The provision of training has also
mentioned for the professionals, (engineers, members of voluntary organisations, masons,
and others) who will be the part of the disaster management team (Disaster Management
in India, 2005).
152 A. Khan et al.

Figure 1 Depiction of disaster management workflow (see online version for colours)

Source: Stojic (2013)

One of the aspects of disaster management is that, though they cannot be done away with,
but surely the extent of damage can be reduced considerably (Alexander, 2002;
Farazmand, 2014). The disaster mitigation is the first phase of the whole disaster
management process. It involves measures that are aimed to remove the impacts and risks
of hazards through pro-active and predetermined actions. The focus should instead be on
lessons learned, as well as on redesigning systems and mechanisms to reduce the
possibility of future crises and mitigate those that occur (Therrien and L’Heureux, 2012).
The mitigation efforts include an assessment of risks and recurring problems, making a
plan to solve the problems and taking subsequent actions to implement the same (Pandey,
2014; Penner and Wachsmuth, 2008).

2 Review of literature

A disaster connotes to a state or condition which destabilises the system of the society
and displays itself as a commotion in connections and communications between
its entities e.g., communities, social groups and individuals, and causes fractional or
complete damage. It also includes physical and mental loads suffered from these
elements. Thus, it required marking emergency countermeasures in order to re-establish
stability (Pandey, 2014; Porfiriev, 1998; Gangrediwar, 2014).
Pandey (2014) stated that the disaster management process involves an uninterrupted
and an integrated method to plan, organise, coordinate and execute actions that are
needed to prevent threats of a disaster. The primary aim of any process related to disaster
 Exploring the status of community information and training 153

management is to mitigate the impacts of disasters and made them less severe so that the
population which has suffered from it can develop a coping mechanism to come out from
the shock of heavy losses in the form of causality of humans, animals, and property.
Beach (2010) was of the view that the term ‘mitigation’ can be understood as some
planning and preparation taken to lessen the consequences of man-made or natural
disasters. It also takes the form of organisational efforts and planning. Organising things
in expectations of what may happen is crucial in mitigating the effects of disasters.
Organisations allow individuals, families, institutions and governments to prepare an
orderly and efficient reaction to any event even as it overwhelms the available resources.
Srinivas (2015) stated that capacity building for a disaster includes research and
knowledge management, preparations to face disasters, rapid reaction to threats of it,
evaluating the magnitude of the impacts of it. These above-mentioned measures also
involve pre and post disaster stages of a disaster management program. Gonzalez (2014)
stated that in all kinds of disaster-related management activities, there exists a history of
public and private sectors working together in order to lessen the effect of these
disastrous situations in society.
Walaski (2011) discussed that information related to any training sessions could be
helpful to the disaster preparation teams. Safety training is also one of the forms of oral
risk communication, as the process typically involves an initial educational component
that attempts to assist the workforce in order to understand the risk posed by the unsafe
behaviour.
Crisis Emergency Risk Communication (2014) discusses the increment of risks when
the odds of a negative public response increase when poor communication practices are
added to a crisis situation. Proper planning, coordination, research and training among
various stakeholders can mitigate the losses. Training at different stages should be
provided to the people who usually face the brunt of the disaster. If people are
properly trained, losses can be reduced or avoided. Apart from people, those involved in
executing disaster mitigation programs should also be skilled to make a better
coordination among different stakeholders.
Coombs (2007) also mentioned that a pre-crisis phase, also known as prevention,
involves seeking to reduce known risks that could lead to a crisis. This is part of an
organisation’s risk management program. Preparation involves creating the crisis
management plan, selecting and providing to the stakeholders involved in the overall
process of crisis management.
Sturges (1994) (cited in Holladay, 2010) observed that diverse stages of a crisis
require communicating different types of information to stakeholders. While information
dissemination will depend heavily on traditional media, he identified three categories of
information needed by stakeholders namely instructing information, which tells people
affected by the disaster, how they should respond in order to protect themselves, whereas,
adjusting information helps people psychologically cope with the crisis and internalising
information refers to information that helps the organisation manage its reputation.
If people and agencies working for disaster mitigation are informed and trained, there are
chances that losses will be minimal.
Japan International Cooperation Agency provides training and dialogue programs and
conducts more than 400 courses a year in Japan for governments, the private sector,
NGOs, etc. of developing countries. These courses respond to diverse needs that
154 A. Khan et al.

developing countries have to cover a wide variety of fields and aiming at sharing Japan’s
knowledge and experience. Training and the dialogue programs on “the community-
based disaster risk management”, “Strategy for resilient companies to natural disasters
(including risk to human rights, gender, and evacuation management)” and others are
conducted (JICA, 2013).

