Communication strategies for floods risk reduction in Yamuna river-bed squatters

The paper looks at the need to identify parameters influencing community perceptions of disaster information, and to assess information needs of economically weaker communities vulnerable to floods in Delhi. It draws upon experiences from a technology development and research project on urban risk reduction in India.

Disaster information
With the advancements in the area of disaster forecasting, and availability of modern satellite and computer technology, sufficient information is now available regarding approaching cyclones, impending floods and droughts, spreading fires, and to a limited extent even oncoming earthquakes, which can be usefully disseminated through the communication means available to us. However, there is a vast gap between information available with scientists, and information that reaches the user communities.There are a number of reasons for this:

• The entire range of information available is not of direct use to the community. As such, the scientists decide on what and how much is to be shared with the public. Often the message that finally reaches the public is oversimplified and holds no useful information.
• The information needs to different community groups differ with their varying characteristics, and the universal message issued by the authorities usually contains only part of the information needed, and may contain extra information, which is not required.
• The language and format of presentation of the information is standardized, and fails to meet specific comprehension needs of small community groups.

Parameters influencing community perceptions
The communication needs of different target community groups with respect to warnings and disaster information are based on a number of parameters. Besides depending on technical factors such as intensity of expected hazard event, and level of vulnerability of the communities, they are also influenced by the inherent characteristics of the communities groups affecting their perceptions and educations, such as economic status, gender, age, education level, social structure, linguistic background, accessibility and physical setting, and exposure t warnings and disaster events.

These parameters, couples with composition of communities in terms of constituent sub groups, define the perceptional range of specific communities, and the needs to be met by disaster communication system in general, and early warnings in particular.

Urban disasters and communication needs
The damages in urban areas due to discharging trend over the past decades. This is primarily because, with increasing economic attractors in urban areas and resultant population pressures, more and more people are occupying vulnerable parcels of land that had been left undeveloped hitherto. The response of the governments and the disaster management community is to stress on betterment of forecasting and warning systems for reducing disasters, and as a result, better weather forecasting satellites with higher resolutions are launched every year, and faster and more efficient super computers are commissioned to the task of providing more advanced and accurate forecasts.

However, the reasons for increasing damages in spite of timely forecasts lies not in forecasting and warning technology, but elsewhere. It lies with the last link of warning dissemination, the community link, which is either totally missing, or ground, accessibility and physical setting, and exposure to warnings and disaster events.

These parameters, coupled with composition of communities in terms of constituent sub groups, define the perceptional range of specific communities, and the needs to be met by disaster communication systems in general, and early warnings in particular.

Urban disasters and communication needs
The damages in urban areas due to disasters have been showing an increasing trend over the past decades. This is primarily because, with increasing economic attractions in urban areas and resultant population pressure, more and more people are occupying vulnerable parcels of land that had been left undeveloped hitherto. The response of the governments and the disaster management community is to stress on betterm3ent of forecasting and warning systems for reducing disaster, and as a result, better weather forecasting satellites with higher resolutions are launched every year, and faster and more efficient super computers are commissioned to the task of providing.

However, the reason for increasing damages in spite of timely forecasts lies not in forecasting and warning technology, but elsewhere. It lies with the last link of warning dissemination, the community link, which is either totally missing, or grossly inadequate. The warnings that the end user, i.e. the community, receives are neither at the right time, nor in the right format to be effective. Where available, it is often misinterpreted. It does not provide enough information to base decisions on, and is presented in such a manner as to be not easily understood by the target audience.

As a result, the community has lost faith in the warning systems, and there is a distinct attitude of indifference towards the warnings. Dependence is still primarily on the local warning mechanisms, which, though reliable at a micro level, are often very risky due to their narrow time margins.

The needs, therefore, is for strengthening the warning dissemination mechanisms at community level, and bridging the communication gaps that exist at present. The benefits of satellite technology and GIS have to be transferred to communities at risk, in order to make all the efforts that have gone into them worthwhile. A better public communication system for disaster warnings, coupled with enhanced awareness and understanding of the same at community levels, would go a long way in reducing the impact of disasters.

Flood in Delhi slums
The capital city of India, Delhi, with a population in excess of 10 million, has been experiencing floods of various magnitudes in the past due to overflowing of the river Yumuna and the major drains in the city. The Yamuna River traverses about 48 kilometres within the boundaries of the city. The river has crossed its danger mark 27 times during the last 35 years. In the recent past, floods of thigh magnitude have occurred in 1978, 1995 and 1998, causing loss of life and property.

