Interventions

The World Conference on Disaster Reduction held from 18 to 22 January 2005 in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, adopted a framework, generally referred to as the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters (hereafter referred to as the "Hyogo Framework"). It underscored the need for, and identified ways of, building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters. With the primary focus on building up the disaster resilience of the vulnerable coastal district of Nagapattinam, BEDROC is designed around the core areas identified in the Hyogo Framework as having a direct impact on reducing vulnerabilities.

According to the Hyogo Framework, the five main thematic areas relating to resilience and disaster risk reduction (DRR) are:

1. Governance,
2. Risk Assessment,
3. Knowledge and Education,
4. Risk Management and Vulnerability reduction, and
5. Disaster Preparedness and Response
   

Specific Objectives and Interventions

Objective 1 - Enable communities' access to local governance processes that are transparent, inclusive and participatory

1. Increasing access of identified communities to development policies and plans
2. Preparation of participatory development plans for the villages and identified thematic areas

Objective 2 – Strengthen community level capabilities to cope with disasters

1. Strengthening capacities to plan, implement and monitor work on improving the physical quality of the habitat
2. Disaster-proofing agriculture livelihoods through Participatory Irrigation Management
3. Strengthening other livelihoods

Objective 3 – Generate awareness about and encourage adoption of disaster risk management

1. Capacity building for community based disaster risk management
2. Pilot initiatives to incorporate DRR into village development plans
3. Research and studies

Objective 4 – Enable increased disaster preparedness of particularly vulnerable communities

1. Vulnerability mapping
2. Creation of networks and platforms
3. First-Mile Connectivity and early warning pilots
   

Specific Interventions

1. Improving the interface between the policy makers and the community
2. Participatory Irrigation Management
3. Pilots for strengthening traditional livelihoods
4. Strengthening capacities to plan, implement and monitor work on improving the physical quality of the habitat
5. Piloting Community Based Ownership of Common Property Resources and Micro-level adaptation of Renewable Energy Sources in vulnerable areas
6. Capacity Building for Community Based Disaster Risk Management
7. Research Studies
8. Vulnerability Mapping
9. First-Mile Connectivity and Early Warning Systems
   

1. Improving the interface between the policy makers and the community

In the Asia- Pacific MDG Study Series on Access of Basic Services to the Poor, done by UNESCAP, ADB and UNDP, it was very strongly stated that, “in order to achieve the MDGs and their targets, effective provision of basic services is essential…but there are a number of barriers holding back provision of these services”. Barriers were found to include remote location of many poor groups, low capacity/ availability of service providers and low quality of service. Apart from these there were also the physical, legal, financial and socio- cultural barriers.

In the post- tsunami situation, the 12 decentralised Village Information Centres (VIC), set up by the NCRC, have been used extensively to disseminate information to the communities on government policies and entitlements. These centres have also been actively involved in trying to understand the ease of access, barriers to and impacts of policies and programmes on the affected communities and to effectively bring them to the notice of the policy makers for changing/ improving the delivery mechanisms. Thus, these village level institutions have evolved as a platform for providing a “voice” to the communities.

BEDROC will strengthen and continue to utilize these platforms for effective dialoguing between the community and the policymakers for various development initiatives. Any issues identified will be taken up with the administration, policy makers and service providers for advocacy and redressal. The objective will be to enable communities to understand their entitlements and to evolve as active participants rather than passive recipients. Dialogue will be facilitated by BEDROC, using the VICs as a platform and employing various tools including a newsletter, Alayathi in Tamil, the Internet and the video- conferencing facilities available with BEDROC.

2. Participatory Irrigation Management

This intervention has been a logical outcome to the studies done on disaster- proofing of agriculture in Nagapattinam district. In a bid to understand the vulnerabilities of the agrarian sector of Nagapattinam District, a study done in late 2006 revealed that a majority of the disasters and subsequent losses faced by the long suffering agrarian communities here were largely caused through faulty systems governing water management rather than because of adverse climatic conditions.

Nagapattinam is a long and narrow district with 187 kms of coastline. 14 of the 17 river systems in Tamil Nadu flow through this district prior to draining into the Bay of Bengal. Given the fact that most of Nagapattinam is low- lying and with a mirror- surface flat terrain, these river systems cause severe flooding during heavy rains. Meticulous maintenance of these systems is the only solution to disaster- proofing of agriculture in this district. A subsequent detailed study on the Status of the water bodies in Nagapattinam District revealed the extent of progressive damage that had been caused to the water bodies, giving a fair idea of the work involved in restoring these bodies to their former efficiency.

Three of these River Systems have been taken up for a pilot project, focusing on a community driven approach to repairs and continued operation and maintenance of these systems. Designed on the Participatory Irrigation Management Act of 2001, this approach is based on the tri-partite partnership between the local elected body, the local water user group and BEDROC. Micro- site plans will be developed and implemented by the water user groups with the support of the Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI), BEDROC and the Public Works Department (PWD). The total financial outlay for this intervention is Rs. 55 lakhs and is envisaged to benefit 10,000 hectares of agricultural land.

