A Case Study in Uttarakhand, Northern India - Geological & Mining ...

Bandari (2005) provided a more exhaustive list of landmarks for global attentiontowards DMP during the 1990s: International Decade of Natural DisasterReduction (1990-2000); The Earth Summit (June 3-14, 1992); CartagenaDeclaration (1994); Yokohama Mid-term Review of IDNDR (May 23-27, 1994);Millenium Declaration (September 2000); Interagency framework for theInternational Strategy for Disaster Reduction (2000); World Summit on SustainableDevelopment (2002); Bonn Conference on Early Warning (2003); MauritiusStrategy for Small Island State (January 2005); Hyogo Framework for Action(2005-2015) and United Nations Decade for Education on SustainableDevelopment (2005-2015). However, despite these displays of strengthened andpromised commitment, DMP would take a backseat to more dominating issuessuch as complex emergencies; disasters caused by conflict, war and state collapse(Rocha and Christoplos, 2001; Benson et al., 2001; Alexander, 1997).More recently, the ill attempts at mainstreaming DMP have been documented in arecent Tearfund study (2006) assessing EU progress in DMP. The authorsconcluded that, although the EU has expressly stated its commitment to DMP andrelated strategies, there has been a shortcoming of what the strategies will entail.One recommendation was that a more rigorous plan for integrating DMP into itsprogrammes be illustrated. There is in most cases a knee-jerk reaction to adisaster that sparks a great deal of arm waving and planning with respect to DMPin the immediate aftermath. What efforts are made, however, usually quickly abate,and only seldom are followed by sustained actions.A recent review of the international humanitarian system’s response to the 2004tsunami in southeast Asia by Telford and Cosgrave (2007) noted just how quicklythese notions are put on the backburner once the dust has settled. Theshortcomings are as follows: EWS and preparedness initiatives, particularly at thecommunity level, would have undoubtedly saved lives, had they only been in placebeforehand. Building codes and practices adapted to the level of natural hazard doThe Role of NGOs in Disaster Mitigation and Response – A Case Study in Uttarakhand, Northern India 25