A presentation on a crisis communication plan for a hypothetical earthquake in Himachal Pradesh by Advertising and Public Relations students of Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. The presentation talks about various possible measures to be taken during a crisis in order to avoid a negative public image.

1. Crisis Communication Plan –
Himachal Pradesh Earthquake
(Hypothetical)
By Group 1

2. Overview
 The crisis
 The stakeholders
 The Plan Of Action (POA)

3. The Crisis
 ‘The Himachal Pradesh government is being presented in bad
light by the media and on social media leading to an image
crisis and loss of reputation for the government.’

4. What led to this crisis?
1.) An earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale hit Himachal Pradesh
on 1st October 2014 at 0630 IST.
2.) The toy train between Kalka and Shimla became the major casualty.
The train was near Shimla when the earthquake took place.
3.) The toy train is an UNESCO World Heritiage site and also had several
foreigners on it when the disaster took place, this had led to pressure on
the Himachal Pradesh government from the Ministry of External Affairs,
the foreign embassies and international media scrutiny.

5. 4.) The earthquake’s impact caused the gates of the SJVN dam to break
open leading to flooding of the downstream areas.
5.) Apart from the flooding, there has been landslides as well which have
compounded the relief operations.
6.) TV channels have been beaming live footage of the affected areas and
interviews with those affected which is leading to increased pressure on
the Himachal Pradesh government.
7.) The TV channels’ reporting is also leading to backlash against the
government on social media.

6. The Stakeholders
 The internal stakeholders have been identified as:
1.) Media – mainstream and social media
2.) Foreign embassies
3.) Hospitals and health workers
4.) Central Government of India
5.) National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) / State Disaster
Management Authority (SDMA)
6.) Armed forces – army, air force and border forces
7.) Corporate houses with business in Himachal Pradesh
8.) Local people – the victims and first responders to the crisis

7.  The external stakeholders identified are:
1.) NGOs
2.) Department of Tourism & Civil Aviation, HP
3.) Indian Railways
4.) Central Water Commission
5.) Ministry of Power and Ministry of New & Renewable Energy
6.) HP State Electricity Board
7.) Other ministries under the Government of India and other state
governments

8. Plan Of Action (POA)
 The communication plans & strategies have been designed
keeping two aspects in mind:
1.) There should be well defined channels of two way communication with
the various stakeholders. It will be dialogue strategy with the stakeholders.
2.) All information being conveyed to the stakeholders are done so in an
open and transparent manner.
 The communication of the Himachal Pradesh (HP)
government will be as per the ‘strategy 4’ of Benoit’s Image
Repair theory which is take and show ‘corrective action’.

9.  The crisis communication strategies of the HP government
will also reflect all 4 principles of James E. Grunig, i.e.,
relationship, accountability, disclosure and symmetrical
communication.
 All the communication plans will focus on 3 aspects:
1.) Change and neutralize the public opinion.
2.) Crystallize the uniformed opinion.
3.) Conserve positive opinion.

10.  A unified command centre or the State Emergency Operation
Centre (SEOC) will be setup. This will coordinate, direct and guide
the rescue, relief and rehabilitation operations of the various
agencies. The SEOC will be headed by Chief Secretary of HP.
 A separate media centre will be set up which will be providing
information to the media and the public.
The media centre will be setup at a distance from the SEOC, so that media or
the general public looking for information do not get in the way of emergency
operations.
 Toll free numbers will be provided to the public. Through any of
these numbers, the people can get access to updated information.
The media will be used in disseminating these numbers to the
public.

11.  It is important that the state government gets in touch with
its different agencies. Assuming the communication lines will
be down, satellite phones will be made use of.
 Once the government is able to get in contact with its key
agencies and ministries, the communication with different
stakeholders can begin.
 Assessment of the disaster is important throughout the
crisis. There should be constant assessment done.

12.  It is important that the team working with the SEOC and the
media centre are well trained in disaster management relief
action and in crisis communication planning.
 For this purpose, the team members will be simultaneously
provided training through text, visuals and videos.
 The first action after the government starts to function is to
have the Chief Minister of HP address the state.
The CM speech will be empathizing and stating the
government will be working to mitigate and control the
situation.

13. Media
 A person from the media centre will be chosen as the official
spokesperson.
 A press conference will be called immediately wherein the
Chief Minister of HP, the Chief Secretary, the commanding
officer of the army and the air force’s rescue operations will
be present.
 An official statement prepared by the media centre will be
delivered in the press conference.
 The ministers will be briefed on how to conduct themselves,
what to say and how to say in front of the media.

