Emergency Management
The Emergency Management Component of the Project aims to facilitate MCGM’s development of a professional Emergency Management System that incorporates international best practices and standards for enhanced response and recovery for various hazards and high-risk threats to the people and critical facilities of Mumbai.
The EM component is designed as a "turn-key" output to comply with the Emergency Management Assessment Program (EMAP) international standards. It combines three components:
- Institution building (reinforcing of the DMU human resources, equipment and organization)
- Development of a Emergency Operations System (see below)
- Related training and capacity building
All three components go hand-in-hand and follow the EMAP standards (www.emaponline.org)
In order to assess the current state of Mumbai’s EMS and identify areas for further improvement, the EM team, composed of Ms. Shirley Mattingly, Mr. Jim Buika and Mr. Troy Kindred, has conducted four field investigations from May 2009 to May 2010 to support the accomplishment of the following objectives:
- Investigation, documentation and assessment of MCGM’s existing emergency management structures and operations, as well as their relationship to state and national government organizations;
- Evaluation of the existing capabilities and resources of MCGM’s Disaster Management Unit (DMU);
- Provision of training on international best practices in emergency management;
- Development of Greater Mumbai Emergency Operations Plan;
- Restructuring of MCGM’s Emergency Operations Center; and
- Formulation of an Emergency Management Framework document.
In line with these objectives, the following key deliverables have been/are being carried out:
- Formation of EM Focus Group composed of key stakeholders with responsibilities for emergency management and response;
- Development of Draft Framework Report for Emergency Management;
- Formulation of Action Plan for development of EM Basic Plan
- Revision of existing Mumbai Disaster Management Plan into the MCGM Emergency Operations Plan, based on international best practices;
- Review of MCGM Disaster Control Room and Emergency Operations Center and development of recommendations for improving functions, operating procedures, organization, and physical plant;
- Conduct of the following capacity building programs:
- Stakeholder Workshop on Monsoon Preparedness (May 2009)
- Incident Command System Training and Table Top Exercise for the DMU and EM Focus Group (Sept. 16/18, 2009)
- Training on (1) Introduction to the Emergency Operations Plan Training Program, (2) City Level EM Systems, and (3) City Emergency Planning Process for the EM Focus Group (March 23, 2010)
- Table Top Exercise for the EM Focus Group to Investigate Roles and Responsibilities for the Emergency Support Function Matrix (March 23, 2010)
- EM Focus Group Training and Workshop on Basic Plan Development and Introduction to the Emergency Support Function Annex (March 25, 2010)
- Training on Key Emergency Response Operations for the EM Focus Group (May 20, 2010)
- Completion of Incident Command System Training Curriculum for the DMU (May 21, 2010)
- Development of Training Manual on City-Level Disaster Management Operations and Organization
- File sharing system established with the EM Focus Group
The development of an Emergency Management System for Mumbai entails the following elements:
- Emergency Operation Plan (EOP) that incorporates an Incident Command System (ICS) and Standard Operations Procedures (SOP)
- Annexes to the EOP to provide the foundation and background
- Emergency Support Functions, organized along the 15 EMAP standards
- institutional building (human resources, material, equipment, internal processes)
- related training which is undertaken in parallel
In order to review and assess the existing Emergency Management System of Mumbai and identify training and other needs, the EM team carried out a modest program of field investigations, key informant meetings, stakeholders’ workshop, exercises with the EM Focus Group and the Disaster Management Unit, survey, and document review.
