Risk Returns

[

] 163

Governing for risk reduction

In 2005, following the Indian Ocean tsunami and

Kashmir earthquake, the leaders of South Asian

countries met in Dhaka, Bangladesh and made a

commitment to better disaster preparedness. A year

later, in New Delhi, government officials and civil

society in the region debated collaborative risk

reduction. The resulting Delhi Declaration requires

governments to consider the links between disasters

and development and to prioritize preparedness and

the reduction of vulnerability.

However, the intrinsic connections between poverty

and disaster risk, and the emerging threat of climate

change, are yet to be fully understood. Planning for

poverty reduction, disaster risk reduction (DRR) and

climate change is handled by separate bodies. Other

problems include limited public sector resources

for governing risk reduction, no real harmonization

between national and local authorities, and minimal

potential for decentralization of planning.

South Asia needs overall risk reduction plans which

are incorporated into its periodic planning processes,

investments and infrastructure. Land use planning,

zoning and identification of specific risk zones, conser-

vation planning, insurance governance are all aspects of

the overall risk reduction.

Monitoring is vital to ensure delivery and compliance.

This cannot be carried out at the national level alone, as

the information required for planning, implementation

and monitoring requires local level involvement.

projects, especially large infrastructure initiatives such as river diver-

sions, expressways and dams, actually exacerbating disasters.

In the state of Orissa, eastern India, large-scale deforestation for

settlements and agriculture has led to silted rivers, downstream

flooding, eroded riverbanks and greater exposure to cyclones for

coastal people. In the Himalayan regions of Nepal, road construction

is commonly associated with slope destabilization and landslides.

Despite the risks, settlements spring up along roadways on unsta-

ble ground. Two expressways under construction in Sri Lanka have

exposed local communities to repeated flooding during monsoons.

Sometimes even structures that were meant to save people from

disaster increase vulnerability. In Bangladesh, sea walls created

to keep out storm surges acted as a barrier to storm water drain-

age during a cyclone, increasing flood levels during the storm. In

Pakistan, flood protection embankments have created a false sense

of security and encouraged poor settlement patterns in the Kaccha

area and abandonment of traditional flood preparedness strategies.

The lack of an interface between development and disaster

management leads to vicious circles of failed development and

increasing risk where even a low level hazard can play havoc with

vulnerable people, weak livelihoods and fragile structures.

The 2009 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction

(GAR)

reports underperformance of the priority for action (PFA) 4

of the Hyogo framework, aimed at reducing underlying vulnerabilities

while improving sustainable livelihood patterns, capacity and empow-

erment. In South Asia, this can be seen as an indicator of inadequate

commitment and slow progress towards sustainable development.

Poor people are excluded from risk reduction measures as a result

of ineffective state institutions, corruption, poor accountability and a

lack of political will.

A flooded ‘flood relief camp’ installed by the local government. It shows the level of disaster response education of the government authorities

Image: RDPI