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India

ACT alert 1/2002: India Drought

Geneva, 3 September 2002 - India is experiencing one of the most serious droughts for many years - a result of the worst monsoon in the last decade, causing widespread flooding in one part of the country and drought in the other. Over 14 states have already been officially declared drought-stricken. Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and parts of Tamil Nadu fall in the worst-hit category.
The situation is largely due to shortage of rainfall in some areas during previous monsoons and over exploitation of ground water through tube wells and bore wells for agriculture and industrial use.

People are experiencing severe disruption to their normal lifestyles and destruction of their environment. Crops such as oilseeds, pulses, paddy and vegetables that provide the basic food have been destroyed impacting severely on the financial means of the population.The more vulnerable villages have been hit the hardest as they depend solely on agriculture/cultivation for survival.

ACT members in India are planning assistance projects to meet the needs of the most affected and vulnerable sections of the population.

Lutheran World Service India (LWS-I) and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of India (UELCI) have informed the ACT CO that they are in the process of preparing proposals. Church's Auxiliary of Social Action (CASA) has informed the ACT CO of a 10-month relief programme focussing primarily on providing adequate and safe drinking water and food to the most vulnerable. Seeds and manure will be provided to small and marginal farmers to enable them to sow winter crops at the appropriate time. In order to safeguard the livestock of the victims fodder will be provided. The Food for Community Development programmes will have a longer-term perspective increasing livelihood security and enabling the community to incorporate preparedness and mitigation aspects to counter future disasters. It is hoped that these measures will check the large-scale migration that is becoming rampant. CASA and its partners plan to take up relief work in the severely affected areas in the 6 states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

The CASA preliminary budget is as follows:

Crisis phase
US$
Food and Non food relief:
1,936,750
Water harvesting structures:
187,500
Workshops drought prevention & mitigation:
35,417
Transport and storage
241,458
Capital equipment
83,333
Personnel, Administration
189,875
Audit
1,042
Total
2,675,375

ACT expects to issue a joint appeal for the three partners.

Thank you for your attention.

For further information: ACT Web Site address: http://www.act-intl.org

ACT is a worldwide network of churches and related agencies meeting human need through coordinated emergency response.

The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland.