1.1 Location of Ward

The ward office is located at Laxman Yadav Market Building situated at S.G. Barve Marg, Kurla (West) in Eastern suburbs of Mumbai.

1.2 Area and Divisions of Ward

L Ward is bounded by Tansa Pipeline, Vikhroli and Ghatkopar Hills on the east side, the Mithi river lies on the west side, while Sion Creek is on the south side with Powai area forming the Northern boundary. The area of L-Ward is about 15.88 square kilometres and as per 1991 census, the population was 6,12,651. The maximum population reside in the various slums and 6 villages.

The ward has industrial estates at Sakivihar Road, Kurla-Andheri Link Road, Premier Road, L.B.S. Marg, N.S.S. Road, Kale Marg etc.

The ward is under the jurisdiction of DCPs Zone-V and Zone-VI and ‘G’ Traffic Division. The two police zones are divided as given below:

Zone – V – Kurla Police Station, Nehru Nagar Police Station and Ghatkopar Police Station.
Zone – VI – Sakinaka Police Station.

There is no fire bridge station in L-Ward however, the nearest fire bridge station available is situated at Chember and Park Site Fire Brigade Station.

There are central and harbour railway stations at Kurla and one central railway terminus station at Kurla.

In L-Ward there are B.E.S.T. bus terminus at –

1. Kurla Railway Station (West)
2. Nehru Nagar Kurla Railway Station (East)
3. Ghatkopar-Andheri Link Road.

There is 1 bus depot at L.B.S. Marg, Kurla (West).

There is an office of Homeguard located at N.S.S. Road, Kurla (W) and office of Civil Defence at L-Ward office building, Kurla (West).

The ward comes under Bandra Telephone Exchange.

1.3 Power stations/Electrical installation (receiving station)

There is B.S.E.S. receiving station at Bail Bazar, Kurla (West)

1.4 Water Supply and Sanitation

‘L’ ward receivers water supply 3 times a day in three zones.

1. Kurla South             7.00 p.m. to 9.00 a.m. (Kurla (E) and Kurla (W) upto Kamani

2. Kurla North             3.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. (Jarimari, Link Road)

3. 60 chord                 12.00 p.m. to 12.00 a.m. (Asalpha Village, Mohili Village)

The ward has open wells at 33 locations in the following areas.

1. Shani Mandir Compound, V.N. Purav Marg, Kurla (East), (Private)
2. Hira Kumbhar Chawl, S.G. Barve Marg, Kurla (W) (Private)
3. Almeda Marg, M.N. Road, Kurla (W) (Private)

There are about 12 settlements not connected by sewer lines at the following places:

Kurla (West)

1. Gaibansha Darga
2. Ashok Nagar
3. Sanjay Nagar
4. Mohili Pipeline
5. Tunga Village
6. Milind Nagar
7. Muranjanwadi
8. Bamandaya Maharashtra Nagar

Kurla (East)

9. Phule Nagar
10. Sable Nagar
11. Rahul Nagar
12. Takshashila Nagar

1.5 Proposed Developments

2 RISK ASSESSMENT AND VULNERABILITY ANALYSIS

2.1 Floods

The areas which get flooded, and other flood prone low-lying areas and roads are given below:

2.2 Earthquakes and House Crashes

· There has been no earthquakes in the ward
· Two residential rooms collapsed at Qureshi Nagar Kasaiwada due to heavy downpour in the month of July, 1998, but no casualty occurred.
· The areas of probable landslides are:
· Qureshi Nagar Kasaiwada
· Tadipitha Hill – Swadeshi Mill Road.
· Vijay Nagar/Prabodhan Nagar
· Hill No.2 Panchsheel Society
· Hill No.3 Govind Nagar
· Ashok Nagar, Hanuman Tekdi Hill No.4
· Mohammad Rafiq Nagar-Jarimari.
· Gurunanak Nagar L.B.S. Road
· Subash Nagar – N.M. Road
· Mohallah – N.M. Road
· Opp. B.E.S.T. Depot – Gafoor Khan Estate.

There are 27 dilapidated buildings/chawls of which repairs of twelve building are underway.

2.3 Industrial and Chemical Accidents

The following industries and locations have storage or manufacture of hazardous goods:

2.4 Road Accidents

The following road sections have been identified as accident prone spots:

The following roads are:

· one-way roads

M.N. Road
Jamblipada Road
The roads (by-lanes) connecting Netaji Palkar and Ghatkopar Andheri Link Road.