The floods of September 1998 caught everyone’s eye because the affected population had to abandon their inundated houses, and came to squat on the roadsides, clogging the city’s major thoroughfares, such as the ITO bridge, for a considerable time duration. Few understood that these thousands of men, women and children had to leave their homes because they live in quarter settlements inside the riverbed – on the wrong side of the embankments, and in slums in the flood plains.

Overflowing of the drain systems also causes floods. This happens when there is a backflow in the drains due to high level of water in the river and heavy runoff from the surface areas. The impact of this is felt most by the populations living on low-lying lands along the drains.

The flood forecasting and warning system
Flood forecast formulation and management involves the following processes:

• Observation and collection of data from field stations and satellites;
• Transmission of data from field stations to forecasting centers;
• Data processing and formulation of forecasts at the forecasting centers.
• Dissemination of forecast; and
• ]forecast monitoring and evaluation.

A pilot project for improvement of river and flood forecasting system in India was commenced in 1980 as a UNDP/WMO aided project for the Yamuna up to Delhi. Data acquisition systems using sensors have been in stalled and further improvement using satellite communication technology has been introduced. Regarding formulation of forecast, various models have been tailor-made, calibrated and utilized for forecasting purposes.

The Upper Yamuna Division of the Central Water Commission keeps hydrological observations in the upper Yamaha basin from the origin of the river upto Delhi Railway Bridge. Flood forecast are issued during the monsoon season (June 15 to October 15) when the water level at Delhi Railway Bridge crosses 204 m or is likely to cross this level, which is marked as the danger level. The forecast is disseminated to Delhi Administration, concerned Ministries, Military and para-military forces 48 to 53 hours before the incoming flood so that they can make flood fighting plans and arrange evacuation from low lying areas.

Communicating warnings to communities
At the end of the resource intensive flood forecasting and warning process, the warning that reaches the most vulnerably community, the hutment dwellers in the riverbed, is a cryptic one line statement, saying “the water level is expected to rise, make your arrangements”. This community is from the lower most economic strata of the society, and as such, access to televisions and radios is low as is the level of literacy. The issued warning comes through the local police, and a policemen goes around the settlement, making the announcement. The warning includes no element of expected time of flooding, quantity of water being released from the headworks, areas expected to be submerged, or duration of high flow. As such, it hods little information or meaning.

Besides, since the water level in the river crosses its danger mark almost every year, and the warning is issued whenever the level crosses this mark, or is likely to cross it, the community ends up receiving this same flood warning virtually every year. Since the warning holds no information on the probability or severity of the expected flood, time it has come to lose its significance. The technology rich flood forecasting and warning system established, and constantly upgraded, to serve them, goes a waste.

Conclusions
The case of flood warnings in the Yumuna river-bed slums in Delhi is representative of the general state of warning dissemination regarding all disasters, all over the city. In order to make the warnings more effective, and make best use of developments achieved in the area of disaster forecasting and communication technology, there is an urgent need to strengthen the public dissemination link of the disaster warning systems, particularly with reference to vulnerable communities with weaker economic backgrounds.

The warnings issued need to be precise, yet provide all relevant information regarding the impeding disaster such as expected time, magnitude and specific areas to be worst hit. It needs to be reliable, and should not be resorted to regularly and casually. To achieve this, a two-way link between the scientific community engaged in technology developments and application and communities at risk is a must. The above factors hold good not only for pre-disaster warnings, but also for during and post-disaster public instructions and information dissemination.

Finally, awareness of the communities regarding interpretation of disaster communication, and appropriate action to be taken on these, is a crucial need.

References

• Delhi Development Authority. 1993. Planning of River Yamuna Bed, New Delhi: DDA.
• Government of India: 1994. Flood Forecasting and warning Network Performance Appraisal. Central Water Commission.
• Irrigation and Flood Control Department. 1995. Report on Effects of 1995 Floods in River Yamuna in Delhi and Proposed Remedial Measures. Govt. of Delhi.
• Kukreja P.B. 1995. Flood Forecasting and Warning System in India. Indian Institute of Public Administration.
• Ministry of Agriculture. 1994. Natural Disaster Reduction- South Asian Regional Report. Government of India.
• Office of the Deputy Commissioner. 1997. Flood Control Order. Govt. of NCT of Delhi.
• Sharma, K.K. 1996. An Appraisal of Structural Measures for Flood Control in Delhi. Unpublished Dissertation. Indian Institute of Public Administration.
• Singh Rajesh, Jha Suniti Kumar. 1996. Problems of the Flood Prone Squatter Settlements in Delhi: A Case Study. Indian Institute of Public Administration.