Indian airports set for disaster management

Chennai Airport

Brain-storming workshops and extensive audits will be carried out at a selection of India’s leading airports hence on as part of a broader programme called “Get Airports Ready for Disaster” (GARD), a collaboration between Deutsche Post DHL Group and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

In April, 2016, a four-day GARD workshop, facility audit and detailed action plan was developed at Chennai International Airport, which was cut off from international links by the heavy rains and floods in November last year.

The Guwahati International Airport in Assam went through the same exercise in December 2015, aimed at preparing the airport to become a logistics hub for relief goods entering the disaster-prone North East region. It was the first GARD initiative in India following successful workshops run in other parts of the world such as Armenia, Bangladesh, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Macedonia, Nepal, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, Turkey and Sri Lanka.

Following Guwahati, the GARD exercise underlined the importance of doing so for other airports in the country, convincing the Airport Authority of India (AAI) as well as Civil Aviation Authority of India.

The AAI has since identified several airports across the country, according to Carl Schelfhaut, Head of International Relations and Disaster Management, Asia Pacific, Deutsche Post DHL Group.

Given the huge scope, the GARD exercises will be carried out in phases, starting with airports in areas prone to natural disaster and weather vagaries, said Schelfhaut, who was part of experts managing the first two GARD workshops in India.

The exercise is challenging and elaborate as it covers the airport, airlines, hospitals, hotels, non-governmental organizations, governmental organizations, emergency points and other relief centres within each region.

“The process is challenging and is worked out with local civil aviation experts. It covers the entire airport operations including cargo handling, fuels and links to the emergency points,” he explained.

“But we have a framework and methodology, and we adjust that based on findings and experiences as we go along with these GARD workshops,” said Schelfhaut, acknowledging the challenge of balancing manpower and resources in maintaining disaster readiness at airports.

“The investment is unlimited in terms of time, manpower and resources and it is a continuous task for each airport as the program recommends for the airport to be assessed again after six to ninth months to ensure it is ever ready and on call,” he said.

GARD Plus is the follow-up program to refresh participants’ knowledge and to further develop the plans drafted in the original GARD workshops.

“More and more manpower will be trained for these exercises to ensure we have all we need for managing crisis during a disaster. A train the trainer scheme is being implemented to build up the manpower with expertise,” said Schelfhaut of the long-term planning and building network in India.

Over the last seven years, over 30 airports have been GARD assessed globally, 11 of which were in Asia.

The Nepal international airport and Indonesia’s new Denpasar  airport are scheduled for GARD Plus while Indonesia’s Komodo and Lombok airports  are scheduled to undergo GARD assessment in the later part of this year as part of programme. More Asian airports will be lined up in the coming years.

“After a natural disaster, the nearest airport can quickly become overwhelmed due to the large volume of incoming relief supplies. This can often delay, or even stop, the onward transport of life-saving supplies,” Schelfhaut pointed out.

With Chennai and its surrounding region prone to heavy flooding, the GARD workshop has help develop a clear and adaptable action blueprint to support immediate relief efforts in the wake of a natural disaster, he said of DHL-UNDP’s latest exercise.

“The frequency and severity of natural disasters will continue to rise in the years to come,” added Marina Walter, Deputy Country Director, UNDP.

“Practical experience, gained through other disasters, can help us ensure that the most critical functions during any relief effort, particularly airports, which act as the gateway for emergency aid, are able to operate with life-saving speed and precision, even under extremely testing circumstances,” she stressed.

Chris Weeks, Director of Humanitarian Affairs, DHL, elaborated: “The GARD workshops have seen DHL and the UNDP collaborate with authorities all over the world to analyze and define the capacities needed at airports in case of natural disasters.

“That gives us a uniquely informed perspective when it comes to understanding how airports like Chennai can best adapt their infrastructure, personnel resources, and processes to seamlessly enter ‘relief mode’ if and when the need arises, with an especial focus on disasters like floods which are most common in their particular geography,” he said.

Guwahati International Airport, which hosted the first GARD programme December 8-11, 2015, is ready for action to manage disaster relief work.

UNDP India Country Director, Jaco Cilliers said, “During disasters, airports frequently become the logistical hub where relief and emergency supplies are distributed.

“However, airports are often not equipped to handle the huge volumes of goods and surge traffic that follows in the immediate aftermath of any disaster. Therefore, enhancing the preparedness of airports is vital to ensure business continuity and smooth rescue and relief efforts,” he said. fii-news.com