PAGE

GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM

DEPARTMENT OF GUWAHATI DEVELOPMENT

DISPUR :: GUWAHATI

Departmental Disaster Management Plan

of

Guwahati Development Department [GDD]

[Prepared as per Section 40 of Disaster Management Act 2005]

PREFACE

Guwahati has been plagued by disasters from time immemorial. The city has by now metamorphosed into a metropolis. But even this year floods and storms have affected the city.

It may not be possible to thwart disasters completely. Rather, it would be better for us to learn to live with the disasters: to mitigate and ultimately minimize our losses during disasters, and to take advantage of the beneficial aspects of some of the disasters. In that respect, it would be pertinent to state that the Disaster Management Act 2005 has categorically made it mandatory for the Departments of the State Government to have their own Disaster Management Plans. The guidelines for that lays stress on assessment of our risks and vulnerability due to the disaster concerned, our resources and opportunity to confront it, and preparing three–phase response plans (for Pre–Disaster, During–Disaster, and Post–Disaster phases).

Based on our earlier experiences and the model given by the Assam Disaster Management Authority, we have prepared the Disaster Management Plan for Guwahati Development Department. But certain provisions could not be incorporated, e.g. the S.O.P.s and Budget Provisions – as they are still under preparation. But we hope to incorporate them at the earliest.

We hope that with active cooperation of all stake-holders and our people in Guwahati, we would be able to implement what we have planned, and thereby lessen the miseries of our people due to disasters.

(Dr. U.N. Bora, IAS)

Secretary to the Govt. of Assam,

Guwahati Development Department

CONTENTS

Sl. No.

Chapter No.

Page No.

Preface

i

Contents

ii

1.

Chapter I

Introduction

1

2.

Chapter II

Disaster Vulnerability & Response

8

3.

Chapter III

Departmental Tasks

24

4.

Chapter IV

Departmental Responsibilities

30

5.

Chapter V

Departmental Programmes

38

6.

Chapter VI

Departmental Capacity Building Policy

40

7.

Chapter VII

Plan Review

42

8.

Appendix 1

Details of Main Departmental Officials

43

9

Appendix 2

Inventory of Departmental Resources

45

10.

Appendix 3

Details of Officers and Staff

46

11.

Appendix 4

Decision Making & Operating Procedures

53

12

Appendix 5

Budget Provisions

54

13.

Appendix 6

Standard Operating Procedures

55

CHAPTER – I

Introduction

1.1Introduction: Guwahati is the largest city and the only metropolis of North Eastern India. Guwahati is also major commercial and educational hub of Assam and the north-eastern region of India, and is home to premier institutions such as the Indian Institute of Technology (Guwahati), Gauhati University, and Cotton College. The city is a major center for cultural activities and sporting events, as well as a center for administrative and political activities of Assam, and an important regional hub for transportation.

1.1.1 Nomenclature & History of Guwahati: Situated on the bank of the mighty river Brahmaputra, Guwahati is believed to be the legendary Pragjyotishpur. The name “Pragjyotishpur” – meaning the City of Eastern Light – is found mentioned in the great epic of Mahabharata. The name “Guwahati” itself is a combination of two words – “Guwa” meaning areca nut and “Hat” meaning market. It is believed that areca nuts grew in abundance in the area, and the place served as a convenient trading centre for that. During the onset of the colonial age, the name was anglicized to Gawhatty. The spelling was modified to Gauhati in the early part of the twentieth century, and ultimately rectified to conform to the local name [i.e. Guwahati] in the penultimate decade of that century.

Epigraphic sources place the capitals of many ancient kingdoms in Guwahati. It was the capital of the kings Narakasura and Bhagadatta according to the Mahabharata Besides, the famous Kamakhya Temple located on the Nilachal Hill within the territorial limits of Guwahati – has been a center for Shakti Cult (as well as an important seat of Tantric and Vajrayana Buddhism) and has attracted devotees from all over India from time immemorial. Moreover, the ancient and unique astrological temple Navagraha in Chitrachal Hill, the archaeological remains found during excavations in Ambari and Basista and the other archaeological locations of mythological importance speak volumes of the rich heritage dating back to several centuries before the Birth of Christ.

Descriptions by the legendary Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang reveal that during the reign of the Bhaskar Varman [i.e. in the 7th century AD], the city stretched to around 15 Km in extent, and was a principal base for a strong riverine naval force. The city remained as the capital of Assam until the 10th – 11th century AD, when it came under the rule of the Pala dynasty. Archaeological evidence by excavations in Ambari, and excavated brick walls and houses discovered during construction of the present Cotton College's auditorium, suggest the city had economic and strategic importance until the 9th – 11th century AD.

Between the 12th and 15th centuries AD, after the destruction of the Kamata kingdom, the city became mainly a strategic outpost of the Koch Hajo and Ahom kingdoms. When the western part of the Koch Kingdom (i.e. Cooch Bihar) fell to the Mughals, the eastern half (i.e. Koch Hajo) virtually became a protectorate of the Ahom Kingdom. Although the border between the Ahom and Mughal territories fluctuated between the Kartoya river (now in North Bengal) to the Manas and Barnadi rivers, Guwahati remained an important outpost all throughout the medieval age.

The Mughals invaded Assam in general, and Guwahati in particular, several times during that age; but they were comprehensively defeated by the Ahoms in the battles of Itakhuli and Saraighat. During the Battle of Saraighat fought in 1671, the Mughals were overrun on account of the strong leadership and diligence of Lachit Borphukan.

The city experienced a brief period of Burmese rule from 1817 to 1826. After the Treaty of Yandaboo on the 24th Feb 1826, the city became a part of the British Indian Empire. The present day city may be regarded as a creation of that age. After independence, the city prospered further. When Meghalaya broke away in 1972, the capital of the state of Assam was shifted to Dispur – a then suburb now fully incorporated within the main city. The city has grown by leaps and bounds over the past one and a half decades to establish itself as a full-fledged metropolis.

1.1.2Location of Guwahati: The city of Guwahati in the Kamrup (Metro) District lies between the banks of the Brahmaputra River in the north and the foothills of the Shillong plateau in the south, with LGB International Airport to the west and the township of Chandrapur to the east. It is gradually being expanded towards North Guwahati on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra, and towards Palashbari/ Mirza on the west. Geographical extension of the present-day city may be considered to be between 91°33'18.141" E and 91°10'41.005 "E Longitudes and 25° 59' 33.183" N and 26° 15' 50.945" N Latitudes.

The city is situated on an undulating plain with varying altitudes of 47 m to 55.5 m above Mean sea Level (MSL), which is dotted by hills and hillocks all around in a plum-in-pudding ensemble. Apart from the hilly tracts, swamps, marshes, water bodies, viz. Deepor Beel, Silsakoo Beel, Borsola Beel, Silpukhuri, Dighali Pukhuri, etc. also cover the city.

1.1.3Area and Population of Guwahati: The Guwahati Municipal Corporation, the city's local government, administers an area of 216 square Kilometres, while the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority, the planning and development body, administers an area of 262 square Kilometres. As per the 2011 Census, the population of the city is 9,63,429.

1.1.4Climate & Rainfall of Guwahati: The City falls under the humid sub tropical climatic region characterized by warm humid climate with heavy rainfall in summer and a relatively cool winter with scanty rainfall. The winter season starts from December and ends in February followed by the summer season from March to May. The monsoon season starts from June and continues till September – receiving an average rainfall of 1065mm. It is followed by the post monsoon season (October – November). The normal rainfall recorded in the city is around 1600 mm. The maximum and minimum temperatures recorded in the city are 38o degree and 7 o respectively. The average relative humidity in the city is more than 76.6%.

Climate Data for Guwahati

Month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Year

Record High °C

28.8

32.2

38.4

39.0

37.0

38.3

36.5

36.2

35.8

34.3

31.0

28.1

39

Average High °C

23.6

26.0

29.9

30.7

31.0

31.9

31.7

32.1

31.4

30.2

27.5

24.4

29.2

Daily Mean °C

17.1

19.0

22.9

25.3

26.7

28.4

28.5

28.8

27.9

26.0

22.2

18.1

24.24

Average Low °C

10.3

11.9

15.7

19.9

22.4

24.8

25.3

25.4

24.4

21.9

16.8

11.8

19.22

Record Low °C (°F)

4.7

5.1

8.3

13.0

16.2

20.4

21.4

22.1

19.7

13.6

10.3

6.0

4.7

Rainfall mm

11.9

18.3

55.8

147.9

244.2

316.4

345.4

264.3

185.9

91.2

18.7

7.1

1717.7

Avg. 

