Playing safe

Duck under your desks,8221; rings out a command at a classroom in Shimla. The children oblige dutifully.

Duck under your desks,8221; rings out a command at a classroom in Shimla. The children oblige dutifully. Not quite what a teacher would expect the students to do in school, but it8217;s a commendable measure, considering that it8217;s a safety drill to prepare against earthquakes, a unique initiative in the country launched in some schools in and around Shimla.

8220;We can8217;t avert earthquakes but can prepare ourselves to mitigate the loss following a disaster,8221; says Niharika, a class V student at the Government Senior Secondary School, Chhota Shimla. 8220;This is just a part of the School Earthquake Safety Initiative Shimla SESIS,8221; inform the other students.

The programme, launched by the Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society SEEDS, an NGO, is complemented by the government8217;s directive that all new school buildings will be quake resistant. 8220;There8217;s a need for spreading awareness about safety measures and the government has already moved to make school buildings quake resistent,8221; says S.C. Negi, principal secretary, PWD, Himachal.

Himachal witnessed its worst quake in April 1905 in Kangra, which killed nearly 20,000 people, and Shimla is considered one of the most vulnerable towns. 8220;But even a hundred years down the line a lot of lessons are yet to be learnt,8221; says Paula Silva, senior programme officer, SEEDS.

The project, undertaken by the Humanitarian Aid Department of the European Commission, has already sensitised schoolchildren and the local community, and is now working on changing the schools8217; structural designs. SEEDS sought government help, conducted a survey in various government schools in the district in association with the engineers of NIT, Hamirpur, and foreign experts, and then worked out a plan to make them quake resistent. 8220;Now, we are executing it by involving local masons and residents in five schools,8221; says Silva.

They are being helped by people who have worked in quake-affected areas of Bhuj and Kashmir, Manubhai B. Yadav, being one of them. A mason from Gujarat, Yadav says he has also been to the Andaman islands after the tsunami.

8220;Quakes refuse to operate on human standard time and even the simplest of questions remain unanswered, but we can prepare to deal with an emergency,8221; says Mihir Joshi, programme officer, structural mitigation, SEEDS. 8220;Himachal is vulnerable to earthquakes, landslides, avalanches and forest fires. It is crucial to communicate risks, create awareness and build capacities in preparedness and mitigation,8221; he adds.

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SEEDS is also helped by government agencies like the department of education, department of science and technology and the public works department. 8220;With their help, we have demonstrated non-structural mitigation in 20 schools. We will also carry out the School Disaster Management Plan in every school in town and then move on to other schools in the state,8221; says Silva.