Children and Young People are partners in Disaster Risk Reduction! Government of Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (HPSDMA) REPORT Samarth 2011 Mass Awareness Campaign for Disaster Risk Reduction On the occasion of International Day for Disaster Reduction 2011
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Children and Young Peopleare partners in Disaster Risk Reduction!
Government ofHimachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (HPSDMA)
REPORT
Samarth 2011Mass Awareness Campaign for Disaster Risk Reduction
On the occasion of
International Day for Disaster Reduction 2011
“Let us all invest today for a safer tomorrow”Ban Ki-moonSecretary General, UN
Preface
Due to adverse Geo-physical and climatic conditions, Himachal Pradesh is exposed to various
concrete realities. Frequent natural disasters of various intensities and their impacts on the
people and land are the gravest among such problems, which hamper the development of the
have caused tremendous loss to the state. Besides loss of life, these disasters also strain the state
exchequer. To safeguard the people of Himachal Pradesh from the ever growing risk of disasters, it
is very crucial that development should be envisaged with a holistic approach designed to manage
disasters on a more proactive basis. To do this, capacity building initiatives are needed to be taken
to make communities self-reliant to cope-up with disasters.
Considering this fact, the Himachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (HP SDMA)
launched a Mass Awareness Campaign titled as 'Samarth- 2011' which also marked the
celebrations of International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2011 (IDDR 2011). 'Samarth' is a
Hindi word which refers to the ability of someone to do something. By launching this programme,
the HP SDMA aimed at making the people of the state more aware and prepared to reduce the
underlying risks of disasters.
'Samarth- 2011' started on 8th of October 2011 (6th anniversary of the Kashmir Earthquake) and
came to a fruitful conclusion on 13th of October, 2011. Different awareness generation and
capacity building programmes were organized at state as well as district level with involvement of
stakeholders like DDMAs of respective districts, Department of Education, Department of Health
& Family Welfare, Himachal Fire Services, Department of Civil Defence, Municipal Corporation,
Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, HP University, etc.
The Secretariat of United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) commemorates the International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR) every year on 13th of October. The focus of IDDR 2011 was on Children and Young People and the celebrations of the day echoed by a suitable slogan “Step Up for Disaster Risk Reduction”.
The specific objectives of the IDDR 2011 were:
«To let the world know that children and young people are partners in reducing disaster risk
«To promote more partnerships with children and young people in disaster risk reduction
«To connect and build bridges and understanding among children and young people
Samarth 2011: State-level events
Through ‘Samarth 2011’, the people and the government of Himachal Pradesh extended
solidarity with the global community and observed the International Day for Disaster Reduction
(IDDR 2011) through a number of thematic events. The Himachal Pradesh State Disaster
Management Authority (HP SDMA) and the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) of
district Shimla jointly organized a number of events at the state-level.
The state-level events started in
the morning of 13th of October,
2011 when the hon’ble Chief
Minister of Himachal Pradesh Prof.
Prem Kumar Dhumal flagged off
the Citizen’s Solidarity March from
his official residence. Hundreds of
students and teachers of various
schools of the capital, Scouts of
National Cadet Corps (NCC) and National Services Scheme (NSS), volunteers of Civil Defence and
Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) and a number of concerned citizens took part in this
solidarity March. As a symbol of cooperation and solidarity, soldiers of Indo-Tibet Border Police
(ITBP) and Sashatra Seema Bal (SSB) also participated in this march and encouraged the
participating children and youth with their presence. Deputy Commissioner of district Shimla Mr.
Onkar Chand Sharma, Advisor-cum-Consultant to the HP SDMA, Dr. R. K. Sood, ADM (Protocol) ,
Shimla Mr. Man Singh Verma and the State Project Officer GoI-UNDP DRR Programme Mr. D. C.
Rana were among the dignitaries present during the flag-off of the Citizen’s Solidarity March.
As another remarkable milestone
in the h i stor y of D isaster
Management related affairs in the
state, the official website of the HP
SDMA was launched by the hon’ble
Chief Minister. The website i.e.
www.hpsdma.nic.in is a source of
information over
disaster-related subjects and
contains vital pieces of information about the overview of national as well as state and district-
level disaster management set-up, hazard profile of the state, IEC materials etc.
comprehensive
Flagging off of Citizen’s Solidarity March by Hon’ble CM, Himachal Pradesh
Launch of the website of HPSDMA by Hon’ble Chief Minister
Snapshots: Citizen’s Solidarity March
Samarth 2011: State-level events
The Citizen’s Solidarity March which was flagged off by the hon’ble Chief Minister of the Himachal
Pradesh reached its destination at the famous Ridge Ground where a team of skilled professionals
and servicemen of Himachal Pradesh Fire Services were ready to demonstrate a variety of
Emergency Rescue & Relief Operations through mock drills based on realistic situations.
Hundreds of participants from diverse occupational backgrounds watched the Firemen perform
some incredible mock drills and learnt the ways to reduce the impact of disasters.
