Projects
Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation
School Safety
Partnering with the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, GeoHazards Society initiated the School Disaster Management Programme (SDMP) Project (2023-2024) to enhance disaster resilience in 25 schools. The project facilitated comprehensive training, established disaster management committees, formed 3 School Emergency Response Teams (ERT), provided training for School ERTs, prepared hazard, resource, and evacuation maps, developed a handbook for ERT training in Basic Life Support in Malayalam, and conducted a mock drill in each school. Through these efforts, the project empowers schools to effectively manage emergencies, prioritizing the safety of students and staff.
Hospital Safety
GeoHazards Society in partnership with the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation conducted a 3-day Hospital Disaster Preparedness Program for several hospitals under the Corporation. The hospitals were brought together and hosted at the Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences where the hospital administrators were briefed about several hazards the health facilities in Thiruvananthapuram are vulnerable to. The administrators were then informed about several ways they can prepare and mitigate for such hazards. On day 2, the participants were sensitized and introduced to developing a hospital disaster management plan. The participants were shared a template developed by the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority and were briefed on how to fill and use the template for addressing several different kind of emergency scenarios.
The participants were also involved in hazard identification exercise where they walked across the health facility and identified several hazards based on the learning from the training. the participants also got a hands-on experience on how to use and operate a fire extinguisher in case of a fire.
The program was concluded with a tabletop exercise where a disaster scenario was presented to the hospital and the hospital disaster management committee was asked to respond to the evolving scenario. The tabletop exercise was highly appreciated by the participants as it highlighted the potential hazards and the capacity of the health facility.
Inclusive Disaster Preparedness-Safety for All
GeoHazards Society prioritizes mental health in disaster preparedness, recognizing its crucial role in supporting individuals, especially people with disabilities. With support from Mariwala Health Initiatives (MHI), we're actively fostering a culture of climate and disaster resilience and are supporting institutions catering to people with disabilities in four states of India where we are helping the institution, the people with disabilities and their caregivers to be better prepared and equipped to handle several disasters and ensure lower levels of stress and better mental wellbeing. You can read the project progress report by clicking here
Rapid Visual Screening (RVS) of 400 School Buildings in Tripura
GHS has been working with the Department of Revenue and Disaster Management in Government of Tripura to execute Rapid Visual Screening (RVS) of school buildings in 400 schools selected under the Nation School Safety Programme.
Developing Messages for Protective Actions to Take During Earthquake Shaking
What people should do during an earthquake shaking to protect themselves from injury or death? Is “Drop, Cover, Hold On” always the safest response, particularly where the buildings are seismically vulnerable?
GeoHazards Society along with its International Partner worked with experts from different parts of the world to work out evidence-based guidance to
- Describe the process of developing effective messages
- The key considerations for creating such messages that serve in different contexts. This project was supported by USAID.
Download
Protective Actions to Take during Earthquake Shaking document
Papers written based on the project
Design and Implementation of an Earthquake Risk Management Program in Aizawl City (2013-2017)
Aizawl is the capital city of Mizoram, a state in the North-Eastern part of India and has been built on steep slopes of the young mountains of the lower Himalayas. This city has a population of 291,822 (Census 2011) and is considered to be one of the most hazard-prone cities in the region. The city faces an exceptionally high per-capita lethality potential, due to a vast number of two to ten-story collapse-risk concrete buildings built on steep, landslide-prone slopes.
Aizawl has few local technical resources to provide the guidance needed to address its problems in a meaningful way. A project has been launched with the Disaster Management & Rehabilitation Department – Design and Implementation of an Earthquake Risk Management Program in Aizawl City, Mizoram, India – Reducing Risk, Raising Awareness and Limiting Predictable Losses under which GHS will work towards the earthquake and landslide safety of the Aizawl city in partnership with the Government.
Under the project, we are also working closely with the Aizawl Municipal Council (AMC) to study the existing building Bye-Laws and the Master plan and recommend modifications with the long term goal of reducing disaster risk in the city. We assisted AMC in setting up a landslide policy committee that has met several times and worked out a Road Map to Safety with long term strategies to reduce risk available here.
Earthquake scenario created on Aizawl city
Main Scenario
Appendices
Assessment of Shelter in post Phailin Cyclone for UNDP (2013)
The cyclone Phailin and the extraordinary response of the Government at all levels, non–governmental organizations and the community themselves is among the few success stories of disaster mitigation and preparedness across the world in recent times. In this time the GHS team helped UNDP India as a technical consultant to evaluate the condition of the housing and Technology Demonstration Units (TDUs) constructed after 1999 Super Cyclone.
End of project report
Mw 8 Mandi Earthquake Scenario: Multi-State Exercise and Awareness Campaign (2012-13)
Earthquakes can happen anywhere anytime. The seismic zoning map shows a large part of Indian landmass is vulnerable to moderate to severe seismic hazards. Hence, the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) decided to conduct a hypothetical scenario-based simulation exercise for three North Indian states. GHS helped the project with technical and coordination support.
End of project report
Hospital Safety Workshop series (2012)
Hospitals are critical facilities that have a very important role during the response to a disaster. However, in India, most hospitals are not well prepared for natural and any human-induced hazards that will affect both the hospital and the community they serve. These hospitals need practical guidance on how to improve the robustness of their facility systems and organizational preparedness to help them remain functional after an event like a strong earthquake. WHO India helped GHS to organized workshops in five hospitals across the country. The programs were organized in Shimla, Guwahati, Aizawl, Mumbai, and Thiruvananthapuram.
Project End Report
Documentation of the Demonstration Housing Project at Amethi, Uttar Pradesh (2011)
Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC) did a program to provide housing to the masses applying low-cost technology. As a part of the program, a Demonstration Housing Project has been started at Raipur Phulwari, Amethi. GHS did an assessment to find out the technical viability of the housing project.
End of project report
Documentation of Seismic Retrofitting of MCD School Buildings at New Delhi
Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC) retrofitted a masonry load-bearing school building owned by Municipal Corporation of Delhi. GHS conducted the documentation work for the report which can be useful for Practicing Engineers, Architects, Public and Private agencies involved in seismic strengthening, repair and maintenance of the building.
Click here to view the report.
Lajpat Nagar
Vivek Vihar