Assessment of early warning system for floods in Uttarakhand: a case study approach
Student name: Ms Abha Nirula
Guide: Dr Nandan Nawn
Year of completion: 2017
Host Organisation: The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI), New Delhi
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Ms Suruchi Badhwal
Abstract: Extreme events are a result of a confluence between vulnerability and hazard. They pose a risk to human lives, impact they daily functioning and resilience of a society. One of worst disasters plaguing India and especially mountainous regions, such as Uttarakhand are floods which have caused massive economic and social costs in the past. Disaster Risk Management is not a new concept; one of the key components of DRR is a forecast and Early Warning system. While, at an institutional level, there is an established framework of EWS and in the past few years, funding has also been received from multi-lateral funding institutes such as ADB and World Bank. The question remains that is, is a flood warning system effective in eliciting a response from the targeted population or are there any other factors influencing the response curve. We therefore, seek to answer this question through a case study approach using household survey to conduct interviews at three sites- Khadri Khadak Maf, Badal and Ginwala and analyze the response behavior and pattern of the individuals along-with analysis of the communication of the warning to the public in the study areas. The purpose of the study is assess the efficacy, both of the system and community response.
Keywords: Early Warning System (EWS), flood, preparedness action, response, effectiveness, community.