Rainy Days

1.8

2.9

5.8

13.1

17.0

19.6

22.3

18.5

15.2

7.4

2.8

1.3

127.7

 % 

Humidity

79

65

57

68

75

81

83

82

83

82

82

82

76.6

Mean Monthly 

Sunshine Hours

226

215

220

201

192

132

124

161

138

204

231

232

2278

Source: World Meteorological Organization – NOAA (Extremes & Humidity, 1971-1990)

1.2 The Department: The Guwahati Development Department has been established to administer the city of Guwahati, and engender its overall development. The raison d’être of the department is amalgamate under one umbrella all the Govt. organizations and agencies involved in the development of Guwahati City, and thereby streamline the developmental process. In fact, the mandate of the Guwahati Development Department is to oversee the development of Guwahati City through the development works carried out by Guwahati Municipal Corporation and Guwahatj Metropolitan Development Authority; and in some cases, by the other Line Departments of the Government of Assam.

The basic function of the Department is the administrative control of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation and Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority, to monitor the activities of these two organizations and also to sanction and release fund for the various developmental schemes to be undertaken by these two organizations.

1.2.1 Guwahati Municipal Corporation:

It is the urban local body of Guwahati entrusted with civic administration of the city. It was created by the Guwahati Municipal Corporation Act 1971, and duly constituted in 1974 in the first meeting of the elected councilors as per provision of Section 45 of the Act. Its basic function is the provision and regulation of civic amenities in urban areas viz. roads and other engineering works, water supply, sanitation that includes waste management, sewage, drainage and flood control, public safety services, construction and maintenance of building, etc. – as provided for by that Act.

The Corporation has the following major branches –

· Conservancy

· Water Works

· Public Works

· Building Permission

· Street-lighting and Electrical Works

· Municipal Markets

· Veterinary

· Sanitation & Health

· Enforcement

· Property Tax

· Trade Licence

· Mutation

· Advertisement

· Slow Moving Vehicle

· Garage

· Poverty Alleviation

· Birth and Death Registration

· Accounts

· Dead Body and Night Soil Removal

For property tax and trade licence purposes, the corporation area is divided into four zones. For conservancy and public works, the corporation area is divided into five divisions.

The major sources of revenue for the Corporation are: (1) Property Tax [comprising of General Tax, Water Tax, Scavenging Tax, Light Tax & Urban Tax], (2) Trade Licence Fee, (3) Entry Toll, (4) Parking Fees, (5) Toll and Rent from Municipal Markets, (6) Tax on Advertisements, (7) Tax on Slow Moving Vehicles, (8) Animal Tax, (9) Building Permission Fees and Penalties, (10) Water Connection Charge, (11) Fines, (12) Share of Motor Vehicle Tax, (13) Share of Entertainment Tax and (14) Share of Land Revenue and Surcharge on Stamp Duty.

There are over 1,00,000 assessed holdings under GMC, and there are about 40,000 water connections to different holdings from GMC.

Organizational setup of the Corporation is as follows:

· The Corporation is composed of an elected body and an executive body.

· The elected body has 31 councilors representing the Corporation; among them 7 members constitute the Mayor–in–Council. The council is headed by a Mayor, below whom is a Deputy Mayor. There are five standing committees of the council to supervise various works.

· The Municipal Commissioner is the head of the executive body of the corporation. He is assisted by Addl. Commissioner and Jt. Commissioner.

· The water works division is headed by a Chief Engineer. The public works department is headed by a Chief Engineer. The garage branch is headed by a Superintending Engineer. The accounts branch is headed by a Financial Advisor and Chief Accounts and Audit Officer. Each revenue zone is headed by a Deputy Commissioner. Each public works division is headed by an Executive Engineer.

1.2.2 Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority:

It is the urban development authority of Guwahati entrusted with ensuring planned development of the city. It was created by the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority Act 1985, and duly constituted in 1992 as per provisions of that Act. The raison d’être for the body is summed up by the Preamble of the Act concerned –

"Whereas it is expedient to provide for the establishment of an Authority for the enforcement and execution of the Master Plan and for the formulation and execution of schemes for the planned development of Guwahati Metropolitan Area, for the co-ordination and supervision of the execution of such plans and schemes with the object of securing proper living and sanitary conditions, to conserve and promote the public health, safety and general welfare of the people living therein and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto".

GMDA's functions include the following:

· Planning: Preparation of Master Plan and Zoning Regulation.

· Development: Preparation and execution of development schemes. To carry out or cause to be carried out such works as are contemplated in the Master Plan.

· Regulation and Control: To regulate and control the development though statutory plans and other measures.

· Co-ordination: To co-ordinate development activities of other public agencies operating within Guwahati Metropolitan Area

The organizational structure of GMDA comprises the following:

· It is headed by the Chairman. Although the Chief Minister of the State used to be the ex-officio Chairman, a full-fledged Chairman has been appointed following amendment in the Act.

· There are two numbers of Deputy Chairmen beneath the Chairman.

· There is a Vice Chairman who is from the non-political executive. He is generally the Commissioner/ Secretary of the Guwahati Development/ Planning & Development Department.

· The administrative head is the Chief Executive Officer. His job is to ensure the works of planning, development, regulation and control, and coordination are properly accomplished.

· The CEO is assisted in his job by the Secretary, who is also the ex-officio Member Secretary of the organization.

· There are a number of Development Officers to take care of the different functions.

· The engineering wing is headed by the Chief Engineer, who is of the rank of Superintending Engineer in the State Govt. Engineering Deptt.s. He has under him a number of Project Engineers, Asst. Executive Engineers and Junior Engineers.

· The urban planning section is headed by the Town Planner, who is of the rank of Associate Planner in the State Govt. He is assisted by an Assistant Town Planner and a number of Junior Architects.

· The accounts section is headed by the Chief Accounts Officer, who is of the rank of Financial Advisor in the State Govt. He is assisted by an Assistant Accounts Officer and a number of Accounts Assistants.

· The ministerial staff is headed by the Superintendent, and includes Senior Assistants and Junior Assistants.

· The officers and employees of the organization are either regular or deputed or contractual.

GMDA is financially independent of the Govt. Its sources of revenue are the fees for Land Sale Permission and Building Permission, and funds sanctioned for different projects.

1.3 The Departmental Vision: The vision of the Guwahati Department is to develop the Guwahati City in a sustainable way, and maintain its urban facilities and civic amenities properly. The major hurdles in that line are the natural and man-made calamities like floods, cyclones, earthquake, landslide, epidemics and fire, etc. In order to cope up with the challenges arising out of these calamities, the Guwahati Development Department has chalked out this comprehensive Disaster Management Plan for the Guwahati City. The idea is to prepare an action oriented plan to guide the administration, as well as different branches/departments of the Corporation to remain well prepared for all such calamities in order to safeguard and rescue lives, livelihood and property; and thereby maintain the pace of growth.

1.4 Departmental Objectives: The objectives of the Department, with regard to Disaster Management, are as follows:

· To mitigate impact of natural and man-made hazards through preparedness at City as well as at the Ward level.

· To provide effective support and resources to all concerned individuals, groups and departments.

· To disseminate factual information in a timely, accurate and tactful manner.

· To develop immediate and lone-term support plans for vulnerable people in/during disasters.

· To reduce vulnerability by exerting structural and locational control/ restriction on constructions.

· To create awareness among the people about hazards occurrence and increasing their participation in preparedness, prevention, development, relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction process.

· To have response system in place to face any eventuality.

· To affect or elicit the least possible disruption to the normal life process when dealing with individuals in disaster.

· To ensure active participation by the communities and volunteers at all levels making optimal utilization of human and material resources during the time of disaster.

.

CHAPTER – II

Disaster Vulnerability & Response

2.0 Disaster: Disaster has been defined by the United Nations as: "….. a serious disruption of the functioning of a society, causing widespread human, material, or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected society to cope using its own resources". Disaster can thus be ostensively described as any tragic event stemming from phenomena such as earthquakes, floods, catastrophic accidents, fires, or explosions; that can cause damage to life, property and destroy the economic, social and cultural life of people.

A disaster is characterized as the product of a hazard such as earthquake, flood or windstorm coinciding with a vulnerable situation which might include communities, cities or villages. Thus, there are two main components in this concept of the cause of disaster: hazard and vulnerability.

Hazard can be described as a condition or occurrence that has the potentiality for causing widespread injury and loss of life, property and environment. There can be Natural Hazards [hazards with meteorological, geological or even biological origin: e.g. flood, earthquake, windstorm, landslide, etc.] and Artificial Hazards [hazards with human-caused or technological origin: e.g. fire, chemical and industrial accidents, etc.]. However, without vulnerability hazard has no scope of effecting any loss or injury to life, property and environment.

2.1 Disaster Vulnerability: Vulnerability can be described as the extent to which a community, structure, service, or geographic area is likely to be damaged or disrupted by the impact of particular hazard, on account of their nature, construction and proximity to hazardous terrain or a disaster prone area. It can be easily observed that the city of Guwahati suffers from vulnerability with respect to a number of hazards. For example:

· The built-in areas on the flood-plains of the rivers and streams are prone to conventional/ riverine floods and erosion.

· The inhabited low-lying area and areas with poor drainage system are vulnerable to water-logging/ artificial/ urban floods.

