Risk Management Information System A Spatial Planning Tool for Chemical Disaster Management SENES Consultants India International Conference on Environmental.

Risk Management Information SystemA Spatial Planning Tool for Chemical Disaster Management

Risk Management Information SystemA Spatial Planning Tool for Chemical Disaster Management

SENES Consultants India

International Conference on Environmental Knowledge for Disaster Risk Reduction

Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi

May 10, 2011

The Concern

• The worst industrial accident occurred

in Bhopal in December 1984;

• Exposure to Methyl Isocyanate (MIC)

leaking from Union Carbide Plant

caused significant number of deaths

and injuries;

• World wide rethink on chemical risk

from hazardous installations;Iconic photograph titled “Burial of an unknown child” -by Raghu Rai, Bhopal 1984

The Concern

• No information available from Union Carbide on the nature of hazards

present within premises;

• People unaware on how to react to be able to minimize exposure to MIC;

• Hospitals & medical professionals did not know what gas was released

and how to treat victims;

• There was no immediate notification of the accident to the

Administration;

• There was no Emergency Response Plan & the Administration could not

respond to accident on time;

• Key issues in managing chemical risk;

• Need for GIS-enabled integrated information systems and

modelling tools;

• The Risk Management Information System (RMIS);

Presentation Flow

• Technological risk events

typically unfold in matter of

hours – short response time

• Requires updated information

from diverse sources to assess

damage

• Prediction needs solving of

complex algorithms and spatial

analysis

The Issues

• Management of a chemical risk

scenario is information

intensive;

• Models require high processing

power;

• Strong spatial dimension;

Why we require information system support?

• Provide end point effect

distances for different

incidents;

• Hazard footprints displayed for

better visualization;

• Risk maps shown as contours;

• But, not closely coupled with

GIS;

ALOHA /MARPLOT

EFFECTS

ARIPAR

Gaps in existing tools

Key Features:

•Aggregate information on industries, chemicals, hazards,

vulnerability, emergency responders in a single database;

•Provides for spatial analysis and better understanding of chemical

risks;

•Transparent mechanism for sharing risk related information;

•Integrated with QRA based consequence analysis models for

providing decision support to risk management actors;

Risk Management Information System (RMIS)

RMIS – Key Benefits

• High scale of Maps – better representation of hazards and

vulnerabilities;

• Hazard Data and Maps can be updated / managed in a distributed

manner or centrally;

• [ Active ] Modeling of accident scenarios – MCLS or any quantity

of chemical;

• Live Meteorology Information while the risk event is unfolding;

Building the RMIS• Industrial town of Haldia in

West Bengal;

• Identifying and mapping chemical hazards;

• Mapping elements at risk;

• Appending information in a central database;

• Integrating Risk Analysis Models for prediction of accident scenarios;

RMIS Interface

Navigation Tools

Navigation Tools

Spatial Data Tools

Spatial Data Tools

Map AreaMap Area

Scale BarScale Bar

Layers, Search and Legend Tabs

Layers, Search and Legend Tabs

Info Tool

Info Tool

Meteorology Data Feed

Meteorology Data Feed

Wind Rose

Wind Rose

Hazard Modeler

Hazard Modeler

Custom Built User Controls integrated with the web interface

RMIS Interface (contd…)

Layer Management

RMIS Interface – Search Function

Search ResultsSearch ResultsSearch by Chemical Nature & Quantity

Search by Chemical Nature & Quantity

RMIS Interface – Meteorology

Daily and Seasonal Wind Patterns

Daily and Seasonal Wind Patterns

RMIS Interface – Hazard Modeler

Setting up atmospheric data

RMIS Interface – Hazard Modeler (contd…)

Preparing the hazard model

RMIS Interface – Hazard Modeler (contd…)

35

22

1526

17

Vulnerability Data

Vulnerability DataHazard FootprintHazard Footprint

Affected roads and intersections

Affected roads and intersections

Conclusion

• The RMIS has been developed as a versatile and integrated

information system that can assist decision makers to

effectively plan for and manage a chemical risk event

• It will help in reducing the odds of another Bhopal!

Nilanjan Paul

Email: [email protected]

Debanjan Bandyopadhyay

Email: [email protected]