This project proposes to build capacities at two levels of government, the village level volunteers (VLV) at the community or settlement level and the emergency operations centre (EOC) at the district level. The former will be trained in field survey methods for collection of spatial and socio-economic data for vulnerability mapping. This training will be put into effect immediately and surveys will be carried out for vulnerable coastal settlements as identified by the Pondicherry government.

Data collected during these surveys, and elevation data procured from the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), Hyderabad, will be utilised for developing a vulnerability dataset for use by the EOC. Training for the use of this data will be provided to the EOU team on site. The bulk of the remotely sensed data required for the analysis has been procured as part of another UNDP project already and will be made available for this effort.

This project will train VLVs over two training sessions and EOC or equivalent staff over one session. The latter programme will be held at Pondicherry town. The project will be implemented in Pondicherry and has the active support of the government who will have a major role in the selection of the VLVs and set up a EOC or equivalent body for the state. It is hoped that this phase of the project will grow into a larger government driven initiative covering the entire coastal region and a larger number of datasets. In order to ensure scalability, the project will be based on open standards and open source software.