· The haphazard habitations in the hill-side without caring for soil retention are vulnerable to landslides.

· The flat roofed Assam Type and thatched houses are vulnerable to storms and cyclones.

· The badly constructed RCC/ brick buildings in the city are vulnerable to earthquakes [as their fragile structures are more likely to disintegrate with the violent ground shaking of an earthquake] – the city as a whole being prone to earthquakes.

· The streets of the city being narrow at lots of places, the city is vulnerable to huge damage due to any case of accidental fire – because fire brigades would not be able to approach affected areas easily.

2.2 Likely Disasters: Considering the vulnerability of the city to different hazards, as well as the probability of occurrence of such hazards; the disasters likely to strike Guwahati may be noted as follows.

2.2.1 Riverine Floods (Natural Disaster): Flood is an overflow of water that submerges land which is usually dry. In this respect, the European Union (EU) Floods Directive defines a flood as a covering by water of land not normally covered by water. Flooding may occur as an overflow of water from water bodies, such as a river or lake, in which the water overtops or breaks levees, resulting in some of that water escaping its usual boundaries, or it may occur due to an accumulation of rainwater on saturated ground. While the first type of floods can be categorized as riverine floods, the second type is generally termed as water-logging or areal floods.

Riverine floods occur in rivers/ streams when the flow rate exceeds the capacity of the river channel, particularly at bends or meanders in the waterway. In other words, the inadequate capacity of the rivers to contain within their banks the high flows brought down from the upper catchment areas following heavy rainfall, leads to such flooding. Floods often cause damage to homes and businesses if they are in the natural flood plains of rivers. Therefore, the tendency of people to occupy the flood plains has exacerbated the situation over the years.

Guwahati is flanked by the mighty Brahmaputra River on its northern periphery, while around 5 major rivers/ streams drain through it – viz. Bharalu, Mora Bharalu, Basistha, Bahini and Pamohi. The Monsoons or even nondescript heavy showers have more than often resulted in these tributary rivers/ streams causing floods by overflowing their banks or even breaching their embankments. But such phenomenon within the main city is generally accompanied by similar flooding in the adjoining sub-urban and rural areas [included in the Guwahati Metropolitan Region], which is caused by the Brahmaputra River and its tributaries therein [e.g. Puthimari, Kalajal, Borolia, Barnadi, Kulshi, et al].

2.2.2 Areal Floods (Natural Disaster): Areal floods occur on flat or low-lying areas when the ground is saturated and water either cannot run off or cannot run off quickly enough to stop accumulating. Such type of floods can be experienced by areas with poor drainage facilities within a city on account of accumulation of water from localized heavy rainfall [effected by varying rainfall distribution]. Besides, such floods can also occur due to water-logging – if water falls on an impermeable surface, such as concrete, paving or frozen ground, and cannot rapidly dissipate into the ground [as is the case with urban areas with high coefficient of run-off].

Guwahati has been suffering, and is likely to suffer, from such type of floods. There are a number of factors responsible for that. Firstly, the drainage system in the city piece-meal and unsystematic and maintained by different Govt. departments and organizations, viz. GMC and PWD (Roads). As such, there is disrupted connectivity of the storm-water drainages; and the profile and gradient of the existing drains is not as per hydrological requirements. Besides, size of the feeder drains is also inadequate. Secondly, the open drains are extremely narrow and also get clogged and littered by garbage disposal. The closed drains are clogged with sedimentation/ siltation [i.e. silt deposition] and their [non-uniform] water carrying capacity has been significantly reduced. Besides, raw sewerage also gets into the drainage system. Thirdly, certain encroachments like building of additional structures like walls, stairs, RCC rooms, etc. have at places blocked the natural outflow of water from the areas concerned even through the artificial gutters/ sewers.

Last but not the least, the elevation of certain areas within the city like Anil Nagar, Nabin Nagar, Lachit Nagar and Pub Sarania areas is comparatively lower than the surrounding areas of Guwahati, giving them a bowl-shaped topography. This condition has resulted in rolling of flood-waters into these areas. As such, the existing gravity – based drainage system results in water from around the surrounding areas of Guwahati accumulating in the Anil Nagar, Nabin Nagar and Pub Sarania areas.

2.2.3 Storms (Natural Disaster): Storm refers to a violent turbulence of the atmosphere of a place, on account of sudden low pressure developing over it with high pressure in the surrounding areas; and resulting in rushing of high velocity winds thereto, accompanied by lightning, thunder and heavy rainfall. It is obvious that the pressure gradient creates such winds and result in the formation of storm clouds [such as the cumulonimbus]. Strong winds from any storm type can uproot trees and electricity poles/ transmission cables; and damage or destroy vehicles, buildings, bridges, and other outside objects, turning loose debris into deadly flying projectiles. Sudden heavy rainfall due to such storms can cause flash floods.

On account of the hot humid nature of the climate of Guwahati, storms are quite frequent here. On account of the atmospheric condition in the city during the months of March – April, a particular type of storm – christened Bordoichila – regularly occurs over that period.

2.2.4 Tropical Cyclones (Natural Disaster): A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain. Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by names such as hurricane, typhoon, tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, and simply cyclone. In other words, it is a special type of storm wherein the winds move spirally towards the centre known as eye, collecting large amount of moisture while passing over large bodies of relatively warm water like sea/ ocean. They derive their energy through the evaporation of water from the sea/ ocean surface, which ultimately re-condenses into rain-bearing clouds when the moist air rises and cools to saturation.

Guwahati experiences tropical cyclones time and again, on account of its aerial proximity to the Bay of Bengal, and regular formation of depression over that sea. Such cyclones have been found to cause widespread devastation in the city, including disruption of electricity supply and telecommunication links.

2.2.5 Erosion (Natural Disaster): Rivers in their middle stretches tend to meander causing erosion on one side and deposition of sediments on the other. Erosion refers to the gradual weathering of the land by the river waters and carrying away the same with their flow. It is found to be most profound during receding of riverine flood waters.

In the case of Guwahati, in addition to the erosion caused by Brahmaputra and its tributaries, water flowing down the hills dotting the city also tends to denude the top soil of such hill land. Because, the hills have been laid barren by loss of vegetation and unabated human settlement thereon.

The negative effects of erosion include loss of available land, siltation and ultimate blockage of river and drainage channels, and so on.

2.2.6 Landslides (Natural Disaster): Landslide, also known as a landslip, is a geological phenomenon whereby a mass of land slides down from a mountain/ hill/ cliff on account of gravity and unstable slope of that mountain/ hill/ cliff. Landslides cause massive devastation of life and property not only on the slid mass of land but also the land on which it falls. As such, landslides not only make houses slide down and crash, but also make huge debris fall on houses at the foot of such hills. Death and property destruction ensue on that count. Landslides also clog natural drainage channels as well as sewage gutters resulting in artificial floods.

Guwahati has witnessed and is likely to witness landslides in the hills within its periphery and those surrounding it - whenever heavy rainfall strike it. Because, most of such hills are under different degrees of human habitation, which more often than not do not take any measure for land retention on the slopes – viz. planting trees and building effective retention walls. In fact, the Geological Survey of India has warned that most of the 14 inhabited hills in the city are highly vulnerable to landslides.

2.2.7 Earthquakes (Natural Disaster): Earthquake is the violent shaking [and sometimes displacement] of the ground – on account of a sudden release of energy in the earth's crust thereby creating seismic waves. Earthquakes cause widespread damage to buildings and other infrastructure, even resulting in their collapse at times.

Guwahati is particularly susceptible to earthquakes, falls within the High Risk Zone – V [where an earth quake of maximum intensity of IX on the MM Scale can be expected] - as per the latest Seismic Zoning Map of India. Even otherwise, the city is located near boundary of the Eurasian and Indian Tectonic Plates in the Himalayan Mountains; and a fault-line passes beneath its surface.

Besides, along with the event of earthquake itself, the structural quality of the buildings – as far as earthquake resilience is concerned – also determine the extent of damage.

2.2.8 Fire (Artificial Disaster): Accidental fire causes widespread damage and destruction. Guwahati is no exception.

2.2.9 Industrial Accident (Artificial Disaster): Guwahati has a number of large industries including the Noonmati Refinery. Although the industries claim proper safety measures, the city may still be vulnerable on that front.

2.2.10 Terrorist Attack (Artificial Disaster): Bomb blasts, grenade attacks and other terrorist activities create disaster for the society at large. Being affected by insurgency and other militant activities, the city is particularly vulnerable on that count.

2.3 Geographical Extent and Magnitude of the Disasters: The geographical extent of the disasters extends from particular vulnerable localities to the entire Greater Guwahati. The magnitude also varies accordingly in that pattern.

2.3.1 Riverine Floods (Natural Disaster): The flood plains of the 5 major river channels [viz. Bharalu, Mora-Bharalu, Bahini, Basistha and Pamohi] and their adjoining areas are generally affected by such floods after heavy rainfall. The Brahmaputra seldom overflows its banks within the main city – because if it does so, it would be a major catastrophe. The streams and rivers in the outskirts [viz. Kulshi, Kollong, Barnadi, Kalajal, Puthimari, Borolia, Nona and Pagladia] do overtop their banks causing conventional floods; as does the Brahmaputra River itself near Agiathuri on the northern bank and Palashbari on the southern bank.