This project is being supported by Concern Worldwide and is expected to be completed by July 2008.

TER No.	TER Name	Block	Ayacut Area (ha.)	Irr. Channel Lgth. (Kms.)	Irri. Int. Cost (Rs.)	Drainage Lgth. (Kms.)	Drain. Int. Costs (Rs.)	Other Int.Costs (Rs.)	Total Cost (Rs.)
1	South Rajan	Kollidam	489	31.55	87899	11.40	206288	0	294187
2	Pudumaniyar		1377	53.57	53784	10.70	3519165	170000	3742949
3	Cauvery		3243	201.00	316105	32.00	3617752	1090000	5023857
4	Manjalar	Sembanarkovil	619	93.41	112918	9.90	846385	35000	994303
5	Mahimalaiyar		1344	83.95	214351	12.00	2463548	104000	2781899
6	Veeracholanar		391	51.55	36612	10.40	1329129	149000	1514741
7	Vettar		1830	111.92	1614129	72.24	16260751	1129000	19003880
8	Odambogiyar		202	20.45	410149	6.55	957775	292000	1659924
9	Kaduvaiyar	Nagapattinam	4194	154.08	886005	17.28	197153	792000	1875158
10	Panadavayar		475	19.10	455658	20.50	4091850	380000	4927508
11	Vellaiyar		3731	231.80	8432463	28.20	8897966	4253000	21583429
12	Harichandra		3935	134.02	2179729	19.28	136547744	740000	139467473
13	Adappar		2355	90.31	1157492	64.80	10681000	0	11838492
14	Mulliyar		1324	47.50	432991	30.50	7008000	0	7440991
			25509	1324.21	16390285	345.75	196624506	9134000	222148791

 

3. Pilots for strengthening traditional livelihoods

Dairy Development
Nagapattinam is basically a paddy-growing belt, which can support the development of a vibrant dairy industry. However, lack of centralized support structures like an organized milk market, veterinary care and access to feed and fodder has retarded the growth of this potential industry.

SIFFS, through its project in Tarangambadi, has effectively proved that with the right support and management, this is a viable alternate/ additional livelihood. However, the economies of scale limit the growth of such an industry.

BEDROC intends to extend the model tested by SIFFS to a larger area with the development of a milk route and a basic cold chain facility.

Towards this, BEDROC will:

1. Carry out a Milk-Chain Analysis in Nagapattinam to understand the demand-supply position, markets, price spread, infrastructural support mechanisms available and desirable, players etc.
2. Design intervention strategies depending on the learnings from the study
3. Develop and test a pilot. Care will be taken to ensure and leverage organic linkages with the community based village level organizations, such as the Self Help Groups (SHGs), mainly those managed by the Govt. (Mahalirthittams), for increasing the supply base of the milk chain set up.
4. Large bilateral donors like the ADB are providing large- scale financial support to these SHGs through the Government. With adequate planning and meaningful coordination, these funds will be utilized to develop the dairy industry.

4. Strengthening capacities to plan, implement and monitor work on improving the physical quality of the habitat

1. Safe Housing
2. Construction Quality Monitoring
   • BEDROC, will focus on establishing a Shelter Support Group from within Nagapattinam. It will identify a core multi-skill based group consisting of an engineer, an architect/ planner and junior engineers and provide them with intensive training on disaster- proof habitation. This group will then work with the present SSG for a brief period before taking on the complete responsibilities of the SSG. This Group will also form the Technocrat Development Forum which is envisaged to hive off and provide long- term support to the administration in ensuring safe habitations.
3. Facilitating Capacity Building
   • Based on the emerging need for skilled construction labour, BEDROC will facilitate and support a systematic capacity building programme for the labour already identified by NCRC.
   • BEDROC’s focusi will be on creating a virtual market place where potential clients can identify and link up with specific individuals.
   • Care will be taken to align these with the upcoming requirements at the Government level to ensure proper and optimum utilization of investments made.
     

5. Piloting Community Based Ownership of Common Property Resources and Micro-level adaptation of Renewable Energy Sources in vulnerable areas

BEDROC aims to:

• Improve disaster response and preparedness of two vulnerable villages through provision of solar street lighting
• Pilot the formation of stable community based structures that can pro-actively involve in and meaningfully carry forward development interventions aimed at reducing vulnerabilities.
• Encourage the use of cost-effective and eco-friendly renewable energy sources for domestic purposes
  

Facilitating setting up of solar powered street lighting in two habitations

Puliyanthurai
Puliyanthurai hamlet is bound by the sea on one side and backwaters on the other, cutting it off from the main land. This area is highly prone to flooding. There are 605 families staying in this stretch of land and about 80% of them are Dalits. Living in extremely vulnerable conditions, more than 80% of them are daily wage laborers and marginalized socio- economically and culturally. Although there is power in the village, less than 40% of the houses are electrified. There are only 70 streetlights for a habitation of over 600 families. During the floods in 2005, they were asked to relocate during the night and had to traverse all the way to the jetty, their only route to the mainland, in total darkness. A small intervention ensuring that this village has adequate lighting will go a long way in building up their coping mechanisms in the event of a disaster.

