Aapda-Samvaad

Interview: Dr. Piyoosh Rautela on Forest Fires Fires are dangerous. Forest fires, even more so, as they often get out of control and spread over a huge area. These destroy vast tracts of forest cover and wildlife, disturb the forest ecosystem, adversely affect human settlements in the vicinity and cause huge economic losses. NDMA conducted its first-ever mock exercise on forest fire in Uttarakhand in April this year. ' Aapda Samvaad' spoke with Dr. Piyoosh Rautela, Executive Director, Disaster Mitigation and Management Center (DMMC), Dehra Dun,  about the role of such exercises in reducing disaster risks. Q. What is the significance of this mock exercise for Uttarakhand ? A. Any mock exercise, whether on forest fires or earthquakes, presents an opportunity to review our plans, check the readiness of various departments, ensure coordination with central government agencies and paramilitary forces. So, it is an important tool for reducing disaster losses

Looking beyond the physical: Safety concerns at schools - Anjali Mittal (Assistant Professor, School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi) & Mridula Garg (Architect, School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi)                                                                                                              This writing is an attempt to highlight how understanding of safety at schools needs to be logically extended to its psychological and social dimensions and not merely limited to the physical aspects. This short article presents the key findings and recommendations from the study conducted by Investigating Design as part of a preliminary report prepared for the Honeywell SafeSchools Project of Seeds between May-July 2017. A sample set of 10 carefully chosen schools in Delhi formed the case study sites fulfilling three major criteria: management models, location within the city and immediate context. These included schools across Departmen