Disaster Management Plan

Hazard , Vulnerability , Risk , Assessment

(HVRA)

&

Training

for

Nashik Police Commissionerate

Kumbh Mela – 2015-16

Prepared by:

Kulwant K Sarangal ,IPS ,Spl. IGP,

Maharashtra Police

Rajeev Choubey

Alumnus- World Bank Group & World Bank Institute

(WBI) – SR-101 & CF * NIDM , New Delhi C4D-

Learning from Mega disasters -WBI

Detailed assessment, planning and

preparation before an event may never

prove infallible, but with the involvement

of appropriate personnel and the

commitment of the right resources, the

potential for injury, illness, death and

disaster will at least be reduced…

Objectives

Identify all of the hazards that may be associated with Kumbh

Mela and what level of risk they represent.

Prioritize the hazards based on the level of risk they represent

Focus efforts on the highest priority risks first.

Develop mitigation plans to eliminate or reduce the level of risk for

each element as much as possible.

Determine if the level of risk remaining is acceptable or if

additional mitigation efforts are required. Impart training to all

involved on the basis of the assessment.

1. Need for Risk Assessment

• Hazard and Risk Assessment is the heart of an event plan

from which all other planning is based upon. There will always be some level of risk to any event. We cannot expect to achieve a risk-free event; but strive to reduce and managed the risks. We do this all the time both consciously and unconsciously during the course of a day and when we plan events. The problem is everyone has a different ability to recognize hazards and each has a different tolerance for risk. It is therefore important to follow a clear and defined process to ensure all significant hazards have been identified and there is clarity for everyone on the level of risk they pose. Without this clarity, decision makers are unable to make reliable decisions and authorities will not focus their attention and planning on the most important issues.

Identifying hazards

associated with Kumbh Mela

and level of risk they

represent..

Focus on the highest priority

risks first…

Very old and dilapidated

structures

Extremely narrow Roads - a danger

of overcrowding

Risk that were identified

Steep Gradient leading towards ghat

Low hanging overhead electric

cables

Mismanagement of Floodplain : Ghats being constructed in Floodway

2. Security

• Security was not treated as an additional assignment for police

personnel to increase their daily workload and professional

responsibility. Plan thus prepared was a scalable model that

incorporated the small-scale everyday duties up to the large-

scale multi-agency security response.

• Based upon this strategy incorporating new institutional

paradigm, risk-informed decisions, and in-inbuilt safety and

security, we set upon to establish clear mission targets as given

below:

i. Defined tactics and operations for each task

ii. Engaged in thorough planning based upon decided tactics

and operations

iii. Defined clear roles and responsibilities

iv. Training based upon strategy, tactics and operations

v. Investments toward information and communication systems

3. Planning and operation cycle

• Research

• Design

• Planning process

• Plan management

• Subcommittee plans

• Resource identification and acquisition process

• Training and testing

• Operations

• Recovery

• After action

Developing mitigation plans

to eliminate or reduce the

level of risk for each element

as much as possible

Conducting Risk Assessment

with different stakeholders and

taking inputs from them to

mitigate risk

4. Made an allowance for flexibility to avoid any strategic

surprises. Command, control, coordination and

communication

• Made investments in training for command and control

• Planned various kinds of communication equipment

• Horizontal/vertical communication

• External communication

• Analyse past experiences of the department to know what went well and what could have been done better for risk reduction and emergency response by the department. Document it as lessons learnt and use them as training tool.

Table top exercise

and Training on Disaster Management ,IRS and

Stampede

Management with view to integrate the concept in

the actual planning

based on HVRA

Conducted by :

Rajeev Choubey and his team in the presence of

Hon. Police Commissioner Kulwant K.

Sarangal IPS

For DCP’s , ACP’s & PI

Weekly training for

all Senior Police

Personnel

5. Crowd Management Training

Most of the crowd disasters are man-made, which can be completely prevented with proactive and holistic planning and flawless execution.

Planning and preparation, using a wide range of “what if...?” scenarios, including unexpected scenarios.

Capacity Planning : -

As observed, in India, religious places have high probability of crowd disasters. Obviously, their locations have also played some role in crowd disasters. A large number of religious sites in the country have following characteristics:

a. Located atop hills/mountains with difficult terrain

b. In existence for many centuries

c. Mostly narrow, winding uphill pathways along steep hillsides

d. Access routes are prone to landslides and other natural dangers; Chances of accidents are high

e. Narrow, winding and sloping routes

f. Lack of adequate space for the projected crowd

g. Inadequate number of entry and exit points and routes

Communication with the whole crowd – both audio and

visual – particularly in emergency situations.

Understanding Crowd Behaviour

• Individual behaviour in a crowd is sometimes influenced by

the behaviour of others. The individuals within a crowd may

act differently than if they were on their own. The

inappropriate actions of a few people can result in larger

numbers following them. Research has shown that

understanding of crowd behaviour has led to community based

approach to crowd control instead of force based control. For

example, the excessive wait at places of worship may result in

a few devotees climbing up the fences which could lead to a

large number following them causing overcrowding in another

area. It is therefore essential to monitor the crowd behaviour

on continuous basis to spot unrest, disquiet, and abnormal

crowd densities with the help of designated police personnel

and the volunteers to address the causes of such behaviour at

right time and place.

Approx. 2800 constables from

Nashik Commissionerate

trained on crowd control and

crowd management

techniques …

Daily three session indoor

training conducted for

constables..

Trained around 500 Traffic Police

on Traffic Management

6. Contingency management

• To ensure that normal operations are resumed in the affected area as

early as possible and normal operations are not disrupted in non-

emergency areas. In case normal operations are not likely to be

resumed in the affected area at an early stage, then to ensure that

contingency plan to continue the normal operations by diversion etc.

is activated.

• In case normal operations are not continued for some or the other

reason, contingency plan for resuming the operations should

immediately be activated in consultation with the appropriate

authority.

• As and when contingency plan is activated, emergency services

should be guided to direct their efforts accordingly.

• In case contingency plan is activated, pilgrims will also be advised

accordingly and guided to take the alternative routes etc.

Approx. 1000

Volunteers /line staff

trained ...

Scenarios/Simulat ions

conducted on Ram Ghat