Cuddalore and Nagapattinam, India— Port Orange, Palm Bay, and Oldsmar, Florida

Disaster Preparedness, Management, India partner cities: Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu state, and Mitigation, and Emergency Response Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu state . Population of the Indian cities: Flood Mitigation Cuddalore, approximately 159,000; Nagapattinam, Park and Playground Development approximately 93,000 . U.S. partner communities: cities Improved Citizen Access to Services of Palm Bay, Port Orange, and Oldsmar, Florida . Model Street Development Program dates: April 2005 to September 2007 . On December 26, 2004, the Indian coastline experienced the most devas- Key program issues in India: tating tsunami in the area’s recorded history. Nearly 80 percent of deaths preparing for and mitigating along India’s southern coast were centered in state of Tamil Nadu, which also future disasters along the southern Indian coastline, as incurred approximately two-thirds of the country’s property damage. Within well as building the capacity of Tamil Nadu, the cities of Nagapattinam and Cuddalore suffered much of the local governments to increase worst damage and loss of life. revenue generation so that they can provide basic and reliable In response to the tsunami, in April 2005, the U.S. Agency for International services to their citizens . Development (USAID) awarded a grant to ICMA for the CityLinks Post Tsunami Recovery Program in Cuddalore and Nagapattinam. This CityLinks program provided the local governments in Cuddalore and Nagapattinam with disaster management assistance and guidance on improving the delivery of municipal services. A key component of the program was the CityLinks partnership between Cuddalore and Nagapattinam and three cities in the state of Florida: Palm Bay, Oldsmar, and Port Orange. Like Tamil Nadu, Florida continually prepares for natural disasters such as hurricanes. Local and regional government officials from Florida not only have first-hand disaster response experience, they also provide good service delivery to their communities’ citizens.

To capitalize on the knowledge and expertise of Florida city officials, ICMA facilitated a working partnership between the three Florida communities and Cuddalore and Nagapattinam. The partnership worked to help prepare for and mitigate future disasters along the southern Indian coastline, as well as to build the capacity of the Cuddalore and Nagapattinam municipal governments to provide basic services to their citizens. To assist the India cities, a CityLinks team was formed, composed of ICMA staff, officials from the three Florida cities, and representatives from the Urban Management Centre (UMC), which is an organization that is based in the Indian city of Ahmedabad and that works in collaboration with ICMA in trying to profes- sionalize urban management in India.

CityLinks 2007 Annual Report [ 11 ] http://www.icma.org/citylinks “I am deeply grateful for the The CityLinks team helped Cuddalore and Nagapattinam with pro-bono, educational and cultural opportunities hands-on technical assistance, capacity-building training, and focused exchanges, complemented by small and targeted project assistance fund- provided to me as a participant in ing for disaster preparedness, computer-aided design (CAD) mapping, park the CityLinks Post Tsunami Recovery and playground development, water delivery, flood mitigation, model street program.” development, and financial management. Roger Smith, public utilities director, Port Orange, Florida Accomplishments in 2007 Flood Mitigation Disaster Preparedness, Cuddalore and Nagapattinam struggle Management, Mitigation, and with flooding, which is a result Emergency Response of heavy rains, storm surges, and tsunamis. The 2004 tsunami high- In 2006 the CityLinks team completed lighted the importance of building the CAD base maps for Cuddalore and capacity of both cities to respond to Nagapattinam, with detailed data natural disasters, to plan for sea- layers used for disaster management, sonal and inclement weather, and infrastructure development, and to determine ways to mitigate flood- emergency response. To ensure that ing. The CityLinks team structured Cuddalore and Nagapattinam take technical assistance and designed ownership and will update the base pilot projects with these capacity- maps in the future, the CityLinks building and flood mitigation efforts team encouraged both cities to in mind. In September 2007, ICMA obtain CAD mapping software. As a completed the widening and clean- result, in 2007 the Tamil Nadu state ing of seven ponds in Nagapattinam government purchased and distrib- that were historically interconnected uted the software to Cuddalore and to prevent flooding. ICMA con- Nagapattinam, as well as to other nected the ponds to allow for a free cities in the state. By investing in flow of water during storm surges this software, each of the cities can and to provide a natural system for monitor infrastructure, land use, draining the water that accumulated and property changes, which will as a result of inclement weather. improve future services provided to Stakeholder meetings were held with citizens. In addition, to promote last- residents and businesses in the pilot ing sustainability, the CityLinks team project area to ensure community identified and trained municipal staff support to maintain the pond connec- in how to update the maps so that tions. After soliciting approval from they are relevant after the close of the stakeholders, drainage clean- the program. By procuring the CAD ing and pond connection initiatives software, at a cost of $25,000, the were implemented and will lead to Tamil Nadu state government showed decreased flooding for approximately a strong financial commitment to sus- 6,500 people in Nagapattinam. The taining the CAD mapping usage. interconnected ponds will improve

