India: Floods - Oct 2009

It is time we stop a hazard from becoming a disaster. Local communities have the knowledge and resilience.

1.1 Background

Over the last 15 years CARE India and other NGOs have repeatedly responded to natural disasters where large numbers of people have lost their homes. These responses have frequently included both provision of short-term emergency shelter and construction of more durable housing, often designated transitional or permanent.

In brief

This annual report focuses on the work of the Asia Pacific zone office in 2009 to provide leadership and guidance to the International Federation efforts to increase the impact of Asia Pacific national societies' humanitarian activities. 2009 has been a very busy but productive period as the zone office has responded to multiple disasters simultaneously, while carrying forward several new initiatives designed to increase the impact of its work with Asia Pacific national societies.

This report covers the period 1 January to 31 December 2009

Programme purpose: The purpose of disaster management is to reduce the number of deaths, injuries and impact from disasters.

The overall purpose of the health and care programme is to improve the Indian Red Cross Society's (IRCS) capacity in planning, to raise awareness on the preventive health needs and by responding to public health emergencies, including HIV/AIDS, through prevention, care and support by strengthening the Red Cross volunteer (RCV) network.

IRCS has improved capacity to provide effective services to …

HF 52,941 (USD 49,451 or EUR 37,088) was allocated from the International Federation's Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) on 8 October 2009 to support the national society in delivering assistance to some 95,000 beneficiaries.

The main purpose of this DREF was to support the deployment of national disaster response team, national water and sanitation disaster response team, state disaster response team, and regional disaster response team members in response to floods in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

This deployment was for carrying out rapid assessment and thereafter to …

(Extract)

Providing food aid in remote mountainous areas of Afghanistan

Drought, famine, severe weather conditions and other climate change-induced hazards pose significant risks for most of Afghanistan, often adding to the impact of the global food crisis on local populations. Coupled with a volatile economy and labour market, these hazards leave isolated mountainous communities with restricted access to food.

Rajeev Deshpande, TNN, 16 January 2010, 04:21am

NEW DELHI: With inflation for December 2009 touching 7.3% and fears that it will rise further over the next couple of months, driven in good measures by a steep increase in food prices, government is bracing for the inevitability of a rate increase and a graded exit from the fiscal stimulus.

A hike in interest rates, apart from an increase in reserve ratio, is now on the cards despite the government's keeness to nurture growth in the wake of last year's slowdown.

FAO initiative to promote climate change mitigation in agriculture in developing countries

Agriculture accounts for an estimated 14 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions but also has significant potential to capture atmospheric carbon and store it in soils and plants. A number of suitable technologies and practices can sequester carbon in smallholder agriculture.

This report covers the period 1 July 2009 to 31 December 2009.

In brief

Programme purpose: The purpose of disaster management is to reduce the number of deaths, injuries and impact from disasters.

The overall purpose of the health and care programme is to improve the Indian Red Cross Society's (IRCS) capacity in planning to raise awareness on the preventive health needs and responding to public health emergencies, including HIV/AIDS, through prevention, care and support by strengthening the Red Cross volunteer (RCV) network.

IRCS has improved capacity to provide effective …

Executive Summary

The Sphere Handbook is a tool for improving humanitarian response. It's a living document which is most widely recognized and used by the I/NGOs, United Nations agencies and different actors involved in humanitarian response. The first edition of the Handbook was published in year 2000 and the revised edition was in 2004.

PANCHALINGALA, India - Lying in complete darkness, Khajabi could sense her parents' uneasiness and knew something was terribly wrong.

It had been raining for days, food supplies were running low and there was no electricity.

When Khajabi woke up the next day, the rain had finally come to an end, but the 10-year-old's relief was short-lived.

The floodwaters were rising, forcing Khajabi's family and others in her village to frantically gather what belongings they could and head for higher ground.

They spent seven days camped out along the state highway with others …

This report covers the period 1 July to 31 December 2009.

Programme purpose: As outlined in the 2009-10 plan, the aim of the International Federation is to coordinate and support efforts at country and regional level to assist South Asian national societies to scale up their work to improve the lives of vulnerable people.

Programme summary: The disaster season throughout the region was relatively calm in its first half though Sri Lanka witnessed one of its worst dengue outbreaks in years as health authorities scrambled to contain the disease.

Late floods in India during October …

Funds Sent To:
Lutheran World Service, India (LWSI)

Amount Sent:
US$ 55,857

Date: 17 December 2009

(Please note this is additional to the previous RRF payment issued for this emergency for UELCI on 11 December, hence number 17b.)

Details of Response

Emergency:
Tamil Nadu Floods

Date of Emergency:

Copenhagen, Nairobi, Kathmandu, 11 December 2009 - Hundreds of millions of people in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region and in the river basins downstream are being forced to adapt to a new reality: climate change.

Climate change is increasing uncertainty and the risk for extreme droughts interspersed with extreme floods that are challenging food security, housing, infrastructure, business and even survival.

Even hardy mountain populations, adapted for centuries to survival in extreme environments, are undergoing events so unprecedented that their traditional coping strategies are being …

(Extract)

Funds Sent To: The United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India (UELCI)

Amount Sent: USD 50,239

Date: 11 December 2009

Details of Response

Emergency: Tamil Nadu Flood

Date of Emergency: Ongoing since November 2009

Implementing Member(s):

THE UNITED EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCHES IN INDIA (UELCI), with its secretariat based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, is a communion of twelve member churches from the Lutheran churches in India and Nepal.

Press Release No.869

Geneva, 8 December 2009 (WMO) - The year 2009 is likely to rank in the top 10 warmest on record since the beginning of instrumental climate records in 1850, according to data sources compiled by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The global combined sea surface and land surface air temperature for 2009 (January-October) is currently estimated at 0.44°C ± 0.11°C (0.79°F ± 0.20°F) above the 1961-1990 annual average of 14.00°C/57.2°F.

By Matthias Williams

SURAT, India, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Vipul Tejani runs a small factory in Surat, the diamond capital of India which in the past 15 years has been hit by massive floods, rising sea levels, and even the plague.

His workshop is tucked in a warren of small diamond cutting businesses and textile mills employing thousands of workers. Like three-quarters of the city, it was flooded by muddy waters reaching two storeys high in 2006.

But in Surat, someone like Tejani does not see himself as another disaster statistic.

Geography coupled with high levels of poverty and population density has made South Asia especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Speaking ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark from December 7 to 18, 2009, Richard Damania, World Bank Lead Environmental Economist for the South Asia Region said the region faces daunting climate-related development challenges. "Impacts ranging from of higher temperatures to more variable precipitation and more extreme weather events are already being felt in South Asia.

DHARWAD: Belgaum Diocesan Social Service Society (BDSSS) has lent a helping hand to the flood victims in North Karnataka by distributing food,

BDSSS director Father Rayappa said the organization had distributed materials worth Rs 61 lakh to the victims in Hunagund, Badami, in Bagalkot district and Ron in Gadag taluk.

Study materials were distributed to over 2,700 children in 18 villages, while several Catholic organizations from New Delhi, Chennai, Mangalore, Bangalore and Kerala had joined hands with BDSSS in extending the relief.

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - Floods and landslides in Tamil Nadu have killed 95 since the beginning of this month. The communities desperately need assistance for relief, but an ACT International appeal, issued on November 16th, has not yet been able to attract support for an urgent relief effort by member organizations in India.

Worst affected by the heavy monsoon are Dalit and tribal populations who live in remote, hilly areas that rescue teams were unable to access and relief supplies failed to reach.