“CAPACITY BUILDING IN SLUMS FOR DISASTER RELIEF BY DISTRICT

ADMINISTRATION”

Col (Dr) PK Chaturvedi Retd, PhD (PA), MS Consulting Mgmt, FICA, FIE, PGDCM, DTD
Ex Chief Engineer, DUSIB, GNCTD: [email protected]

ABSTRACT:
A disaster is any occurrence that causes damage, ecological disruption, loss of human
life, or deterioration of health and health services on a scale sufficient to warrant an
extraordinary response from outside the affected community or area. The Slum and informal
settlement households are living in poor dwelling conditions. In these settlements, one side
congested area forces them to live in unsafe conditions. Other side, without Government
notification on their legality of living in Slum areas, they are not provided with common
living conditions available with other members of society. On top of all ‘the Sword of
Eviction’ is seen even during day dreaming by these poor habitants. Their identity linked
with residence keeps them and their growing kids in state of inferiority and depression. To
mitigate damages by disaster, recovery, rehabilitation, and development efforts require
community to be self prepared. Therefore, it is important that capacity building program is
made an integral part of developmental programmes of Delhi. At the same time, efforts to
enhance the capacities of communities and coping systems at various levels towards self-
reliance and self-sufficiency in managing disasters effectively and must be implemented. It is
immediate requirement to recognise ownership of slum habitants and inculcate capacity
building as self reliant plans.
Key words: Urbanization, Slum, Planning, Capacity Building, Strategy, Accessibility, Disaster, Relief,
Development, Governance, Sustainable, District Administration

Human beings live in an environment to which they are physically attuned and
depend on it for their survival. In the course of living in this environment, the physical
environment may influence or be influenced by the social behaviour of the human beings.
While living in this environment, human beings have been successfully able to adapt to the
pressures exerted on them by nature and their way of living. They did so by modifying their
behaviour and surroundings to adjust to daily hazards. However, they have not been
successful in adjusting to less frequent events.

What are these crisis events that affect or disrupt normal social life of the people who
otherwise adjust well with the surrounding environment? These crisis events are disasters.
The United Nation’s definition sees the disaster as “a serious disruption of the functioning of
society causing widespread human, material or environmental losses which exceed the ability

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of the affected society to cope-up using only its own resources”. However, disasters can
certainly be reduced to greater extent if not prevented. With today’s advancement in science
and technology, including early warning and forecasting of natural phenomena together with
innovative approaches and strategies for enhancing local capacities, can be predicted and
mitigated. Also, its detrimental effects on population can be minimized and the communities
can be protected adequately.

Generally, it is felt that the resources from external agencies arrive at least six to twelve hours
late at the spot of disasters. Further, the priority is given by local commanders to those
casualties that appear to have more chances of survival. While most of the casualties can be
saved by local assistance during initial reaction time, lot of efforts are needed to look into the
issue and administer local activities in initial stage of the disaster or even preparedness in
disaster prone localities.

A clear and comprehensive policy that defines the objectives and commitment of the
government, organization or community to disaster reduction and response efforts is
important. It may address organizational systems that facilitate and ensure coordination of
stakeholder’s action, the enhancement of national and local capacity to establish and
implement disaster reduction and response measures, especially for vulnerable sectors and
communities in an operating environment i.e. stakeholders, legislations, standards, etc. The
nature of governance at district level is in the hands of district personnel who play an
important part in dealing with disasters at micro level.

Communities at large need to be mobilized to achieve this common objective as they are the
first responders (and not the usually thought like fire, ambulance, and police). All
stakeholders are required to be part of an overall, well-considered approach, and responsible
with accountability and sustainability. Community capacity building is defined as the
"process of developing and strengthening the skills, instincts, abilities, processes and
resources that organizations and communities need to survive, adapt, and thrive in the fast-
changing world."

Community Based Planning Framework:

The poorest people live in marginal environments, directly dependent on local ecosystems.
Disaster management, climate studies, natural resource management, urban and rural planning
are highly specialized fields. Further, the psychology of “non-notified” slums is not officially
recognized by city governments. Slum habitants suffer from insecure tenure and poorer access

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to basic services than “notified” (government-recognized) slums. Study conducted in non-
notified slums of Delhi confirms prevalence of individuals at high risk for having a common
mental disorder (i.e., depression and anxiety) and influence of the slum environment on risk
on living condition. The qualitative findings suggest that non-notified status plays a central
role in creating psychological distress by creating and exacerbating deprivations that serve as
sources of stress, by placing slum residents in an inherently antagonistic relationship with the
government through the criminalization of basic needs, and by shaping a community identity
built on a feeling of social exclusion from the rest of the city.

