International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) ISSN: 2319-4421 25

Volume 3, No. 5, May 2014

Application of Pressure and Release (PAR) Model for

Assessing Vulnerability to Industrial Hazards in District
Bathinda (Punjab, India)
Komaljot Singh, Masters in Disaster Management, Department of Geography, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India

ABSTRACT person or group in terms of their capacity to anticipate,

cope with, resist and recover from impacts of a hazard [3].
Introduction: The High Powered Committee on Disaster Vulnerability is also defined as the exposure to risk and
Management (2002) set up by Government of India has inability to avoid or absorb potential harm [4]. So it can be
defined vulnerability as the extent to which a community, inferred that vulnerability is the community’s capacity to
structure, service, or geographic area is likely to be cope up with the adverse affects of a disaster to prevent
damaged by a particular hazard, on account of their potential damage.
nature, construction and proximity to a disaster prone
area. Aim: The objective of the present research paper is The High Powered Committee on Disaster Management
to document the vulnerability of three villages situated (2002) set up by Government of India has defined
near big petroleum and fertilizer industries in district vulnerability as the extent to which a community,
Bathinda (Punjab). Study Area: These villages are Phulo structure, service, or geographic area is likely to be
Khari (situated near HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited damaged by a particular hazard, on account of their nature,
Refinery), Sivian (near National Fertilizers Ltd.) and construction and proximity to a disaster prone area [5].
Phoos Mandi (near Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Vulnerability differs from place to place and from hazard
Ltd. Plant). Methods: Data was obtained from both to hazard. It can be categorized into physical, social and
primary as well as secondary sources. The primary data economic vulnerability. Physical vulnerability includes
was collected through observation method and through who and what may be damaged or destroyed by any
informal interviews with the local people and panchayat natural or manmade hazard and socio-economic
members. Secondary data was obtained from the vulnerability is the extent to which a population is affected
concerned village panchayats. The study was framed on by a hazard. The socio-economic conditions of the people
the lines of Pressure and Release (PAR) model developed also determine the intensity of the impact.
by Blaikie et al. (1994). Findings: The residents of these
villages are facing serious health and economic problems The High Powered Committee has identified five major
due to air and water pollution caused by these industrial categories of disasters, viz. water and climate related
units. No remedial measures are taken by concerned disasters; geologically related disasters; chemical,
authorities to solve this problem. industrial and nuclear related disasters; accident related
disasters and biologically related disasters. Out of these,
industrial disasters are of special importance because
Keywords industries are the product of interface between society and
Vulnerability, Industrial hazards, Pressure and Release technology and any industrial disaster has the potential to
Model, Pollution damage the complex system of physical and human
environment. Accidental disasters in industries are caused
1. INTRODUCTION due to negligence, incompetence or sometimes willingly.
The workers of the industries and the population living in
The concept of vulnerability originated in 1970’s in the the vicinity of the industry are the most vulnerable
field of social sciences from the view point of disaster risk. segments of population. One can have a look on the list of
Vulnerability is the degree of loss to an element or set of past industrial disasters like Bhopal gas tragedy (1984),
elements from any natural or man-made phenomena. The Jaipur oil depot fire (2009) and Vizag fire (2013) which
concept of vulnerability has been described by different caused huge damage to local economy and resulted in
authors like Susman (1984), Dow (1992), Blaikie et al. massive loss of life and property.
(1994) and Pelling (2003). Vulnerability is the degree to
which different classes of society are differently at risk 2. AIM AND METHODOLOGY
[1]. Vulnerability is the differential capacity of groups and
individuals to deal with hazards, based on their positions The objective of the present research is to document the
within physical and social worlds [2]. Blaikie et al. (1994) vulnerability of three villages situated near disaster prone
point out that vulnerability refers to the characteristics of a industries in District Bathinda. In these areas, any

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International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) ISSN: 2319-4421 26
Volume 3, No. 5, May 2014

