Project Report on School Safety Dm Plan
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PROJECT REPORT ON SCHOOL SAFETY D M PLAN (DISASTER MANAGEMENT) FOR WESTERN ZONE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH PROJECT PRINCIPAL: Principal GCTE Dharmshala PROJECT INVESTIGATOR/COORDINATOR: Dr. Sanjay Singh Pathania Associate Professor in Geography, GCTE Dharmshala H.P. SCHOOL SAFETY D M PLAN (DISASTER MANAGEMENT) FOR WESTERN ZONE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH. INTRODUCTION: Natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, landslides, floods, droughts, cyclones, forest fires, epidemic, and major accidents are potentially devastating events and are quite common in all parts of the world. These disasters lead to loss of life, property and massive disruption in the physical, social and economic infrastructure of the stricken area. Disaster is a natural or manmade event which results in wide spread loss of life and property. United Nation defines disaster as “the occurrence of a sudden or major misfortune which disrupts the basic fabric and normal functioning of a society or a community” Natural disasters cannot be prevented but their impact on people’s lives can be reduced to a considerable extent. Disaster Management covers all aspects of preventive and protective measures, preparedness, and rescue, relief and rehabilitation operations. Disasters are generally classified on the basis of their origin. These are Tectonic (earthquakes, volcanoes), Topographical(landslides, avalanches), Meteorological (hurricanes, cyclones, tornadoes, floods and droughts), Infest (locust invasion of crops, epidemics) and Human (industrial accident, nuclear bombs) Some disasters are rapid and occur without any warning. They leave a trail of destruction within a short time Very little can be done to save lives and property in such disasters. Disasters are unevenly distributed with respect to time and space. According to South Asia Disaster Report 2010 “The year 2010 witnessed an overall increase in the occurrence of natural disasters around the world. There are 373 disaster events that affected a total of 207 million people and 2, 96,800 people died in natural disasters during the year 2010, out of which 2, 22,500 alone perished due to Mw 7.9 earthquake in Haiti, 55,739 persons lost their lives due to forest fire and heat wave in Russia while the Mw 6.9 earthquake in China killed 2968 people”. In India, the incidences of natural hazards have increased in recent times and their intensity and impacts have increased. Though the natural hazards like earthquakes in the Indian subcontinent cannot be prevented, because of the active tectonic disturbances, with a better preparedness and mitigation plan the loss of life and property can be minimized to a greater extent. India is exposed to various natural or manmade disasters year after year, because of its sub-continental dimensions, geographical situation and behavior of monsoons. The terms like earthquake prone, flood prone and drought prone are used to describe the distributional effects of the concerned hazards. The main natural disasters in India are caused by earthquakes, floods and cyclones. Since the beginning, they have been causing heavy losses of life and property, forcing man to learn and live with natural calamities. It is estimated that 56 % of our landmass is prone to earthquakes of various intensities. i.e. Seismic Zones III – IV, 5% to floods ,7% to cyclones and 70% cultivable area is prone to drought. According to South Asia Disaster Report 2009, India is in the high earthquake risk area and vulnerability is evident from the fact that about 56 % of India’s land area could face moderate to severe earthquakes. During the period 1990 to 2006, more than 23,000 lives were lost due to 6 major earthquakes in India, which also caused enormous damage to property and public infrastructure. In recent years schools in India have witnessed many disastrous incidents for example Fire at the school in Kumbakonam took lives of 94 children in 2004, boat accident during a school picnic killed 15 children and 3 teachers at Kerala in 2007 and in the Bhuj Earthquake in Gujarat in 2001 took lives of 31 teachers and 95 were injured and 971 students were perished and 1051 were severely injured. Thus it shows that the built environment in the country is extremely fragile and our ability to prepare ourselves and effectively respond to any Disaster is inadequate. The Himalayan Region: The entire Himalayan Region is considered to be vulnerable to high intensity earthquakes of magnitude exceeding 8.0 on the Richter Scale, and in a relatively very short span of tim e four such earthquakes have occurred at Shillong, 1897 (8.7),Kangra, 1905 (8.0), Bihar–Nepal, 1934 (8.3), and Assam–Tibet, 1950 (8.6) Bhuj-Gujarat,2001(8.0). Research publications have warned that very severe earthquakes are likely to occur anytime in the Himalayan region. So for as State of Himachal Pradesh is concerned ,it is very prone to various hazards – natural and manmade - namely Earthquakes, flash floods, riverine