Indrajit Pal

Earthquake hazard assessment in the Momase region of Papua New Guinea

Tectonism induced Tsunami, fire, landslide along with the tremor-triggered-liquefaction are the common hazards experienced worldwide. Such hazards often lead to collapse of built-up infrastructures like roads, bridges, buildings apart from inflicting heavy toll on human life and properties. Momase region of Papua New Guinea is one such vulnerable stretch where the appropriate planning is paramount in safeguarding the life and infrastructures. The study sought evaluation and assessments of the level of vulnerability to earthquakes in Momase region. The output can be used as a tool to assist in appropriate site selection that will minimize the earthquake damage risk and also to assist in better and appropriate future construction design or planning at a site. For the present study, application potentials of GIS and remote sensing are utilized to evaluate and assess possible earthquake hazard in the study region. The influence of soil and geology as the media responsible for aggravating or mollifying earthquake waves are underlined as input. These are the media that influence ferocity of shaking intensity leading to the destructions during an earthquake episode. Therefore, the site-soil geology and geomorphology are assessed and integrated within GIS environment coupled with seismicity data layers to evaluate and prepare liquefaction potential zones, followed by earthquake hazard zonation of the study area. Multi-criteria evaluation with analytical hierarchy process are adopted for this study. The technology involves preparing and assessing several contributing factors (thematic layers) that are assigned weightage and rankings, and finally normalizing the assigned weights and ranking. The spatial analysis tool in ArcGIS 10, the raster calculator, reclassify and weightage overlay tools were mainly employed in the study. The final output of LPZ and earthquake hazard zones were reclassified to ‘very high’, ‘high’, ‘moderate’, ‘low’ and ‘very low’ to indicate levels of hazard within a study region.

Urban Flooding and Climate Change: A Case Study of Bangkok, Thailand

Flooding in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, impedes the development of the city and brings challenges to the well-being of its citizens. The city is situated in a flood-prone area. This study investigated perceptions of the causes among the residents of perennial floods in Bangkok, examining daily precipitation changes over the last 30 years on eight indices (R10, R20, R25, CDD, CWD, RX5day, PRCPTOT and R99p) and the characteristics of the city that promote or exacerbate flooding. The data was collected by the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) from station ID 455201 in the period 1986 -2015. Plausible factors contributing to flooding vulnerability and to the ineffective implementation of the city’s flood corrective and preventive measures were determined. A survey of 400 residents of 20 flood-prone localities in the capital’s four districts was carried out and statistical analysis was performed. Further, levels of satisfaction with the efficiency and effectiveness of the city’s flood corrective and preventive measures were assessed. The documentary and empirical findings collectively illuminate three contributing factors or causes of persistent flooding in the capital and of the ineffectual execution of flood-related policies and measures.

Disaster risk governance and city resilience in Asia-Pacific region

Abstract Cities in Asia-Pacific region are vulnerable to disasters because of large concentrations of population in the built environment, including complex infrastructure. The complexity of cities stems primarily from their overall interdependence and the more sophisticated nature of economic and social activity. It has been evidenced that the mega urbanization involves unprecedented growth, high population density, and a concentration of economic and political power, turning the urban habitat into both a space of opportunity and a space of risk. The present study is contextualizing the city resilience perspectives in the Asia-Pacific region for disaster risk governance. The analysis broadly focused on the initiatives taken by the local government especially urban administration toward the capacity development and preparedness to make the cities more resilient for natural hazards. The initiatives by UN organizations in the Asia-Pacific region on the “Making City Resilient” global campaign have also been discussed focusing on the risk governance.

Risk Governance Measures and Actions in Sundarbans Delta (India): A Holistic Analysis of Post-disaster Situations of Cyclone Aila

The Sundarbans delta is a unique type of land marshes and tidal forests called ‘mangroves’, which have special characteristic to adapt themselves to the highly saline soil, strong winds and inundation of sea water twice a day during tides. The Sundarbans was declared as a ‘world heritage site’ in 1994 and as a ‘biosphere reserve’ in 1989. By virtue of its proximity to the Bay of Bengal, the land is very much prone to the wrath of bay cyclones and tidal disturbances during the monsoon. Apart from its vulnerable geo-climatic locations, the major part of the Sundarbans area is facing the problem of waterlogging because of its basinlike island geography.

