India: Floods Appeal No. 19/2000 Final report

This Final Report is intended for reporting on emergency appeals
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Launched on: 11 August 2000 for three months for CHF 6 million to assist 200,000 beneficiaries. There were two budget revisions with the final total being CHF 3,480,157. The appeal was extended until April 2001

IN BRIEF

Appeal coverage: Covered
Related Appeals: South Asia regional programmes (01.24/2002)
In Summary: Donors responded well to the operation and significant relief was provided to those communities in need in a timely manner. The north and north east of India regularly suffers from disaster and the Indian Red Cross and Federation have been engaged in longer term preparedness capacity building.

The context

Over 30 million people were affected by floods in north and north eastern India between July and September 2000. The floods began in late July in the Northeast Indian state of Assam and worsened dramatically at the beginning of August when flash floods resulting from heavy rains in the Himalayas swept south, causing breaches in embankments along many parts of the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries, and inundating surrounding areas. The combined death toll due to floods, landslides and torrential rains in India, Bangladesh and Bhutan exceeded 1,500.

The situation became critical in the state of West Bengal in September 2000, when heavy monsoon rains caused a second wave of floods that swept across a vast and densely populated area. Local authorities report that over 17 million people were forced to flee their homes. The floods claimed 1,266 lives, and around 74,000 head of cattle perished. The northern state of Bihar was severely affected by another disastrous wave of floods in September. Three consecutive flood waves swept through a total of 31 districts and claimed 163 lives.

In addition to Assam and the states of West Bengal and Bihar, the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra also experienced extensive flooding caused by seasonal monsoon rains and flash flooding. Thousands of people affected by last year's floods continued to live in a precarious situation. Many were living in makeshift shelters and experienced considerable difficulty in restoring their livelihoods. Their situation is still precarious, particularly in Assam where floods occur on an annual basis.

During the months of May and June 2001 pre-monsoon rains began lashing the region and some rivers were in full spate. The Assam state branch of the Indian Red Cross geared up to face the floods, with fresh stocks of relief goods being procured with money remaining from last year's relief operation.

As it appeared, the much feared monsoon season did not cause any major damages this year in Assam.

At the same time however, a new Federation appeal was launched on 25 July (Appeal no. 21.01) in response to new and continuing floods in the states of Bihar and Orissa, causing damage and disrupting the lives of millions of people.

As a result of a review of the past IFRC/IRCS health activities and the continuing needs in Assam, the MMUs (Mobile Medical Units) and health training part of the operation was extended to the end of December 2001.

Objectives, Achievements and Constraints

Objective 1: To provide relief to the population affected by flooding in north and north-eastern India in the form of health care, water purification tablets, tarpaulins, mosquito nets, kitchen sets and a limited amount of basic food commodities such as rice, oil and dal (lentils), in accordance with priorities.

Achievements: A total of 13 New Health Emergency Kits (NHEKs) were purchased by the Supplies and Logistics Service of the Federation's Secretariat in Geneva and flown from Europe to Calcutta. From the 13 kits, nine were dispatched to Assam while 4 remained in West Bengal.

In addition, some 24 medical camps were set up by the Red Cross district branches in West Bengal to provide relief health care and distribute medicines to flood victims in Murshidabad Birbhum, North 24 Parganas and Nadia. In the state of Bihar, a list of medicines requested by the State Branch was submitted to the Federation and procurement was done locally by the Branch with funds raised from the India Floods Appeal.

An initial total of seven and later five MMUs established in Assam operated in the remote communities during the period following the floods and until May 2001. The MMUs were active in the following district severely affected by the year 2000 floods: Kamrup, Mangaldoi, Dhubri, Dhemaji, Morigaon, Nalbari and Kokrajhar. The Mangaldoi and Kokrajhar districts were during latter months replaced by the new pilot area Darrang. The reason for this replacement was to co-ordinate the support evenly, including the one from DFID.

Each team saw approximately 200 patients per day and provided them with basic care and medicines, which most of the patients would be unable to afford. An estimated 150,000 out-patients were treated by these medical teams between November 2000 and April 2001. Each team consisted of one or two doctors, two nurses, one pharmacist and volunteers.

The project reached a large population in remote rural areas of an impoverished region and helped to strengthen the image of the Assam Red Cross throughout the state. However at the end of May 2001, the MMUs were discontinued and in early August 2001, an experienced Federation Health Delegate went to Assam to review past IFRC/IRCS health activities. She also looked at the possibilities for a longer term community based health programme. The review entailed visiting sites in two districts and holding a workshop in September to discuss with some MMU team members their past work experience. Two of the conclusions was that Mobile `health camps' were a `normal' way of providing ad hoc health services in the absence of routine health facilities and that there was a need for marketing the MMUs being provided by the IRCS as many beneficiaries were not aware of their existence.

As a result of the evaluation and in view of the continuing needs in Assam, it was decided to extend this Appeal. The Federation and IRCS decided to further support two MMUs from October until end of December 2001.

