COMMUNITY RADIO AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT PEOPLE'S P.OW.E.R COLLECTIVE & MANDAKINI KI AWAAZ People's P.ow.e.r Collective (P.P.C) is a registered, public trust; a non-profit, working in the Community Radio (C.R) sector in India. Easily accessible and cheap, C.R is based on the pillars of open and equal participation and community ownership. It is managed by the community it serves; celebrates the local language, preserves community culture and heritage; and tackles day-to-day problems and bigger issues such as education, nutrition, drinking water, sanitation, women’s and public health, livelihoods and community wellbeing. It is a medium around which communities can organise and catalyse their own change. P.P.C's main focus is to empower rural and isolated communities in the country by facilitating them to develop and sustain their own, local Community Radio stations - a democratic medium that truly gives communities a voice. In June 2013, P.P.C launched an 18 month, community radio training and capacity building programme in the village of Sena Gadsari, Uttarakhand, in partnership with Mandakini Ki Awaaz (M.K.A), a local community based organization with dreams of bringing their own community radio station home. Within 2 weeks, came the floods of June 2013 that crippled the Mandakini River Valley region changing the very landscape in tangible and intangible ways. Recognizing the need of the hour the P.P.C and M.K.A teams jointly decided to support on-the-ground relief and rehabilitation efforts within the immediate vicinity of the proposed project area. P.P.C assisted M.K.A raise material and monetary resources to enable families meet their immediate needs of food, shelter, clothing, medicines and power (solar lights/mobile chargers). During this time a close follow-up was also maintained with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry of India to expedite the Broadcast Licence process for M.K.A. After careful consideration of the post-disaster needs of the local community, certain aspects of the P.P.C 18-month programme were appropriately revised. For instance, additional field visits in disaster-affected regions of the Mandakini River Valley region have been included, in keeping with the role of Community Radio as a critical tool for disaster management.1 Disaster Management Field Visits in M.K.A's catchment area have been incorporated to enable M.K.A to play a truly meaningful role in disaster management and to enable risk reduction, rehabilitation and reconstruction of this disaster prone area of Uttarakhand. P.P.C is working closely with the district administration to understand which villages were most affected and require attention. After identifying the village for the field visit, P.P.C and M.K.A team members visit the proposed field visit site to understand:  how community members dealt with the crisis  information they need to prepare for another crisis  their current situation, several months after the floods  the current status of relief, reconstruction and compensation for affected families  information they need now to avail of government schemes for those affected M.K.A team members, supported by P.P.C, then design shows based on the information requirements of the community and then take these shows back to the community. In this way, the Disaster Management Field Visits facilitate a two way interaction between community members and the Community Radio station, that enables production of relevant disaster management programming, based on the needs and requirements of the community. Uttarakhand is a disaster prone area. “If there was a broadcasting radio “During the disaster, all our A few years ago, there was a huge station, it would have been a line of communication lines were down. If we disaster in Ukhimath, this time it struck communication with the government had a functioning community radio the Kedarnath valley. A broadcasting and district administration. Many of the station, people could have heard and radio station would have helped the relief process. greatly helplines are not working and no news known what the situation on the from our area is getting to the district ground was like.” - District Co-ordinator, Rudraprayag administration.” Axhaya Project (The Union) - Community Member, Gavnigaon 1 For more, watch ibnlive.in.com/shows/Citizen Journalist Show/429492.html -Community Member, Bhanaj whose son was trapped in Kedarnath Once broadcasting, the community radio station of M.K.A, could reach approximately 40,000 families, 150,000 people, within the 10-15 km broadcast range covering several areas in the Mandakini River Valley region, devastated by the disaster. Coupled with the ongoing narrowcasts to villages that lie outside our catchment area, the community radio station could be an important asset for Disaster Management in the Mandakini River Valley. Along with the support of P.P.C, our hope is that the Mandakini ki Awaaz Community Radio Station will be an important resource to both the District Administration and the residents of the Mandakini River Valley, for Disaster Management, enabling and facilitating risk reduction, rehabilitation (in the broad areas of public health including trauma counseling, maternal health, sanitation, children's nutrition, education, livelihoods & food security, shelter) and responsible reconstruction and development. For more information regarding how you can collaborate with Mandakini ki Awaaz on Public Service Announcements (P.S.As), advertisements, campaigns and programming, please contact: FOR FURTHER DETAILS, PLEASE CONTACT SARITHA THOMAS Founder/Managing Trustee, SHWETA RADHAKRISHNAN Communications and Programme Co-ordinator, People's P.ow.er Collective Email: [email protected] People’s P.ow.e.r Collective Email: [email protected] Phone: +91 (0)7351559798 Phone: +91 09536215868 Website: http://www.peoplespower-co.org; Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/peoplespowercollective Twitter: @ppcol