3 Objectives

The study aims to look at the information level of the community related to disaster
preparation. The community was also asked about have they been trained by either the
government or non-government organisation working in their area for disaster
preparation and mitigation practices. The questions were asked by the community framed
in the aftermath difficulties faced by the people of the state.

3.1 Research methodology

The research is a qualitative appraisal of the status of disaster mitigation practices in
Uttarakhand, hence the researchers have utilised the qualitative research methodology to
give a clear picture of the status under study. A scheduled interview was conducted to get
the people’s responses on the nuances of information and communication about the
disaster mitigation practices in the state. The researchers have taken (n = 10) qualitative
variables to portray the overall scenario of the situation.

3.2 Analysis plan

The research analysis is done through the descriptive analysis technique. Descriptive
statistics are brief descriptive coefficients that summarise a given dataset, which
can be either a representation of the entire population or a sample of it. Descriptive
statistics are broken down into measures of central tendency and measures of variability
or spread.

3.3 Exposure data

The data is a part of the ongoing project titled “Mitigating Disasters and Promoting
Development in Uttarakhand: A Participatory Model of the state, civil society, and
media”. The mentioned research project is funded by the Indian Council of Social
Science Research, New Delhi.

3.4 Study design and participants

The study was a survey-based design; it is a strategy for gathering data or information as
announced by people. Reviews are surveys (or a progression of inquiries) that are
controlled by research members who answer the inquiries themselves.
 Exploring the status of community information and training 155

3.5 Ethical considerations

Considering the fact that data had been collected from mostly illiterate people, the
researchers have taken into consideration the qualitative interpretation of the descriptive
analysis of the data.

3.6 Procedures
The researchers used the structure interview scheduling of the respondents, a structured
interview is an organised meeting (otherwise called an institutionalised meeting or an
analyst directed review) is a quantitative research strategy usually utilised in study
investigations. The point of this approach is to guarantee that each meeting is given the
very same inquiries in a similar request. The researchers used the scheduling method to
collect responses because of the language barriers. The schedule is a formalised set of
questions, statements, and spaces for answers, provided to the enumerators who ask
questions to the respondents and note down the answers.

3.7 Statistical methods

The data is analysed through SPSS. Due to the nature of the data being qualitative, the
researchers only used descriptive statistics, defining the mean, median, mode and
standard deviation to explain the determinants. The factual mean alludes to the mean or
average that is utilised to infer the focal propensity of the information being referred to. It
is controlled by including every one of the information focuses in a populace and after
that isolating the aggregate by the quantity of focus. The subsequent number is known as
the mean or the average. The median is a straightforward measure of focal inclination. To
locate the median, we orchestrate the perceptions altogether from littlest to biggest value.
On the off chance that there are an odd number of perceptions, the median is the centre
value. In the event that there is a considerable number of a perception, the median is the
normal of the two central tendencies. The mode is the value that seems regularly in an
arrangement of information. The method of a discrete likelihood conveyance is the value
x at which its likelihood mass capacity takes its greatest value. At the end of the day, the
value is well on the way to be tested. Finally, the researchers used standard deviation to
measure the quantity expressing by how much the members of a group differ from the
mean value for the group.

3.8 Estimates of population size

The study has been done on (n = 1500) respondents from several districts of Uttarakhand,
which were severely affected by the disaster.

4 Discussion of results

The study on disaster mitigation in the community was conducted based on variables
(n = 10). The variables denoted by V1 to V10 are included in Table 1.
156 A. Khan et al.

Table 1 Variables

Variables
V1: Status of information regarding disaster mitigation from local authorities
V2: Nature of information about disaster mitigation
V3: Information used for disaster mitigation training
V4: Organisation using the information for mitigation training
V5: Nature of disaster mitigation training
V6: Information and communication exchange between authorities and community
V7: Indigenous information to tackle disaster
V8: Access to information (alert signals) before the state of crisis
V9: Communication medium for transfer of information (alert signals) pre and post disaster
V10: Information regarding precautionary actions pre, post and during a disaster.

To collect data for the variables, the researchers conducted a scheduled structured
interview of (n = 1500) respondents of the Uttarakhand disaster prone areas.
Variable 1: Have you been informed about any disaster mitigation measures by the local
authorities?
Table 5.1 shows that over 80% (80.3% n = 1204) respondents said that they are not
informed of any mitigation measures from the side of the authority and a meagre 19%
(19.7% n = 296) said they are well informed about the measures. This information clearly
states the mitigation measures are never informed to the respondents (mean = 0.20) as
given in Table 2. The negligence causes more loss of life and property. Hence we can
infer that the status of information is so low that the probability of risk is very high.
Information reduces the probability and clears confusion. It can be suggested that with
more information the level of probability of loss of life and property during a disaster can
be minimised.

