Other information

The following information is given in the public interest.

17.1 School Safety Programmes

GSDMA implements two school safety programmes: the National School Safety Program (NSSP) and the Gujarat School Safety Programme (GSSP).

1. National School Safety Program (NSSP) – A Demonstration Project

A pilot project across 22 states/UTs, covering 200 schools in 43 districts in Seismic Zones IV and V, centrally sponsored (Rs. 48.47 crore) and implemented by NDMA with the Ministry of Human Resource Development. In Gujarat, Kutch and Jamnagar districts (Zones IV and V) are covered. Objectives include policy-level change for safe school environments, sensitizing the school community, stakeholder participation, capacity building, IEC activities, non-structural mitigation and demonstrative structural retrofitting.

• Formulation of a draft National School Safety Policy.
• Capacity building in 400 schools across Kutch and Jamnagar, including school Disaster Management Plans, teacher training, preparedness kits and mock drills.
• Information, Education and Communication activities, including IEC material, sensitization programmes and competitions for students.
• Non-structural measures: rapid visual survey of 400 schools, engineer training and a standard risk-assessment checklist.
• Demonstrative retrofitting of one model school, usable as a post-disaster relief shelter.

2. Gujarat School Safety Programme (GSSP)

Running statewide from 2017-18 to 2025-26 (with activity affected during the COVID-19 period), the Gujarat School Safety Programme is GSDMA's own annual school-safety initiative, complementing the district-specific NSSP pilot. Under the programme, a School Safety Week is celebrated every year across the State to build awareness among students, teachers and the school community, with dos-and-don'ts material distributed for different types of hazards. The most recent edition, School Safety Week 2025, was conducted from 20 to 25 January 2025, comprising awareness sessions, demonstrations and competitions at the school level.

17.2 List of Publications by GSDMA (selected)

• Gujarat State Disaster Management Act (Gujarati and English)
• Gujarat State Disaster Management Policy
• Gujarat Earthquake Reconstruction & Rehabilitation Policy
• Gujarat State Earthquake Management Plan
• Hazard, Risk and Vulnerability Atlas
• State Disaster Management Plan (SDMP), updated annually
• District, Taluka, Village, City and Municipal Corporation Disaster Management Plans
• Heat Action Plan for the State and all districts
• City-specific Heat Action Plans (10 cities)
• Cold Wave Action Plan
• Thunderstorm & Lightning Guideline
• Home Owner's Guide on Fire Safety (Gujarati and English)
• Sheltered Dreams to Constructed Vision
• Housing Insurance Program (Gujarati and English)
• Gujarat Earthquake Rehabilitation – Rebuilding Lives Village Partnership Procedure Manual
• Standard Operating Procedure for Taluka Level Officers
• Fastening the Seatbelt … The Gujarat Initiatives
• Grit and Grace – The Story of Reconstruction
• From Tears to Smiles
• Beyond Reconstruction
• School Safety Initiative
• Emergency Response Guidebook (English and Gujarati)
• Confined Masonry House
• Earthquake Behaviour of Building
• Earthquake Protection of Non-Structural Elements

17.3 www.gsdma.org

The GSDMA website contains information on disaster preparedness and management, GSDMA's structure, aims and objectives, and its programmes, along with major publications. GSDMA also maintains a Facebook page, “Safe Gujarat”, with event-based updates, and a YouTube channel, “GoG GSDMA”, hosting informative videos.

17.4 Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Programme

Considering the intensity and frequency of disasters, the need for a comprehensive approach to the prevention and mitigation of hazards, and the need for mainstreaming disaster risk management into ongoing development activities, GSDMA continues to protect development gains and the lives and livelihoods of the most vulnerable sections of society. Gujarat, a prosperous industrial state, experiences droughts, flash floods, cyclones and earthquakes with depressing regularity. Adopting proactive preparedness and mitigation instead of the traditional relief-and-rehabilitation model, GSDMA has institutionalized Community Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM) across the State through the Disaster Risk Management Programme (DRMP), aimed at strengthening communities, local self-government and administration to face disasters.

Programme Goal: Sustainable reduction in disaster risk in the State of Gujarat.

