Trends in integrating disaster risk reduction initiatives in newly disigned buildings in differnt hazard prone area in northern province

Abstract

This research is done for MBA programme in project Management year (2010/2011)in the University of Moratuwa. The main objective of the research is to study the trend towards Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) initiatives in the northern province of Sri Lanka. The School buildings, hospitals, housing construction and common building construction were considered during the study. One divisional secretariat division (Vadamarachi East) was selected for the field study since this division was affected by both Tsunami and war and there are lots of development activities in progress by various organizations in the Province. The data were collected in stages (a) to analyze the managerial initiatives,(b) the field level initiatives and achievements. The managerial and coordination mechanism information were collected through interviews with the relevant authorities and theinformation from government policies and new Act enactment. The application and implementation status were analyzed through field visit to the project locations which have been implemented by various organizations in the selected divisional secretariat. There were lots of national level initiatives took place after Tsunami. A solid development management and monitoring strategies were developed, but in the field level achievement was far away from the target. This was confirmed from the field level physical work done, the type plans developed by various organizations, the existing local authority’s standard for building approval. The DRR initiatives not properly implemented in the field level.The reasons were identified during the analysis as follows: (i) Disaster risk reduction is not adequately considered as a priority in development planning processes, (ii) Inadequate enforcement and authoritative powers to implement and monitor disaster preparedness and mitigation measures,(iii) Lack of technical and legal framework to integrate DRR into national and sectarian planning, (iv) The responsible body not realized the importance of disaster risk reduction application, (v) The political situation in the province and the lack of understanding between central and provincial governments is negative for DRR achievement, (vi) the provincial council give priority for other subject. (e.g.: political solution and administrative power sharing) and (vii) Lack of public awareness, people mentality and cultural believes (Vasthu). The following recommendations are proposed for future development to change the situation in positive direction. The local authority capacity and awareness among the responsible people need to be improved ( refer chapter 4.4 & 5.6). The existing coordination mechanism between national level and local level need to be improved (refer chapter 5.6). The authority for implementation of DRR initiatives should be more decentralized. It is important to create appropriate focal point in the field level to ensure and monitor the DRR activities implementation (refer chapter 4.1). The authorities should consider DRR initiatives during land allocation for construction purpose (refer chapter 5.6). The NGOs and INGOs need to maintain proper coordination mechanism with the responsible authority to implement the DRR initiatives successfully. The annexure 9 attached as guidance for future application. The National level: The central government should appoint a permanent coordination body involving ministers, government department, NGOs, UN agencies and private sectors. The government should accommodate periodic evaluation mechanism to ensure the sustainability of the initiatives The donors should insist the authorities to accommodate DRR activities during the financial assistant.