NCPDP CEDAP Profile

National Centre for Peoples’ – Action in Disaster Preparedness (NCPDP) Profile

NCPDP is a major part of Centre for Ecocentric Development And Peoples’-Action (CEDAP), a trust registered under Bombay Trust Act in 1990. With its principle focus on peoples’ action for disaster preparedness NCPDP evolved as an outcome of a six years long intervention in Latur region of Maharashtra State in the aftermath of major earthquake that claimed nearly 9000 lives in October 1993, as well as interventions in the aftermath of Jabalpur Earthquake in 1997 and Chomoli Earthquake in 1999. The principal office bearers of NCPDP were one of the first ones to arrive in the disaster hit Latur during the rehabilitation stage and certainly the last ones to leave. The single most important learning from Latur was that only peoples’ own action, and not that of the government, could ensure disaster preparedness.

The Centre was set up in the middle of year 2000. At that point it was backed by several years of sustained experience in different facets of disaster preparedness not only in Latur region but also in the States of Madhya Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. Since then it has carried out a wide variety of rehabilitation as well as disaster preparedness activities in the aftermath of Kutchch Earthquake in Gujarat State, Kashmir Earthquake in the border areas of that State, Uttarakhand disasters like Chomoli Earthquake and Himalayan Tsunami etc. .

The organization has following expertise

  • Damage assessment of masonry structures
  • Assessing vulnerability of Vernacular Building Systems and evolving viable technical solutions
  • Multi-Hazard Vulnerability Reduction through retrofitting of existing masonry structures in a variety of geographical situations
  • Capacity Building of communities in long-term disaster preparedness
  • Hands-on Training of Masons for Skill Up-gradation
  • Training of Engineers in disaster resistant building technologies including the retrofitting of existing masonry structures
  • Participatory house and village designs
  • Demonstrative Retrofitting of Public Buildings
  • Confidence building programs for communities and building artisans in relevant technologies
  • Research in earthquake resistant building technologies
  • Design of awareness programs including awareness materials like videos and printed materials.
  • Rain-water harvesting system – designing, promotion and demonstration
  • Preparing major publications on Hazard Resistant Building Technologies including Manuals and Guides to be used as reference materials

The organization works with a compact team of engineers and community-mobilizers that is headed by a structural engineer and an architect who have worked closely with communities in the field of social housing as well as disaster preparedness for over 20 years. The greatest strength of the organization is its ability to relate to the local context including the socio-economics, geography, topography, climate pattern, material availability etc., and working closely with the communities to evolve systems and products that are sustainable. On account of its deep conviction in conservation of resources the solutions proposed by the organization are most economical without sacrificing the functional requirements. Since the organization firmly believes that people must help themselves to take care of their own needs and problems it places most emphasis on building up peoples’ own abilities and harnessing them.

Long-term Goals

Work towards improving the skill levels of the building artisans so that (a) vulnerability of buildings and their occupants can be reduced while (b) creating new income generating opportunities.

  • Create technical information that is useful for vulnerability reduction through various media.
  • Build peoples’ capacity to withstand the natural hazards through taking to them the useful information.
  • Demonstrate hazard resisting technologies for building confidence of the people including the building artisans.
  • Interact with the students to share the experience and to sensitize them about various issues.

From its very inception, CEDAP is committed to the development, demonstration and transfer of technologies, which are…

  • Eco-friendly
  • Sustainable
  • Adaptable
  • Easy to replicate
  • Viable, cost effective
  • Culturally appropriate

Through their application the centre strives to work hand-in-hand with people to promote self-help, improve local economy, create employment, reduce hardships, and finally, improve the quality of their life and those of others around them.

Year after year such disasters bring death, destruction and hardship. Often people demolish their partly damaged houses out of fear. All this results in huge monetary losses that adversely affects the pace of development. This happens because people are ill prepared and ignorant to face disasters. Intervention by external agencies is needed to build people’s capacity in ensuring their safety against disasters.

The Peoples’ own involvement, however, is equally essential. NCPDP strives to bring viable, and sustainable technologies to empower the people reduce their vulnerability against future disasters. Strengthening the local building artisans is an integral part of this mission. NCPDP is one of a few technology-based organizations in the country with first-hand experience of working at the grass-roots with a firm belief that building capacity of people from within is the only way to mitigate disasters for a safer world.

Over the past one and a half decade NCPDP has successfully executed several projects in different parts of the country working with government agencies as well as non-government agencies. With the core team of several professionals it brings their experience in the field of engineering, architecture, social sciences, planning and management to those to whom such services are not available.

Address

  • National Centre for Peoples’-Action in Disaster Preparedness (NCPDP),
    103, Antariksh Building, Panjarapol Crossroads,
    Near Polytechnic Ahmedabad – Gujarat, Pin 380015

Past Activities of NCPDP

  • Skill up-gradation and Certification of building artisans in different parts of the country, in the post disaster as well as pre-disaster situation.
  • Training of engineers in subjects like Rapid Visual Screening (RVS), Retrofitting of Existing Masonry Buildings, Disaster Resistant Building Construction etc.
  • Evolving technology building packages for post disaster reconstruction.
  • Spreading Safety Net over school children in different parts of the country including Uttarakhand, Kashmir, Delhi, Gujarat etc. through construction of disaster resistant new schools and retrofitting of existing schools.
  • Making of Field Manuals for safer building construction and vulnerability reduction of Masonry Buildings for government and UN agencies in various languages including English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati etc.
  • Disaster Safety Awareness Campaign in post disaster situations in different parts of India.
  • Capacity building of communities for long-term disaster preparedness through onsite training, awareness programs, community organizing etc.
  • Roof rain-water harvesting system designing and installation in rural and urban areas.
  • Technical support to Non-government and Government agencies in post disaster reconstruction through participatory design of houses and villages.
  • Post disaster damage assessment through building to building documentation

Past Activities of the Principle Office Bearers

  • Capacity building work long-term disaster preparedness in Latur with the quake affected people (1994-2000)
  • On-site training of 600 government engineers posted in earthquake rehabilitation program for repair and retrofitting of vernacular houses of Latur region (1994-95)
  • Design of awareness materials for quake affected region for district administration in Latur (1994-96).
  • Capacity building for Community Based Disaster Management in the quake affected villages of Latur (1997-98).
  • Retrofitting of houses under government rehabilitation program in Latur (1994-95)
  • Rapid Earthquake Damage assessment in Jabalpur region in Madhya Pradesh (1997) and Chomoli Region in Uttaranchal (1999) for BMTPC, Govt. of India.
  • Awareness campaign for earthquake safety in western Uttarakhand (1999)
  • Designing of Manual for Earthquake Safety in Uttarakhand for BMTPC. Govt. of India (2000) consisting of step by step instructions for repair, seismic retrofitting and earthquake resistant new construction.
  • Mason training for retrofitting of vernacular houses in Western Uttarakhand (2000)
  • Capacity Building of government personnel for earthquake safety in all districts of Uttarakhand (2002)
  • Study of vernacular structures and designing of improved earthquake resistant vernacular structures in Western Uttarakhand for government (2002).
  • Designing of awareness materials for earthquake safety for Uttarakhand government (2002).
  • Awareness campaign for earthquake safety, and demonstration and training in retrofitting of urban masonry structures in city of Bhawnagar in Western Gujarat (2000)