Rain and Fire Plans

From Cityriskpedia

Quito

City Profile

Sound Practices

DRM Library

Overview

The rain plan’s main objective is to control and reduce the number of potential flooding zones in the city. It is a joint program among different municipal enterprises such as the Water and Sewerage Municipal Enterprise (EMAAP), the Solid Waste and Disposal Enterprise (EMASEO), the Public Works Enterprise (EMOP), Municipal Health Department and the Community; the Metropolitan Safety Office does the general coordination. On the emergency side, all the related organizations are part of the program. The success of the program is based on the coexistence of a number of sound practices in the city, with particular emphasis in those critical zones such as the western slopes of Mt. Pichincha and others clearly identified on the flooding prone zone map of the city. Continued solid waste and debris recollection, regular cleaning and maintenance of the collectors, and cleaning and maintenance of the natural ravines to facilitate the continuous flow of rainfall are some of the concrete actions taken. Community capacity building schemes are also considered to emphasize the preventive actions and to prepare them to face possible harms of such a situation. On the other hand, contingency plans that include human resources and equipment are also available for a fast response in case of emergency. They include the identification of alternative routes to facilitate the traffic flow or others like pipes, pumps and road equipment. The implementation of this program has produced positive results in the city as can be observed from recent statistics. On year 2001, 19 km2 were damaged due to floods caused by heavy rain in the city, in year 2002, this figure was reduced by half, only 8 km2 were affected. This program trained 8250 inhabitants in year 2002 and the following year, 14025 persons were trained. A similar strategy to prevent burning of the natural and cultivated woods in the district was initiated on year 2002. Based on the active community participation through the program, the number of burned Hectares has significantly reduced from 1034(2001) to 98(2003).

Knowledge Base Coding Reference

• Name of the Practice: Rain and Fire Plans
• Contact Person(s): Lorena Vinueza, Milton de la Cadena Direccion de Seguridad Ciudadana, MDMQ
• Contact Address: lorenvin17@yahoo.com, miltoncadena@yahoo.com
• Written by: J. Fernandez, 3cd Program - Component 1 Coordinator, based on a series of interviews and documentation provided by L. Vinueza and M. de la Cadena, Direccion de Seguridad Ciudadana, MDMQ