Uttar Pradesh / Bahraich District / India
Mainstreaming Flood-related Disaster Risk Management
- Clean drinking water is vital when the villages are flooded. Raised hand pumps are a simple means to achive this objective.
In Uttar Pradesh close to the Nepal border, communities along the Ghaghra river in Bahraich District are affected by high annual flooding due to upstream discharge from tributary streams and dams. Each time the flooding causes people to flee the area and lose all income opportunities and in many cases also tools, belongings and livestock.
Vulnerability in the target area is high. Mainly lack of income and a rigid caste structure prevent people from moving to less affected areas. The literacy rate is among the lowest in India (below 20%) making alternatives to agricultural labor difficult. Resilience to recurring flood disasters is very low as people seldom have the capacity to build up resources. Coping strategies are limited to fleeing the area early not to be caught by flood which comes without specific warning.
The project aims at reducing disaster risk by increasing local coping capacity. Communities are capacitated to analyze the specific risks and develop plans to reduce risks and increase their resilience. People are capacitated to integrate these plans in the Panchayat development plans and implement disaster preparedness and mitigation activities like floodsafe toilets and handpumps, grainbanks, raised roads, solar lamps, boats and training of task forces through local authorities and the local project partners of Malteser International. People are furthermore trained how to tap existing health, social security and employment related government schemes to increase their resilience. Last but not least existing early warning mechanisms are reviewed and their efficiency and effectiveness improved in the target area.
- Local communities and Panchayati Raj Institutions develop capacities for risk assessment and integrate DRR concerns in their development plans
- Existing early warning mechanisms are reviewed for all levels and their efficiency and effectiveness increased for reliable early warning and improved community emergency response
- Training modules and materials for CBDMC capacity building are developed, tested, disseminated and coordinated with other NGOs, local authorities and the communities
- 50 Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) plans based on disaster risk assessments are developed on hamlet level and merged into 8 DRR plans on Panchayat level
- 8 DRR plans on Panchayat level are mainstreamed into 8 Panchayat development plans
- Based on the 8 DRR plans 150 disaster preparedness and mitigation activities are implemented by local civil society institutions and communities in the 8 Panchayats
- Existing early warning mechanisms are reviewed and activities for increased efficiency and effectiveness agreed upon in action plans
- Activities derived from the action plans for improved early warning are implemented in the project area
- The effectiveness of Bahraich district level Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) is assessed and improved for early warning effectiveness
- 2 simulation exercises are conducted for better preparedness of the early warning task forces in 8 Panchayats
- Existing training approaches for capacity building of task forces in flood contexts are assessed and reviewed
- Training modules and materials for Community Based Disaster Management Committees (CBDMC) are developed for 5 different task forces, i.e. Search & Rescue, First Aid, Water, Sanitation & Hygiene, Early Warning and Special Needs of Women, Children and People with Disabilities
- 1000 copies of training materials are used in 8 CBDMC trainings in the project area and disseminated among 100 relevant external actors
- 6 selected NGOs from Bahraich District are trained on basis of the training approach
- Disaster Risk Management Resource Centre and an internet platform for DRR knowledge dissemination and networking are established and promoted
| Project data | ||||
| Duration: |
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| Financing: | The European Commissions Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO), Germany's Relief Coalition and Malteser International | |||
| Partner: | Sahbhagi Shikshan Kendra (SSK) and UNNATI - Organisation for Development Education | |||
| Contact | ||||
| Malteser: | Roland Hansen, Daniel Bergfeld | |||
| info(at)malteser-international.org | ||||
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Malteser International works on improving the health situation food as well as water security. (Photo: Carmen Wolf)
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