Disaster Management
Home / What We Do

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Pragya works in a number of regions that are prone to natural disasters, including earthquakes, sudden-onset flooding from cloud bursts and glacial lake outbursts, as well as landslides and forest fires. The last-mile and marginalised communities are the most vulnerable and also the least resilient to such disasters. They are disproportionately hard-hit, suffering severe immediate and longer-term impacts, yet are often neglected in post-disaster relief and rehabilitation efforts.Geographic factors such as isolation and rough terrain and inadequate resources and infrastructure for these groups contribute to significantly high death toll and extensive damage; repeated disasters are also leading to destitution and in several cases, exodus of people from the vulnerable regions.

Comprehensive in its scope, Pragya’s disaster management programme comprises the full package of disaster management interventions. With our long expertise in disaster-prone regions and our well-established links... Read More

Pragya works in a number of regions that are prone to natural disasters, including earthquakes, sudden-onset flooding from cloud bursts and glacial lake outbursts, as well as landslides and forest fires. The last-mile and marginalised communities are the most vulnerable and also the least resilient to such disasters. They are disproportionately hard-hit, suffering severe immediate and longer-term impacts, yet are often neglected in post-disaster relief and rehabilitation efforts.Geographic factors such as isolation and rough terrain and inadequate resources and infrastructure for these groups contribute to significantly high death toll and extensive damage; repeated disasters are also leading to destitution and in several cases, exodus of people from the vulnerable regions.

Comprehensive in its scope, Pragya’s disaster management programme comprises the full package of disaster management interventions. With our long expertise in disaster-prone regions and our well-established links with. communities and local authorities, Pragya is uniquely placed to provide timely and effective emergency response in the immediate aftermath of disasters, and in this section you’ll find some examples of our life-saving emergency relief work. Completing the programme is our mid / long-term rehabilitation of disaster-hit communities, employing localised solutions to rebuild the lives of those who have lost everything, and reinvigorating communities as a whole. Pragya has also developed a pre-disaster preparedness model towards helping remote communities become more resilient to disasters, facilitating locally-led preparedness for reduced vulnerability.

Show Less

Success story

Reaching out with relief supplies

April 25th 2015 will be remembered vividly in Nepal for a long time to come. This was the day...

Read Story

Humanitarian Response

Gorkha Earthquake, Nepal - 2014

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

DISASTER RESILIENCE AND PREPAREDNESS

Natural disasters cannot be prevented, although their occurrence and impacts may be mitigated, and the inhabitants of vulnerable regions may therefore have to live with a certain level of risk. Recent disasters in various parts of the world, particularly events in remote areas, have highlighted critical inadequacies in pre- and post-disaster preparedness and the necessary infrastructure and communication networks, which have greatly enhanced the damage through such disasters. Disaster Management systems are characterised by poor outreach to remote areas, and tend to have an exclusive focus on post-disaster emergency relief operations. Vulnerability of remote and marginalised communities and disaster impacts on them is exacerbated due to inadequate preparedness and their low intrinsic capacity - although the communities have to often act as first responders, they lack knowledge of the changing nature of disaster events and possess low capacity to respond adequately. Further, the potential of mitigating disaster risk is not given due attention, although it is now established that inappropriate human development is destabilising the natural hydrological and geographical dynamics of certain environments, and propelling an increase in disaster events and loss of life.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

DISASTER RESILIENCE AND PREPAREDNESS

Pragya has designed a dynamic, citizen-led disaster management systemspecially adapted to the last mile. The system was selected as among the Top 20 for the Risk Awardand selected to be showcased as an Innovation at the World Humanitarian Summit- see Awards. The system is proposed to be implemented in all the South Asian countries that Pragya operates in, in consideration of their high vulnerability to natural hazards.

In Nepal’s earthquake-affected communities, Pragya has been developing a cadre of trained local masons. Training programmes are conducted to provide them with inputs on earthquake-proof structures and their capacity built on robust and disaster-resistant construction.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

DISASTER RESILIENCE AND PREPAREDNESS

GEOGRAPHY / LOCATION

The Pragya programme on Disaster Resilience and Preparedness is being implemented in the districts of Dhading, Nuwakot, Sindhupalchok that were among the worst hit at the 2015 earthquake.

  • ISSUES
  • What we do
  • Impacts

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

EMERGENCY RELIEF AND REHABILITATION OF DISASTER-AFFECTED COMMUNITIES

The remote regions and harsh climates in which Pragya works are especially prone to natural disasters and humanitarian emergencies. Frequent natural disasters including flooding, earthquakes, forest fires, and landslides, cause huge loss of life, destruction of property and livelihoods, severe health risks and epidemics, psychological trauma, internal displacement and human trafficking. Women, children, older people and people with disabilities are the most vulnerable in these emergency situations. Relief is typically slow to arrive for remote, last mile communities, and at times, does not arrive at all, since localised disaster events in remote areas tend to go unnoticed. Even when relief is made available, in the months and years following a major disaster, when the media spotlight has long since shifted, affected communities continue to face severe hardship and adversity in their daily lives.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

EMERGENCY RELIEF AND REHABILITATION OF DISASTER-AFFECTED COMMUNITIES

Pragya delivers immediate and effective disaster relief, and going beyond that, we stay with the disaster-affected communities to help them build back their lives- better.

In the immediate aftermath of disasters or other crisis situations, Pragya’s numerous field offices, long-standing relationships with local communities and authorities, and extensive experience in emergency relief enables us to act swiftly and effectively, addressing the most urgent needs through the provision of relief material, including temporary shelter and portable toilets, food (including baby food), cooking utensils, safe water, hygiene and sanitation kits, medical supplies and other essentials as fits the need. Pragya networks with other organisations and government agencies for in-field information sharing and coordinated response, and also liaise to help the disaster-affected access government-delivered support or compensation. 

Following comprehensive needs assessments, Pragya continues to work with communities to rebuild lives of the disaster-affectedthrough various initiatives, whilst also building their resilience to future disaster events. 

- In post-disaster settings, with the destruction of toilets and water sources, waterborne diseases such as dysentery and cholera can reach epidemic proportions, with pregnant women, children, and older people most at risk.  We provide water and storage and filtration unitsfor shared community use for the long-term provision of safe drinking water. To help reduce the widespread open defecation that follows disasters, we take up construction of community toilet blocks, with designs adapted to the location. 

- Where livelihoods have been permanently destroyed, we initiate both immediate income generation measuresfor the worst off, whilst providing longer-term inputs and training for alternative livelihoods appropriate to the region. Where appropriate, we deliver livelihoods rehabilitation initiativesspecifically targeting women, through the provision of handlooms and accompanying training in traditional handicrafts. We also help smallholding farmers to rehabilitate their farms, and undertake the reconstruction of damaged water sources used for agriculture, so they can begin growing crops again as soon as possible.

- To help mitigate the impacts of disasters on education, we replace lost teaching and learning materials, and where appropriate we work with teachers, parents and peer groups for psychological careof traumatised children. 

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

EMERGENCY RELIEF AND REHABILITATION OF DISASTER-AFFECTED COMMUNITIES

GEOGRAPHY / LOCATION

Pragya responds to natural disasters in India and has carried out disaster relief and rehabilitation activities to address:

Nepal Earthquake, 2015: A devastating earthquake of the magnitude 7.8 struck Nepal near Lamjung, 80 kilometers northwest of the capital Kathmandu on 25th April, 2015. Continued aftershocks occurred throughout the country at the intervals of 15–20 minutes, with one shock reaching a magnitude of 6.7 on 26 April. Read more

  • ISSUES
  • What we do
  • Impacts