Based on Sociological Model and considering the cases of a community that has been struck
by a disaster, post-disaster development can open numerous avenues and opportunities to
improve upon mistakes, prepare communities for future eventualities and increase their
adaptive capacity. Some of the strengths of this framework are:

I. Shift in focus from technology to people (peoples centred);

II. Moving away from emphasis on technical product to a process of regeneration of

community participation;

III. Emphasis on multiple interactions between various factors that affect livelihood;

IV. Assistance to stakeholders with different perspectives to engage in a coherent debate

about the factors that affect livelihoods;

V. Integration of macro and micro issues.

Slums are not where people only reside but are also places of work for many. This renders
them more vulnerable to various hazards. The devastating fires in slums are continuously
increasing in frequency. This is because of some specific reasons such as rapidly growing
slums, insufficient and vulnerable jhuggies, lack of awareness to safety, lack of trained
workers, and no control of municipal authorities etc. In order to cope with these occurrences,
it seems a certainty that every actor in the slum community is needed to share the
responsibility of the risks, and NGOs are needed to involve the risk management;
rehabilitation and reconstruction phases.

The governments cannot cope with it alone; the community is needed to assist the
government. However, the government is needed to take into consideration the potential of
slum community involvement and develop strategies for improving the NGO participation in
the process. It is important to see that the slum fire disasters are in fact local events and the
better solutions can be developed from the local environment and users via the local

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capabilities. One of the most important steps for local holistic recovery is the involvement of
the public.

By developing integrated strategies having mixed budget for relief projects and development
projects, promoting capacity building of local populations by providing substantial resources
in order to achieve it, sustainable development may be more effective. Wikipedia defines
sustainable development as the organizing principle for meeting human development goals
while at the same time sustaining the ability of systems to provide the resources upon which
the society depends. The desirable end result is a state of society where living conditions and
resource use continue to meet human needs without undermining the integrity and stability of
the systems.

Flow Chart-Stages of Development to Ensure Sustainability

Principle of Rehabilitation Planning Stage-A

Needs Local Plans ]

]
Implementation ] Stage-B
]
Capacity Building]
Integrate with Development Plan Stage-C

According to Voice Concord, the disaster-prevention/ risk-reduction; rehabilitation measures

focuses on restoring the status quo ante and promoting the existing potential as well as aims
to achieve qualitative and sustainable improvements in the living conditions of those affected.
If it is not possible for a single organisation to implement the different phases of a project, co-
ordination with other organisations working on a complementary basis is sought to integrate
capabilities aimed at comprehensive improvements in living conditions.

Governments have to dedicate substantial resources to crisis/disaster warning systems, or to

tackle problems before they get out of hand. The activities for development can be segregated
in three stages as depicted below. Strategic planning in stage one, capacity building based on
local community plan and their requirements in stage two and it’s integration with
development in stage three. Self-reliance disaster relief is the approach that effects sustainable
community development. It is related to concepts like self-help, participation of indigenous

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people. This modus operand is adopted for long term development after disaster. Self-reliance
in true meaning is rely on their own resources and not purely dependent of funds sourced
from outside the community. Dependence on the government may be desirable for short-term.
NGOs assist the community to discover their potentials and mobilise community to be self-
reliant, and finally create sustainable self-reliant development.

The Panchayati Raj as ‘Institutions of Self-government’ is recognised by the Constitution

through 73rd and 74th Amendments. The Amendments have also laid down necessary
guidelines for the structure of their composition, powers, functions, devolution of finances,
regular holding of elections and reservation of seats for weaker sections including women.
These local bodies can be effective instruments in tackling slum disasters through early
warning system, relief distribution, providing shelter to the victims, medical assistance etc.
There are various institutional stakeholders also involved in disaster management at various
levels in the country. These include the police and para-military forces, civil-defence and
home-guards, fire-services, ex-servicemen, NGOs, public and private sector enterprises and
media. In urban development plan, there is no land allotment for removal/ redevelopment/
resettlement of slums with a dedicated fund. The slum disasters can be eradicated if Delhi
Government can provide affordable housing for all, and in particular to slum residents to
achieve a ‘Slum Free Delhi’.

Key Observations of the Study

Some key observations from the field information and the gaps that have been identified to
circumvent them have been discussed below:-

S.No. Indicators Observation

A Judicial/Constitutional As per existing policy, slums cannot be evicted
Backing without alternative arrangements
B Socio-Economic Community Financially, aid is required to ensure safety
Issues measures
C Missing coordination There is no coordination
between various agencies
D Lacking financial planning of In view of slums not notified, only limited
governments for slum improvement is carried out by Delhi Urban
eradication Shelter Improvement Board for essential
requirements

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Recommendations

The Self-reliant Sustainable Approach confirms that development can only sustain if disaster
mitigation is built into the development process. Further, mitigation has to take place across
all sectors of development. It advocates that investments in mitigation are much more cost-
effective than expenditure on relief and rehabilitation. Ministry of Homes, GOI has taken a
note and issued guidelines to all state government. Therefore, following activities need to be
visited in detail:-