The magnitude of the flood depends on the amount of rainfall in the catchment areas of the rivers concerned, which is variable from time to time. The temporal and spatial spread of such rainfall are also important factors determining not only the extent but also the duration of such floods. After the recent operations in July – August 2014 undertaken for evicting encroachments on, cleaning and clearing debris from, as well as widening and deepening by excavating the river channels concerned; the magnitude of such flood vis-à-vis the amount of rainfall has definitely reduced in intensity.

It may be noted that the hourly rainfall data of Guwahati during the period of heavy rainfall in the city on 20th, 21st, 22nd & 23rd September 2014 was as follows.

SL. NO.

STATION NAME

DATE

TIME

RAINFALL

HOURLY RF

[IST]

[IST]

[mm]

(mm)

[1]

[2]

 

[5]

[10]

[11]

1

GUWAHATI

23-Sep-14

5:30:00

66

1

2

GUWAHATI

23-Sep-14

4:30:00

65

0

3

GUWAHATI

23-Sep-14

3:30:00

65

3

4

GUWAHATI

23-Sep-14

2:30:00

62

3

5

GUWAHATI

23-Sep-14

1:30:00

59

9

6

GUWAHATI

23-Sep-14

0:30:00

50

19

7

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

23:30:00

31

7

8

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

22:30:00

24

24

9

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

21:30:00

0

0

10

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

20:30:00

177

2

11

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

19:30:00

175

4

12

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

18:30:00

171

1

13

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

17:30:00

170

0

14

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

16:30:00

170

6

15

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

15:30:00

164

7

16

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

14:30:00

157

7

17

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

13:30:00

150

11

18

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

12:30:00

139

12

19

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

11:30:00

127

8

20

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

10:30:00

119

22

21

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

9:30:00

97

12

22

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

8:30:00

85

2

23

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

7:30:00

83

3

24

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

6:30:00

80

13

25

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

5:30:00

67

8

26

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

4:30:00

59

10

27

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

3:30:00

49

9

28

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

2:30:00

40

13

29

GUWAHATI

22-Sep-14

1:30:00

27

15

30

GUWAHATI

21-Sep-14

23:30:00

12

7

31

GUWAHATI

21-Sep-14

22:30:00

5

5

32

GUWAHATI

21-Sep-14

21:30:00

0

0

33

GUWAHATI

21-Sep-14

20:30:00

26

3

34

GUWAHATI

21-Sep-14

18:30:00

23

1

35

GUWAHATI

21-Sep-14

17:30:00

22

1

36

GUWAHATI

21-Sep-14

16:30:00

21

1

37

GUWAHATI

21-Sep-14

15:30:00

20

1

38

GUWAHATI

21-Sep-14

14:30:00

19

2

39

GUWAHATI

21-Sep-14

13:30:00

17

1

40

GUWAHATI

21-Sep-14

12:30:00

16

2

41

GUWAHATI

21-Sep-14

11:30:00

14

4

42

GUWAHATI

21-Sep-14

10:30:00

10

2

43

GUWAHATI

21-Sep-14

9:30:00

8

1

44

GUWAHATI

21-Sep-14

8:30:00

7

4

45

GUWAHATI

21-Sep-14

7:30:00

3

2

46

GUWAHATI

21-Sep-14

6:30:00

1

0

47

GUWAHATI

21-Sep-14

5:30:00

1

0

48

GUWAHATI

21-Sep-14

3:30:00

1

0

49

GUWAHATI

21-Sep-14

2:30:00

1

0

50

GUWAHATI

21-Sep-14

1:30:00

1

1

51

GUWAHATI

21-Sep-14

0:30:00

0

0

52

GUWAHATI

20-Sep-14

23:30:00

0

0

53

GUWAHATI

20-Sep-14

22:30:00

0

0

54

GUWAHATI

20-Sep-14

21:30:00

0

0

55

GUWAHATI

20-Sep-14

20:30:00

17

0

56

GUWAHATI

20-Sep-14

19:30:00

17

0

57

GUWAHATI

20-Sep-14

18:30:00

17

0

58

GUWAHATI

20-Sep-14

17:30:00

17

0

59

GUWAHATI

20-Sep-14

16:30:00

17

0

60

GUWAHATI

20-Sep-14

15:30:00

17

0

61

GUWAHATI

20-Sep-14

14:30:00

17

5

62

GUWAHATI

20-Sep-14

13:30:00

12

4

63

GUWAHATI

20-Sep-14

11:30:00

8

2

64

GUWAHATI

20-Sep-14

10:30:00

6

1

65

GUWAHATI

20-Sep-14

9:30:00

5

0

66

GUWAHATI

20-Sep-14

8:30:00

5

0

The peak hourly rainfall may be noted to be 24 mm. Besides, considering the fact that similar rainfall occurred with the same intensity in the Meghalaya hills to the south, the peak discharge may be calculated using the HEC-RAS hydraulic model. The actual magnitude of the flood may be deduced on the basis of the geometry of the river/ drainage channels using the Manning’s formula.

The physical impact of such flood may be noted by the fact that it took 36 hours after the stoppage of rain to relieve the Anil Nagar/ Nabin Nagar areas of water-logging by pumping out the waters therefrom.

2.3.2 Areal Floods (Natural Disaster): The geographical extent of the areal floods cover all the low lying areas of Guwahati as well as areas without proper drainage outlet. Such areas may be identified by perusing the base elevation map of the city – as shown below.

Some of the major areas affected by water-logging have been identified as:

1. Mathura Nagar & adjoining areas

2. Jonali Point area on the Zoo [RG Baruah] Road

3. Tarun Nagar & Srinagar areas [South of Bharalu River]

4. Anil Nagar & Nabin Nagar areas [North of Bharalu River]

5. Rajgarh, Pub Sarania & Lachit Nagar areas

6. Rajgarh Road Bye-lanes [No. 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5]

7. Usha Court Point area on the Zoo [RG Baruah] Road

8. Bhangagarh Flyover Point

9. Ananda Nagar area on GS Road

10. Hatigaon & Sijubari areas

11. MLA Hostel area in Dispur

12. Kalpa Bhatta Chowk area of Noonmati

13. Uzanbazar area

14. Ambari area

15. Ulubari & Manipuri Basti areas

16. Tokobari & Krishna Nagar areas

17. Kumarpara area

18. Barsapara & Dhirenpara areas

19. Lalganesh area

20. Manasha Mandir Path area of Santipur

21. Rest Camp area of Pandu

22. National Highway 37 [Guwahati Bypass from Jalukbari to Khanapara]

The magnitude of the floods may be calculated in the same manner as riverine floods.

2.3.3 Storms (Natural Disaster): Storms strike every length and breadth of the city. But they are particularly severe on plain areas away from the hills, which have a stabilizing effect on the wind velocity. Magnitude of storms may be gauged from the fact that high intensity storms generally have wind velocity upto 100 miles per hour. However, comprehensive measurement of the energy/ magnitude of such storms cannot be found done.

2.3.4 Tropical Cyclones (Natural Disaster): Cyclones similarly strike every length and breadth of the city, while they are particularly severe on plain areas away from the hills – since the hills concerned have a stabilizing effect on the wind velocity. Magnitude of cyclones has also never been comprehensively measured till date.

2.3.5 Erosion (Natural Disaster): Erosion generally affects the river banks and the adjoining flood plains of the rivers and streams draining into the Brahmaputra, as well as that of the Brahmaputra River itself. Moreover, water rolling down the hill-side also erodes the top-soil there-from, especially when such hills have already been bereft of vegetative cover. The magnitude of the erosion is significant, but scientific measurement of the same could not be observed.

2.3.6 Landslides (Natural Disaster): The hills dotting the city – viz. (1) Nilachal Hills (housing the Kamakhya Temple), (2) Santipur/ Fatasil Hills and (3) Silapahar in West Guwahati [under Guwahati Revenue Circle]; (4) Sukleswar Hillock (housing the Sukleswar Temple and the old DC Residence), (5) Chitrachal Hills (housing the Navagraha Temple) and (6) Sarania Hills (housing the Gandhi Mandap) in Central Guwahati [under Guwahati Revenue Circle]; (7) Japorigog Hills, (8) Kharguli Hills and (9) Narengi Hills in East Guwahati [under Guwahati Revenue Circle]; (10) Sonaighuli Hills, (11) Narakasur/ Kahilipara Hills, (12) Kalapahar, (13) Koinadhara Hills (housing the CM Residence), (14) Sijubari Hills (housing the Khankah Mazar), (15) Thanakatila (Hengrabari) in South Guwahati [under Dispur Revenue Circle]; (16) Kalipahar and (17) Agiathori Hills in North Guwahati [under North Guwahati Revenue Circle]; along with (18) Gauhati University Hills, and the (19) Hills along the Assam-Meghalaya Border – are all prone to landslides. The magnitude has never been measured or assessed, but may be regarded as significant considering the human loss and disruption of normal life it causes.

