SaveTheHills activity: Workshop in a remote village school on 'How to be better prepared for disasters in 2022' (25Feb2022)

Manzing (Pokhriabong GP, Gorubathan Block of Kalimpong district) is a remote village located almost 20kms south east of Kalimpong.
On 25Feb2022 while attending a workshop organized by Anugyalaya DSSS there, it took us 3 hours to reach the High School where the program was organized. I traveled with a group of Fire Brigade personnel who had a demo and talk on Fire Fighting.

My thanks to Mr Sudip Bomzon of Anugyalaya for organizing the workshop and I have added
Mr Praveen Ghising, Head Master of the Pokhriabong High School (Gorubathan) to 'Hazard Alerts' our Whats App group so that he can pass on our warnings and weather information to the children and staff.

Praful Rao
SaveTheHills,
Kalimpong District
Darjeeling Sikkim Himalaya

SaveTheHills Activities Sep-Oct2018

Praful Rao,
Kalimpong district,
Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya

SaveTheHills activities Jul-Aug2018

Praful Rao
Kalimpong district,
Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya

Premonsoon Preparedness meeting at Darjeeling with the WB State IAG (11May2016)

NGOs represented : Anugyalaya, World Vision, FOSEP, DLR Prerna, SaveTheHills, CASA, MARG and EWSCT reps were present during the meeting at Anugyalaya DSSS office in Darjeeling. The West Bengal State IAG was represented by the Coordinator, Mr D Chakravorty.
Decisions :-
a. A decision was taken to resuscitate the Darjeeling IAG. Anugyalaya member Mr Arpan E Rai would be responsible for all contacting members and handling all correspondence for the time being. STH would taken on a consultative role.
b. Member of Darjeeling IAG would to the extent possible give their inputs for updating the WB State Disaster Management Plan 2017.
c. NDRF would undertake training of local volunteers at the block level in Darjeeling district, starting Jun2016. NGOs were requested to organize volunteers.
d. Darjeeling IAG with funding from WB State Disaster Management Dept would organize a National Level Seminar on 'Landslides and Earthquakes' in Oct2016. GTA would be requested to participate.
e. School safety programmes and mock drills would also commence in Darjeeling district in the near future.


Praful Rao,
Kalimpong,
Dist Darjeeling

STH Activities (Working with Communities) :- CBDRM work in Tirpai, Kalimpong

I live in Tirpai, Kalimpong and after our first meeting on 31Jan2016 at my home, the core committee met in mid-Feb2016 following which we continued the CBDRM work at the Maitri Sangh Community Hall in Tirpai bazaar on 28Feb2016.
The WB Fire Dept responded enthusiastically with a lecture on 'Fire Awareness and Safety' which included a fire demo after which we showed a map of Tirpai with the vulnerable and safe zones.
We have drawn up a list of volunteers who will receive training in the future.

Praful Rao,
Kalimpong,
Darjeeling district.

My thanks to the WB Fire Dept, Kalimpong Station and Maitri Sangh (Tirpai, Kalimpong) for making the program a success.

STH Activity : Proposed Community Based DRR work at Tirpai Bazar (Wards No 6&7) in Kalimpong

STH has worked on DRR with rural communities earlier.
We intend to carry out DRR work in an urban environment in Tirpai Bazar (which is also where I live). Tirpai lies on the northern edge of Kalimpong municipal limits (see TOP Google Image) and comprises of Ward No 6&7. We estimate the population to be around 2500 (see CENTRE Image showing a very approximate map of the area of intended work).
We held the first meeting with community people at my home (BOTTOM Image) in Tirpai yesterday where I elucidated the hazards and risks we living in the Darjeeling- Sikkim Himalaya are exposed to and what an empowered community can achieve in DRR.
I vividly remember a major landslide near Tirpai in 1968 which killed more than 15 persons; last year too, 2 persons lost their lives close to Tirpai Bazar on 01July2015.
We have formed a core committee of 7 people of this area for taking the work forward and we will be taking help from the civil defense, State IAG and others for this work.

Praful Rao,
Kalimpong,
Dist Darjeeling