GIS@development May - June 1999; Disaster Management Information System (DMIS)

Dr. R. S. Ayyangar
Director, Maharashtra Remote Sensing Applications Centre,
Department of Planning, Government of Maharashtra
VRCE Campus, South Ambazari Road,
Nagpur-440001.

The Government of Maharashtra developed a comprehensive Disaster Management Information System in association with MRSAC to implement useful structural and non-structural strategies on the basis of critical analysis of the past experience, knowledge and currently available information.

Information System for Disaster Management
Critical analysis and assessment of the implications of the occurrence of natural or man-made hazards need information comprising of both spatial and non-spatial related to factors influencing the hazards. If such information are available, it would be immensely useful in:

Identification of the processes responsible for the hazards and the natural resources and socio-economic parameters associated with the process,
Planning appropriate preventive measures/preparedness, and
Assessing damage caused by hazards and to plan appropriate mitigation measures.

With the advent of Satellite Remote Sensing and GIS technology, the information generation related to earth surface has become easier in terms of database generation, storage, retrieval and data analysis. Further, creation of computerized database with Net-working facilities has added a new dimension to the dissemination of information, free flow of data and information exchange for speedy implementation of action plans and their monitoring.

Computerized database under the GIS environment has the following advantages with reference to hazards/calamities :

Assessment of the situation through integrated analysis,
Implication of hazards in terms of risks and planning,
Spatial modelling, querying and map creation for efficient and effective implementation of Response Action System (RAS),
Simulation of models and visualization of varying scenario of hazards.

Disaster Management Information System (DMIS) having a digital database under GIS environment is oriented towards providing information for decision makers and encompasses information on natural resources. The integration of these data sets would aid in decision making process for systematic planning and management of resources as well as disaster situations.

A wide variety of maps would be required in the study of hazards. The maps generated would furnish information on political boundaries, transport network, settlements, natural resources set up, etc. on which the spatial aspects of hazards can be represented. These maps furnish basic location information concerning hazards with thematic support maps such as tectonic features, geological features, landforms, drainage, land use / land cover, soils, etc. The information provided by the thematic maps are as follows:

Geological maps help to identify the earth materials, geological hazards (e.g. seismic landslides, volcanic eruptions etc.) and river courses, etc.
Geomorphology maps are helpful in creating an integrated picture of the natural land surfaces and its hazards (erosion, floods, landslides, subsidence and so on).Those maps form a part of a wider endeavour to understand the sensitiveness of geomorphologic processes to human interferences and the risks associated with development and settlements of hazardous sites.
Soil maps depict the variation and changes in soil characteristics. Specialized pedological maps with collateral data enable area specific prediction such as landslides and mass washing, epidemic surveillance of soil borne diseases etc. They also help in providing information on drainage, water logging, erosion susceptibility, salinisation, etc.
Land use / land cover maps depict the land use pattern such as animal, forest, scrub land, etc. These maps can be used for assessing the extent of damage as a consequence of hazards / disasters and valuation and also identifies the areas prone to hazards like floods, forest fires etc.
In addition to the above, many other types of thematic maps that have direct or indirect bearing to hazards would also form a part of the RIS. The various thematic layers and their relevance to natural disasters are listed in the Table

Non- spatial database
The socio-economic and infrastructure data that reside in the database would be useful in the analyses of growth trends, demographic situations, the consequences of hazards depending on the demographic pattern, economic profiles, infrastructure status, communication networks and linkages and so on.

GIS based Information Systems
The computerised data constitutes a comprehensive digital database. The database contains information about various resources fields such as land, water, vegetation and socio-economic situation, which can be potentially tapped as per needs to create information system such as Land Information System (LIS), Water Information System (WIS), Forest Information System (FIS), Disaster Management Information System (DMIS), etc. Thus a digital base generated under GIS environment can find applications in various fields related to natural resources viz. land, water, vegetation / forest, minerals, urban and rural development and specific area necessitating management of natural / anthropogenic hazards, development and management of facilities, transport, etc.

Disaster Management Information System for Maharashtra
Recognizing the potentials of remote sensing technology, the Government of Maharashtra established Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre (MRSAC) in September, 1988 at Nagpur as an autonomous organization under the department of Planning of the government. The Government of Maharashtra developed a comprehensive Disaster Management Information System (DMIS) in association with MRSAC to implement useful structural and non-structural strategies on the basis of critical analysis of the past experience, knowledge and currently available information. Recognizing the utility of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) in data collection, formatting, storage, manipulation, transmission, updating, analysis and query development and network/communication linkages, the Government of Maharashtra has entrusted MRSAC, the job of executing the creation of DMIS under GIS environment, for Maharashtra State, under the World Bank/DFID supported programme.
DMIS is visualized as a GIS based nodes covering the districts and entire Maharashtra State. These nodes (districts) will be repositories of resources information in the spatial domain and will provide input to decision making at District/ Region /State levels.

For State/Region/District level planning, the information required vary for identification of hazard prone areas, preparation of management plans, resources allocation, implementation, monitoring, etc. Such types of demand call for information generation of varying details to meet the specific needs. Keeping the scope of the data base utilisation in mind, the DMIS is structured to meet the following objective:

To create digital database comprising of both spatial and non-spatial data on 1:250,000 and 1:50,000 scale for identifying disaster prone areas.
To assess disaster situation through integrated analysis.
To organize response emergency operation through better information flow.
To utilize the GIS data base for designing and implementing the mitigation and preparedness measure.
To derive additional benefits of utilizing the resources data base for developmental planning at the district/region and state level.

The DMIS is computerised database created under GIS environment. The primary objective to carry out integrated analysis of spatial and non-spatial data and generation of hazard maps relevant to the districts in Maharashtra such as floods and epidemics, earthquake, accidents, industrial hazards, fire, cyclones, etc. The data base thus created will be immensely useful in the development of Vulnerability Analysis System (VAS) and Response / Action Plan System (RAS).

The information requirement for policy formulation, identification of priority areas, preparation of management plans, resources allocation, implementation of action plans vary with the state/region/district/tahsil. In order to meet such demands, database at different scales/levels (1:250,000 and 1:150,000)are required to be generated which would fulfil the requirements of state, region, district and tahsil level disaster management planning, and response plan implementation activities.

One of the major components of the DMIS would be the Resources Information System (RIS), which would contain information in the spatial domain in the form of thematic layers and the non-spatial domain related to socio-economic infrastructure data and resource attribute parameters.

DMIS facilities consist of information system created at the district / region / HQ consist of structured database on 1:250,000 and 1:50,000 scale in an GIS environment which has a front end of GIS viewing / networking software. This is useful for event mapping, path finding, route analysis, hazard visualization and scenario simulation and act as a decision support system for district administrators, event managers, policy makers and planners. The database created is useful for the DMIS and can be potentially utilised for the overall developmental activities of the district/state.

The support facility consists of hardware, desktop GIS software to enable data display, query, analysis and preparing outputs and database created by MRSAC under DMIS.