ADRC Peer Review Mission to
Kingdom of Bhutan
REVIEW REPORTONINTEGRATING CULTURAL HERITAGE AND
DRR / DISASTER PREPAREDNESS ANDSENSITIZATION TRAINING PROGRAM ON
DZONG (FORTRESS) SAFETYDECEMBER 2014

ADRC Review Mission Team Member

Yuko Nakagawa (Ms.)
Executive Director,
SEEDS Asia
Junji Moriwaki (Mr.)
Researcher,
Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC)

Review Mission Schedule
13 - 21 December

Review mission schedule13-14 December

Travel from Kobe, Japan to Thimpu, Bhutan

15 December

Travel from Thimpu to Dagana
Inspection visit to Dagana Dzong

16 December

Meeting with the governor of Dagana
Workshop with participants from Dzong monks
Travel from Dagana to Punakha

17 December

Inspection visit to Punakha Dzong
Travel from Punaka to Thimput

18 December

Interview with Central Monastery, Fire Department,
and Ministry of Education

19 December

Discussion session with DDM

20-21 December

Travel from Thimpu to Kobe, Japan

Project Summary
Project summary
Project period

1 October 2014 – 28 February 2015

Target District

Dagana District

Implementing
agencyPreparedness and Mitigation Division,
Department of Disaster Management (DDM)

Primary
beneficiaries

Monks residing in the Monastic Institution

Secondarybeneficiaries

Staffs working for the District Administration andcommunities near the Monastic Institutions

Strategy

The project is expected to enhance preparedness and response
capacities of the Monastic Institutions and District
Administration. All the participating Monastic Institutions willdevelop their Monastic Disaster Management Plan. Further,
the representatives of the Monastic Institutions will createawareness on disaster risks at the community.

Project Activities and Outputs
Project Activities

One time 5 days training program at Dagana which will
cover the following;• 1 day pre-training vulnerability assessment of theDzong/Dratshang• 4 days actual training• Overview of Disaster Management in the country• Assessment of the preparedness and response
capacities• Hands on training on using the fire safety equipment• Developing DM and Evacuation Plan
• Fire drills – testing the draft evacuation plan of thepilot monastic institution

Project Output

1. Increased awareness of the monks, administrative
staffs and communities
2. Dzong/Monastic Disaster Management Plan
3. Fire drills

Review Team Observation

Dagana Dzong

Dagana Dzong

Dagana Dzong
Good points
 5 days training increased the awareness and knowledge on firesafety and DRR to monks and administrative officers in
Dagana district.
 Hands-on training on how to extinguishing fire using fire
extinguishers and water pumps were practical and monks andadministrative officers are now more confident to use it at thetime of fire.
 Good coordination among relevant agencies such as DDM,
fire division, and district administration made smooth
implementation of the training.
 Well understanding of the Governor and Disaster Focal
person of the district office for the need of DRR andwillingness for their continuous efforts.

Dagana Dzong
Further consideration
 Fire is not the only hazard in Dagana. There was a incident oflightening according to the governor. Training and awarenessraising on multi hazard, especially on earthquake should becontinuously planned and implemented.
 Regular maintenance of water pump and fire extinguisher
 There are fire incidents at community level as well. Training
for/with community members can be considered.
 Non-structual mitigation can be one of the priority action
 Collaboration between school and community on DRR drills
can be sought for district level awareness raising

Punakha Dzong

Punakha Dzong
Good points
 Smoke sensing equipments fully installed in all
rooms in the Dzong
 Disaster control room is watching safety of theDzong 24 hours with police/fire officials in rotation
 Kitchen facility is separated located to avoid possible
risk of fire Disaster management center, only one in Bhutan isoperating to respond to disaster at district level
 Good coordination with district office and DDM

Finding from interview with relevant agencies
 Good coordination and partnership among DDM, FireDivision, Central Monastery and district level
administration
 2012 fire incidents of Wangduephodrang Dzong wastragedy but became a wake-up call for fire safety in
Dzongs in all district
 About 70% of monks is under 18 years old. Necessity ofcontinuous and easy-to-understand training.
 Ministry of Education has done excellent training on
education emergency, safe school initiatives, first aid andfire safety for schools at all district from 2010 withexternal financial support. But so far not so muchcollaboration done with community.

Some Lessons Learnt from Japan’s experiences Kobe Earthquake in 1995
 98% of people rescued from collapsed housing/buildings wereby either by themselves or community members/ friends/
relatives/passers by.
 For successful community-based disaster risk management,

strengthening capacity of “Self-help” and “Mutual help” isimportant.

Great East Japan Earthquake/Tsunami in 2011

Disaster education worked well. In Kamaishi city, school
children became leaders of evacuation and helped many
community members.

Continuous disaster education/awareness raising is important.

Some experiences from Japan
 “Fire safety Day for Cultural Assets” (January 26) setup by Cultural Affairs Agency to commemorate fireincident of Japan’s oldest wooden architecture,
Horyu temple which resulted in the loss of its mural
painting in Nara (1949).

⇒ Awareness raising campaign and drills are conducted every
year on that day.
⇒ Strong collaboration among Agency of Cultural Affairs, Fireand Disaster Management Agency, Board of Education of local
governments (Prefecture/City/Town/Village), Fire department
under local governments, owners of cultural assets, andcommunity members for fire safety events.

Some experiences from Japan Community volunteers to work jointly with Kiyomizu

temple for disaster prevention.
⇒ Established in 1948 as Kiyomizu Keibi-dan (neighborhoodwatch group) and continue its communitiy-based disasterprevention activity on earthquake, fire, wind and flood.
⇒ Night patrol of the temple by two members every night⇒ Joint fire drill with local fire station twice every year during
cultural assets fire safety activity period

Review Team Recommendation

General Recommendation for Dzong fire safety Continuous drills on fire safety in Dzong would berecommended. Disasters can occur at night time also. Drillsshould be planned considering various situation. Also, drills
should be done involving all relevant stakeholders.
 Considering Dzongs are sightseeing spots for tourists, disastermanagement plans of both district administration andmonastery should have plans how to evacuate tourists as well
 It is recommended to look more at preparedness part such as
strengthening non-structural mitigation.
 DRR training should incorporate multi hazards risks,
especially earthquakes.
 Building inspection by architect and engineers isrecommended as recently tin roofs are widely used even inDzongs which might not been properly installed.

General Recommendation for Dzong fire safety During annual gathering of monastery of all districts,

DRR issues should also added to its agenda to share each
district experiences and lessons learnt
 DRR training to community members has not been fully
conducted mainly due to budget constrains. Solutions
can be sought by collaborating with schools andmonastery.
 DRR awareness raising campaign at the time of local
festival could be sought for wider dissemination of theimportance of DRR.
 Collaboration with local media for awareness campaign
on DRR can also be considered as it reaches to wide
range of people
 Important data should be scanned or digitally kept atseveral places as risk management at administrative
office at Dzong