Table 5.1 Have you been informed about any disaster mitigation measures by the local
authorities?

Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent percent percent
Valid No 1204 80.3 80.3 80.3
Yes 296 19.7 19.7 100.0
Total 1500 100.0 100.0

Variable 2: What kind of information does government authority provide you?

Table 5.2 shows the variety of information that the government authority provide the
community, 1.1% (n = 17) respondents have said that the government provides them
construction plans and methods to avert earthquake situations. 3.0% (n = 45) respondents
said that they are provided communication about the safety zones within the community
 Exploring the status of community information and training 157

to withstand any crisis situation. This helps to plan the rescue operations more
effectively. 4.1% (n = 61) respondents were aware of the first aid information provided to
them. Merely 0.8% (n = 12) said that they are provided with weather information. Lack
of information regarding weather is a serious issue for the mitigation efforts. 10.02%
(n = 153) respondents are made aware of the dangers of natural disasters by the
government. The other 80.08% (n = 1212) respondents are not at all aware of the
mitigation efforts by the government. It is evident from the study that there is a serious
lack of information regarding mitigation techniques in the state of Uttarakhand
(mean = 72.03). Table 5.2 represents the variables in the graphical form.

Table 2 Numerical output of the data on statistical package of social science software

V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8
N Valid 1500 1500 1500 1500 1500 1500 1500 1500
Missing 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mean 0.20 72.03 0.18 72.05 72.35 3.47 0.52 0.47
Median 0.00 88.00 0.00 88.00 88.00 4.00 1.00 0.00
Mode 0 88 0 88 88 5 1 0
Std. 0.398 32.775 0.388 33.519 32.900 1.836 0.500 0.499
deviation
Variance 0.158 1074.193 0.151 1123.550 1082.393 3.371 0.250 0.249
Sum 296 108,047 277 108,080 108,523 5200 780 711

Table 5.2 What kind of information does governing authority provide you?

Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent percent percent
Valid House construction 17 1.1 1.1 1.1
Communication method 45 3.0 3.0 4.1
safety zones
First aid 61 4.1 4.1 8.2
Weather info 12 0.8 0.8 9.0
Dangers of natural 153 10.2 10.2 19.2
disasters
Not applied 1212 80.8 80.8 100.0
Total 1500 100.0 100.0

Variable 3: Have you been trained for disaster mitigation related activities?
Table 5.3 shows that 81.5% (n = 1223) respondents are unprepared for any mitigation
related activities pertaining to disaster management. Only 18.5% (n = 277) said that they
are trained to handle mitigation scenario during a crisis situation. It is clearly evident that
information regarding the mitigation of disaster is used very minimally (mean = 0.18).
Table 5.3 represents the variables in the graphical form.
158 A. Khan et al.

Table 5.3 Have you been trained for disaster mitigation related activities?

Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent percent percent
Valid No 1223 81.5 81.5 81.5
Yes 277 18.5 18.5 100.0
Total 1500 100.0 100.0

Variable 4: Training organisations

In Table 5.4, a cumulative total of 18.5% (6.5% n = 98 [SO]2; 11.9% n = 179 [NGO]3)
included organisations (NGO and SO) which have trained the people in mitigating
disaster situations, the remaining 81.5% have not been trained, nor been informed by any
organisation. Table 5.4 represents the variables in the graphical form.

Table 5.4 Training organisations

Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent percent percent
Valid State organisations 98 6.5 6.5 6.5
NGO 179 11.9 11.9 18.5
Not applied 1223 81.5 81.5 100.0
Total 1500 100.0 100.0

Variable 5: Kind of training

In Table 5.5, the training provided to the respondents, who are also the residents of the
disaster prone areas of Uttarakhand, includes information on several aspects. 4.0%
(n = 60) said that they have been informed to move to higher lands in case of flash floods.
5.9% (n = 89) have been informed how to give first aid to people injured. 8.5% (n = 128)
have been initiated how to survive in a disaster situation. The rest 81.5% (n = 1223) have
no information about the procedure of mitigation to any extent. Table 5.5 represents the
variables in the graphical form.

