Leveraging for comprehensive school safety
Country : India
CASE STUDY
Organisation : SEEDS , Nayang Technical University , Ministries of Education and Public Works , Temasek Foundation
Hazards : Earthquakes , flash floods , landslides Summary : This project was created to sensitise communities in earthquake-prone regions of India by engaging the community , partnering with the local government , training engineers and masons , and providing necessary retrofits to schools . Although the number of retrofitted schools was low , SEEDS spent more than a year in each community in an effort to change the culture as well as increase the safety of the school building . Newly trained local masons retrofitted schools while engineers provided oversight during the process .
IRAN
Arabian Sea
AFG .
PAKISTAN
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New Delhi
Kandla
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Mumbai
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INDIA
Calcutta
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CHINA
Bay of Bengal
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Imphal MYAN .
Country and hazard overview
The Indian subcontinent presses into the Eurasian tectonic plate in the north , causing India – along with other nations in the region – to experience many small and a few devastating earthquakes in the last century . After witnessing the pattern of earthquakes and other natural hazards that resulted in a series of abrupt but predictable disasters , SEEDS began working with communities , technical universities and government authorities in 1994 . They helped communities retrofit unsafe schools and adopted strategies for reducing losses from future crises , using schools as a catalyst for community-wide change .
Creating a culture of safety
In a retrofit pilot project spanning the three Indian provinces of Himachal , Gujarat and Assam , the NGO SEEDS used the retrofitted schools as focal points to organise the community around comprehensive school safety . They especially focused on Pillar 2 – school disaster management . Each state is in a moderate to high seismic risk zone and has a history of disasters .
To effectively build community buy-in , SEEDS held basic orientations at schools to create awareness about comprehensive school safety . These orientations were a necessary primer before retrofitting but were also necessary for explaining the school community ’ s role in school safety even after the retrofit was complete . The school community would be responsible for operating and maintaining the retrofitted building , performing non-structural mitigation and regularly conducting school disaster management activities . In conjunction with mason training and other mobilisation activities , this phase often took six months . SEEDS expected the school retrofit and the school disaster management activities with the school communities to serve as a channel for promoting a culture of prevention and preparedness in the local community .
Trivandrum
Bangalore Chennai
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SECTION III : POST-CONSTRUCTION
The retrofit of schools in Shimla , India is part of a broader comprehensive school safety approach . After retrofitting is complete , the school and wider community engage in a mock drill to test their preparedness . Photo : SEEDS .
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