Govt, UNDP to conduct Multi-hazard Risk Assessment study of Nagpur
   Date :16-May-2024

Risk Assessment study of Nagpur 
 
 
 
By Kaushik Bhattacharya
 
 
Government of Maharashtra will conduct a micro-level Multi-hazard Risk Assessment study of Nagpur city to assess and analyse the potential hazards, risks, and vulnerabilities faced by the city and its population. The project will be funded by Relief and Rehabilitation Department of Government of Maharashtra and for this project, three cities of the State, Nagpur, Nashik and Aurangabad, have been selected. Government of Maharashtra will conduct this project with the help of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India. “The Department of Disaster Management, Government of Maharashtra and UNDP India are jointly working on a project called ‘Strengthening Disaster Risk Management System of Maharashtra’ in which these three urban cities which are more vulnerable to natural disasters have been selected,” Aarushi Anand, Co-ordinator, UNDP India told The Hitavada. All the these are Tier-II cities where future urbanisation is projected to increase rapidly in next decade but of late the unpredictable weather and other natural disasters due to varied reasons has given jitters to planners and hence this study has been commissioned.
 
“Under this project the Government will focus on the ‘Urban Disaster Resilience’ of these cities and will support and assist the local bodies in preparing a blue print for their disaster mitigation measures. Along with Government liasioning some scientific studies will also take place to analysis the risk factors,” said Anand. “When a disaster takes place, at that time only the local bodies come in action. No one gets time to prepare for any disaster. It happens due to lack of awareness among local bodies about disasters. Under this project we will provide assistance and support to local bodies about pre and post disaster mitigation and also help them with analyse the risk factors with scientific datas,” said the city co-ordinator. “Under this project, we will provide technical support to local bodies to enhance their existing capacity in disaster management and preparedness.
 
For example, the department already has its disaster management plan of Nagpur but we are providing them scientific and technical support to identify vulnerable areas to be strengthen to curb big losses in disasters,” she added. Under this project, the Government will take up ‘heat mitigation’ and ‘Naag river management’ of Nagpur city and scientific data and study will be provided to the civic body to avoid any future disaster. The last year’s flood in Naag river attracted the State Government to select Nagpur city under this project along with the two other vulnerable cities. In a recent meeting, the team of UNDP explained the project before Dr Abhijit Chaudhary, Municipal Commissioner and Administration, NMC, and the Commissioner also directed the team to assist the civic body officials in modifying their disaster management plan. Although some mitigation measures have been identified are already steps have been taken in this regard as to mitigating the reasons for floods in city, still a deeper study will help in further fine tuning the action plan for NMC officials, it is felt. The last year flood was an eye opener as the banks of Naag river is still vulnerable to flooding.