The
country, roughly half the size of the United States and four times more
populous, is continually plagued with severe weather. The monsoon season
has begun and Catholic Relief Services is responding to floods in Northeastern
and Southern India as well as drought conditions in Gujarat and Rajasthan,
western India and over 600 villages in Orissa, eastern India.
Catholic Relief Services is responding
to this crisis and identifying the most vulnerable of the flood victims-
landless laborers, female-headed households, and members of tribal groups-
to try to help them return to a state of normalcy, says Mireya Bustamante,
Catholic Relief Services South Asia Team Analyst.
Catholic Relief Services' Response to Floods in Southern India
CRS/Hyderabad is working in collaboration with local partners and Caritas India to bring immediate relief to the flood victims.
Catholic Relief Services staff, in conjunction with Caritas India and Indo-German Social Service, are visiting the affected areas surrounding Hyderabad and will assist local partners in organizing relief activities.
Catholic Relief Services will work with five local partners to purchase rice, oil, clothing, utensils and medicines. In addition, the agency will also provide 105 metric tons of United States government donated commodities. This will benefit approximately 187,000 flood-affected people, including those who have been evacuated or have lost their homes and are currently living in makeshift camps.
Over the past week, a low-pressure system turned into heavy and incessant rain over several parts of Andhra Pradesh in Southern India. Rainfall measurements in Nandyal, Kurnool district were found to be as high as 20 inches, and the capital, Hyderabad, recorded 10 inches in one day, the highest measurement of rainfall in over 46 years.
As a result of the torrential rains, thousands of people are homeless and reports indicate that 144 people have died. The number of deaths is estimated to increase once the water recedes. The districts of Guntur, Krishna, Hyderabad , Kurnool, Cuddapah and Nalgonda suffered extensive damage. Crops in thirteen districts were affected and an additional 70,000 hectares have been destroyed.
Damage to roads and bridges have made access to some districts difficult, and individuals had to be evacuated by helicopter or boats. The power supply was recently restored and most of the affected areas are slowly regaining access.
Catholic Relief Services' Response to Floods in Northeastern India
Several weeks ago, unprecedented rains struck the northeastern state of Assam, where over one million people were displaced from their homes.
Catholic Relief Services is assisting with food distributions in the most heavily affected areas. To date, approximately 200 metric tons of vegetable oil and bulgur have been distributed to almost 5,000 families.
CRS/Calcutta teams have identified health, hygiene, food, and shelter as the most immediate needs. Cholera and other waterborne diseases have been the most serious health issue, and incidents of malaria and dengue fever have increased as well.
Assessment teams will use $30,000 in private funds to complement the food and non-food assistance funded by Britain's Department for International Development (DFID). Agricultural kits containing seeds and tools will be distributed to poor farming families affected by the floods, allowing them to begin planting once water levels recede.
To address some of their needs, the agency will use funds provided by DFID to purchase shelter materials, cooking utensils, school materials, food rations, hygiene packs, matches, and candles to nearly 100,000 people.
Response to Droughts in Western India:
Catholic Relief Services is concentrating emergency relief efforts in the western provinces of Gujarat and Rajasthan, an area that has been devastated by the drought. To date, over 32,000 villages have been affected including more than 51,000 people and 42,000 head of livestock in 43 districts of Gujarat and Rajasthan. The agency has targeted 75,000 people with emergency relief items such as food aid and fodder for livestock.
This devastation is largely attributed to last year's monsoon season, which delivered the lowest amount of rainfall in over 100 years. The agency is building water conservation systems and laying the groundwork for a sustainable contingency plan.
CRS/India's office in Mumbai, western India began their drought response in February 2000. Recently, Catholic Relief Services staff visited project sites and local partners in Gujarat and Rajasthan as the monsoon season commences.
The Government of India launched a large relief effort focusing on the supply of water and the sanctioning of public works projects to create employment in drought-affected districts in Western India.
Catholic Relief Services Response:
Catholic Relief Services initiated its drought response last February, immediately after the possibility of further rain had passed. The agency is working with local partners to strengthen water harvesting and drought mitigation projects. In the state of Andhra Pradesh in South India, the agency supports three networks of eleven organizations conducting drought relief efforts.
Catholic Relief Services committed over $66,000 toward water conservation in this area benefiting 5,800 households. Additionally, the agency is providing locally purchased food for immediate relief to an estimated 1,200 families in six villages. These families were targeted based on their vulnerability, and priority was given to widows, socially marginalized groups and physically and mentally challenged people.