Disaster Governance and Its Relevance

It is evident that disasters are a true litmus test of governance. Many attributes of governance interplay in disasters, before, during, and after a situation. Governance is the exercise of political, economic, and administrative authority in the management of a country’s affairs at all levels. This book is emphasizing the governance of disaster risks that influences the way in which national and subnational actors (including governments, parliamentarians, public servants, the media, the private sector, and civil society organizations) are willing and able to coordinate their actions to manage and reduce disaster-related risk (UNDP. Disaster risk reduction, governance & mainstreaming. UNDP, New York, 2010). This introductory chapter will discuss the risk governance perspectives in the parlance of accepted theoretical base. The present research will make a review of different governance issues related to the disaster risk reduction, from global, regional, national, and local perspectives, and will highlight the needs and relevance of disaster governance at different levels.

Disaster Risk Governance in India and Cross Cutting Issues

It is evident that disasters are a true litmus test of governance. Many attributes of governance interplay in disasters, before, during, and after a situation. Governance is the exercise of political, economic, and administrative authority in the management of a country’s affairs at all levels. This book is emphasizing the governance of disaster risks that influences the way in which national and subnational actors (including governments, parliamentarians, public servants, the media, the private sector, and civil society organizations) are willing and able to coordinate their actions to manage and reduce disaster-related risk (UNDP. Disaster risk reduction, governance & mainstreaming. UNDP, New York, 2010). This introductory chapter will discuss the risk governance perspectives in the parlance of accepted theoretical base. The present research will make a review of different governance issues related to the disaster risk reduction, from global, regional, national, and local perspectives, and will highlight the needs and relevance of disaster governance at different levels.

National-Level Disaster Risk Governance for Rapid Response

India has a robust institutional system in place with a wide range of national-level institutions related to early warning, meteorology, remote sensing, information and communication technology, satellite technology and disaster response management, which have substantially contributed to high level of preparedness, in terms of effective response to disaster.

Disaster Risk Governance and Response Management for Flood: A Case Study of Assam, India

Flood and erosion in the State of Assam, India, is menacing and probably the most acute and unique in the country. Every year due to successive waves of floods, most of the areas in the valley of Assam remain submerged for a considerable numbers of days. Regular flooding added with persistent erosion causing land loss of thousands of hectares resulting to hundreds of people landless virtually destabilize the socio-economic development of the state. It has been observed that every year, the mighty Brahmaputra River is eroding more than 2000 ha of land. Subsequent to the National Policy for Flood in 1954 by the Government of India, flood control activities in the State of Assam started taking place. As envisaged in the National Policy for Flood, the state could take short-term as well as long-term measures for flood mitigation, but to get the immediate relief to the flood-ravaged state, construction of embankments as short-term measures had been widely adopted. In the state as a whole, the total area eroded by Brahmaputra, Barak and their tributaries since 1954 is 3.86 lakh hectares, which constitute 7% of the total area of the state.

Risk Assessment and Reduction Measures in Landslide and Flash Flood-Prone Areas: A Case of Southern Thailand (Nakhon Si Thammarat Province)

Abstract The purpose of this study is to analyze the degree of risk and vulnerability in the community susceptible to landslide and flash floods in Sichon district, Nakhon Si Thammarat province, Thailand. The focus of this study is to analyze and understand the socioeconomic vulnerability of the community at the household level and to assess the risk and vulnerability of the community by risk assessment. All the tasks were performed to make a measure for community-based disaster risk reduction activities. To analyze the degree of risk and vulnerability in landslide and flash flood-prone areas in Thepparat community, the risk assessment has been done acquiring the information from field survey, questionnaire survey, and key informant interviews. The risk analysis has been conducted by risk assessment matrix combined with geographic information system to analyze the spatial data and landslide and flash flood risk maps. The landslide factors developed from the Thai Department of Mineral Resource data have resulted in landslide susceptibility index. However, the community susceptible to flash floods has been identified by creating buffer zones in digital maps to explain the vulnerability and exposure of residents. In addition, the villages are also clustered into three zones as high-, moderate-, and low-risk zones. The study recommends the multihazard risk reduction measures based on the outcome of risk analysis of the community. The recommendations are primarily focused on the improvements of existing programs such as early warning system, local-level capacity development, and community training. The study also explored some of the nonstructural measures in the context of community-based disaster risk management, disaster management courses in school teaching, and community awareness to build a resilient community.