Iruvakullai
Iruvakullai is a village on the banks of river Uppanar and has also a tributary running by its other side. The village is frequently prone to inundation due to the flooding of the river. There are 110 families staying in this habitation, of which, 27 are dalits. There is only one tiled house in this habitation and all the others are kutcha houses. Most of them are construction and agricultural labourers and the youth have migrated to other states in search of unskilled employment. There is no road in this habitation and only 19 of the houses have power connections. Provision of a basic amenity like lighting will be very useful for them not only in terms of disaster preparedness but also in terms of overall development. Their only escape routes are either across the river or a sandy road leading them to the adjoining village called Vembadi. However, both these escape routes have no lighting. There are only 11 street lamps of which just 8 are functional.

Based on discussions with the Panchayat and community BEDROC proposes to identify in these two hamlets, interested Community Based Organisations (CBOs) such as SHGs, Youth Groups or other community based interest groups that show an aptitude and interest in taking on such service-delivery mechanisms. The project will be undertaken as a tri-partite partnership between BEDROC, the local elected panchayath and the identified CBO. Given the fact that the well-being and protection of the citizens is ultimately the responsibility of the elected governance systems, close involvement of the panchayat in this venture will ensure a sustainability to the project, even in the eventuality of the CBOs changing periodically. Currently, it is the responsibility of the elected local panchayat to provide street lighting to the village and this intervention will save them not only the recurring cost of maintenance but will also build up the culture of involving local CBOs in governance.

There will be a nominal delivery service fee charged and the payment so collected, will be put into a special fund that will be earmarked for disaster risk reduction programmes of the village. The panchayat will also be encouraged to put a portion of the money, saved from the recurring cost of normal electricity bill payments, into this common disaster risk reduction fund.

These CBOs are envisaged to be the forerunners of a strong civil society movement which will be sensitive to the developmental needs of the village and will play a pro-active role in assessing, accessing, organising and maintaining other such common property resources and assets that will assist in building up a disaster resilient village.

6. Capacity Building for Community Based Disaster Risk Management

BEDROC had already networked with the various NGOs working in CBDRM, for a comprehensive coverage of the coastal villages. In order to reduce conflicting messages to the communities, BEDROC, with the help of these NGOs, has also designed modules for capacity building for CBDRM. Although the first round of capacity building has also been carried out by NCRC, there is a need to consolidate these and to capacitate the communities in making DRR a culture rather than an activity.

This goes beyond the limited framework of disaster responses and requires a systematic hand-holding process to guide the communities through understanding vulnerabilities and enhancing coping mechanisms. Ideally, the local disaster risk reduction plan should be drawn up only after this capacity building exercise. BEDROC will continue to provide/ facilitate this capacity building for all vulnerable areas/ villages in the coastal stretch.

7. Research and Studies

Despite strides being made in the theory of integrating disaster risk reduction into broader developmental frameworks, practical applications in these are limited to micro-models which, inexplicably, do not seem amenable to replication or scaling-up. One reason could be the lack of platforms for sharing and learning. The focus of BEDROC being partly DRR, creation of learning platforms for meaningful integration and mainstreaming will be a focus area for intervention.

BEDROC is to collaborate with research and academic institutions like IITs, TISS and MIDS,. to evolve action research and studies. This t will enable not only in planning and enhancing further interventions but will also keep the communities abreast of the latest developments in the field of disaster response and development.

8. Vulnerability Mapping

Lack of relevant, reliable and updated village demographic data has always been quoted as a barrier to efficient disaster management. However, this data is also crucial to a meaningful localized disaster- risk management plan. As a first step to this, NCRC had already done a 100% enumeration of about 55000 households in villages identified as vulnerable based on the tsunami and flooding experiences. BEDROC will carry this forward by doing a vulnerability mapping, both physical and social, through collaboration with agencies like UNDP/ FERAL/ ISRO.

This is envisaged through the following steps:

• Defining “social “ and “geo- morphological” vulnerabilities
• Identifying the villages that fall into the category of geo-morphologically vulnerable.
• Selecting villages to pilot this vulnerability mapping
• Doing both a geo-mapping and a social vulnerability mapping of the households in these villages
• Developing a disaster risk reduction plan for each of these villages through community participation, mainstreaming and aligning disaster risk reduction into the development agenda
• Ensuring organic linkages between the communities, the PRIs and other departments for effective operationalization of this plan.

9. First-Mile Connectivity and Early Warning Systems:

NCRC has set up 12 state-of-the-art Village Information Centres with wi-fi connectivity and intra- net facilities. These centres have high speed data transmission facilities and can also support audio- video facilities..

These centres are physically sited on a cluster basis with easy access from the group of 4-6 panchayath surrounding the cluster. This has also been done consciously to provide equal access to all coastal communities including the farming communities and the vulnerable communities. With the availability of such high-end technologically sound infrastructure, incremental additions to network surrounding villages will not be difficult. Negotiations are already on with BSNL for installation of a Virtual Private Network (VPN) with a facility for quick transmission of early warnings.