Handicap International has started Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Management Program in West Bengal

Bhubaneswar : ‘Persons with disabilities are more vulnerable to disaster impacts due to the physical conditions and social environment and they are often left out or invisible in the entire cycle of disaster risk reduction and response at the community level. This is an area where we all need to look at and work together to ensure that no one is left out’ said Debabrata Pal, Additional Secretary, Department of Disaster Management. ‘Government of West Bengal is happy that Handicap International has brought a new dimension of inclusive disaster risk management process in the state, from which both state and non-state actors working on disaster and disability issues would learn and can replicate the best practices’ he added. He was addressing the State level Concept Sharing Workshop on the project ‘Make Community Based Disaster Risk Management Inclusive in South Asia’ supported by European Commission Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) organized on Thursday, 22^nd September 2011 at Hotel Kenilworth, Kolkata, West Bengal. The project is being implemented in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan simultaneously and works at various levels to include communities, disaster risk management and disability organizations and policy making institutions in mainstreaming disability in disaster risk management.

Welcoming the initiatives, Mita Banerjee, Disability Commissioner, Government of West Bengal emphasized on the mass awareness generation on accessing the rights and entitlements of persons with disabilities at all levels by saying that her office has started a ‘Disability Census’ across the state to have a practical databank of various types of persons with disabilities with age specification, which is independent of the Census 2011.

The objective of the project is  reducing the vulnerability of Indian populations living in areas most affected by natural disasters, by increasing the awareness and the response capacities of local communities to potential and frequent natural disasters and to reduce the effects on the most vulnerable’ mentioned David Gauthier, Country Director, Handicap International India.

In India, the project is being implemented in two states – West Bengal and Orissa. In West Bengal, the project is focusing on 7 communities in Daspara Sumati Nagar II Gram Panchayat of Sagar block, South 24 Parganas district in collaboration with the Department of Disaster Management and the Office of the Commissioner, Persons with Disabilities (Department of Women & Child Development and Social Welfare), Government of West Bengal.

The broad activities planned under the project are enhancing capacities of persons with disabilities by understanding their needs, providing assistive devices and linking them with mainstream development activities including community based disaster risk reduction activities. Simultaneously, activities such as sensitization and training of the disability inclusive Village Disaster Management Committee and Task Force members, Panchayati Raj Institution members, government and non government actors are planned to enhance their capacities at different levels to mainstream disability in community based disaster risk reduction process. A major component of the program includes hardware activities, such as modification of the shelters to make them accessible for all, including persons with disabilities. Each shelter, it is planned, will have basic equipments of Search & Rescue and First Aid along with disability friendly equipments.

Among others Shyam Sundar Vinayak, Asst. Commissioner, Disability, Subhasish Debnath, UNDP, Subhalaxmi Basu, Disaster Management Officer and Tushar Chattapadhyay, District Social Welfare Officer, South 24 Parganas, Bharat Mandal, Pradhan, Daspara Sumatinagar II Gram Panchayat, Sagar, Rina Mohanty, SMRC, Bhubaneswar, Handicap International India officials Bindya Vachhani, Srinibas Panda, Shyamal Kishore Das, Annie Patri, John Animesh Gomes and around 50 dignitaries were present in the workshop and shared their views.