Flood Response and Civil-Military Coordination in Pakistan

It is an established fact that Pakistan is prone to disasters and damage caused by these disasters is immeasurable and varies with the geographical location, climate, and type of earth surface, geology and degree of vulnerability. The paper focus on underpinnings of flood response, however, emphasis will be on role of Corps of Engineers (Army), Civil-Military coordination in 2010 Floods and prolonged employment of Army on such tasks. The main focus of this paper is on the existing role of military, their relationship with the civil set-up and the expectations of both the group from each other. Moreover, this paper also reviews about the existing frameworks and mechanisms of coordination between the two groups. The paper may help managers, policy makers and army engineers and government authorities to realistically evolve flood response, and decentralized mode of operation should be adapted from national to regional level in order to follow an integrated framework for bringing all stakeholders and victims together for developing an organized response system. However, the prolonged employment of Army on mitigation of disasters must be avoided.

Massive Damage to Coastal Region of Bangladesh by the Cyclone Storm YASS

Background: Tropical cyclones have significant destructive features like strong winds, heavy rainfall, and storms. It happens frequently in Bangladesh because of its geographical position. The southern parts of Bangladesh suffer most, especially the south-western region. Cyclone YASS hit the same parts of the country as cyclone Amphan did in 2020. These areas are still reeling from the effects of the prior tragedies. Methods: Secondary data has used to full fill the objective of the study investigating the damages of cyclone YASS in Bangladesh. Results: Wind and storm surge of the cyclone affected the south-western of Bangladesh. In Patuakhali and Jhalokathi districts, people were mostly affected and houses were mostly damaged in Patuakhali district. Paddy fields were mostly damaged and fish farms in Satkhira district were mostly damaged due their proximity to the cyclone track. Some places have been affected due to the storm surge. Conclusion: Due to the lack of suitable embankments in the coastal region, these areas are flooded by the storm surge. Authorities and government has to take necessary steps to overcome the losses.

Disaster and Education: Impact of Flood on School Going Children at Keshabpur Upazilla in Bangladesh

Introduction: Presently, there has been an emergent concern that rising numbers of the world’s population are deserted due to the undesirable impacts of natural hazards, especially floods. Geographically, Bangladesh is a low-lying flood plain country with only a few hills in the south-east and the north-east part. Undoubtedly, education is a principal factor of socio-economic development, but regrettably, Bangladesh is suffering from the uncontainable effects of floods. After considering such issues, the foremost focus of this study was to recognize both the academic challenges faced by school-going children during a flood and examine the impact of the flood on the health of the children. Methods: Interview schedule, questionnaire survey, and document analyses had been carried out for this study. The study design was carried out by applying a mixed method. Students of Biddanondokathi Government Primary School and Mangalkot Secondary School from Mirzapur village of Mangalkot union in Keshabpurupazilla were randomly selected. The well-structured questionnaires were disseminated to 80 respondents of two academic institutions of Keshabpurupazilla of Jashore district. Additionally, descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were conducted to attain research objectives. Results: The outcome of this study revealed that flood unswervingly impacts the academic routine and health status of school-going children. Almost 93.8% of students faced academic challenges and 87.5% of children were the victims of waterborne diseases like diarrhea, skin diseases, and dysentery. Almost 82% of respondents did not go to school as the roads were impassable, 28.8% of individuals faced problems due to washed away bridges, and 28.8% faced challenges as their school was surrounded by water. About 66.2% of children dropped out of school and 17.5% of students did not attend their classes at all after the flood. Conclusions: Not only school-going children but also infrastructure is the crucial victims of flood disasters, compromising the children’s rights to access to quality education, information, good sanitation, as well as their participation rights. Flood disasters have key impacts on children’s education and progress and this study suggests that strategies need to be adapted to attend to the disaster risks encountered by school-going children of Bangladesh.

Seismic Vulnerability of Primary Response Agencies in The Himalayan Province of Uttarakhand in India

Seismic vulnerability assessment of nearly 67%, 60%, and 18% of buildings of the first responders (Fire and Emergency Service, Police, and local administration, respectively) in the Himalayan province of Uttarakhand in India suggests 14.12% collapse, and 67.19% damage, and put to disuse immediately after an earthquake. This is to seriously limit emergency response capability of the state, and enhance sufferings and trauma of the affected community. US$ 95.27 is estimated as the cost of seismic safety of emergency response infrastructure, and this is to save building contents worth US$ 10.00 million. Prioritised demolition and reconstruction of Grade 5 buildings, detailed vulnerability assessment and phased retrofitting of Grade 4 and Grade 3 buildings, effective and strict compliance of building bye-laws, stringent punitive measures for lapses in lifeline buildings, mechanism for routine vulnerability assessment, and corrective maintenance are recommended for ensuring smooth and uninterrupted functioning of the emergency response agencies in the aftermath of an earthquake.