 Delhi’s Plan of Slum Free City

 Slum Community Participation
 Stakeholders’ Responsibilities
 Capacity Building

o Slum Free City Plan of Delhi

In 1962, Delhi Government had set up a special cell under Slum Area (Improvement and
Clearance) Act 1956, for infrastructure and utility services support to slum areas and to
rehabilitate slum clusters as the Slum and Jhuggi-Jhopri Wing (S and JJ). The S and JJ Wing
of erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi/ Delhi Development Authority was created into a
board under chairmanship of Hon’ble Chief Minister of Delhi, in 2010, and renamed as Delhi
Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB). DUSIB is responsible for providing/ managing/
co-ordinating for infrastructure and civic services in Jhuggi-Jhopri clusters of Delhi. DUSIB
is also nodal agency for resettlement/ rehabilitation of slum clusters in Delhi.

o Community Participation in Slums

The effectiveness of risk management interventions could be ensured when the community
and people of slums who are at risk are directly involved in the fire risk management process.
It is also critical that any such plan is dynamic and remains relevant to that slum community.
Through this approach, the determination of risks and the intervention measures are not
imposed on the slum community, but rather accomplished by the very people concerned.
Moreover, greater emphasis is placed on local knowledge and the indigenous ways of
gathering information, rather than on expert knowledge and technologies. The shift is from
hazards to socio-economic vulnerability (poverty, development, etc.) of the communities.

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Further, it allows problems defined correctly and accordingly responsive measures are
designed and implemented.

Slum inhabitants respond to disasters more efficiently and effectively with existing local
resources. Community based-activities increase the community’s capacity and people’s
potential for reducing their vulnerability to fire disasters.

(i) Empower the poor and among them women, to overcome established boundaries and
limitations. Involves the poor/women as active citizens, clients and consumers, and not
only as target groups of subsidies of state-led programmes.

(ii) Empower women’s self-help groups to play a key role in mobilizing communities,
addressing women’s issues, enhancing participation of women in rehabilitation. Specific
to the reconstruction programme, women’s can play a key role in reaching out to
information, promoting safe construction practice, monitoring relief and providing
feedback to administration.

o Stakeholder’s Responsibilities

Besides the training of civil and military personnel, strengthening of existing institutional
arrangements and systems is required to make the initial response to fire-disasters, more
effective and professional. The resources and expertise need to be streamlined. Some of the
areas are:

(i) Creation of urban search and rescue capacity at all levels with trained staff and modern
equipment such as thermal imagers, acoustic detection devices etc.

(ii) Media policy geared to real time television reporting, which generates enormous
pressures on a government to respond rapidly and efficiently.

(iii) Planned expenditure on disaster mitigation and prevention measures is required. The
Eighth Plan allocation of Rs 6.30 crore for this scheme was increased to Rs. 16.32 crore
in the Ninth Plan. Still more support is needed.

(iv) A Programme of periodic drills should be introduced in vulnerable areas to enable

prompt and appropriate community response in the event of fires. This can help save
valuable lives.

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(v) Effective disaster management linked to the community and local level responders on the
one hand and to the institutional mechanism of the NGOs, State and the Nation on the
other.

o Capacity Building of Stakeholders

 A co-ordinated information and awareness campaign on local development by the

organisations equipped to conduct and scale up widespread dissemination.

 Facilitate exchanges between experienced NGOs and women’s groups on post-

disaster strategies from relief to rehabilitation.

 Establish a team of trained NGOs and community-based slum teams for making
strategies.

 Advocacy for policy initiatives on reconstruction and rehabilitation.

 Government to promote NGOs and local groups to understand and analyse the
reconstruction package and its implications for community participation.

 Building temporary shelters by slum people, especially women having clearly

remarked functional spaces for women and girls, storage, kitchen, bathroom and
toilet. Community spaces need to be provided for pre-school, community centres,
health centres, office of local government, etc. These priorities can be decided
through a consensus building process within the slums and marks the start of
involving people in rebuilding activities to be managed by women’s groups. It can
serve as Single Window for investment in sustainable development and capacity
building at the cluster level.

REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Centre for Global Development Research (CGDR). (2013). Report on ‘The Slum
Life in Delhi and Sound Strategies to Rehabilitate them’ prepared by Centre for
Global Development Research Private Limited, New Delhi with the grant of
SER and Planning Commission of India. Response Fund (GOI/32-3/2013,
28.11.2013).
 Chaturvedi, P.K. (2011). Community Based Sustainable Responses to emergent
Relief at District Level - Featured post of BVP/EEE/facebook.
 Kondo, 2004, Linkages between Vulnerability, Resilience, and
Adaptive Capacity.

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