Local level risk management : Indian experience.

1. Background -- 2. Community based disaster preparedness (CBDP) -- 3. Components of CBDP -- 4. Preparation of CBDP plan-process -- 5. Linkages with development programmes and strengthening a decentralized approach.

Analyses of response to past disasters have highlighted reaching out to the victims within the critical period during an emergency as a major requirement to protect people and assets. This has resulted in developing mechanisms to mitigate disasters at the grassroots level through participation of communities. Communities being the first responder and having more contextual familiarity with hazards and available resources are in better position in planning and executing immediate rescue and relief actions. In areas that have experienced repeated disasters, the communities are realizing that they need to work out a plan to prevent losses and at the same time enable faster recovery in the event of an emergency situation. To convert this realization into an effective plan, they need guidelines which will help them to prepare their own Community Based Disaster Management plans to safeguard lives, livelihood and property. The Community Based Disaster Preparedness (CBDP) planning referred to in the following sections pertains to preparedness, mitigation and response plans.