Risk and Vulnerability Assessment: A Case Study of Pakistan

Climate change has put the planet earth on high risk due to flash, riverine flooding and droughts. Unprecedented frequent flooding, hurricanes, droughts and heavy snowfalls can be witnessed in the past few decades. Now no country can declare itself safe from the negative impacts of changing climate. To reduce the risk of potential damages, vulnerability and risk assessment can give a clear picture of a particular region regarding a specific hazard. It will help the administration to address those areas which are highly at risk due to a certain hazard so as to minimize collateral damages in future. In Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa, Nowshera was one of the most affected districts. It has destroyed building stock, livestock and crops in most parts of the district. To minimize these losses in future, this research has been carried out to assess the current condition of building stock in Nowshera Cantt and Nowshera City area. This research explores in detail the building stock vulnerability and associated risk. This research has found that the flood reoccurrence time period is 7 years for zone 1and 7. While other zones 2, 3,4,5,6,8 and 9 have 81 years of reoccurrence time period. Based on the physical vulnerability, this research found that there are five types of buildings in the study area. Vulnerability of Type 1 to 5 are varying from strong to weak according to its structures having RCC roof, strong walls, plain concrete / tiles floor. Flood risk map has been produced on the basis of flood frequency and typology of high frequency structures in that particular area. The research explicitly shows different areas in risk map according to the level of risk i.e. from low to high risk zones. This research has found that binding material is the major factor in structural damages in the study area.

COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mental Health Impact on Elders

The article's abstract is not available.

Rising domestic violence against women during the COVID-19 pandemic: what is the role of the healthcare system?

The article's abstract is not available.

COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges of Using Online Questionnaires on Food Security and Nutritional Status Research Studies

The article's abstract is not available.

Disaster and Education: Impact of Flood on School Going Children at Keshabpur Upazilla in Bangladesh

Introduction: Presently, there has been an emergent concern that rising numbers of the world’s population are deserted due to the undesirable impacts of natural hazards, especially floods. Geographically, Bangladesh is a low-lying flood plain country with only a few hills in the south-east and the north-east part. Undoubtedly, education is a principal factor of socio-economic development, but regrettably, Bangladesh is suffering from the uncontainable effects of floods. After considering such issues, the foremost focus of this study was to recognize both the academic challenges faced by school-going children during a flood and examine the impact of the flood on the health of the children. Methods: Interview schedule, questionnaire survey, and document analyses had been carried out for this study. The study design was carried out by applying a mixed method. Students of Biddanondokathi Government Primary School and Mangalkot Secondary School from Mirzapur village of Mangalkot union in Keshabpurupazilla were randomly selected. The well-structured questionnaires were disseminated to 80 respondents of two academic institutions of Keshabpurupazilla of Jashore district. Additionally, descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were conducted to attain research objectives. Results: The outcome of this study revealed that flood unswervingly impacts the academic routine and health status of school-going children. Almost 93.8% of students faced academic challenges and 87.5% of children were the victims of waterborne diseases like diarrhea, skin diseases, and dysentery. Almost 82% of respondents did not go to school as the roads were impassable, 28.8% of individuals faced problems due to washed away bridges, and 28.8% faced challenges as their school was surrounded by water. About 66.2% of children dropped out of school and 17.5% of students did not attend their classes at all after the flood. Conclusions: Not onlyschool-going children but also infrastructure is the crucial victims of flood disasters, compromising the children’s rights to access to quality education, information, good sanitation, as well as their participation rights. Flood disasters have key impacts on children’s education and progress and this study suggests that strategies need to be adapted to attend to the disaster risks encountered by school-going children of Bangladesh.

Earthquake Impact, Coping Mechanism, and the Community Discourses: Experiences from the Central Hills of Nepal

Introduction: Nepal is vulnerable to many hazards and disasters. Geographically, Nepal is situated at the Indi-an and Eurasian seismic plates and is prone to disasters like floods, landslides, fire, and earthquakes. The earthquake of April 25, 2015, with a 7.8 Richter scale and several aftershocks, have resulted in a considerable loss of human lives, physical infrastructure, and natural resources in Nepal. Many studies on the impacts of the earthquake mentioned the challenges in community recovery. This paper examines and explains the impact of earthquakes on family and community, how family and community cope during the disaster. Besides coping mechanisms, this paper explains discourses or conflicts in the family and communities. The paper is an outcome of a statistical analysis of 912 households' survey conducted in Nepal's central hill, Kispang Rural municipality, a community affected by the 2015 earthquake in Nuwakot district. Methods: This research relies on literature review, key informant interviews, Focus Group Discussions (FGD), field visits, expert interviews, etic and emic approaches to observe from the field. The research questionnaires were prepared and performed a household survey of 912 households. Various questions on how the earthquake in Nepal "X" has created the "Y" impacts and discourses or conflict in the family and the community in Nepal's central hills were analyzed. Results: The earthquake has impacted the families and communities; however, the families and communities had shown distinct coping mechanisms to stay resilient to the impact—various factors were identified where family discourses and conflict escalated, which has impacted the community peace. Family level discourses and conflict emerged mainly in collectivist society or joint or extended families. Gender-based violence/ conflict is also measured and found augmented after the earthquake in the community. Conclusion: The research study concluded that family discourses and conflict emerged when disaster relief and reconstruction policies do not incorporate the affected communities' needs. The multi-dimensional holistic, integrated policies that integrate all the affected communities' needs will support building community and family-level peace. Discriminative policies that divide families and communities should not be practiced.