Table 5.5 Kind of training

Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent percent percent
Valid Move to high level land 60 4.0 4.0 4.0
First aid treatment 89 5.9 5.9 9.9
How to survive in disasters 128 8.5 8.5 18.5
Not applied 1223 81.5 81.5 100.0
Total 1500 100.0 100.0

Variable 6: How often do the local authorities discuss with you regarding precautionary
measures to be taken prior to, during and post natural disaster in your region?
 Exploring the status of community information and training 159

Table 5.6 represents the frequency of information and communication exchange

regarding the precautionary measures of pre, post and during the disaster period. 18.7%
(n = 280) said that there is rarely any exchange of precautionary information. 4.0%
(n = 60) said that they are monthly informed about the measures to be taken. 10.7%
(n = 160) respondents said that they are intermittently informed about the process with a
gap of every six months. Table 5.6 represents the variables in the graphical form.

Table 5.6 How often do the local authorities discuss with you regarding precautionary measures
to be taken prior to, during and post natural disaster in your region?

Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent percent percent
Valid Rarely do 280 18.7 18.7 18.7
Monthly 60 4.0 4.0 22.7
6 months 160 10.7 10.7 33.3
Yearly 400 26.7 26.7 60.0
Never happened 600 40.0 40.0 100.0
Total 1500 100.0 100.0

Variable 7: Does your community have any traditional ways to combat disasters?
Table 5.7 gives us an idea about the traditional, indigenous knowledge of the community
of Uttarakhand. The zone being prone to disaster might have had traditions pertaining to
tackling such situations, much before the mitigation policies. This variable looks into
their status. 48% (n = 720) respondents said that they do not have any indigenous
methods of tackling such situations, while the other 52% (780) said that they have their
own knowledge through which they help protect their life and property. Indigenous
information is hence considered crucial for the progress of mankind in an
environmentally unstable place like the Uttarakhand. Table 5.7 represents the variables in
the graphical form.

Table 5.7 Does your community have any traditional ways to combat disasters?

Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent percent percent
Valid No 720 48.0 48.0 48.0
Yes 780 52.0 52.0 100.0
Total 1500 100.0 100.0

Variable 8: Do you get alerts for an approaching disaster?

Table 5.8 clearly states the communication to the remote places of Uttarakhand. Alert
signals are used to inform the residents of the impending danger and crisis situation.
52.6% (n = 789) said that they are not at all given any alerts signals before any
environmental crisis. 47.4% (n = 711) said that they are informed beforehand of any
crisis situation. Alerts are life-saving information, which needs to be communicated in
more percentage to the people to reduce the loss of life and property. Table 5.8 represents
the variables in the graphical form.
160 A. Khan et al.

Table 5.8 Do you get alerts for an approaching disaster?

Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent percent percent
Valid No 789 52.6 52.6 52.6
Yes 711 47.4 47.4 100.0
Total 1500 100.0 100.0

5 Possible intervention and suggestions

It was stated that in order to mitigate the impacts of disasters, we should take the
following actions. These are, take action as early as possible in the disaster cycle to
reduce the future vulnerability; incorporate development principles into relief operations
(e.g., building capacities, adopting participatory approaches); use aid not only to meet
immediate needs but also to restore livelihoods and rebuilding livelihoods; use disaster
relief to develop an infrastructure that will be useful after the emergency is finished; and
seize the opportunity to induce positive socio-economic change, not simply to return to
the status quo (Twigg, 2015). Protection of the inhabitants from the worst effects of
violence and abuse is, more than ever, an active concern of relief actors and agencies. An
unprecedented number of humanitarian organisations now undertake protection activities.
The scope of the protection program no longer applies only to the refugees, civilians, and
ex-combatants in conflict, rather, protection now includes people who got displaced due
to disaster, as well as more vulnerable populations at risk. The situations in which
humanitarian workers’ protection activities have also changed consist of organised and
widespread armed conflict violence, natural disasters and post-conflict situations
(O’Callaghan and Pantuliano, 2007).
Rautela (2018) holds the view that the post-disaster review raised the issue of risk
assessment, risk communication and risk-based decision-making. All these elements have
been observed missing, and therefore one of the risks was not taken into account even by
making planned organisational decisions. Ignoring the potential risk, the masses were
observed doing what was best for them. It was also observed that despite a strong
tradition of disaster risk reduction, people were not following the old principles that
ensured the safety of their community on this dangerous terrain all along. Lately, people
had begun to settle dangerously near riparian rivers and terraces traditionally left to
agriculture alone. It was also observed that people had abandoned traditional seismic
construction practices (Rautela 2005, 2013, 2015; Rautela et al., 2008, 2009). All this is
attributed to
• the status attached to modern infrastructure
• social stigmatisation, traditional practices considered backwards
• peer pressure
• emulation.
They are held responsible for the increased vulnerability of masses in the hills. It is
therefore necessary to undertake a detailed risk assessment and make the results available
to the masses in an easily readable way. At the same time, appropriate, site-specific and
 Exploring the status of community information and training 161

