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prises. With both man-made and natural disasters (earthquakes,
cyclones or floods), capacity development requires a major endeav-
our to reach the right people in the corporate sector, administration,
and civil society who are able to cope with cultural diversity and
needs. The situation requires a decentralized capacity development
system that works under a central framework of standards and
quality parameters.
A comprehensive capacity development system would assist the
National Disaster Management Authority and the Indian
Government when it comes to mainstreaming disaster management
concerns. It would boost the development and planning process
within each Indian state for ‘promoting a culture of prevention and
preparedness…by centre-staging disaster management as an over-
riding priority at all levels and at all times’. It would assist
stakeholders in:
• The preparation and implementation of state (industrial)
disaster management multi-sector and technology-driven
strategies and plans to enable prevention, mitigation and
preparedness
• The establishment of systems and procedures for coordination
between administration, disaster management organizations,
other stakeholder institutions, and civil society for ensuring effi-
cient response and relief measures.
The consequences for a national capacity development system
To pass on the needed technical and managerial skills and knowl-
edge, increase awareness and stimulate change in attitudes among
people in industry, administration, professional organizations and
civil society, you must first have a defined structure and mechanisms,
as well as a strong management system. This is the only way to
ensure you will reach a large number of people.
The system will be based on common capacity development stan-
dards that allow decentralized awareness building and training offers
adapted to local conditions. It will focus on a ‘cascade system’ of train-
ing providers. National key trainers and nodal training
institutions will have their own networks of affiliated train-
ing institutions drawn from government departments,
industrial training institutions, universities and technical
colleges for management, engineering, architecture and
medical subjects, as well as non-governmental organiza-
tions (NGOs) that have been selected for their
regional/international reputation. The following charac-
teristics are defined:
A National Coordination Centre (DRM-TMC)
– under
the National Disaster Management Authority with
various units at different institutes/organizations at
various places in the country (based on capacity).
Involvement of ‘Nodal Training Providers’
– distributed
all over the country and – where possible – working
on a public-private partnership scheme.
Train-the-Trainers programme
– for key trainers and
resource persons at various levels.
Awareness-raising programmes
– at national, state
and local levels for the media, civil society and
schools. The awareness programmes work with a
sequence that increases in intensity. This can be
expressed as a series:
• Presence of messages – about risks, first response,
prevention measures etc.
• Sensitization – to explain the consequences of
risks, and to make avoidance and preparedness
interesting, acceptable and positive
• Orientation – to give direction and goals, and show
ways to prevent disasters or how to react when a
disaster occurs
• Motivation – to be willing to change and to
promote change, and show the feasibility of preven-
tion and implementation of measures
Practice: decontamination of chemical disaster victims – demonstration by a
response agency in a mock chemical disaster drill in India
Image: Dr R. Dubey - DMI
Implementation: field testing the knowledge and skills of fire fighters
during a drill at an industrial site
Image: Dr R. Dubey - DMI