CityLinks 2007 Annual Report [ 12 ] http://www.icma.org/citylinks the community’s ability to deal with municipality of Nagapattinam beauti- “India’s transportation system is fied the playground site by funding seasonal flooding in future years and extremely diverse, ranging from buses will create a safer living environment. the renovation and repair of commu- nity restrooms. and cars to rickshaws, motorcycles, Park and Playground Development bicycles, animal-drawn carts, and To ensure sustainability, the CityLinks During the 2004 tsunami, parks in pedestrians. This made it especially Cuddalore and Nagapattinam were team worked closely with local destroyed. To ensure environmental carpenters, providing job training in challenging to develop a model street power tool usage and donating left- sustainability and to revitalize com- that safely accommodates all methods munity spaces, the CityLinks team over tools and materials to both cities redeveloped coastal areas and parks. to use in maintaining the playgrounds of transportation while also providing in the future. parking for businesses and residences.” In January 2007, the CityLinks In addition to the playgrounds, the Roger Smith, public utilities team, in partnership with Leathers director, Port Orange, Florida & Associates and Palm Bay, Florida, CityLinks team designed and con- helped plan and construct commu- structed a park in Cuddalore and nity playgrounds in Cuddalore and another one in Nagapattinam, thus Nagapattinam. Leathers & Associates providing increased urban greenery is a U.S.-based firm that specializes and improved gathering spaces for in designing community playgrounds the tsunami-affected communities. and in supervising “community play- In Cuddalore, the municipal govern- ground build” events. ment contributed over $9,000 for the construction of the park. In addition, Over 300 schoolchildren, ages 8–12, both Cuddalore and Nagapattinam Women and children paint equipment at the new playground in Cuddalore that replaced drew pictures of their ideal play- a public space that was destroyed in the ground, which formed the basis for 2004 tsunami. designs that were approved by both communities during stakeholder meetings. The playgrounds were built by hand, with approximately 650 days of labor for Cuddalore and 540 days of labor for Nagapattinam donated by women, children, and other community volunteers. Public- private partnerships alleviated the cost of the construction, with Leathers & Associates billing for only part of their design and construction assistance in India. In total, Leathers & Associates donated over $16,000 in labor and travel costs, while the com- munity of Cuddalore collected over $500 in door-to-door collections and also sponsored three meals per day for all volunteers and carpenters. The

CityLinks 2007 Annual Report [ 13 ] http://www.icma.org/citylinks “I especially enjoyed interacting directly have taken a strong interest in the cost, sustainable, effective way to parks and remain committed to their with individual shop owners along treat water, and it is a proven means continued maintenance. for decreasing disease among citi- the model street as we solicited their zens. Pressure meters allow the city Improved Citizen Access to design input. Similarly, the stakeholder to determine when the flow of water Services has been interrupted, thus ensuring meetings were essential to gaining Public service delivery was addressed more rapid restoration of service. The public support of the final design.” through the improvement of the installation of chlorinators and pres- Roger Smith, public utilities municipal water supply and by sure meters increased access to pure director, Port Orange, Florida encouraging citizens to become more drinking water for over 65,000 ben- knowledgeable on water services eficiaries and showed concrete efforts provided to them by the governments by Cuddalore and Nagapattinam to of Cuddalore and Nagapattinam. address both concerns. After careful surveying of citizen needs, water testing, and review of Once the chlorinators were installed, improvement options, the CityLinks the CityLinks team, in partnership team installed chlorinators and with Cuddalore and Nagapattinam, pressure meters to monitor the flow implemented a public relations of water and to decrease the fecal campaign to encourage citizens to coliform and E. coli contamination hook up to the municipal water sup- in the water in both Cuddalore and ply and to pay for household water Nagapattinam. Chlorination is a low- connections. Citizens had previously refused to link up to the water service Schoolgirls contribute their time to help build the new playground in Nagapattinam. because they were wary of its qual- ity and questioned the regularity at which water was being provided. The campaign publicized the improve- ments in water quality and service delivery through a video broadcast on government television stations; an audio campaign using loudspeakers mounted on cars; leaflets; and house- to-house meetings with citizens. By the end of September 2007, 670 appli- cations for water connections were distributed in Nagapattinam, and approximately 365 applications were filed by citizens to request water con- nections. In Cuddalore, by the end of September 2007, approximately 1,200 applications were distributed, and 980 applications were filed. The filing of those applications shows a significant change in the citizens’ perception of the water quality, as

CityLinks 2007 Annual Report [ 14 ] http://www.icma.org/citylinks well as their interest in supporting Looking Forward “The model street project introduced the municipal water system. By suc- a model approach for soliciting cessfully hooking up citizens to the Although it officially ended on municipal water systems, Cuddalore September 30, 2007, the partnership stakeholder participation in the fostered lasting international rela- and Nagapattinam could increase community development process. Once their revenues by at least $150,000 tionships between local government per year. professionals in Florida and in India constructed, these streets will stand as that will continue for years to come. a testament to the power of ordinary Model Street Development The CityLinks program was success- ful because it remained a dynamic citizens and business owners to shape During an exchange visit they made partnership that responded to munici- to Florida, Indian representatives the future of their communities.” pal needs and was demand-driven. were intrigued by the well-planned Donna Steinebach, assistant to By continuously interacting with streets and sidewalks that were built the city manager, Port Orange, citizens, municipal officials, state to accommodate citizen, business, Florida representatives, and other stakehold- and municipal needs. In an effort ers, the CityLinks team provided the to recreate these spaces, Cuddalore necessary assistance to help rebuild and Nagapattinam requested that the stronger communities after the tsu- CityLinks team design and facilitate nami, as well as facilitated training the construction of a model street in and skills development in revenue each city. In response, the CityLinks generation and service delivery. program implemented stakeholder These strong ties with Cuddalore and meetings, designed model street Nagapattinam have led to tangible sections, identified funding/finan- results that have improved the overall cial structuring opportunities, and quality of life for citizens in those encouraged municipal and state two cities. governments to provide funding for model street development initiatives. With Cuddalore and Nagapattinam, the CityLinks team developed con- cept papers and proposals, which are undergoing funding review by the state government of Tamil Nadu.

In Nagapattinam, children, women, and other volunteers donated 540 days of labor to help build the new playground.

CityLinks 2007 Annual Report [ 15 ] http://www.icma.org/citylinks