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

3.1.2b Awareness and Dissemination of informationThe most significant finding from the preparedness questionnaire is that quitecontrary to the Rudraprayag district, there is no concept of disaster preparednessin the Almora region. To a certain degree, the term “disaster” is not part of the locallexicon. When asked what disasters their community had recently been affected bythe surveyors needed to further explain what was meant by the term “disaster”.One could argue that recent events such as the Uttarkashi and Chamoliearthquakes, having occurred in close proximity to Study Area A, are responsiblefor this instilled sense of awareness concerning natural disasters. However, higherlevels of disaster awareness can also be attributed to extensive andcomprehensive awareness strategies andcampaigns provided in the area. One hundredpercent of those surveyed in Rudraprayag indicatedthat they had recently been affected by disaster,only thirty-seven percent of respondents fromAlmora stated similarly. Overall, awareness ofdisasters is higher in Rudraprayag, sixty-eightpercent of respondents indicate that they thinkabout the possibility of a disaster occurring veryoften with a mere four percent stating never.Conversely in Almora, eleven percent report that they think of disasters often whilethirty-five percent never think of disasters. In terms of awareness campaigns,ninety-one percent of respondents from Study Area A claim to have had exposureand are able to report on the varying mediums in which that information wasdisseminated. An astounding two percent of those surveyed in Almora claim tohave had any exposure to awareness or preparedness campaigns, that beingthrough television.As mentioned in the framework component of this paper, there has been a greatdeal of work done in Study Area A with respect to disaster awareness campaigns.The Role of NGOs in Disaster Mitigation and Response – A Case Study in Uttarakhand, Northern India 52