· heavy pedestrian congested roads

Jarimari
Moreshwar Patankar Marg
Mohili Pipeline Road
Station Road from station to Bharat Cinema
New Mill Road
Sonapur Lane
Sarveshwar Mandir Marg
S.G. Barve Marg
Kajupada Pipeline

· heavy peak time traffic roads

L.B.S. Marg, S.G. Barve Marg (East) and (West), Kurla Andheri Road,
Ghatkopar Andheri Road, Sakivihar Road, Jogeshwari Link Road
N.S.S. Road, A.H. Wadia Road, Mohili Village Road
Kherani Road, Netaji Palkar Marg

3 RESPONSE STRUCTURE

When the disaster situation is localised at ward level and can be managed locally, the ‘L’ ward plan will come into operation. However, a disaster situation may cover the entire city which would call for co-ordination of activities not only at the city level but also at the ward level.

The response structure given in the ward plan essentially limits itself to micro-level intervention. When more than one ward are affected, BMC control room which is the co-ordinating authority, would expect the ward officers to co-ordinate the activities at the ward level with the line agencies such as Fire Brigade, Police etc. The responsibilities for all the ward level functionaries have been identified.

3.1 Responsibilities of L Ward Officer

On the receipt of warning or occurrence of the disaster, the L Ward Officer will be required to be in preparedness by undertaking the following:

Establish a Ward Control Room with the following:

· Direct telephone contact with BMC Control Room
· A supervisor of the rank of S.E./J.E to be in-charge of control room.
· Labourers from conservancy staff to be kept in readiness for undertaking any emergency work
· Required equipments such as :

digging tools
choke clearing equipments
ropes
tree-cutting saws
portable search lights
batteries
megaphones
gas cutters
J.C.B
proclain
R.C.C. beam cutters
generators

The ward officer will act as Site Officer responsible for co-ordination of field activities of various line departments. The ward officer will also be responsible for providing support to line agencies so as to enable them to operate efficiently. As the Site Officer, he would be in constant touch with BMC Control Room and the field officers from

Police (Law and Order)                   : DCP, Zone V and VI
Police (Traffic)                                   : Divisional Police Inspector, G division
Fire Brigade                                       : Station Officer, Chembur Naka Fire Brigade (M-W ward)
Railways                                             : Station Masters of Kurla
BEST (Transport)                              : Assistant Traffic Superintendents of Kurla, Nehru Nagar, and Ghatkopar-Andher road
BMC Hospitals                                  : Medical Officer casualty ward, Kurla Bhaba hospital
MTNL                                                   : Area Manager, Bandra Exchange
BSES                                                   : Station Engineer, Bail Bazaar receiving station
Revenue, GOM                                  : Officer designated by Collector, Mumbai Suburban District

The ward officer should ensure that all BMC officers on disaster duty use the official shoulder bands with BMC emblem for easy identification.

The ward officer will provide all information as given in the ward plan to the field officers of the line departments.

The ward officer will be directly responsible for the execution of the following tasks through BMC staff :
· rescue operations during house collapses in co-ordination with fire brigade
· ensure transport of injured to hospitals on priority
· transport of dead to the hospitals/corpse disposal
· anti-flooding operations
· clearing of debris
· salvage operations
· clearing of uprooted trees
· repairs to damaged roads, water supply and drainage

The ward officer will provide and co-ordinate arrangements for
· transportation/shifting of stranded or affected persons through BMC vehicles, private vehicles and MSRTC buses
· temporary shelters with emergency food and water.
· issue of passes and identification stickers for vehicles on relief duty
· issue of passes and identity cards to relief personnel including the persons from NGOs

[Requisitioning of private transport vehicles, temporary shelters can be done through the Collectorate]

The ward officer will ensure through the Medical Officer (Health)

· Preventive medicine and anti-epidemic actions
· Providing special information required regarding precautions for epidemics
· Supervision of food, water supplies, sanitation and disposal of waste

Damage assessment will be carried out as per the pro forma

The ward officer will enlist the support of NGOs and private sector for response operations. The NGOs active in the ward along with their expected role is given in the Annexure.