14.  The interaction of the number of the ministers will be kept
minimal, howsoever the CM and the top ministers’
interactions will be controlled and high.
 The major media channels/newspapers will be invited to see
and will be escorted around the rescue, relief and
rehabilitation operations undertaken by the HP government.
 The media centre will brief its personnel and one personnel
will be assigned to one news channel/newspaper. This
personnel will be the point of contact for the media
channel/newspaper.

15.  A telephone hotline will be established specially for the
media. This will have recorded messages which will be
updated every hour.
 The head of the media centre controls what information is to
be sent out.
 All the information which will be sent to the media will be
factually verified by the media centre’s head.
 The media will be used as the first option to disseminate
information to the public as traditional media is useful in
amplifying alerts to the public.

16.  The media will be provided visuals and videos for its use so
that gory and destructive images of the state are not
portrayed over media.
 The TV channels/newspapers talking negatively about the
state government action will be reached out to and shown
the relief and rehabilitation action being performed by the
government.
 The media will also be used to highlight all the positive work
being done by the government and also the involvement of
different stakeholders in it.

17. Social Media
 Social media accounts will be setup. It will be managed by a
team within the media centre. The accounts will provide
updated information.
 There will be interaction with the public and media on social
media platforms to answer their queries.
 Photos and videos of the rescue and rehabilitation
operations will be posted on the social media accounts to
highlight success stories.
 The feature of geo-tagging and Google maps will be made
use of locally.

18.  The website of HP government will be maintained and
updated to provide information. The website will have a link
which will redirect the users to a different website catering
to the disaster crisis.
 There will be tie-ups with Google to ensure this website and
toll free numbers feature on the top of search results related
to the disaster crisis.
 With the help of Google, Location Finder and other tools will
be deployed.

19.  A separate part of the website will be created which will
gather all the twitter feeds. It will have 4 sections:
1.) All the government tweets
2.) All the local tweets
3.) All tweets related to the disaster crisis
4.) All positive tweets for the government and tweets of hope and prayer.
 WhatsApp, SMS and other messaging services will be made
use of to reach out to the public.
 It is to be kept in mind that these accounts are not used to
get into a spat with the public criticizing the government
efforts.

20. Foreign Embassies
 All official communication to the foreign embassies will be
through the Ministry of External Affairs.
 An official statement will be sent which will be catering to
the foreign embassies.
 A section of the website will be maintained only for the
foreigners and the embassies.

21.  There will be a team of officials from the SEOC and media
centre who will be responding to queries of the foreigners
and embassies.
An important criteria for the members of this team would be
to be fluent in the foreign and local languages.
 Appeal to be made to the Ministry of External Affairs and the
Central Government to provide quick and easy visas and
temporary documents to the family members of the
foreigners.
 The casualty list for the foreigners will be created,
maintained and updated separately.

22. Hospitals and Health Workers
 A list of hospitals needs to be created where the injured will
be sent to.
This list will be circulated to all the heads of rescue
operations, health workers, etc.
 An appeal by the HP government will be made to invite more
health workers, doctors to come and help.
The list of all the health workers will be maintained.
 There will be a team from the SEOC and media centre
present at each hospital. This team will ensure no
information is leaked to the media.

23.  The team present will also provide updated information on
the injured and dead to the SECO and media centre.
 All the interactions of the senior doctors are done in
presence of the team from the media centre, especially after
the doctors have been briefed by the team.
 All the media releases from the hospitals go through the
team.

24. Government of India
 There will be an appeal by the HP Government to declare the
disaster as a national calamity.
 The state government will ask for funds from the central
government.
 Also, the state government will ask the central government
to send in more resources and man force.

25.  Communication will be made to the PMO to send in Prime
Minister’s Relief Fund.
 Also to make an appeal by the Prime Minister to the Indian
population on behalf of the HP government to donate funds
for relief and rehabilitation operations.
 Communication will be made to the PMO and PM to
highlight the positive work being done by the HP government
to control the disaster crisis.

26. NDMA/SDMA
 A team consisting of members from the SEOC and media
centre will work with the different teams of the NDRF, SDMA
and other agencies which are involved in rescue and relief
operations.
 These agencies need to be provided directions as to where
the victims are to be taken.
 The media centre’s team members will ensure that the
people involved in the rescue operations do not interact with
the media.
 Appeal will be made to send in more teams of NDRF, NDMA.

27. Armed Forces
 The army, air force and border forces will be involved in the
rescue and rehabilitation operations.
 The air force will be used for scouting and for rescue
operations especially in the Toy Train accident.
 The air force will also be made use of for dropping relief
packages to the victims.
 A team from the SEOC and the media centre will work with
the commanding officers of the army, air force and border
forces.

