Exploring the status of community information and training for disaster preparation and mitigation practices: an appraisal of 2013 flash flood in Uttarakhand

The occurrence of natural disasters has become a major global problem. It poses serious threats to the concept of sustainable development. Over the last two decades, more than 1.3 million people and nearly two trillion dollars have been lost due to natural disasters. The paper discusses the status of disaster mitigation information systems during the Uttarakhand disaster of June 2013. The researchers have discussed the status of such actions taken by both Government and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) from a qualitative perspective. The Software Package for Social Science (SPSS) software was used for the analysis and the results are presented in descriptive statistical format. As many as (n = 1500) respondents were interviewed, out of which 80% respondents were ill-informed. Over 80% respondents were found to be untrained to respond in a disastrous situation. Hence, the researchers have proposed the use of better information and communication mediums with the assistance of public and private partnership (PPP model) to deal with disastrous situations in the future along with some indigenous methods.