explosion or serious mishap can result in intense loss of close proximity to big petroleum and fertilizer industries
human life, livestock, physical infrastructure and (Fig. 2 and 3). These villages are Phulo Khari (situated
environment. The paper has been written by obtaining data near HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited Refinery), Sivian (near
from both primary as well as secondary sources. The National Fertilizers Ltd.) and Phoos Mandi (near
primary data was collected through observation method Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. Plant). Phulo Khari
and through informal interviews with the concerned is a village in Talwandi Sabo Tehsil of the district. It is
officials (Patwari), village sarpanch and local people. located 35 km South of district headquarter Bathinda and
Secondary data was obtained from the concerned village 11 km from Talwandi Sabo. KalanWali, Maur, Mandi
panchayats. The study was framed on the lines of Pressure Dabwali and Bathinda are the nearest cities to Phulo
and Release (PAR) model developed by Blaikie et al. Khari. The village Sivian is located at a distance of
(1994). approximately 15 km from Bathinda city. Its surrounding
villages are Bhokhra, Joga Nand and Nehian Wala.
PhoosMandi is situated in the eastern part of Bathinda
district. The distance of this village from Bathinda city is 7
km. Bathinda, Rampura Phul, Maur and Giddarbaha are
the surrounding cities of Phoos Mandi.The total
population of Phulo Khari, Sivian and Phoos Mandi is
1912, 4200 and 1667 persons respectively. Agriculture is
the main occupation of the residents of all the three
villages.

Fig. 1: Pressure and Release Model - Progression of

Vulnerability to Industrial Hazards in District
Bathinda

The Pressure and Release (PAR) model depicts disaster as

a product of physical exposure and socio-economic
pressure. The model distinguishes between three
components on the social side: root causes, dynamic
pressures and unsafe conditions, and one component on
the natural side, the natural hazards themselves. Principal
root causes include economic, demographic and political
processes, which affect the allocation and distribution of
resources between different groups of people. Dynamic Fig. 2: Punjab - Location of District Bathinda
Pressures translate economic and political processes in
local circumstances. Unsafe conditions are the specific 4. ROOT CAUSES OF VULNERABILITY
forms in which vulnerability is expressed in time and
space, such as those induced by the physical environment, In pressure and release model root causes are the most
local economy or social relations (Blaikie et al., 1994). distant processes embedded in the concerned social,
This model has been used to study the progression of economic and political scenario and portray the
vulnerability to industrial hazards in the three selected distribution of power in an area. The root causes that make
villages (as shown in Fig. 1). [1] the people of these villages vulnerable are mismanagement
by industries, regulatory gaps and deficiencies on part of
3. STUDY AREA the government, exclusion of locals in decision making
and high reliance of locals on agriculture.
Three vulnerable villages from district Bathinda of Punjab
state have been selected for this research work, due to their

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International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) ISSN: 2319-4421 27
Volume 3, No. 5, May 2014

Mismanagement by industries Exclusion of locals in decision making

The three industries considered in this study are HPCL- Local people living in the vicinity of these industrial units
Mittal Energy Limited Refinery (situated near village are totally excluded from the decision making process, no
Phulo Khari), National Fertilizers Limited (near village matter whether those decisions are in favor of the villagers
Sivian) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited or against them. The people are aware of the situation but
(near village Phoos Mandi). All the three industries are don’t know how to manage this situation without
controlled by big industrial corporations. These industrial participating in the decision making process of the
units are totally neglecting the locals and focusing on their industries. When the industries were setup in the villages,
profits. In other words they are responsible for creating a at that time also the locals were not consulted at all and
lot of mismanagement on their part. They are openly their opinions were not taken into account at all. The big
flouting the environment norms and polluting the industrial corporations under question purchased the
surrounding areas. No measures are being taken by the requisite amount of land from the locals and the villagers
industries to control or treat the polluted air and water had no role to play beyond this point. Therefore the local
released by them. Due to this pollution people of the people were clearly excluded from the important decisions
surrounding villages are facing a lot of problems like taken by these industries.
breathing ailments, polluted drinking water, low
agricultural yield etc. Till date no survey has been High reliance of locals on agriculture
conducted by the management authorities of these The population under study is highly reliant on agriculture.
industries to assess the detrimental effects of the problems Farming is the main occupation of most of the villagers.
created by these industries in the surrounding areas. However the environmental conditions have deteriorated
to a large extent due to the pollution caused by the nearby
industries, making agriculture an unviable option for
earning a livelihood. In village Phulo Khari, farmers have
to use polluted water emitted by National Fertilizer Ltd. to
irrigate their fields which is adversely affecting the yield
of crops, thus putting agriculture and the entire local
economy at risk. The villagers have low education and less
technical skills, therefore they do not have any alternate
occupation to bank upon.

