File picture of Phailin devastation in Odisha

Bhubaneswar, May 26: The city should be better prepared to face earthquakes, floods and cyclones. It should also be able to respond quickly and effectively to incidents such as fire and riots. Such hopes have been raised by the proposed “hazard risk and vulnerability analysis” study to be undertaken by an international agency. The study is expected to be over by September 2015.

In a bid to assess the risk and vulnerabilities of natural and man-made disasters in the city and suggest ways to mitigate them, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), along with the central government, has started this study at several places in the country. It will start in Bhubaneswar shortly.

The UNDP has called tenders from international agencies with expertise in assessing hazards in urban areas. Sources said that an international agency has almost been identified to undertake the analysis work in Bhubaneswar. The agency would start working once the official procedures are over, said officials.

“The agency will study hazard risks in the municipal corporation area at the ward level. It will find out the hazards this city has been facing and those it may face in the future. It will make a multi-hazard mapping and analysis. Besides, the agency will find the existing preparedness of the city administration,” said a UNDP officer responsible for these aspects.

He also added that the outcome of the exercise would help identify steps that the city administration and other stakeholders could take to mitigate the risks posed by various hazards.

The project named “climate risk management in urban areas”, under the disaster risk reduction programme and jointly undertaken by the government of India and the UNDP, aims to reduce disaster risk in urban areas by enhancing institutional capacities.

It also integrates climate risk reduction measures in development programmes as well as to undertake mitigation activities based on scientific analyses. Six cities in the country have been identified for this project of which Bhubaneswar is one. This project has been anchored at the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) for strategic guidance, while the overall implementation work will be taken care by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).

“This is a good exercise and once it is finished, it will help us deal better with the hazards. It will also provide us ample knowledge about many factors responsible for the disasters and things that get affected during the calamities,” said OSDMA general manager Kamal Mishra.

Talking about the working pattern of the private agency, the officials said it would work on several components. The first component is multi-hazard mapping and its analysis using satellite imagery, aerial photographs and other scientific methods.

The other components include developing exposure database at the city-level, vulnerability assessment, risk assessment and capacity assessment at the institutional, community, ward and city levels. The final component of the study is recommendation of actions to be taken to incorporate multi-hazard related risks to reduce disaster.