2.3.7 Earthquakes (Natural Disaster): Geomorphologically the entire Guwahati city along with the rest of North East India is located in an earthquake prone zone [i.e. Zone V] of the Indian subcontinent. In this region, earthquake comes with land sliding flood and along with series of smaller magnitude earthquakes. Herein earthquakes of up to intensity IX in the MM Scale can be expected. According to a hazard map produced by the Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Programmed, the North East India can expect to have a peak ground acceleration (PGA) of 0.24g to 0.48g.

2.3.8 Artificial Disasters: Such disasters may occur anywhere within the city, and the magnitude cannot be gauged beforehand.

2.4 Magnitude of likely Losses: Magnitude of the likely losses may be assessed on the basis of earlier experiences of such disasters. However, financial valuation of such losses cannot be precisely done, especially on account of money value and introduction of new items of loss.

2.4.1 Riverine & Areal Floods (Natural Disaster): Loss of life may occur in case of flash floods or on account of accidental drowning. Post flood epidemics, if not attended properly, may cause fatalities. However, any such flood is likely to cause loss of personal and public property. Civic infrastructure may also get damaged in the process.

2.4.2 Storms & Cyclones (Natural Disaster): Storms and cyclones are likely to uproot trees and electrical poles, and may even snap overhead electric transmission lines. Civic infrastructure and kutcha structures may get damaged or even completely destroyed. Loss of human life is also possible if proper precautions are not taken to rush to protective shelters on encountering such storms.

2.4.3 Erosion (Natural Disaster): Erosion of hill-side causes loss of soil cover therein. Riverside erosion causes permanent loss of land.

2.4.4 Landslides (Natural Disaster): Landslides, as already mentioned, are likely to cause massive devastation of life and property not only on the slid mass of land but also the land on which it falls. As such, landslides not only make houses slide down and crash, but also make huge debris fall on houses at the foot of such hills. Death and property destruction ensue on that count. Landslides also clog natural drainage channels as well as sewage gutters resulting in artificial floods.

2.4.5 Earthquakes (Natural Disaster): Earthquakes are likely to cause massive damage and destruction of property. Loss of human life is possible. But what is important to note is that if buildings are constructed as per Earthquake Resistant Design, the structures would be able to withstand earthquakes up to a significant magnitude. Therefore, the building byelaws need to incorporate such design.

Besides, if people conduct themselves properly during the onset of an earthquake, loss of human life would be minimized. That requires practice and proper anticipation. That can be accomplished by conducting mock-drills.

2.4.6 Artificial Disasters: Such disasters have varying probable losses – depending on the magnitude of the disaster concerned.

2.5 Responsibilities of the Department during Disasters: The Department comprises the GMDA and GMC. The responsibilities of these organizations during disasters may be elucidated as follows.

2.5.1 Role of GMDA: Prior to any actual disaster, GMDA is responsible for undertaking and coordinating various short-term, mid-term and long-term measures to mitigate the effect of the disaster [and attempt to eliminate the occurrence of that disaster altogether]. Besides, it is also responsible along with ASDMA, NESAC and the District Administration to establish a Flood Early Warning System [FLEWS] or similar prediction/ preparedness system for other disasters as per the relevant NDMA guidelines.

During the disaster, GMDA is responsible to coordinate the implementation of the mitigation measures [e.g. running of pumps during floods] – in association with the line department concerned [e.g. Water Resources Deptt. of the Govt. of Assam in the instant case].

After the floods, GMDA has to assess new measures for disaster mitigation.

2.5.2 Role of GMC: As a part of the preparedness and in event of any disaster the Guwahati Municipal Corporation proposes to play the following roles:

· Disseminate the Plan at all levels in order to make every functionaries of the Corporation aware of their own responsibilities.

· Chalk out an inventory of all the resources and man power available with the Corporation.

· Alert the Emergency Response Functionaries.

· Closely monitor and review the situation.

· Chalk out an action plan

· to clear the debris

· to restore water supply where applicable

· to clear the drainage system

2.6 Departmental Experiences of earlier Disasters: The experiences of the Department regarding earlier disasters may be noted as follows.

2.6.1 Riverine & Areal Floods (Natural Disaster): Such floods have been occurring every year. During the current calendar year (2014 AD), massive floods have occurred during the last week of June, mid-part of August and the mid-part of September. The Department, along with the Kamrup Metro District Administration and the WR Deptt. of the State Govt., have been able to get enough insights in order to undertake measures for permanent solution of the problem.

2.6.2 Storms & Tropical Cyclones (Natural Disaster): Storms and cyclones of varying intensities have been occurring every year. But during the current calendar year (2014 AD), massive storm/ cyclone disrupting normal life has not occurred. Yet experiences of earlier years have been utilized to frame measures for loss mitigation during such storms/ cyclones.

2.6.3 Erosion (Natural Disaster): Floods have always been accompanied by erosion. Water Resources Deptt. of the State Govt. has been entrusted for undertaking erosion–control measures.

2.6.4 Landslides (Natural Disaster): Landslides have occurred this year as well claiming quite a number of human lives and destroying property. Therefore, steps are being taken in conjunction with the Soil Conservation Deptt. and IIT Guwahati personnel to effect afforestation especially in the hill-side in order to arrest such landslides.

2.6.5 Earthquakes (Natural Disaster): Details of some of the major earthquakes affecting Guwahati may be elucidated as follows.

Epicentre

Year

Magnitude

[Richter Scale]

Remarks

Cachar

March 21, 1869

7.8

Numerous earth fissures and sand craters

Shillong Plateau

June 12, 1897

8.7

About 1542 people died

Sibsagar

Aug 31, 1906

7.0

Property damage

Mayammer

Dec 12,1908

7.5

Property damage

Srimangal

July 8,1918

7.6

4500 km2 area suffered damage

SW Assam

Sep 9,1923

7.1

Property damage

Dhubri

July 2, 1930

7.1

Railway lines, culverts and bridges cracked

Assam

Jan 27, 1931

7.6

Destruction of property

Nagaland

1932

7.0

Destruction of property

N-E Assam

Oct 23, 1943

7.2

Destruction of property

Arunachal

July 7, 1947

7.5

Destruction of property

Upper Assam

July 29, 1949

7.6

Severe damage

Upper Assam

Aug 15, 1950

8.7

About 1520 people die. One of the latest known quake in history

Patkai Range, Arunachal

1950

7.0

Property damage

Manipur- Burma border

1954

7.4

Property damage

Darjeeling

1959

7.5

Property damage

Indo- Myanmar Border

Aug 6, 1988

7.5

No Casualty reported

Bhutan

Sep,21, 2009

6.2

Destruction of property

Sikkim

18th Sept’2011

6.9

Many people died. Property destroyed. One of huge earthquake in recent times.

Guwahati

Sept’2011

5.6

Destruction of property

Among such earthquakes, the ones in 1897, 1950 and 1988 were the most noteworthy. Massive losses had ensued then. However, the Department was not formed at that time. But the data available from such earthquakes have been utilized for risk reduction measures.

2.6.6 Fire & other Artificial Disaster): Fires have been occurring every now and then within the jurisdictional area of the Deptt. Bomb blasts of 2008 and 2009 have been significant terrorist attacks in the city, but no major industrial accidents have taken place during the period of existence of the Deptt.

CHAPTER – III

Departmental Tasks

3.1 Main tasks and Services Extended:

The function of the Department is the Administrative control of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation and Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority and to monitor the activities of these two organizations and also to sanction and release fund for the various developmental schemes to be undertaken by these two organizations. Further, the Department is also to construct the Permanent Capital Complex and execute the various developmental schemes under the Twelfth Finance Commission and through the funds sanctioned by the GOI under NLCPR, One Time Additional Central Assistance and JNNURM.

GMDA, as already mentioned, is entrusted with the following tasks and delivery of the following citizen-centric services.

· Planning: Preparation of Master Plan and Zoning Regulation.

· Development: Preparation and execution of development schemes. To carry out or cause to be carried out such works as are contemplated in the Master Plan.

· Regulation and Control: To regulate and control the development though statutory plans and other measures.

· Co-ordination: To co-ordinate development activities of other public agencies operating within Guwahati Metropolitan Area

The organization also provides citizens with land-sale permission on finding conformity of the intended land-use with the zoning regulations. It further provides citizens permission to undertake construction of buildings as per the building bye-laws 2014.

GMC, on the other hand, is the civic body providing the citizens with a plethora of services, and collecting taxes and levies on that count. The functions and responsibilities have already been delineated [Chapter I].

3.2Incorporation of Disaster Management related Aspects in Departmental Tasks:

In order to incorporate disaster management related aspects in the normal departmental tasks, the following measures have been taken.

