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

It is interesting to note that when asked if one could protect their family in the eventof a natural disaster seventy-nine percent of those surveyed in Study Area Abelieved they were capable of protecting theirfamily as opposed to twenty-four percent ofrespondents from Study Area B with manyrespondents indicating that the matter is “in God’shands”. This significant difference could beattributed to the frequency of awarenesscampaigns in Study Area A. It may also be anindication that awareness campaigns run the riskof providing a false sense of security; this needsto be addressed when developing awarenesscampaigns and programmmes.3.1.2c Earthquake-safe featuresIn conjunction with mason training initiatives in Study Area A, PSI and CDI havemade a concerted effort to educate homeowners on earthquake-safe features forbuilding construction. When asked which features were most important seventy-sixpercent of respondents from this region responded that column was the mostimportant followed by bands (forty-five percent) and beams (forty-four percent).These features were scarcely reported in Study Area B, thirteen percent statedcolumn, and six percent stated beam and band. For the most part respondents inthis region were apprehensive to answer the question; sixty percent were unable torespond to the question at all. This differs significantly from Study Area A; a merefive percent of respondents stated that they were unable to respond to the questionthe remaining ninety-five percent were able to at least comment on the matter.A further point accenting the success of awareness campaigns is that when askedif they would employ a mason trained in earthquake-safe features ninety-sevenpercent respondents said yes in Study Area A as opposed to thirty-seven percentin Almora, preferring to employ local masons or experienced masons irrespectiveThe Role of NGOs in Disaster Mitigation and Response – A Case Study in Uttarakhand, Northern India 54