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

As suggested previously, there is a need for NGOs to shed opinions circling therelief-development divisions. Part of the way forward in this respect is though therealization that disasters are not just hurdles in the big picture of development, thatawareness levels to disasters are rising due to escalating losses, and a shift frommerely attacking poverty and instead accepting that the community and theirneeds, livelihoods, vulnerabilities and previously developed coping strategies andcapacities need to be factored into the equation (Christoplos et al., 2001).The community should therefore be accepted as an institution and be recognizedas a fundamental stakeholder in the process of preventative measures (Sharma,2004). In this light, education and awareness campaigns are important tools toensure that the grassroots level is active in their own planning. Knowledge is thekey to facilitating this. The departure from the traditional view of “victims” of adisaster being aided by outside experts now aims at embracing the community andtaking the initiative before a disaster occurs by means of addressing the reasonsbehind vulnerability and including the community in the development ofprogrammes and strategies (UN/ISDR). Likewise, the Tearfund organisation statesthat its “primary strategy of vulnerability reduction is to increase the capacities oflocal communities and organisations to prevent, prepare for, and respond to theimpact of disasters” (Palakudiyil and Todd, 2003).Sustainable disaster mitigation and preparedness programmes through NGOassistance must involve the local community. Local capacity is already developedto a certain extent, in that community members have a better knowledge of theenvironmental, social, and economic context of their situation, the events leadingup to an event, and what the needs are that should be met in the event of adisaster (Beck, 2005). The function of NGOs should be to assist in reducingexisting vulnerabilities with a long-term prospect of placing responsibility forsustaining these efforts in the hands the community (Gupta, 2006; Pugh, 1998).The Role of NGOs in Disaster Mitigation and Response – A Case Study in Uttarakhand, Northern India 30