simple risk reduction measures should be popularised. Also, it is necessary to research,

improvise and merge the risk reduction practices of traditional populations with modern
science and technology to find socially acceptable, economically viable, sustainable,
innovative and socially acceptable disaster risk reduction solutions.
However, the collected data revealed that the community in the majority had faced
lots of problems because of not being trained in the disaster preparedness and mitigation
practices. The state of Uttarakhand is highly vulnerable to natural disasters and therefore,
the people of the state should get proper training of disaster preparation so that losses
incurred due to disasters of various kinds can be reduced or mitigated. In this work,
national and international organisations have poured in resources. The United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) in India and other countries has supported an
ambitious community-based disaster management program that spans more than 240
districts across the country. So far, more than 9000 volunteers have been trained in
providing first aid in emergency management (UNDP, 2013). The need of the training for
the community is extremely significant by the fact that vulnerable communities are
prepared to respond in the period before aid agencies arrive in the disaster zone. It was
experienced that the most effective life-saving efforts have usually been carried out by
the affected populations themselves, in different phases of disaster management cycle
(ECHO, 1996).
In the developing countries like India, the collaborative functioning of the private and
public sectors can prove to be a pivotal agent in mitigating disasters. Like private
partners’ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives in many other fields, they can
be called for assisting concerned governments in the times of disaster responses and
preparedness. By going with private agencies, the monetary burden over governments
will be reduced drastically as, these private partners will invest through their means and
by that process, they can register progress in their business ventures as well. There are
many challenges before policymakers that need to be addressed (Andrew and Arlikatti,
2014; Demiroz and Hu, 2014). Governments and private agencies can perform well if
they will act according to their will and therefore, flexibility in the functioning of such
organisations is considerably required. Apart from that, some other related things should
be channelised and these are mentioned below. It is the responsibility of the concerned
governments to give free hands to private agencies to work in disaster-prone areas for
effective disaster response. Since the outreach of private agencies to the people is very
large, it will be easy for the people to get services from them. In result of it, resources
will be reached to affected or disaster prone people in order to give a proper response to
disasters (Auzzir et al., 2014; Hoog, 2011).
Governmental agencies need to assist private agencies to work better in the disaster
responses by providing training to officials of the private sector, as public sectors usually
have resources to arrange training equipment. There must be a strong bond between
public and private agencies so that every district located in the disaster prone area will be
able to maintain an online inventory of resources. This will enable easy and quick
mobilisation of resources in case of emergency from one agency to another and in
different places as well (Busch and Given, 2013). The foremost thing in disaster response
is to educate and make people aware of their vulnerabilities, through public and private
partnerships, people can be made educated and aware regarding how to prepare for giving
a response to disasters. Education regarding housing designs in disaster prone areas can
be resulted into an effective way to mitigate losses of disasters. Therefore, private
162 A. Khan et al.

agencies would be highly useful in educating and making people aware regarding
information related to disasters.

6 Conclusion

It is believed that in the whole process of disaster management, relief, rehabilitation, and
recovery initiatives should contribute to long-term development and reduce vulnerability
(Twigg, 2015). Disasters cause immense loss of life and property and therefore require to
be dealt with by well-organised efforts. The chief aim of disaster mitigation is to reduce
or mitigate potential losses, along with the immediate and appropriate support and
assistance to the victims so that they can recover effectively and rapidly. Since, in
developing countries, concerned governments do not have enough resources to deal with
hazards and disasters, as a result scores of people lost their lives, and a colossal amount
of resources vanish. Moreover, it takes years to come out from such losses both for the
governments and the affected people. Therefore, through integrated efforts, disasters
can be responded to efficiently. The results mentioned above explicitly state that there is
no coordination among the governmental and non-governmental organisations working in
a particular area. Despite the efforts by various agencies, people are unable to respond to
the disaster in an expected way. Instead of carrying out various programs without making
the people of the state trained, efforts would not bring expected results. The scale,
frequency, and complexity of disasters as physical and social phenomena can only be
tackled by deploying a wide range of knowledge, skills, methods and resources, both in
the development and emergency programming. This means that risk reduction initiatives
need to be multidisciplinary in nature with partnerships involving a range of stakeholders.
These partnerships should be vertical (between national and local actors) and horizontal
(between government, the private sector, and civil society). The need for such an
approach is becoming more and more urgent with the increasing number of disasters and
their growing impact on vulnerable people. It was also observed that the people
themselves would be able to protect themselves, resist and respond properly if they are
well equipped and trained properly. Therefore, providing training to the ultimate
“receivers” of any crisis will certainly reduce the losses incurred due to disasters.

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