· Development Plans have incorporated measures for disaster mitigation especially flood mitigation.

· GMDA is undertaking a number of measures for flood mitigation – short term, intermediate and long term – as part of its exercise for engendering sustainable development of the city.

· Digging and excavating the major river/ drainage channels within the city in order to widen and deepen the same for ensuring proper carrying capacity, gradient and free flow.

· Fencing of the periphery of the channels to prevent their encroachment and littering of solid waste therein.

· Installing additional centrifugal pumps in order to be able to flush out accumulated water at the earliest possible.

· Excavating, cleaning and clearing the notified water-bodies of Borsola Beel, Sarusola Beel and Silsako Beel for ensuring greater water retention capacity thderein.

· Procuring additional excavators and amphibian dredgers for facilitating simultaneous and faster work.

· Coordinating with Water-Resources Deptt. to excavate alternative drainage channel to divert Meghalaya storm-waters away from the city. Similarly, coordinate with both WRD and NHAI to excavate and construct side-drain of adequate capacity on both sides of NH 37 (Guwahati Byepass) with proper flow and water carrying capacity.

· Installing Automated Rain Gauges with the help of WRD and ASDMA in order to establish an effective FLEWS.

· Constructing a comprehensive storm-water drainage system – which would effectively flush out storm-water from the city after any heavy rains without disturbing its regular activities.

· Separating the sewerage system from the storm-water drainage system, and preventing solid waste from getting into the primary drainage channels.

· GMDA is conducting earthquake and fire safety audit of a large number of buildings within Guwahati city with the help of Assam Engineering College personnel.

· GMC has undertaken the repair, restoration and reconstruction of all feeder drains within the city, in order to ensure their proper water carrying capacity, connectivity and free flow. The measure would not only facilitate flood mitigation but also ensure clean-up of the city.

· GMC has undertaken the following steps as part of its disaster management initiative.

· To assess the risks and vulnerabilities associated with various disasters;

· To develop appropriate disaster prevention and mitigation strategies;

· To provide clarity on roles and responsibilities for all stakeholders;

· To develop and maintain arrangements for accessing resources, equipment,

supplies and funding in preparation for disasters that might occur;

· To create awareness and preparedness and provide necessary training to the agencies involved in disaster management and to the community;

· To strengthen the capacities of the community and establish and maintain effective systems for responding to disasters;

· To ensure co-ordination with agencies related to disaster management at City as well as at the State level; and

· To establish and maintain a proactive programme of risk reduction.

· GMC has proposed to formulate a disaster contingency mechanism through the following process.

Steps

What is to be done

Who are to be involved

How it is to be done

I

Review and Analysis

Commissioner

Joint Commissioner

Addll Commissioner

Collector

Associate Planner

Deputy Commissioners

All Executive Engineers

· Past history of disasters to be discussed, and documented.

· Extent of severity and damage to be recorded.

· The nature of the warning issued to be analyzed.

· The nature and extent of the rescue and restoration done, to be revisited.

II

Situation Analysis

Zonal Engineers, Deputy Commissioners

· Ward wise mapping of the geography and topography of the risk prone areas.

· Demographic details to be recorded.

· Mapping of the habitation in the concerned areas.

· The natural resources to be marked on the maps.

· Listing all the livelihoods and properties.

· The existing risk prone/ safe infrastructure to be marked on the map.

III

Hazard

Analysis

-do-

· Identification of all possible hazards in the area based on past experience and available records.

· Identification of the most vulnerable areas with relation to threat to life. livelihoods and property.

IV

Vulnerability Assessment

-do-

· Locations of the vulnerable areas are to be mapped separately.

· Identification of the vulnerable people.

· Identification of property or assets which are likely to be affected, such as kachcha houses, weak structures, life line buildings and schools etc. etc.

· Identification of weak structures.

· Marking the drainage system in the concerned area

· The Guwahati Building Construction (Regulation) Byelaws 2014 – framed for governing the granting of house-building permission within the city by GMDA and GMC – has incorporated a lot of provisions for ensuring safety of the constructed buildings during disasters – thereby ensuring risk reduction and loss mitigation during such disasters.

· Minimum distances of any building from the edge of natural drainage channels (rivers, streams and artificial drains), notified water bodies, other water bodies, lakes and ponds – have been fixed under Section 44 (ix) of the Bye-laws.

· Minimum level of plinth also been fixed under Section 45 of the Bye-laws.

The above two provisions would take care of risk reduction and loss mitigation from riverine and areal floods.

· Provisions for Open Space, Ventilation of Rooms, Corridors and Passages with minimum width, Minimum Height of the buildings and Safe Distance from Power Lines have been incorporated under Sections 54, 55, 56, 60 and 70 respectively of the Bye-laws – in order to ensure construction of disaster proof houses.

· Construction of buildings is prohibited at sites liable to floods as well as sites containing pits and quarries [under Sections 74 & 75 respectively] – in order to protect future inhabitants/ dwellers of such buildings from disaster.

· There are special provisions for construction of cinema halls, theatres, assembly halls, factories and warehouse buildings – under Sections 108 – 109 of the Bye-laws – in order to prevent disaster from fire, electrocution, etc.

· There are special regulations for construction in hilly areas under Section 110 of the Bye-laws – for Disaster Risk Reduction.

· Provisions in the building regulations for structural safety have been incorporated under Section 118 (a) of the Bye-laws. Accordingly, there are also guidelines inserted for cyclone/ wind storm protection, for earthquake protection and for protection against landslide hazard.

Generally, the structural design of foundations, elements of masonry, timber, plain concrete, reinforced concrete, pre-stressed concrete and structural steel has to conform to the provisions of Part VI Structural Design [including Section – 1 Load, Section – 2 Foundation, Section – 3 Wood, Section – 4 Masonry, Section – 5 Concrete, Section – 6 Steel] of the National Building Code of India (NBC) 2005, taking into consideration the Indian Standards (IS) as given below:—

For General Structural Safety

1.IS: 456:2000 “Code of Practice for Plain and Reinforced Concrete”;

2.IS: 800-1984 “Code of Practice for General Construction in Steel”;

3. IS: 801-1975 “Code of Practice for Use of Cold Formal Light Gauge Steel Structural Members in General Building Construction”;

4.IS 875 (Part 2):1987 “Design Loads (other than Earthquake) for Buildings and Structures [Part 2] Imposed Loads”;

5.IS 875 (Part 3): 1987 “Design Loads (other than Earthquake) for Buildings and Structures [Part 3] Wind Loads”;

6. IS 875 (Part 4): 1987 “Design Loads (other than Earthquake) for Buildings and Structures [Part 4] Snow Loads”;

7.IS 875 (Part 5): 1987 “Design Loads (other than Earthquake) for Buildings and Structures [Part 5] Special Loads and Load Combination”;

8.IS: 883:1966 “Code of Practice for Design of Structural Timber in Building”;

9.IS: 1904:1987 “Code of Practice for Structural Safety of Buildings: Foundation”;

10.IS1905:1987 “Code of Practice for Structural Safety of Buildings: Masonry Walls”;

11.IS 2911 (Part 1): Section 1: 1979 “Code of Practice for Design and Construction of Pile Foundation Section 1”;

Part 1: Section 2 Based Cast-in-situ Piles;

Part 1: Section 3 Driven Precast Concrete Piles;

Part 1: Section 4 Based Precast Concrete Piles;

Part 2: Timber Piles;

Part 3 Under Reamed Piles;

Part 4 Load Test on Piles;

For Cyclone/Wind Storm Protection

12.IS 875 (3)-1987 "Code of Practice for Design Loads (other than Earthquake) for Buildings and Structures, Part 3, Wind Loads";

13. Guidelines (Based on IS 875 (3)-1987) for improving the Cyclonic Resistance of Low rise houses and other building.

For Earthquake Protection

14.IS: 1893-2002 "Criteria for Earthquake Resistant Design of Structures (Fifth Revision)";

15.IS:13920-1993 "Ductile Detailing of Reinforced Concrete Structures subjected to Seismic Forces - Code of Practice";

16.IS:4326-1993 "Earthquake Resistant Design and Construction of Buildings - Code of Practice (Second Revision)";

17.IS:13828-1993 "Improving Earthquake Resistance of Low Strength Masonry Buildings - Guidelines";

18.IS:13827-1993 "Improving Earthquake Resistance of Earthen Buildings - Guidelines";

19.IS:13935-1993 "Repair and Seismic Strengthening of Buildings - Guidelines".

For Protection of Landslide Hazard

20.IS 14458 (Part 1): 1998 “Guidelines for retaining wall for hill area: Part 1 Selection of type of wall”;

21.IS 14458 (Part 2): 1997 “Guidelines for retaining wall for hill area: Part 2 Design of retaining/breast walls”;

22.IS 14458 (Part 3): 1998 “Guidelines for retaining wall for hill area: Part 3 Construction of dry stone walls”;

23.IS 14496 (Part 2): 1998 “Guidelines for preparation of landslide – Hazard Zonation maps in mountainous terrains: Part 2 Macro-Zonation”.

