Background

The climate of Uttar Pradesh is subtropical and changes in

weather conditions occur with change in location and

seasons. Rainfall in the plains is heaviest in the east and

decreases towards the north-east. About 90% of the

rainfall occurs during the southwest monsoon which last

from June to September causing heavy damage to

agriculture, life and property mostly in the eastern part of

the state, where the rivers originating from Himalaya flow

with a very low north-south gradient. The Major Flood

Prone Rivers are Ganga, Jamuna, Gomti, Ghaghara,

Ramganga, Sarda and Rapti. In the Eastern Uttar Pradesh

districts like Gorakhpur, Deoria, Basti, Santkabir Nagar, Siddharth Nagar, Mau, Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Azamgarh,

Balia, Gonda & Bahraich are severely affected by floods. In eastern Uttar Pradesh, the rivers that cause flooding

include the Sarada, the Ghagra, the Rapti, and the Gandak besides the main Ganga River.

Role of DDMA

Section 30(2) (xvi) of the Disaster Management Act stipulates that the DDMA under the chairmanship of the

Collector and the co-chair of the elected representative of the local authority, shall „coordinate response to any

threatening disaster situation or disaster‟. The Collector/District Magistrate as the head of administration at the district

shall be the focal point in the command and control for disaster response at the district level, in accordance with the

policies/guidelines/instructions from the national and state levels. Depending on the nature of disaster and response

he will be the Incident Commander himself or delegate the responsibility to some other officer.

Role of NGOs

The Non-governmental organizations play an important role in disaster management and provide valuable

resources and expert manpower. Their capacity to reach out to community groups and their sensitivity to local

traditions of the community give them added advantage during the disaster situation. The specific areas where the

NGO can be involved are.

Capacity Building

Emergency First Aid

Management of Relief Camps

Trauma Care

Services to Vulnerable Groups

Rehabilitation, etc.,

An important aspect of capacity building is updating,

training, rehearsals, and mock drills simulation various line

manpower of departments, paramilitary, armed forces

youth organizations, NGOs and CBOs altogether form

valuable human resources.

The DM Act, 2005 provides the legislative back-up to

enable collaborative mechanisms at all levels for

participation and joint/coordinated action by Government

and NGOs in planning, learning and action for disaster

preparedness. The process of disaster preparedness

addresses the need for convergence of the legislative and

institutional arrangements, coordination mechanisms,

contingency and response plans as well as information and

communication systems. The SDMAs and the DDMAs will

invite representative NGOs regularly to chalk out strategy

and action points, which could help in enhancing the

preparedness through better coordination.

NGOs in coordination with the District Administration may organise mock drills to strengthen the understanding of the

DM Teams with regard to their role in preparedness. (National Disaster Management Guideline “Role of NGOs in DM)

Mock Drill Objectives

To test the Adequacy and Efficacy of the Emergency Response Plan of Gorakhpur District against flood.

To highlight the roles and responsibilities of the concerned stakeholders at the District level.

To enhance coordination and synergize efforts of various Emergency Support Functions at the District level.

To find gaps in the resource, manpower, equipment, communication and systems at District.

On the event date…………. Brief note

The District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), along with 11th Bt. NDRF “A” Unit, Gorakhpur (which covers

16 District - Sarawasti, Gonda, Faizabad, Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Gorakhpur, Sant Kabir

Nagar, Basti, Azamgarh, Mau, Deoria, Kushinagar, Ballia, Maharajganj, Siddhartnagar &

Balrampur) & 26th Bt. PAC Flood Unit (covers Eastern U.P.) and 09 organizations working in Eastern UP on

DRR, on Sunday (03rd July, 2016) conducted a mock drill to deal with flood situation during monsoon.

The exercise was held at Rajghat, Rapti River Nausad Gorakhpur to test the standard operating procedures (SOPs) prepared for management of floods.

During the programme, the DDMA highlighted the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders and coordination among emergency support functionaries. Mr. O.N. Singh, Hon‟ble District Magistrate chaired the event along with Dr. Chandra Bhushan Additional District Magistrate Finance & Revenue (ADM F&R)/Nodal Officer Disaster

Management, SDM‟s, Tehsildar, all 22 Department Heads, elected representatives, task force volunteers, NGOs, fire fighters and members of village management committee were present.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr.O.N.Singh

DM Gorakhpur said Gorakhpur has vast river belt of

about 434 km and major river systems. As per scientific

analysis, several districts of the Eastern UP come under

Zone-III & IV of earthquake-risk areas. All these factors

make the Eastern UP prone to different kinds of disasters.

According to the DM Act 2005, District Administration had

formed DDMA in 2011-12 to conduct relief, rescue and restoration operations and it is the first such organisation in

the state. He appreciated the efforts of NGOs and assured them to give all kind of support in flood mitigation.