As the main event of the IDDR 2011
celebrations, the Mock Drills organized
jointly by the Civil Defense, Fire Services
and Home Guards were applauded by
everyone present. These mock drills were
so attractive that they even grabbed the
attention of the tourists and people who
were just passing by. The Chief Guest on this
occasion was the Divisional Commissioner
of Shimla, Mr. Kashmir Chand who watched
all mock drills with great interest.
Director of Shimla Centre of Indian
Meteorological Department (IMD) Dr. Manmohan Singh and t
The
Deputy Commissioner, Shimla Mr. Onkar Chand Sharma, The
he State Project Officer, GoI-UNDP
DRR Programme, Mr. D C Rana were among the other dignitaries present for this event.
Students of 15 Government-run as well as private schools of district Shimla watched these mock
drills with enthusiasm. First Round of mock drills was focused on extinguishing different kind of
fires with the help of different types of fire-extinguishers. In what turned out to be a learning
opportunity for everyone present, the
Firemen demonstrated the use of
different types of fire extinguishers for
different classes of fires. The firemen
endorsed how ready they are for major
fire accidents. After this, the Deptt. of
Civil Defense and HP Home Guards
jointly demonstrated the ways of
carrying out different Rescue and Relief
operations in real-life environments
during emergencies.
Mock Drills on Emergency Rescue & Relief Operations
Snapshots: Mock Drills on Rescue & Relief
Samarth 2011: State-level events
After the splendid demonstration of Emergency Rescue & Relief Mock Drills by the HP Fire
Services Department, Civil Defense and HP Home Guards, the guests and all participants moved to
watch the ‘Exhibition on Disaster Management Equipments’ hosted by the City Disaster
Management Cell of the Municipal Corporation, Shimla.
After the mock-drills, exhibition
o n D i s a s t e r M a n a g e m e n t
Equipments was another crowd-
puller where people learnt about
various tools and equipments
which are very crucial for
e m e rge n c y re s p o n s e . T h e
Divisional Commissioner and the
Deputy Commissioner visited the
exhibition and watched the items displayed by various companies and departments. The officer at
the exhibition stall of HP Fire Services briefed about various fire safety equipments and the ways
to operate them during emergency situations. The Divisional Commissioner enquired about the
effectiveness of Smoke Detector and some other fire safety equipments.
The next stall was placed by a private company ‘Aska’ which deals in emergency response related
equipments. A motorbike by ‘Aska’ with attached fire extinguishers (cylinders) and some other
useful fire-safety features was the main attraction of this stall. The Deputy Commissioner of
Shimla, Mr. Onkar Chand Sharma said that this motorbike would be of immense potential for fire
fighting in cities like Shimla, especially in the inaccessible areas where we have narrow roads /
paths. Fire-proof apparel and few other fire-safety equipments were also displayed by ‘Aska’.
The stalls set-up by Shimla Centre of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), various models of
weather forecasting systems were displayed. According to the Director of the Shimla Centre of
IMD Dr. Manmohan Singh, these
forecasting systems play a crucial
role in early warning and thus,
help in reducing the risk of natural
disasters. All dignitaries who
visited the exhibition lauded the
efforts of the DM Cell of the
Municipal Corporation, Shimla for
organizing the exhibition.
Exhibition on Disaster Management Equipments
Snapshots: Exhibition on DM Equipments
Samarth 2011: State-level events
As the state-level events of Samarth 2011 came to an end on 13th of October, 2011, a Concluding
Ceremony was organized by the HP SDMA and DDMA, Shimla at the Gaiety Theater, Shimla. The
Deputy Commissioner, Shimla welcomed the guests and all participants and presented an
overview of the events organized during the Samarth 2011. The Chief Guest of the Closing
Ceremony was Divisional Commissioner, Shimla who delivered the
valedictory address at the end of the programme.
The Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, Mr. Onkar Chand Sharma formally inaugurated the final event
of Samarth 2011 at the famous Gaiety Theater. Mr. Sharma elucidated how different events were
organized in Shimla and other districts to build the capacities of the students, teachers and other
stakeholders in the DRR process. To give a summary of disaster-related facts about Himachal
Pradesh, a brief presentation
o n t h e h a z a r d s a n d
vulnerability in the state was
delivered by the Advisor-cum-
Consultant to the HP SDMA, Dr.
R. K. Sood. In an interesting
presentation, Dr. Sood revealed
different types of hazards
which Himachal Pradesh is
susceptible to and which people of the state need to get prepared for.
After an informative presentation by Dr. Sood, the Divisional Commissioner, Shimla Mr. Kashmir
Chand presented the valedictory address and officially proclaimed the conclusion of the ‘Samarth
2011’. In his address, Mr. Kashmir Chand extended thanks to the DC Shimla Mr. Onkar Chand
Sharma and the State Project Officer Mr. D C Rana and said the professionals of HP SDMA, DDMA
Shimla, Municipal Corporation, Shimla and all concerned agencies deserve praises for all the hard