· Under Section 118 (d) of the Bye-laws, there is a system for the proof-checking of the structural design of any building.

· There is provision for restoration of all unsafe buildings under Section 71 of the Bye-laws. Such restoration can be accomplished by repair, retrofitting, demolition or dealt otherwise. Similarly, seismic strengthening/ retrofitting has been addressed under Section 118 (c) of the Bye-laws.

CHAPTER – IV

Departmental Responsibilities

4.0 Brief Outline:

The Guwahati Development Department with its two component organizations – GMDA and GMC – are at the forefront of disaster management in the city of Guwahati in conjunction with the District Disaster Management Authority of Kamrup (Metropolitan) District. In order to achieve better co-ordination during disasters, the DDMA of Kamrup (M) has formed a Co-ordination Committee with the following members.

Sl. No.

Designation

Status

1.

Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup (Metro)

& Chairman (DDMA)

Chairman

2.

CEO (GMDA)

Member

3.

Commissioner,

Guwahati Municipal Corporation

Member

4.

ADC cum CEO (DDMA), Kamrup (Metro)

Convenor & Secretary

5.

SSP, Guwahati City

Member

6.

SP (Traffic), Guwahati City

Member

7.

ADC (Development), Kamrup (Metro)

Member

8.

1 representative from

Guwahati Development Department.

Member

9.

DIPRO, Kamrup (Metro)

Member

10.

Joint Director of Health Services,

Kamrup (Metro)

Member

11.

Divisional Forest Officer (Territorial),

Kamrup East Division.

Member

12.

Divisional Officer (Soil Conservation),

Kamrup (Metro) Division.

Member

13.

Executive Engineers/ District Heads of

the Engineering Depts in Kamrup (Metro):

viz. PWD (Roads), PWD (Buildings),

PWD (Mechanical), PWD (NH), PHE,

Water Resources (Civil) & (Mechanical).

Member

14.

Project Officer, DDMA, Kamrup (Metro)

Member

The work relating to disaster management may be divided into three phases: Pre Disaster, During Disaster and Post Disaster. Of course, the period and duration as well as the work itself of the three phases would be different for different types of disaster.

4.1Pre-Disaster :

The phase prior to the disaster concerned basically comprises the following steps:

· Planning and Taking Stock

· Creating Awareness and Setting up of Community Action Groups

· Preparation

· Prediction and Early Warning

4.1.1Planning & Taking Stock: The Disaster Management Plan would be fine-tuned and specific micro-plans would be prepared for each individual disaster. Accordingly, S.O.P. would be prepared for each of the During Disaster Processes. Before that, inventories of all the existing resources including manpower would to be prepared. The resources required by the Department would be compared with the existing resources, and arrangements done to meet any shortfall.

The organization-wise specific steps required in this regard are:

· Guwahati Development Department:

· Take indent of resources from GMC and GMDA.

· Provide such resources after proper scrutiny

· GMDA:

· Prepare inventories of all the resources including manpower

· Prepare disaster-specific plan and SOPs accordingly. Note down requirement of resources, and compare with existing resources.

· Take steps for meeting shortfall, including procurement from own fund or by giving indent to GDD.

· GMC:

· Prepare inventories of all the resources including manpower

· Prepare disaster-specific plan and SOPs accordingly. Note down requirement of resources, and compare with existing resources.

· Take steps for meeting shortfall, including procurement from own fund or by giving indent to GDD.

4.1.2Creating Awareness and Setting up of Community Action Groups: The Disaster Management Plan would be given wide publicity. Similarly, disaster specific plans would also be adequately publicized. For better public cooperation, community action groups would to be set up.

The organization-wise specific steps required in this regard are:

· Guwahati Development Department:

· Provide wide publicity to the DM Plans through DIPR, etc..

· Coordinate with ASDMA for incorporation of the plans into the state-wide gamut of things.

· GMDA:

· Take up IEC activities.

· Inform public about SOP of different machineries.

· GMC:

· Disseminate concept and plan of Disaster Management at all levels.

· Make the plan and inventories readily available to District Administration as well as other line departments.

· Organize Ward Sabhas and liaise with local NGOs/ CBOs.

· Constitute Ward-Level Residents’ Welfare Societies/ Nagrik Samitees for disaster specific purposes.

· Form work-wise Action Groups from amongst members of RWS/ NS. Such Action Groups may comprise the following.

Warning Action Group

Evacuation Action Group

Shelter Management Action Group

Relief and Rehabilitation Action Group

First Aid and Medical Action Group

Water and Sanitation Action Group

Cattle Management and Carcass Disposal (Veterinary) Action Group

Erosion Control Action Group

Damage Assessment Group

Counseling Action Group

4.1.3Preparation: Adequate preparation would be done prior to striking of any disaster; so that the effect is mitigated, losses are minimized and the system can be back to normal within the shortest possible time.

The organization-wise specific steps required in this regard are:

· Guwahati Development Department:

· Ensure all pending projects are completed by the organizations concerned.

· Check and approve the SOPs concerned, and inform relevant Deptt.s accordingly.

· GMDA:

· Set up efficient management teams for various disaster related works.

· Complete works related to flood-preparedness including installation of pumps, excavation of channels and water-bodies, etc.

· Take steps for stabilization of hill slopes, including rejuvenation of vegetative cover, in order to mitigate probability of landslides.

· GMC:

· Set up efficient management teams for various disaster related works.

· Adopt proper and efficient Solid Waste Management system and ensure practice of the same by the members of public.

· Clear out the drains regularly.

· Check the encroachment of natural drains and evict them (if any).

· Carry out safety audit of water tanks of GMC.

· Issue notice to all owners for occupancy certificate.

· Take steps for ensuring retrofitting of seismically fragile buildings.

4.1.4Prediction and Early Warning: Proper prediction and early warning system has to be adopted for each of the disasters. GMDA would coordinate with ASDMA, NESAC (ISRO) and WR Deptt. for accomplishing that.

The disaster-wise specific steps required in this regard are:

· Riverine and Areal Floods:

· Set up Automated Rain Gauges/ Weather Stations all across the city to get rainfall data at 5 minutes interval. The data would be immediately transmitted to a central data-base for continuous and online monitoring and analysis.

· Using HEC-RAS model and using river geometry and Manning’s Formula, probability of floods would be predicted.

· Information on probability of floods would be immediately disseminated by SMS to all stakeholders including Deptt. officials involved and representatives of public.

· Storms and Tropical Cyclones:

· IMD data would be regularly monitored along with the real-time INSAT satellite picture.

· The weather portal [http://www.imdaws.com/ViewAwsData.aspx] providing real-time information on cloud movement and probability of storm would similarly be checked regularly.

· The AWS data would also be analysed regularly to deduce probability of storm/ cyclone.

· Information on probability of storm/ cyclone would be immediately disseminated by SMS to all stakeholders including Deptt. officials involved and representatives of public.

· Landslides and Erosion:

· Enquire and find out all hills with unstable hill-slopes. Shift people and property from such hilly areas.

· Erosion prone river banks should similarly be identified, and people and property shifted therefrom.

· In case of heavy rainfall, landslides/ erosion may be expected from such identified spots. Nearby people have to be intimated not to traverse towards such spots.

· Earthquakes:

· Buildings are to be checked for their resilience against earthquakes.

· Seismically weak buildings may be vacated for saving life and property.

· Mock Drills are to be conducted in all schools/ work-places/ offices/ business-centres and places housing lots of people – to ensure preparedness during actual earthquakes. Such mock-drills can be taken up in case of fire and other artificial disasters as well.

4.2During Disaster: In case of the onset of any disaster, the specific tasks that need to be accomplished are as follows.

· Disseminate of information timely to all stake-holders concerned.

· Rescue and Evacuation.

· Clear out the Debris and Removal of Road Blockage.

· Immediate Restoration of Infrastructure.

· Provide Emergency Water Supply.

· Clearing out the Drains.

For that, GMC has set up an Emergency Support Functions (ESF) System in accordance with the Incident Response System (IRS) adopted by NDMA. GMDA would also have its ESF in due course.:

4.2.1Emergency Support Functions (ESF) of GMC:.

The Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) are various identified response teams, which will assess their strength before any emergency and accordingly will prepare their Standard Operational Procedures to mitigate any disaster. Their well preparedness will help to reduce the damage of any disaster/emergency. These Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) will be identified as per the needs felt during any disaster. For an effective operational system of the ESF, the following points are to be ensured:

· Individual ESFs must prepare their Standard Operational Procedures (SOP) and Plan befitting the requirement in the District Response Plan;

· Time to time each ESF is to undergo simulation exercise or mock drill to understand short comings; and

· The response system is to be up graded regularly depending on the shortcomings.

ESF : Guwahati Municipal Corporation

ESF Coordinator : Department Specifies

Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC)

Team Leader Specification Nodal / Primary Function

Commissioner, GMC.