5. DYNAMIC PRESSURES
Dynamic pressures work on the underlying root causes to
create unsafe conditions. In the study area the dynamic
pressures leading to vulnerability are lack of basic services
like water, sanitation, health services, educational
opportunities, local investment, micro-financing and
proper training. These are the basic needs of a community
which must be fulfilled to make the people strong enough
to withstand any type of disaster. These villages are
suffering from the problem of polluted underground water,
and inadequate supply of good quality drinking water. The
Fig. 3: District Bathinda - Location of Selected Villages villagers irrigate their fields with the waste water released
by these industries. The roads and drains of the villages
Regulatory gaps and deficiencies on part of government are unmetalled and unlined which result in the problem of
There are serious regulatory gaps and deficiencies on part water logging, making the local population vulnerable to
of government as well. No compensation is provided by water-borne diseases. Village ponds are running out of
the government to the people affected directly or indirectly capacity. There is no provision of garbage collection in the
by these industries. Government is also neglecting the villages. People dump their waste in the open areas, which
pollution created by these industries. According to Punjab act as hatching grounds for several vector-borne diseases.
Pollution Control Board (District Bathinda office), the The villagers are suffering from respiratory and skin
pollution caused by these industries is within their diseases due to the air pollution caused by the industries.
stipulated limits. However the ground reality is quite There are no proper medical services in these villages. For
contrary to the claims made by the concerned government example there is no health center in village Phulo Khari.
authorities. The fieldwork done in the study area clearly No medical camps have been organized in these villages.
shows that the concerned population is severely affected Till date no compensation has been granted to the affected
by the problems created by these industries. people. There is also lack of good quality educational

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International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) ISSN: 2319-4421 28
Volume 3, No. 5, May 2014

institutions in the villages, which if available, serve as one the village caused due to the inefficiency of the drainage
of the main tools for strengthening any community. Local system to properly dispose off the waste water generated
investment and micro-finance are also missing in these by the village households. The problem is aggravated
villages which render the people more vulnerable. Proper when the waste water released by the fertilizer plant
training must be provided by the government or the reaches the village. The waste water ponds in all the three
industrial authorities to make this community strong villages are running out of capacity and the water
enough to cope with the adverse affects of the hazards treatment system installed at these sites by the public
created by these industries. authorities are unable to manage the scenario.

6. UNSAFE CONDITIONS LEADING TO B. Economic Vulnerability

VULNERABILITY Employment sectors at risk
The mainstay of economy in the three selected villages is
A. Physical Vulnerability agriculture. A major chunk of population of these villages
Dangerous locations of villages near industries is employed in agricultural sector. In the village Phulo
All the three villages are situated in close proximity to big Khari the farmers use untreated waste water released by
industrial units. Village Phulo Khari and Phoos Mandi, the oil refinery for irrigating their fields, but this water is
which are situated near oil refinery and depot, face the not good for the crops. Other sources of irrigation are tube
serious threat of an impending disaster, if any mishap wells and canals. The yield of crops is quite low. The
takes place in these industrial units. Disasters like fire farmers are unable to fulfill even their own domestic food
outbreak or explosion can cause massive destruction in the requirements. Only 2% of the people are working in other
surrounding areas. Both the HMEL refinery and HPCL oil occupations. Similarly in village Sivian the crop fields are
depot are interconnected through an approximately 35 km adversely affected by high level of air pollution caused by
long pipeline, which supplies oil from the refinery to the the fertilizer plant. This shows that agriculture, which is a
depot. If by some chance this pipeline link is damaged due major source of occupation for these villages, is at risk due
to some unforeseen circumstances like blast, terrorist to the problems created by the nearby industrial units. The
attack, arson or sabotage the results can prove immensely people of these villages are less educated and thus have
disastrous for both the industrial units as well as the limited options of employment in other sectors of
nearby villages. Moreover the HPCL oil depot situated economy. Therefore the proximity of these villages to the
near Phoos Mandi is connected to other parts of India industrial units is proving a bane for the local economy.
through a special railway link route. The trains transport
petroleum in large oil tankers. There is a lot of oil spillage Low income level
during the filling and emptying of these tankers. In The level of income of the residents of these villages is
addition to this there is also alleged theft of oil from these quite low. For example in the selected village Sivian the
oil tankers, which also result in serious incidents of oil economic condition of the villagers is not very good.
spills. Even if any small accidental fire takes place at this There are 35 BPL card holders and 150 blue card holders.
location, there are full chances that the fire can spread 200 families are working in the MGNREGA scheme. The
rapidly in the surrounding areas of village Phoos Mandi, remunerations derived from agriculture are insufficient for
which can result in massive disaster. The village Sivian is the residents because agriculture is increasingly becoming
situated close to National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) plant. an unviable means of livelihood. The people are unable to
This industrial unit is causing serious problem of air and enjoy a good quality of life due to their low financial
water pollution in the village and other surrounding areas. status, thus increasing their vulnerability to any kind of
The village is facing a huge problem in managing the disaster.
waste water released by the industry. To make the
situation worse the winds blowing in the direction of the C. Social Vulnerability
village bring in concentrated draughts of air pollutants, The problem of low education
which make breathing difficult for the village residents. The residents of these villages are not highly educated. In
village Phulo Khari 25% of the residents are totally
Unsafe infrastructure in villages illiterate. There is only one elementary school in the
The public infrastructure in these villages is quite unsafe village and even the school building is not in good
in terms of their physical strength. For instance, the play- condition. There is no English medium school in the
way centre (anganwadi) in village Phulo Khari is housed nearby areas. The students have to travel long distances
in a fragile building. The roof of the building is unstable for their higher education. This is a major discouraging
and has several cracks in it. In case of any explosion or factor, which has resulted in low level of education among
blast in the nearby HMEL refinery, the building can easily the residents. As a result the people are mostly engaged in
collapse which may result in serious casualties. Similarly primary occupations, which do not require any special
the roads in Sivian village are unmetalled and the drains skills or technical training. The low level of education
are unlined. There is serious problem of water logging in