The ward officer will report to BMC Control Room on the field activities including deployment and reinforcements of staff and resources and communicate additional requirements.

Set-up Information Centre at the site

3.2 Responsibilities of DCP, Zone V and Zone VI

The DCP’s office will be responsible for the following field activities in co-ordination with the ward officer :

· Shifting of the injured to the hospitals on a priority and providing bandobast for crowd control at the hospital
· Cordoning of area to restrict movement of on-lookers, vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
· Guarding of property/valuables in affected area
· Providing easy access to rescue and relief personnel/vehicles
· Ensuring proper identification , inquest procedure and Corpse disposal
· Panchanamas will be prepared as per police procedure
· Crowd control especially outside Railway stations, bus stations and schools
· Police bandobast near railway stations, bus stations and schools
· Extensive mobile patrolling
· Arrangements for transportation/shifting of stranded or affected persons through police vehicles and private vehicles.
· Law and order and control of anti-social elements
· Use of public address system to provide information to the public. Sign boards may be used to provide information and declare areas out of bounds.
· Enlist support of Mohalla Committees for maintaining peace and for rumour control
· Information centre to organise sharing of information with mass media and community
· Communicate to police control room details on the field activities including deployment and reinforcements of staff and resources and communicate nature of additional requirements.

3.3 Responsibilities of Divisional Police Inspector (Traffic), G Division

The Divisional Police Inspector (Traffic) in co-ordination with the Ward Officer will be responsible for the following field activities :

· Control and monitor traffic
· Extensive patrolling especially covering railway stations, bus stations and schools
· Diversion of traffic on alternate routes as and when necessary.
· Provide information about traffic flow along various corridors, especially heavy traffic or congested roads
· Co-ordination with BEST to ensure additional buses are deployed along desired routes
· Mobilising towing cranes and towing of stranded/breakdown or those vehicles obstructing movements
· Use of P.A system to provide information and direction to the public
· Setting up of sign-boards and display boards at strategic locations to give information regarding traffic movement
· Enlist support of RSP, NCC, NSS, NGOs and voluntary organisations for traffic management
· Provide and co-ordinate arrangements for transportation/shifting of stranded or affected persons through police vehicles and private vehicles.
· Communicate to traffic control room details on the field activities including deployment and reinforcements of staff and resources and communicate nature of additional requirements.

3.4 Responsibilities of Officer from Revenue Department

The officer from Revenue Department in co-ordination with the Ward Officer will be responsible for the following field activities :

· Assessing the requirements for transit camps on the occurrence of disaster
· Assisting the ward officer in requisitioning vehicles and temporary shelters
· Setting up of transit camps and pandals for temporary accommodation.
· Arranging for food distribution
· Arrangements for dry rations and family kits for cooking
· Arrangements for clothing
· Providing gratuitous relief
· Enlist support of NGOs and private sector for resources and manpower for transit camps
· Communicate to district control room details on the field activities including deployment and reinforcements of staff and resources and communicate nature of additional requirements.

3.5 Responsibilities of Medical Officer (Casualty), Kurla Bhaba Municipal Hospital

The Medical Officer (Casualty) in co-ordination with the Ward Officer will be responsible for the following field activities :

· Providing emergency treatment for the seriously injured at the hospital
· Organising on-site treatment of injured with tagging and triage and transfer of injured
· Emergency supplies of medicines and first-aid
· Post-mortem and corpse disposal
· Demarcate an area in the hospital for receiving patients, tagging and triage
· If necessary, setting up poison centre within the hospital or at disaster site
· Co-ordinate with blood banks for emergency supply of blood
· Setting up an information centre at the hospital
· Communicate to BMC control room details on the field activities including deployment and reinforcements of staff and resources and communicate nature of additional requirements.

3.6 Responsibilities of Railway Station Master, Kurla Railway Station

The Railway Station Master in co-ordination with the Ward Officer will ensure that the following field activities are undertaken :

Crowd control through Railway Police
Continuous updated information through public address system on

· the running of trains
· measures being undertaken

Information on location of temporary shelters organised by BMC for railway passengers
Providing facilities at railway station to ward office for provision of emergency food and water to passengers
Monitoring level of water on the railway tracks
Co-ordinating with engineering branch staff posted at the flood prone locations at railway tracks
Co-ordination with ward officer regarding passenger data and alternate transport

In case of railway accidents :

Rescue and evacuation
Shifting of injured to hospitals
Co-ordination with railway hospitals, BMC hospitals and government hospitals
Provide information on alternate travel arrangements for outstation passengers

Communicate to Railway control room details on the field activities including deployment and reinforcements of staff and resources and communicate nature of additional requirements.