During a follow up visit to the area during late 2001, the Federation Regional Disaster Response Delegate noted that the rescue boat donated by the Spanish RC to facilitate a medical unit could be better utilised. The Assam State Branch has provided a proposal regarding equipment and maintenance of the boat which is under discussion (not within this appeal).

Health and relief training for staff and volunteers in the area continued apace, during the spring while rains had rivers flowing in full spate. Training provided to 300 volunteers of the Assam state branch in first aid, public health issues and disaster preparedness continued.

Early in 2001, the Federation health delegate for the operation completed an evaluation of "the use of a sachet for the preparation of safe therapeutic milk, ORS and other drinks from contaminated water". The sachets utilise a cellulose membrane which permits water to hydrate the sachet contents, while removing bacterial contamination. The aim of the field trial in Assam was to determine the efficiency of use of these sachets in the field and to test the general acceptability of the product among the local population. The evaluation was carried out by the Red Cross medical teams in the two flood-affected districts of Kamrup and Darrang.

Most flood related needs were fulfilled in the operation and the focus during the latter half of the operation was shifted to community based health activities using MMUs to attract community participation.

After this operation, the Assam State Branch had the curriculum and trainers and were in a position to continue training activities autonomously. In addition they had pre-positioned stocks in place which made the area less vulnerable during the next flood season. In view of further providing development support to Assam and other state branches in north eastern India, the IRCS HQ has officially posted one staff member in Assam.

Constraints: In the state of West Bengal, it was extremely difficult for the Federation to ensure the swift transfer of the funds from the IRCS National Headquarters to West Bengal State Branch and then further to the districts involved in the operation. As a result, four local branches were provided with one New Emergency Health Kit (NEHK) each but no financial support was made available to deploy any medical teams for prescribing and distributing these medicines. This caused considerable stress to already over-stretched branches and delayed what was planned to be a short-term health intervention during the immediate aftermath of the floods. The reassignment of the India floods health delegate in charge of West Bengal to Gujarat following the 26 January earthquake also undermined the implementation of health-related activities in the state.

The local Government was very positive towards the MMUs and would like to extend it to cover periods outside the flood season also. Due to limited security during night time, it was difficult to find health workers to live and stay over night in the area. At the same time, the programme was not further fundable under the disaster response programme. However it could be part of a more comprehensive community outreach programme in the future, following the development activities carried out by the IRCS.

Water and Sanitation

Achievements: Although funds were available for the purchase of chlorinating tablets and printing of instruction leaflets, these planned activities were excluded from the assistance programme when the Plan of Action was revised in November 2000. Large quantities of emergency relief goods, particularly water and sanitation-related items, were provided either by the IRCS or by other aid agencies operating in India during the emergency phase. Therefore a decision was taken to exclude the purchase and distribution of chlorine tablets from the initial Plan of Action. Lastly, beneficiary families were given one bucket each in stead of two as outlined in the Emergency Appeal, taking into consideration a request voiced by the state branches to reduce the quantity in order to speed up procurement and facilitate distributions.

Food and non-food supplies

Achievements: A large quantity of food and basic relief supplies, totalling 660 MT of rice, 33,000 tarpaulins and kitchen sets (including one bucket), 66,000 mosquito nets, garments and 99,000 blankets were purchased in India and distributed to some 33,000 families in 35 flood-affected districts in Assam, Bihar and West Bengal. Distributions were carried out between October 2000 and April 2001 and each selected family received one tarpaulin, two mosquito nets, one kitchen set, one bucket, three blankets, two pieces of garments and a basic food ration. The needs of the beneficiaries and the impact of the relief goods provided was evident during several assessments at distributions and during monitoring. Field assessments confirmed that there was no shortage of food in flood-affected areas, and therefore the emergency food ration distributed to flood victims was limited to 20 kg of rice per family only. However, when the operation's Plan of Action was revised in November 2000, provisions were made for the addition of 3 blankets and 2 pieces of garments to the family relief package. Beneficiaries continuously expressed their gratitude for the assistance provided. During the field trips undertaken by Red Cross teams, delegates and National Society officers observed that the items funded by the Federation were being used.

In preparedness of possible floods during 2001, the Federation and IRCS procured and pre-positioned relief stocks for 10,000 families (50,000 persons). The state branch was provided with 20,000 blankets, 10,000 kitchen utensil sets, 20,000 mosquito nets and 10,000 tarpaulin sheets in Assam. Besides these a total of 118,392 rations of high energy biscuits were transported from IRCS warehouses in Chennai and Mumbai. Following the seasonal flooding period during 2002, the impact of these preparedness measures are being carefully assessed and lessons learned applied to future programmes.

All International Federation Operations seek to adhere to the Code of Conduct and are committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (SPHERE Project) in delivering assistance to the most vulnerable. The procurement for this operation was carried out in full compliance and conformity with the Federation's standard for international and local procurement.

For support to or for further information concerning Federation operations in this or other countries, please access the Federation website at http://www.ifrc.org.

This operation sought to administer to the immediate requirements of the victims of this disaster. Subsequent operations to promote sustainable development or long-term capacity building will require additional support, and these programmes are outlined on the Federation’s website.

John Horekens
Director
External Relations

Simon Missiri
Head
Asia Pacific Department

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