Report on One day Sensitisation Programme on School Earthquake Safety to Commemorate the Kangra Earthquake Anniversary of 4th April 1905

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1 Report on One day Sensitisation Programme on School Earthquake Safety to Commemorate the Kangra Earthquake Anniversary of 4th April th April, 2016 At Bachat Bhawan Chamba (H.P) Organized By: District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) Chamba (H.P) Resources Person Mr. Ram Chander Training & Capacity Building Coordinator (DDMA) Chamba (H.P) Prepared & Technical support by: Sumit Gupta Assistant IT Coordinator (DDMA) Chamba (H.P)

2 1. Introduction: Schools are critical infrastructure entrusted with the responsibility of creating citizens of tomorrow. A safe and secure environment is a prerequisite for effective teaching and learning. Thus ensuring safety of children, teachers and staff members during disasters is necessary. School safety and educational continuity require a dynamic, continuous process initiated by management and involving teachers, students, parents, and the local community. It becomes of utmost importance that safety of children is given due consideration, thus making schools safe also serves the purpose of their dual use as evacuation centers during emergencies. Building safe schools should be a priority for architects, engineers, policy makers, administrators and emergency response planners. Among all public facilities, children in schools are the most vulnerable during disasters. A large number of schools operate in congested urban centers and are exposed to various hazards. School safety includes within its structural safety of the buildings and non-structural measures like awareness generation, ensuring communication, school preparedness plans, capacity building of students and teachers, rehearsals and mock drills etc. Building safe schools will not only ensure safety of children in disasters, but will also promote faster rehabilitation post disaster. As we all know that the entire district of Chamba falls under Seismic Zone IV and V as per the Seismic Zoning Map of India (IS Code: 1893:2002) which makes it likely to be affected by earthquake shaking of intensity VIII and above. The Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) fault passes just below the district and this is the continuation of the same fault which caused the 1905 Kangra earthquake. There are also several smaller faults that can also generate earthquakes of high intensities within Chamba district. Prior to the One day Sensitisation Programme on School Safety official letters were issued to Deputy Director of Education (Higher) to request 15 government and 10 private school principals to nominate representatives from their schools to attend the above said programme on in Bachat Bhawan Hall at District Chamba (HP). The venue have all the facilities related to Sensitization Programme required like Projector for presentation and Table & Chair to do Drop, Cover, Hold drill. 2. Programme Agenda: The workshop started with registration of all the participants at 10 AM followed by Introduction of the Participants. DDE (Deputy Director of Education) Higher, speech with formal inauguration of Sensitization Programme and start of presentation session by the Training and Capacity Building Coordinator, Chamba (HP) DDE (Higher), Chamba highlighted the issues of Disaster and its impact on the school Children, Staff members as well as on the local Community people with special focuses to the schools which are in urban areas of Chamba district. He breifly mentioned the

3 significance of the preparedness planning for any disaster to minimize the loss and life of any person residing the schools. Mr. Ram Chander, Training and Capacity Building Coordinator from DDMA (Chamba), take over the presentation session and delivered comprehensive and useful talks on the school safety and put all participants in the course of action in terms of their full participation, queries and two-way discussion. There were approximate Teachers as participants from different school including Government and Private schools of the locality of Chamba District (H.P) and 2-4 government official including the Deputy Direction of Education (Higher), and media officials etc. Three presentation had been delivered by Training and Capacity Building Coordinator from DDMA (Chamba) which includes the highlights or we say agenda of the One day Sensitisation Programme on School Safety are like: Why School Safety is Important? Disaster Risk Managememt Programme in context of Himachal Pradesh and India. Types of Disaster Natural & Man-made Disasters. Masonry Construction. Structural & Non-Structural Damage. Earthquake Safety Tips. Emergency Kit. Our Emergency Friends (Toll Free No. of All line ESFs) Need of the School Disaster Management Plan. How we prepare School Disaster Management Plan of our respective Schools. 3. Content and Message delivered in Workshop: Presentation 1: Why School Safety is Important? Disaster Risk Managememt Programme in context of Himachal Pradesh. The first presentation was started with the importance of school safety and need, importance and objectives of the Disaster Management in Schools followed by the school safety strategy. School safety is vital to the well-being of students and teachers who might otherwise face violent behavior or emergency situations during the school day. School Management help assure school staff, students and parents that the environment is safe and suitable for learning. Without an effective safety plan and sufficient enforcement of policies and safeguards, teachers might look for employment elsewhere and students' academic performance could suffer. Plus, a school safety plan helps students and teachers handle emergency situations if they arise. Chamba district lies in the very high multi-hazards district of Himachal Pradesh and include the high probability of Earthquake, Floods, Landslides, Flash Floods, Extreme Weather and road accident etc. During this presentation, the issues with earthquake safety of school