3.7 Responsibilities of BEST Assistant Traffic Superintendent, Kurla, Nehru Nagar, and Ghatkopar-Andheri Link Road Bus stations

The BEST Assistant Traffic Superintendent in co-ordination with the Ward Officer will be responsible for the following field activities :

· Keep standby buses in readiness for deployment
· Co-ordination with Railway Station Master and Divisional Police Inspector (Traffic) for information regarding traffic movement and passenger data
· Co-ordinate with MSRTC for transport arrangements of stranded passengers
· Deployment of additional buses along certain routes to clear passenger traffic
· Diversion of routes if and when necessary
· Providing information to the public at bus depots regarding the cancellation, re-routing, delays of buses, temporary shelter locations of BMC and the measures being undertaken.
· Communicate to BEST control room details on the field activities including deployment and reinforcements of staff and resources and communicate nature of additional requirements.

3.8 Responsibilities of BSES Station Engineer, Bail Bazaar Receiving Station

The BSES station engineer in co-ordination with the Ward Officer will be responsible for the following field activities :

· Cutting off power supply if necessary
· Restoration of power supply
· Alternative arrangements for power supply for lighting
· Illumination of affected area as well as the periphery
· Keeping emergency gangs in readiness for repair work
· Repairs to damaged power infrastructure
· Attending to calls of power breakdowns or short-circuits
· Co-ordinating with fire brigade in case of fires or short-circuiting
· Communicate with respective control rooms the details on the field activities including deployment and reinforcements of staff and resources and communicate nature of additional requirements.

3.9 Responsibilities of MTNL Area Manager, Bandra Exchange

The MTNL Area in co-ordination with the Ward Officer will be responsible for the following field activities :

· Restoration of telephone lines
· Keeping emergency gangs in readiness for repair work
· Repairs to telecommunication infrastructure
· Communicate with Head Office the details on the field activities including deployment and reinforcements of staff and resources and communicate nature of additional requirements.

4 NGOS AND VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS

The non-governmental organisations and voluntary agencies play an important role in disaster management and provide a strong band of committed volunteers with experience in managing the disasters. Their strength lies in the choice of their manpower, the informality in operations and flexibility in procedures. These organisations enjoy a fair degree of autonomy and hence can respond to changing needs immediately.

However, in order to maintain uniformity in operations and effective co-ordination, it is desirable that they follow the standards of services (as given in the Guidelines), information exchange and reporting so as to enable the Ward Officer to have a total picture of resource availability, disbursements and requirements. NGOs therefore will be assigned specific tasks by the Ward Officer to undertake relief work within the overall institutional framework. As and where possible, NGOs may also be able to improve the quality of delivery of services.

Specific activities in which NGOs/Private Sector can be involved during disaster management operations are :

· Search and rescue operations
· Information dissemination
· First aid
· Disposal of dead
· Damage assessment
· Management of information centres at temporary shelters
· Mobilisation and distribution of relief supplies including finances
· Manpower for community mobilisation, crowd control, rumour control, traffic management
· Specialised services (psychiatric and mental health assistance)
· Management of transit camps

The following agencies will be associated with relief and rehabilitation activities. Most of these agencies have the capacity to mobilise required resources and have assisted the administration in the past in managing relief and rehabilitation activities. These agencies include :

· Lions Club
· Rotary Club of Powai
· Dignity Foundation
· National Society of Clean Cities

Depending on the intensity of the disaster and the quantum of resources required, the following city level agencies will also be approached for assistance through the BMC Control Room.

· Agriculture Produce Market Committee
· Bharat Sevashram
· CARE
· CARITAS
· CASA
· Indian Red Cross
· Mahalaxmi Trust
· Nirmala Niketan School of Social Work
· Ramkrishna Mission
· Salvation Army
· SOCLEEN
· Somaiya Trust
· Swami Narayan Trust
· Tata Institute of Social Sciences
· Tata Relief Committee

As a part of general preparedness at community level, the NGOs in the ward will make the communities conscious about the type of hazard that the community faces. Thus local disaster management action plans for hot-spot areas in the context of specific vulnerability would be developed.