Objectives:

1. Capacity building to institutionalize systems for disaster risk management for all disasters except drought.
2. Environment building, education and awareness on different facets of disaster management; strengthening capacity at all levels in disaster risk management and sustainable recovery; development of manuals, training modules and IEC material and their dissemination.
3. Multi-hazard preparedness, response and mitigation plans for disaster risk management at State, district, taluka, municipality, village and municipal corporation level.
4. Networking knowledge on effective approaches, methods and tools for disaster risk management, and developing and promoting policy frameworks at State and National levels.

Methodology:

1. Orientation of officers and PRI members.
2. Formation of Disaster Management Committees at various administrative levels.
3. Capacity building of all stakeholders.
4. Development of the Disaster Management Plan.
5. Use of ICT material for awareness generation.

Components of the DRM Programme: The DRMP presently comprises four core components — (I) preparation and annual updation of Disaster Management Plans at all levels, (II) Training and Capacity Building, (III) Awareness Generation and Media Outreach, and (IV) Mock Drills.

I. Development of Disaster Management Plans

Disaster Management Plans are developed at each successive administrative level, from the village community up to the State Government:

1. Village Disaster Management Plan (VDMP)
2. City Disaster Management Plan (CDMP)
3. Taluka Disaster Management Plan (TDMP)
4. District Disaster Management Plan (DDMP)
5. State Disaster Management Plan (SDMP) — also hazard-specific, updated annually in line with the National Disaster Management Plan.

Repository of Information – State Disaster Resource Network

Data generated for these plans is captured in a uniform format for easy compilation, collation, analysis and accessibility, with the assistance of the Gujarat State Wide Area Network (GSWAN) — a state-of-the-art wide area network connecting government offices at State, District and Taluka level. The State Disaster Resource Network (SDRN), hosted on GSWAN and the GSDMA website, includes level-specific data on the inventory of resources, response-group members and emergency contact details at various administrative levels across three layers — Village, Municipality and Taluka. Level-specific data is collected in the standard disaster management plan format and uploaded into the system at taluka or district level; the centrally stored database at GSDMA, Gandhinagar, is accessible through GSWAN connectivity and the GSDMA website from anywhere. The resource inventory supports preparation of level-specific disaster management plans, avoids duplication of effort, saves time and generates reports to support decision-making.

II. Training & Capacity Building

Training and capacity building of stakeholders, including Disaster Management teams at community level, improves preparedness and effective response, thereby reducing risk. Capacity-building programmes are conducted on subjects such as Search & Rescue, First Aid & primary health care, Early Warning & Communication, Damage Assessment, Relief Coordination, Fire Protection, Special Flood Rescue and Mason Training, extended to teachers, government officials, NGOs, PRI members and village/taluka-level functionaries in association with NGOs and Municipal Corporations.

Subject-specific training programmes at district level and below are organized by District Project Officers under the supervision of the District Collector, while specialized programmes (flood rescue, search & rescue, emergency communication, etc.) are organized by GSDMA in collaboration with Municipal Corporations and partner agencies. A statewide community capacity-building campaign, ‘Sajj Samuday Surakshit Gam’, is also being conducted through SATCOM (BISAG) for Village Disaster Management Committee (VDMC) members across four zones covering all districts, addressing basic disaster management, the State hazard profile, Search & Rescue, First Aid, Village Disaster Management Plans and communication; over 3 lakh villagers have been covered under the campaign to date.

A range of manuals has been developed to support capacity building, including subject-specific manuals, hazard-specific manuals, training manuals and other training aids.

III. Awareness Generation

A multi-pronged communication strategy reaches individuals, local communities and the general public, designed around the State's hazard profile and hazard-specific education needs. Cultural fairs, public gatherings and government programmes serve as platforms for mass awareness generation. At the individual level, IEC materials such as hazard- and subject-specific dos and don'ts, checklists and information booklets are disseminated; at the community level, posters, leaflets, wall paintings, rallies, mass meetings and competitions (essay, debate, drawing) among school students are organized. Television, radio, print media and the internet are used to ensure disaster management remains a core concern from the individual and household level up to the State level.

IV. Mock Drills

State-level mock drills are conducted periodically across various hazard scenarios to test preparedness under the State and hazard-specific disaster management plans. Recent/ongoing mock drills include:

Manpower arrangement under DRM Programme

Project Officer

District Project Officer (DPO)