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International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) ISSN: 2319-4421 29
Volume 3, No. 5, May 2014

reflects that the people of this area are less empowered and preparedness of the concerned population in order to
hence more vulnerable to any sort of disaster. mitigate the effects of any disaster occurring in the nearby-
situated industries.
Poor health conditions
The people of Phulo Khari village are facing many 7. CONCLUSION
problems due to the nearby situated oil refinery. The foul
smell emitting from the refinery has given rise to The villages under study are facing serious health and
respiratory diseases among the villagers. Many persons economic problems due to their close proximity to these
have developed asthma and skin problems. The HMEL industrial units. No remedial measures have been taken by
plant is increasing the problems of water, air and soil the concerned authorities to solve this problem. The root
pollution. Not only human beings, but the livestock is also causes that make the people of these villages vulnerable
getting affected. Many deaths have been reported in the are faulty management practices of industries, regulatory
village due to respiratory problems. Over the past few gaps and deficiencies on part of the government and
years several infants have died due to skin diseases and exclusion of locals in decision-making. The dynamic
allergies. Till date the government or the HMEL plant pressures like lack of pure drinking water, sanitation,
authorities have provided no compensation to the health services, education opportunities, social investment,
concerned families. In village Sivian the water-logged local investment, micro financing and proper training are
drains and streets as well as the huge ponds of untreated increasing the vulnerability of the villagers and making
waste water act as breeding grounds for various types of their living conditions unsafe. The low income and low
vectors (like mosquitoes and house flies), creating literacy rate of the residents of these villages make them
favorable conditions for occasional outburst of vector- more vulnerable. The local government should provide
borne diseases like malaria during the rainy season. There them proper medical services too. The vulnerable people
is no facility of pure drinking water in the village. The air of these villages must be trained through campaigns and
pollution caused by the nearby fertilizer plant has also mock-drills to prepare them to face any kind of disaster
given rise to breathing problems to the villagers. and to reduce their vulnerability to industrial hazards.
Lack of public amenities
The village of Phulo Khari is not having any health centre. REFERENCES
The nearby hospital is at Rama Mandi, which is about 5
km away. There are nearly 10 cancer patients in the [1] P. Susman, P. O’Keefe, and B. Wisner, “Global
village. Government has not organized any medical camps Disasters: A Radiical Interpretation,” In Hewitt, K.,
for the people of villages. There is only one RO water editor, Interpretations of Calamity, Boston, MA:
purifying system but it is not working and the villagers use Allen & Unwin, 1984, pp. 264-283.
well water or private tank for drinking purposes. Private [2] K. Dow, “Exploring Differences in Our Common
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arrange a private tank of clean water to fulfill the drinking Environment Change,” Geoforum, vol. 23, pp. 417-
needs of their family. There is also lack of good 436, 1992.
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and lanes are unmetalled. The drains are not brick-lined Risk: Natural Hazards, People’s Vulnerability and
and are uncovered. There is also serious deficiency of Disasters,” Routledge: London, 1994
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there is only one daily private bus service, which again has Disasters and Social Resilience,” Earthscan
irregular timings. There is only one ration depot in the Publications, London, 2003.
village. But the depot has received no supply of ration for [5] High Powered Committee on Disaster
the last two months. The houses in the village are attached Management, Report. Ministry of Agriculture;
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no sewerage system. There are four waste water ponds in
the village and all of them are in unhygienic condition.

D. Lack of disaster preparedness

The people of the three selected villages are aware of all
the problems arising out of these industrial units, however
they are not at all prepared to face any sort of impending
industrial disaster. It is their low level of education and
poor economic status, which is the prime reason of their
low level of preparedness. Moreover, the local government
has taken no measures to increase the level of

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