Organization/Institution participated:

1. Bharat Sewa Mission, Gorakhpur

2. Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group (GEAG), Gorakhpur

3. Poorvanchal Gramin Vikas Sansthan (PGVS), Gorakhpur

4. Poorvanchal Gramin Sewa Samiti (PGSS), Gorakhpur

5. Shohratgarh Environmental Society (SES), Siddhartnagar

6. Manav Seva Sanasthan “SEVA”, Gorakhpur

7. Gram Niyojan Kendre (GNK), Maharajganj

8. Gramin Development Services (GDS), Lucknow

9. Pehla Kadam, Gorakhpur

Line Departments participated

1. Health

2. Animal husbandry

3. Irrigation (Flood Div, Flood Div-2 & Drainage Div)

4. Agriculture + Agriculture Protection & Horticulture

5. Education

6. Panchayati Raj

7. Fire

8. Municipal Corporation

9. Revenue

10. 11th Bt. NDRF

11. 26th PAC

12. Railway DM + Scout

13. Civil Defence

14. NYK etc.

A. Revenue Department: The Revenue Department has been

the main department entrusted with the responsibility to

coordinate and manage the disasters caused by the Hazards.

Department presented one Model “Flood Post” which shows

- how flood post works,

- documents kept at post level,

- embankment protection & monitoring

- information dissemination process,

- coordination between Police, Health and Revenue

B. Police Department: The Police Department is one of the key Government departments. Both in the normal

times when no disasters occur and in times of disasters, this department is an asset to community and it has to

respond very well in various critical events. Department shows how they closely work with Revenue and other

departments. At Flood Post level they established one wireless set, information sharing, law & order

maintenance, provided protection to irrigation department and other activities.

C. Health Department: Department takes precautionary measures for hospital safety during disasters since hospitals are life line buildings so it could serve uninterruptedly. All structural and non- structural measures shall be taken up to make hospital safe. Department representative presented medicines kept at flood post level, how

they attend patients, referral mechanism, first aid process, ambulance facilities and more things. Health department also established one model PHC “Piprauli” with total staff structure. ANM, ASHA and other medical officers actively participated.

D. Animal Husbandry Department: According to CVO

Gorakhpur “Cattle rearing community at vulnerable

places will be advised not to go for heavy animals,

since shifting them during disaster period would be

difficult. Plan and implement schemes for educating

fishermen and animal rearing communities of the

vulnerable villages, on the measures to be taken

before/during/after disaster to avoid loss of lives and properties and animals”. Department presented medicines

available at each post and a rapid response team.

E. Agriculture/Agriculture Protection/Horticulture Department: Agriculture Department always sustains

losses/damage when floods and other hazards occur in the District. The quantum of losses is proportional to the

intensity, time and duration of the hazard. It is difficult to prevent such losses but remedial measures can be

taken to save the crops and if this is not possible to go in for alternative measures suitable for the area and type

of soil. Agriculture/Agriculture Protection/Horticulture Department jointly present the seeds used in flood prone

and as well as in drought situation. How they access drought situation, crop cutting assessment and about crop

insurance, officials of department presented.

F. Panchayat Raj: The plans prepared for disaster management for implementation at Sub District and Village

levels will include all works related to drinking water, minor irrigation canals, minor tanks and bunds, safe

shelters, sanitation, food other essential items. At each level we need expert man power for revamping water

and sanitation related community structures. Panchayat Raj have trained man force who work at pre, during and

post level disaster. During mock exercise representatives of Panchayati Raj helps in establishing shelter and

sanitation facilities.

G. Irrigation (Flood Div/Flood Div-2/Drainage Div) Department: For emergency response irrigation department

procure materials such as empty cement bags, sand, metal, stone bellies etc. will be stocked in adequate

quantities in all flood stores for immediate use before and during floods. During mock exercise a model

demonstration point developed by the department

which shows how to stop seepage from available local

resources.

H. Municipal Corporation: Gorakhpur faces sever water

logging in a large part of the city and lack an adequate

solid waste management and sewage capacity. These

problems are exacerbated by natural hazards

including heavy rains and flood. Representatives of

Municipal Corporation presents:

a. 2-Fogging machine with operator

b. 2-Spray machine with operator

c. Sewage Sucking Section – 1 with

operators

d. Portable Mud Pump (12 HP)

e. Model health check post with medicines, pharmacist and doctors.

I. 11th BN NDRF: NDRF has proved its importance in achieving this vision by highly skilled rescue and relief operations, regular and intensive training and re-training, capacity building & familiarization exercises within the area of responsibility of respective NDRF Bns, carrying out mock drills and joint exercises with the various stakeholders. Vision of NDRF is to emerge as the most visible and vibrant multi-disciplinary, multi-skilled, high-tech force capable to deal with all types of natural as well as manmade disasters and to mitigate the effects of disasters. NDRF presents rescue operation with various techniques, deep divers, search operation and equipments used during rescue relief operation. (11 NDRF ‘A’

Unit covers 16 District - Sarawasti, Gonda, Faizabad, Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Gorakhpur,

Sant Kabir Nagar, Basti, Azamgarh, Mau, Deoria, Kushinagar, Ballia, Maharajganj,

Siddhartnagar & Balrampur)

The drill was observed by the Master Trainers of DDMA and according to them few things need to improve at

response level:

Gender balance approach: Women is more vulnerable in disaster situations. Most of the time women are

available in home compare to men. So women participation in mock drills is much required.

Medical Facilities: The Ambulance and Medical team comes from different place then we can really show

the community as to how much time it takes for the medical relief to reach a place and what should be done

in that period.

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Media Response