Assam to retrofit schools for multi-hazard and flood safety

GUWAHATI: Aimed at making schools in flood-affected Assam multi-hazard resilient for inmates and students, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) will soon retrofit 30 schools that would be used as flood shelters in Baksa, Barpeta, Sonitpur, Biswanath, Lakhimpur, Golaghat, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar and Majuli districts.

ASDMA will also build 10 multipurpose flood shelters in these flood-vulnerable districts. Notably, the initiative is a part of the Assam Integrated River Basin Management Programme (AIRBMP).

A contract in this regard was signed on Wednesday by ASDMA chief executive officer Gyanendra Dev Tripathi with GKW Consult GmBH and Vision EIS Consulting Pvt Ltd, as design management and monitoring consultants to oversee the retrofitting and construction of these schools.

Speaking on the occasion, the ASDMA CEO said that the activities would have to be monitored closely for efficient implementation.

The retrofitting of the flood shelters will make them multi-hazard resilient for the flood inmates and students. Along with providing shelter to the flood-affected, these 10 new multipurpose flood shelters shall also be used by communities and other stakeholders during the non-flood season.

Further, 50 Circle Quick Response Teams (CQRTs) have been constituted in 50 revenue circles of 18 districts under AIRBMP. These CQRTs will be the first responders at the revenue circle level during any disaster or emergency.

The design management consultants will design a material bank to house some lifesaving equipment to be used by the CQRT members during emergencies.

CQRT members shall be trained in basic life support strategy, and search and rescue techniques before deployment. In this regard, 11 CQRT material banks in selected circles of Barpeta, Golaghat, Majuli, Lakhimpur, Sivasagar, Cachar and Dima Hasao are to be installed.

The primary objective of AIRBMP is to mitigate the risks posed by climate-related disasters to people’s livelihoods by strengthening institutions, bridging crucial knowledge gaps and implementing comprehensive solutions through a well-structured basin-wide planning process. AIRBMP is a ten-year duration programme with an overlapping three-phase Multiphase Programmatic Approach (MPA).

An estimated amount of $135 million will be invested in phase one of the programme. Phase one focuses on the Beki and Buridehing river basins, working to safeguard approximately 100,000 individuals. The project will enhance the state’s disaster response capabilities by implementing advanced flood forecasting techniques.

It will also facilitate the provision of secure evacuation and shelter facilities, granting at least 10,000 people access to flood-resistant shelters that can withstand climate challenges. It will also build climate resilience in communities against climate change.

The programme is currently financing an array of flood and river erosion control infrastructure, new and upgraded embankments, river erosion control works, drainage canals, polders, flood control gates, engineered wetlands and flood retention areas and watershed improvements.

Disaster risk reduction

In a bid to improve government resource allocation for disaster risk reduction (DRR), a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on Wednesday between Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) and CivicDataLab (CDL) to amplify its data-driven efforts for mitigating and adapting to the ever-increasing extreme weather events in the state like floods.

The MoU was signed at the chief secretary’s conference hall in Janata Bhawan here by principal secretary and chief executive officer, ASDMA, Gyanendra Dev Tripathi, and CDL co-founder and director, Gaurav Godhwani, in the presence of Assam chief secretary Ravi Kota; joint secretary, revenue and disaster management department, Shyamal Kshetra Gogoi; ASDMA state project coordinator, Alakananda Medhi, besides district disaster management authorities (DDMAs) and senior officials of ASDMA and CDL. CDL is a research lab working at the intersection of data, technology, design and social science.

In his speech, Chief Secretary Kota highlighted the prospect of Assam becoming a role model for different states of the country by adopting such innovative initiatives.

Explaining the importance of data-driven decision-making, Kota said such efforts could be adopted across different state ministries and sectors to improve data for governance, especially for building climate resilience.

He emphasised the need for collaboration to ensure inclusive and effective disaster mitigation, including all government agencies to enhance a holistic climate mitigation strategy.

ASDMA CEO Tripathi summarised the proposed collaboration objectives in the state to help encourage innovation and adoption of data technologies for disaster risk reduction (DRR).

The programme was also attended virtually by special secretary, Himachal Pradesh government, Dunichand Rana, who explained the vulnerabilities faced by Himachal Pradesh.

Lauding CivicDataLab’s initiative, Rana shared the roadmap chalked out for the deployment for such a solution in Himachal Pradesh over the next 18 months.

CDL co-founder Godhwani thanked the Assam government for its support to build data-driven solutions for policy reform. Sharing the work of CDL in Assam and across India, he demonstrated the unique features of intelligent data solutions for disaster risk reduction.

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