28.  All media releases from the armed forces will be made after
they have been passed by the media centre.
 The armed forces need to be provided directions as to where
the victims are to be taken.
 The interaction of the commanding officers with the media
will be done in the presence of the media centre personnel
and after the officers have been briefed by the personnel.

29. Corporate Houses
 Airtel, Vodafone, Aircel, Idea, Reliance, etc have their
operations in Himachal Pradesh. In order to ensure mobile
communication is back up as soon as possible, these
companies will be contacted.
 These companies will also be asked to provide discounted
calling and SMS rates within the state during the disaster.
 Similarly, other companies who have their operations in the
state will be communicated to be a part of the relief and
rehabilitation operations.
This will also be beneficial to the companies as they can portray the
relief and rehabilitation operations as their CSR activities.

30. Locals
 It is important the efforts of the first responders is
highlighted. This can be done through the mainstream and
social media channels.
 The first responders also need to directed as to where to
bring the victims.
 The locals need to be told where they can get temporary
shelter, food, water, etc.
 For the local people, local Emergency Operation Centers will
be setup. These will work under the SEOC but will be
providing information pertaining to that locality.

31.  The state government will announce various monetary reliefs
for the victims.
 There needs to be constant updates on the casualty and the
disaster made to the locals.
 The government needs to keep in mind its first responsibility
is to its locals.

32. NGOs
 A team will be setup which will coordinate with the NGOs for
arranging relief material.
 For this purpose, different NGOs will be contacted by the
team as well.
 A number will be setup specially for the NGOs through which
they can contact the SEOC and the media centre.
 The names and details of the NGOs working for the relief and
rehabilitation will be highlighted through mainstream and
social media.

33. Department of Tourism & Civil Aviation, HP
 The tourism department has its offices and officers in and
outside the state. These officers and offices will be briefed
and updated information will be provided to them.
 The department will also be ensuring that tourists and their
families are reassured by the rescue operations of the HP
government.
 Post the disaster, the department will play a key role in
building the state as a tourist destination spot again.
 The State government will help in the department in this.

34. Indian Railways
 The toy train is maintained by the Indian Railways. Post the
disaster, the repair of the UNESCO World Heritage site will be
crucial responsibility of the Indian Railways.
The State Government will pledge funds toward it.
 The Indian Railways needs to ensure that all the railway
tracks which are affected have no trains plying on them.
This needs to be coordinated and communicated to the
Indian Railways.

35. Central Water Commission (CWC)
 CWC is responsible for the maintenance of dams. The repair
of the damaged dams, like the SJVN dam will need to be
undertaken by the CWC post the crisis.
 The state government in coordination with the CWC will
release a statement explaining why the dam gates broke.

36. Ministry of Power and Ministry of New & Renewable Energy
 The state of Himachal Pradesh also has a large number of
hydroelectric water projects, which are under these two ministries.
 The repair of the damaged hydro projects will be undertaken by
them. The state government will fund a part of the reconstruction
cost.
HP State Electricity Board (HPSEB)
 The HPSEB will work with the state government to ensure
electricity is restored as soon as possible.
 During flooding, a large number of deaths are also due to
electrocution. The HPSEB will be asked to cut out power to areas
where there is water stagnation, till the time water is not manually
cleared out from those areas.

37. Finance Department, HP
 Communication will be needed to be made from the finance
department and to the central government and other
ministries of the state government.
 The relief and rehabilitation will require the expenses
approved by the finance department.
 Communication for more funds from the central government
will need to be made from the state government.

38. Other State Governments & Government of India Ministries
 Communication will be made with other state governments
to send in relief material, resources, man force and funds.
 The different ministries of the Government of India will be
contacted to send in funds.
Like: Ministry of Culture for Toy Train development, Ministry
of Agriculture to compensate the damage caused to the
horticulture and agriculture and similarly other ministries.

39.  Celebrities and public influencers will be contacted so that
they highlight by talking about the positive work being done
by the HP government on their social media accounts and
during any of their interaction with the media.
 There will be a series of advertisements and news editorials,
reports which will highlight the work of the government and
also appeal to the people to provide funds and relief
material.

40. Post the Crisis
 Post crisis, it is important that evaluation is done.
 The State Government will set up a committee to look into
earthquake preparedness for the future and even conduct mock
drills to have the entire state prepared.
 Post the crisis, it is important the state government keeps
communicating to the media and the public all the efforts it is
making in rehabilitation of the victims and redevelopment of the
state.
 Since every earthquake is followed by an aftershock, an immediate
disaster management plan and communication plan needs to be
prepared.