Primary Agency/ies : Nodal Department

Guwahati Municipal Corporation.

Support Agency/ies :

List of Agency Name (s) : 1. PWD (Building)

2. PWD (Roads)

3. PWD (N.H.)

4. GMDA

5. ASEB

6. PHE

7. Water Resources

8. Transport Department

Primary Purpose / Function

Emergency Support Function (ESF)

ESF provides the following:

1. Identify unsafe buildings and propose for evacuation if required in association with GMDA.

2. Identify damaged buildings in association with GMDA. and clear debris.

3. Emergency clearance of debris to enable passage of emergency personnels in association with PWD.

4. Disposal of carcasses and dead bodies.

5. Emergency supply of drinking water supply in association with PHED.

6. Cleaning and disinfection of affected areas in association with Health Department.

Scope of Engagement

1. Strategic planning and deployment of heavy equipments as required from Garage Branch.

2. Deployment of qualified personal for inspection and supervision.

3. Mobilisation of all divisions of Guwahati Municipal Corporation.

4. Mobilisation of all Water Tankers and to place for service.

Policies of Engagement

1. Commissioner, Guwahati Municipal Corporation, in the event of a major emergency will communicate with Chairman, DDMA, Kamrup (M).

2. All communications will be disseminated to Additional Commissioner & Joint Commissioner for action with mobilisaton of various branches and Divisions.

3. Garage branch to prepare imnventories and a pool of all resources including heavy equipment, vehicles etc.

Planning Assumptions

1. Available resources of Guwahati Municipal Corporation may become limited if demand is high in a large scale incident.

2. All agencies will support this ESF as necessary.

3. General communication network (Telecommunication) may not be in active mode.

General :

1. ESF Coordinate on receipt of the information from Dy Commissioner, Kamrup (M) & Incident Commander will instruct the primary agencies to activate their concerned SOPs for necessary response.

2. Specified ESF Notification and Activation :

· ESP Coordinate will pass instruction to various branches for activation.

· Monitoring will be done by Additional Commissioner and Joint Commissioner.

· All grade IV field staff will act as messenger.

· All schools, offices under GMC will act as primary support and rehabilitation centre.

3. Role of ESF Coordinator :

· ESP Coordinator will communicate with Chairman, DDMA.

· ESP Coordinator will pass instruction for activation of all supports.

Facilities under operation : Details of Hardware and Software Elements as per the scope of the specific ESF (including stockpiles)

As per List.

Activation Procedures

(Response Phase)

Report

Report

Organizational Structure : Within the Primary Agency

As per List.

Time Sheet for Activation

For response :

Detailing tasks along with role specifications from the 0 Hour of the incident : with a time gap of ideally 15 minutes.

4.3Post-Disaster: After any disaster has occurred, the specific tasks that need to be accomplished are as follows.

· Provision of Medical and Health Facilities to prevent Epidemics:

Although it is primarily the job of the Health Deptt. and PHE Deptt.; GMC has to provide safe drinking water from its plants to the victims/ affected people. For that, it may use water-tankers as well.

· Carcass Disposal:

GMC has to take steps in that direction.

· Damage Assessment:

Both GMC and GMDA has to undertake damage assessment exercise, and submit report within time as per the revised CRF guidelines.

· Reporting:

Reporting on the losses and damages have to be made at the earliest, although the proper damage assessment may take some time. This is to facilitate proper policy decision for restoration of essential services at the earliest.

· Reconstruction of Roads & other Infrastructure Destroyed by Floods:

Such reconstruction of infrastructure have to be done by GMC/ GMDA (as the case may be) on sanction of fund for that from CRF/ State Relief Deptt.

· Counseling:

GMC may undertake the venture after flood, with the senior citizens going to people who would have lost family members or large amount of property in the floods; and try to get them out of their trauma.

CHAPTER – V

Departmental Programmes

5.0 Introduction:

Programmes have been formulated within the framework of routine departmental works of the Guwahati Development Deptt. for ensuring risk reduction and loss mitigation in case of different disasters. Such proposed programmes disaster-wise are as follows.

5.1Earthquakes:

The Guwahati City falls under earthquake zone-V so following mitigation measures should be taken to reduce the impact of earthquake:

· Implementation of Building Bye- Laws for new construction in various localities

· Retrofitting of weak structures

· Assessment of life line buildings

5.2 Floods:

Flood mitigation refers to the measures aimed at prevention and preparedness. It reduces the actual or probable impact of floods on the people and their environment. Floods in the city occur frequently during the monsoon due to clogging of drains by garbage and eroded soil. The topography of the city is like a basin and during the rainy season the runoff from the surrounding hilly area carries the load of eroded soil and garbage from the habitats and blocks the drainage system.

The main causes of floods in the city are:

· Over burdening and obstruction in drainage system

· Soil erosion from the hills due to encroachment on the hills

· Poor natural drainage system.

The various measures adopted for flood mitigation may be categorized in two groups structural and non-structural.

Structural

· Construction of drains in the city

· Reforestation of hilly terrain around the city

· Construction of retaining wall at the landslide prone areas

· Practice of Solid Waste Management

Non-structural

· Cleaning of drain in regular interval

· Awareness drive among the communities towards garbage disposal

· Prepare detailed map of flood prone areas of the city

· Plantation in the catchment areas to check soil erosion

5.3 Landslides:

Landslide is also a common phenomenon in the hilly terrain of Guwahati city. Loss of Human lives and properties are frequently observed during the rainy season. Landslide are normally caused by poor ground conditions, geomorphic phenomena, natural physical forces, improper land use pattern, slope disturbances and quite often due to heavy spells of rainfall coupled with impeded drainage. The following measures can be adopted to mitigate the hazard arising out of land slide.

· Correction of drainage systems in the landslide prone areas by maintenance of natural drainage channels.

· Restricting building permission in hilly land slide prone areas.

CHAPTER – VI

Departmental Capacity Building Policy

6.1 Logic behind Capacity Building:

The various stake-holders involved in the disaster management process needs to know about the different facets of disaster management, to acquire the knowledge and learn the skills related to disaster management, and they have to be motivated enough to carry on their tasks as cogs in the wheel without any problem. That provides the justification behind their capacity building.

6.2Needs Assessment :

Needs assessment is the systematic process for determining and addressing needs, or "gaps" between current conditions and desired conditions or "wants". The discrepancy between the current condition and wanted condition must be measured to appropriately identify the need.

As far as the needs assessment of Guwahati Development Deptt. and its component agencies [GMC & GMDA] are concerned vis-à-vis Disaster Mangement is concerned, we can identify the stakeholders concerned as:

· The Officers of the Deptt. and the agencies;

· Field level officers and employees of the agencies; and

· Public representatives and members of NGOs/ CBOs liaising with and working alongside the agencies regarding disaster management.

We may note that some of the officers and employees have a fair bit of knowledge of disaster management – on account of their personal interest and exposure. The same is the case with members of the public. But the officers, employees and people in general have either perfunctory knowledge or inadequate knowledge on that count. Such a state of affairs would seriously hamper the proper implementation of the DMPs.

Therefore, the need with respect to training would include basic concepts of disaster management, different disasters, the different facets of the disaster management plan, and hands-on-exercise for implementing such plan. The training needs to be imparted to all concerned. Of course, a gradation may be made on the basis of already acquired knowledge of the trainees.

6.3Structure & Outline of Training:

The structure and outline of the training would be fixed by the Department in consultation with ASDMA.

6.4Arrangements for Routine Implementation of Training Programme:

Arrangements for routine implementation of the programme shall be done once the training itself is fixed after due consultation with ASDMA.

6.5Awareness Programmes along with Time-table:

Public awareness programmes would also be undertaken by the Deptt. Both GMC and GMDA would be entrusted for the job. The time schedule shall be decided in due course.

CHAPTER – VII

Plan Review

7.1 Arrangements for Regular Review:

The DM plan has to be dynamic in order to be effective. In other words, the data needs to be updated. Besides, even the procedures adopted may need to be changed as per requirement. Review meetings on disaster management would regularly be held under the aegis of GMDA or the Department itself. Changes in procedure or man deployment or item use may be decided upon in such meetings. Besides, DC (Kamrup Metro) or DDMA thereof may give certain instructions with respect to disaster management. It is imperative that all such changes should be immediately incorporated in the plan. For that, it is proposed to upload the DM plan on the Departmental Website, and all changes made would similarly be uploaded therein.

7.2 Upgradation Methodology:

It has been decided to have nodal officers for disaster management. The nodal officers would ensure up-gradation of the DM Plans both online as well as in black and white.

7.3 Post Disaster Review:

Each disaster provides lots of experiences and checks whether the plans made were effective or not. Therefore, after every disaster of small or large magnitude, review meetings would be held under the aegis of the GD Deptt. Necessary changes in the DM Plan may be made following such meeting.

Work areas

Work areas

Commissioner

(ESF Coordinator)

Additional Commissioner

Branches & Division

Branches & Division

Joint Commissioner

PAGE