4 buildings specifically discussed and In the light of recent tragedies involving school children, like the Kumbakonam fire tragedy, Dabwali fire incident and earthquakes around the world where school children were affected due to unsafe school buildings. Presentation 2: School Earthquake Preparedness Planning. The second presentation was started with the discussion on the school earthquake preparedness planning with a motto of Earthquakes do not kill people; it is man in his role as a builder, who kills people. This presentation raised the important issues with logical solution related to what happens during an earthquake, need of preparedness planning and what to do during and after an earthquake. Systematically each issues highlighted in context to school safety before during and after the earthquake. It includes and the response of unprepared and prepared school and their role, consequences of earthquakes, how schools should prepare, responsibilities of schools, importance of Hazard hunts i.e. looking around school for hazards like Fire, Electrical and Falling hazards. All the issues very well explained with the examples and figures. After that slides explained the Earthquake Safety Tips in a 10 simple rules: Rule 1: Drop Cover Hold Rule 2: Open the door to secure an exit Rule 3: Avoid rushing out of your school or House. Rule 4: Turn off Gas, Electrical Appliances. Rule 5: When outside protect your head and keep away from dangerous objects. Rule 6: If in a Mall, theatre follow the instructions of the staff. Rule 7: Park your vehicle on the left side of the street & give way to ambulance and fire brigade. Rule 8: Evacuate on foot and carry your emergency kit Rule 9: Avoid being misled by false rumors & try to obtain correct information. Rule10: So be Aware and be prepared. It is better to be prepared five years early than a minute too late Presentation 3: Structural Hazards and Non Structural Hazards in context of Schools. How we prepare School Disaster Management Plan of our respective Schools. The Third presentation was started with the discussion on the Structural Hazards and Non Structural Hazards continued with the school disaster management planning, plan

5 components includes the hazard Identification/safety assessment plan and response plan discussed in details. The Structural hazards of a building carry the weight of a building itself. These load bearing elements include the frame (Columns, Beams). School needs to check for structural safety to withstand hazard like Earthquake, landslides, floods or any other hazard. The Non- structural hazards of a building do not carry the weight of a building but it includes furniture, appliances, coolers, water tank, glass panels, electric wire, chemical and equipment in school lab, documents, books and racks etc. 4. Summary: At the end of the Sensitization Programme, Preparation of School Disaster Management Plans is briefly discussed with school teachers with DDMA officials. A Hard Copy on School DM Plan Model Template-(National School Safety Programme) is also provided to every participants of the school, so that they prepared their own School Disaster Management Plan with the help of Model Template. All Presentations ended with queries, suggestions and two-way discussions. Accordingly school had been requested to submit report on Drop Cover Hold Drill which you exercise in your respective school along with the School Disaster Management Plan of your school after the successful Completion on the programme. Schools are also requested to consult DDMA (Chamba) officials for any support like training of teachers, student and other school staff, review and approval of School DM Plans if any available with them and also in the preparation of School Disaster Management Plan.

6 Workshop Inauguration and Presentations Workshop Inaugration Presentation

7 Participants appearance

8 Media Coverage Epaper Amar Ujala 7 th April, 2016 Epaper Divya Himachal 7 th April, 2016

Valcik, N. A., & Tracy, P. E. (2013). Case studies in disaster response and emergency management. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Valcik, N. A., & Tracy, P. E. (2013). Case studies in disaster response and emergency management. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. MSE 6701, Case Studies in Natural Catastrophes and Man-Made Disasters Course Syllabus Course Description A critical look at emergency services management interactions in major historical natural catastrophes,