In addition, Mohalla Committees have been operating at the community level, especially in times of emergencies like house collapses, fires, floods. Such committees have been identified at the ward level and exist at the following places:

· Kasaiwada
· Jarimari, K.A. Link Road.
· Sanjay Nagar
· Ashok Nagar
· Kherani Road

For areas with high concentration of industries particularly engaged in production, storage and transport of hazardous materials, Mutual Aid and Resource Group is already set-up in the Chembur-Mahul Industrial Belt.

4.1 Mutual Aid and Resource Groups (MARGs)

The objective for setting up MARG is to

· Make the industrial zone self-sufficient
· Encourage pooling of resources to tackle industrial accidents
· Manage both on-site and off-site industrial accidents
· Provide for a degree of expertise in managing disasters
· Reduce the response time for managing disasters
· To integrate the on-site plan of industries with an off-site plan.
· Assist the Corporation in managing disasters

4.2 Areas of Community Participation

Efforts to enlist community participation is being ensured by

· identifying situational, opinion and position leaders in the community and voicing administration’s confidence in their capabilities to undertake the tasks.
· Consultations and dialogues expressly indicating the need for assistance would encourage the community and its leaders to come forward.
· Regular feedback meetings and an open book approach to demonstrate transparency.
· Involving community in decision making at local levels

The major areas of community participation are being identified in Greater Mumbai Disaster Management Plan and include the following:

4.2.1 During Evacuation

For appropriate security and law and order evacuation would be undertaken with assistance from community leaders and community based organisations (CBOs). The entire family would evacuate together as a unit. However, to avoid stampede and confusion and in cases of inadequate transport or limited time, emergency evacuation would be undertaken in the following order :

· seriously injured and sick
· children, women and handicapped
· Old
· Able-bodied

In case of evacuation, people would be advised to follow these steps:

· Secure their homes/establishments. Close and lock doors and windows.
· Turn off the main water valve and electricity
· Leave early enough to avoid being trapped.
· Follow recommended evacuation routes. Not to take shortcuts. They may be dangerous.
· Not to move into flooded areas because the authorities may have removed the manholes for efficient drainage and the indicators may get shifted due to water currents.
· Stay away from downed power lines.

4.2.2 During the Disaster

Community leaders could be given the responsibility for ensuring the following community behaviour :

· People stay calm and panic behaviour is not encouraged. Regulate helter-skelter running or crowding of people.
· Encourage people to stay at a secured place and protect themselves from injuries.
· People do not enter damaged buildings or structures
· People do not touch electric poles, utility wires/cables
· People do not use telephones except in life-threatening situations
· Preparedness of community for recurrence of the disaster, increase in severity, or consequential emergencies
· Check for injuries. Do not attempt to move seriously injured persons unless they are in immediate danger of death or further injury.
· Undertake first-aid activities
· Visually inspect utility lines and appliances for damage.
· If water pipes are damaged, shut off the water supply at the main valve.
· People stay away from damaged areas, unless their assistance has been specifically requested by police, fire or relief organizations.
· Mobilise people to put out small fires and people inside are made to evacuate.
· Help police, if requested, to maintain law and order and watch the evacuated property during the disaster

4.2.3 During Relief and Rehabilitation

Immediately after the disaster, the members of the community may look depressed and helpless, but very soon gets euphoric when they find that after all everything is not lost. Participation of community at this stage helps in early recovery and promotes mental health. It is necessary to see that member of the community are continuously engaged in some sort of helping activity to draw them out of their depression.

Relief authorities at the site would therefore:

· Encourage self-help in every activity of their day-to-day living.
· Encourage assistance for identification of dead, disposal of dead bodies, and disposal of damaged food stocks
· Encourage contribution of labour (loading, unloading, distribution, temporary constructions, food distribution etc)
· Enlist assistance for updating records of damages and losses.
· Enlist assistance in maintenance of law and order
· Enlist assistance in maintaining sanitation standards and disposal of waste
· Promote cultural and recreational activities in order to protect the mental health

4.3 Response Structure on receipt of warning

4.4 Response Structure on occurrence of disaster

4.5 Key officials for ward response plan