In the coming months, the agency plans to complete construction of 200 'tankas', traditional water harvesting structures, in District Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
In Gujarat: There are 132 landless families, working on an earthen embankment. They have organized themselves with groups digging, lifting, and dumping soil, hopeful of collecting the run-off water when it rains. The unique feature of this community is the solidarity exhibited.
The earthen embankment will provide an opportunity for landless families for fish farming. Also, the recharged community wells will provide drinking water closer to home. Due to increased irrigation potential, additional jobs will be created on agricultural lands stemming future migration.
In Rajasthan: Village Rajgad, among the poorest in the area, has approached a local partner in the village to help breach the concrete structure, built four years ago by the State Government Soil Conservation Department. The concrete structure lies in a rubble heap. CRS/Mumbai engineers have designed a low cost modified structure that meets US Government building standards.
While everybody prays for rains, the challenge ahead is to conserve every drop of precious water that can be collected in the tanks and ponds that were created.
India is dependent on the monsoon season
rainfall for the bulk of its water consumption. Catholic Relief Services
will work to alleviate the immediate needs of hunger and lay the groundwork
for sustainable recovery once the rainfall begins. The rural population
has been most affected by the drought, as they are more dependent on the
rainfall cycles for crop production and livestock management. The drought
has hit women and families with young children particularly hard. Traditionally,
women and young female children are responsible for household maintenance,
fetching water and feeding the family. All of these tasks are critical
to family survival and become more difficult with drought conditions.
Catholic Relief Services will assist with the construction of underground
water storage facilities. For areas where potable
water is no longer available, Catholic Relief Services will distribute
water to those in need.
Cyclone Relief in Orissa, Eastern India:
As the monsoon season begins hundreds of thousands of people still lack basic shelter and food. Catholic Relief Services continues to work with the local Caritas and Dioceses, but much more assistance is still needed.
CRS/India in collaboration with Caritas India and the Archdiocese of Bhubaneshwar is continuing implementation of the $1.2 million Livelihoods Rehabilitation Program funded by the United Kingdom's Department For International Development (DFID).
Through this project, Catholic Relief Services has selected 19 local indigenous organizations to assist cyclone survivors rebuild their incomes.
During the past month Catholic Relief Services and these 19 organizations have reached nearly 40,000 families in 327 villages in the worst affected areas of eastern Orissa. These families also received 75,000 coconut saplings, which were distributed by the village women's group and as an effort to provide food security. In five districts, 307 metric tons of rice was distributed to nearly 28,000 farm families using village women's groups as the means of distribution. The rice has germinated and prospects for the crop will continue to be favorable if the area gets a good monsoon rain during the next month.
Over the next month quick growing horticultural fruits will be distributed including 73,502 banana seedlings and 163,685 papaya saplings.
Village women's groups are coming together to distribute rice and fruit trees. Through this distribution program, women are demonstrating that their organization represents a resource to the entire village. During later phases of the DFID supported program, Catholic Relief Services and their local partners will use the women's groups to foster economic rehabilitation through home based income generating activities such as poultry raising.
The agency has completed the 6,000 metric ton relief and rehabilitation program. "With more than 12,000 acres of rice planted, I've never prayed so hard for rain in my life," expressed Will Lynch, Catholic Relief Services' Country Representative in India.
Catholic Relief Services shipped more than 2,400 metric tons of United States Government food from Calcutta to Orissa. From these tons, approximately 240,000 rations have been distributed in community reconstruction projects and will be used to feed those most in need. In addition, the agency continues to help locate donors with items including tools to help dig shallow wells for water, seed packs, fishing boats and nets.
Catholic Relief Services shipped more than 2,400 metric tons of United States Government food from Calcutta to Orissa. From these tons, approximately 240,000 rations have been distributed in community reconstruction projects and will be used to feed those most in need. In addition, the agency continues to help locate donors with items including tools to help dig shallow wells for water, seed packs, fishing boats and nets.
Cyclone Background:
An estimated 20,000 persons died in the Supercyclone in Orissa, eastern India. The bodies of 10,000 have been recovered; most of the individuals who died were poor subsistence fishermen and migrant farmers from the lowest castes of Indian society. More than 300,000 head of livestock were lost and approximately 1.3 million houses were damaged or destroyed. Three million farmers and fishermen have lost their means of making a living.
Each family received food rations including vegetable seeds, blankets, plastic sheeting, hand tools, clothing and cooking utensils and several watering cans for cultivation. Catholic Relief Services committed $500,000 of its privately donated funds and has raised $1.1 million from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for the Orissa emergency.