Water distribution in disaster relief

Purpose - The paper presents an Operations Research (OR) model for planning water distribution tours in disaster relief. Especially in situations after a disaster occurrence, characterized by instability and the immediate need of help, high quality decisions have to be made fast. For this reason, it is very useful if planning decisions can be alleviated by a decision support system using an ecient multi-objective metaheuristic as its algorithmic core. Design/methodology/approach - We develop a metaheuristic search technique based on evolutionary concepts for a real world extension of a multiobjective covering tour problem. Findings - The proposed method supports decision makers in nding appropriate compromise solutions with respect to conflicting objectives (e.g. coverage and travel time). With this work we want to reduce the gap between theory and practical applications. We apply OR methods to a real world application in the eld of disaster relief operations planning. Research limitations/implications - The success of the proposed approach depends on the availability of reasonable and useful data. However, data generation in this context represents an upcoming discipline, especially under the circumstances of increasing threat by natural hazards. Practical implications - When our approach is integrated in a decision support system, dierent scenarios can be investigated immediately and presented with a geographic information tool. The most appropriate solution for the decision makers can be realized.