Design and application of a multi-hazard risk rapid assessment questionnaire for hill communities in the Indian Himalayan region

Abstract

The Indian Himalayan region (IHR) is prone to multiple hazards and suffers great loss of life and damage to infrastructure and property every year. Poor engineering construction, unplanned and unregulated development, and relatively low awareness and capacity in communities for supporting disaster risk mitigation are directly and indirectly contributing to the risk and severity of disasters. A comprehensive review of various existing survey forms for risk assessment has found that the survey questionnaires themselves have not been designed or optimised, specifically, for hill communities. Hill communities are distinctly different from low-land communities, with distinct characteristics and susceptibility to specific hazard and risk scenarios. Previous studies have, on the whole, underrepresented the specific characteristics of hill communities, and the increasing threat of natural disasters in the IHR creates an imperative to design hill-specific questionnaires for multi-hazard risk assessment. The main objective of this study is to design and apply a hill-specific risk assessment survey form that contains more accurate information for hill communities and hill-based infrastructure and allows for the surveys to be completed efficiently and in less time. The proposed survey form is described herein and is validated through a pilot survey at several locations in the hills of Uttarakhand, India. The survey form covers data related to vulnerability to earthquake (rapid visual screening), flood, high wind, landslide, industrial, non-structural falling hazards and fire hazards in the building, and climate change. SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis of this study states that the proposed form has the advantages of being self-explanatory and pictorial, includes easy terminology, and is divided into various sections for better understanding by surveyors. This survey form has the weakness of being limited to specific hazards. There are opportunities for the form to be applied to other Himalayan countries like Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan. When it is applied internationally, the options available in the questions may differ. The application process confirmed that the survey questionnaire performed well and met expectations in its application. The form is readily transferrable to other locations in the IHR and could be internationalised and used throughout the Himalayas.