floods, landslides, snow storms and avalanches and dam failures, fires – domestic and wild, road accidents etc. However, the hazard which poses biggest threat to the State is the Earthquake hazard. From the Earthquake hazard point of view the country has been divided into five zones. Zone V denotes the area which is highly vulnerable to Earthquake hazard. The State of HP falls in seismic Zone IV and V according to the Earthquake zonation map prepared by the Bureau of Indian Standards. District Chamba, Kullu, Kangra, Una, Hamirpur, Mandi, and Bilaspur Districts lie in Zone V. The remaining districts of Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur, Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur lie in Zone IV. Therefore, whole state is prone to severe Earthquake hazard. The State has been shaken by more than 80 times by Earthquakes having a magnitude of 4 and above on the Richter Scale as per the recorded history of earthquakes. None of us can forget the devastation caused by the 1905 Kangra earthquake, one of the deadliest Earthquakes in the history of India. The Earthquake resulted into the death 20,000 people, destruction of around 1.0 lakh houses, perishing of around 53,000 animals and was felt in an area of around 4,16,000 square kilometres. The state of Himachal Pradesh is located between 30o 22” to 33o 10” North latitude and 75o 46” to 79o 00” East Longitude. The state has vast geographical area of 55,673 sq kilometres. Himachal Pradesh is divided into 12 districts namely Bilaspur, Chamba, Hamirpur, Kangra, Kinnaur, Kullu, Lahaul- Spiti, Mandi, Shimla, Sirmour, Solan and Una, and are further divided into 109 Tehsil and sub Tehsil. According to 2011 census information report the total population of Himachal is 68,56,509 persons .i.e. 68.56 lakhs ,male 34.73and female33.82 lakh which is only 0.57% of India with the growth rate is 12.81, density 123 sq kms and literacy rate is 83.78 % About 91 percent population lives in rural areas . Agriculture is the main occupation of the people of the state and 71 percent of the labour force is engaged in agricultural activities (2011). Himachal Pradesh is almost mountainous state, with an altitude ranging from 350to 6975 metres above the mean sea level .It has a deeply dissected topography, complex geological structure and a rich temperate flora in the subtropical latitudes. The climate of Himachal Pradesh varies with an altitude and ranges between semi- tropical to semi- arctic and an average rainfall is 152 cms. The year in Himachal Pradesh is divided into three seasons – winter (October to February), summer (March to June) and Rainy (July to September). Snowfall occurs in higher reaches generally in December and January and above 4500 metres is perpetual snow. Himachal has large water resources in its five rivers i.e. Satluj, Ravi, Beas, Chenab and tributaries of Yamuna which originates from the western Himalayas and flow throughout the year. Himachal is a hilly state and most of the population lives in the villages .i.e. rugged topography, harsh climatic conditions which is more vulnerable to different types of hazards but especially earthquakes and fires, very little precaution can be taken to save lives and property. So create awareness among school children about before, during and after Earthquake and Fire for to develop themselves as a more resilient to any incident. In this project Kangra, Chamba, Hamirpur, Kullu, Mandi and Lahaul-Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh had been selected on the bases of vulnerability of Earthquake and Fires hazards and intends to create awareness, preparedness and mitigation measures among School officials ,i.e. Principals / Headmasters Lecturers, teachers and students in the above mentioned districts on the basis of vulnerability of Earthquake and fires related disasters, also to develop a School level Disaster Management Plan and to conduct Mock drill in these districts. Vision:- To promote a culture of Earthquake and Fire Disaster Preparedness before, during and after Disaster at the School level among teachers and students to make themselves a more resilient to Disaster. Significance of Project :- The significance of this project is to aware, prepare the teachers and students to mitigate the loss during Earthquake and Fires disaster and trained them to conduct Mock Drills at their school level, which have direct bearing on the self-sustained institute which is of much geographical concern. Objectives :- - To awareness Teachers and Students about Earthquake and Fires hazards which leads to disasters, -sensitize and give information them life-saving skills and rescue techniques, -To have clarity better understanding of the roles and responsibilities before, during and after disaster. -develop them to make School Disaster Management Plan to prevent loss of life and property through Awareness, Preparedness, Prevention, and Mitigation. -describe them existing School periphery structural and non-structural risks and further mitigation measures. -Overall to promote capacity building of officials, teachers and students about Earthquakes and Fires.