Professional Experience:
I am a disaster risk reduction professional with 30 years of experience across the United Nations, Government of India, NGOs and INGOs, consulting and the corporate sector, and I currently serve with UNDP as State Project Officer and Head, Himachal Pradesh. In this role I lead the programme to strengthen the state’s disaster management system, working with the State Disaster Management Authority, line departments, districts, SDRF, NGOs and communities. My work covers school safety, hospital safety, community first responders and the review of disaster management plans at every administrative level, supported by capacity building and simulation exercises.
In Himachal Pradesh, I have standardised the school safety training module and carried out rapid visual screening, non-structural assessment, gap analysis and School Safety Plans for 50 schools across all 12 districts. I am leading the same approach in 12 district hospitals, with hospital disaster management plans, SOPs, training of trainers, table-top exercises and evacuation drills. I designed the Aapda Rakshak programme to build a trained network of community first responders. I am also reviewing and updating the State Disaster Management Plan, 12 District Plans, 3 City Plans (Shimla, Solan and Dharamshala) and 30 Department Plans, with a focus on gender, disability and social inclusion. I have also led landslide risk mapping, review of building by-laws and training for engineers, architects and officials to strengthen the techno-legal regime, and contributed to the ICIMOD-CEEW supported study on climate risks in the state.
My association with UNDP goes back many years. As Senior DM Specialist at AIDMI, I prepared the disaster management plans for 13 districts, 11 cities and 15 departments of Andhra Pradesh for UNDP and APSDMA. At SEEDS India, I took part in evaluating the GoI-UNDP Disaster Risk Management Programme, the largest of its kind, covering 14 states and 176 districts. At Knowledge Links, my work on Shimla’s ward, city and district plans, completed during COVID-19, was acknowledged by UNDP and the Shimla Municipal Corporation. I also worked with UNDP on community safety awareness while at Tata Chemicals.
My eight years at the National Disaster Management Authority, Government of India, gave me strong experience in national policy and large-scale programme delivery. I rolled out the National School Safety Programme in 22 States and 8,600 schools, developed the Aapda Mitra community volunteer scheme, contributed to the National Guidelines on Community Based DRR and the National Action Plan for Chemical Industrial Disaster Management, coordinated GO-NGO partnerships and reviewed 33 State and UT disaster management plans. I have also worked in Afghanistan and the Maldives on national and local disaster management planning and climate change adaptation, and led a hazard and risk assessment of 11 South-East Asian countries for WHO-SEARO.
I bring proven skills in programme management, monitoring and evaluation, proposal development and fund generation, stakeholder coordination and team leadership. I work well in multi-stakeholder settings, communicate clearly with senior officials and field teams, and turn national guidelines into practical action at state, district and community level. My experience includes projects funded by UNDP, UNICEF, USAID, the World Bank, the European Union, SDC and GTZ. I hold an M.Sc. in Disaster Mitigation, an MBA in Operations and a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering, and have received the National Disaster Mitigation Award and the Rashtra Sarvopari Award. I am committed to UNDP’s mission of building resilient communities and institutions, and to delivering lasting, inclusive results for disaster-prone regions.