India: Floods appeal No. 27/1998 - Final report

The appeal sought CHF 1,632,000 (USD 969,0001EUR 1.1 million) for 100,000 beneficiaries over three months
An interim final report for this project was posted 31 May 1999. However due to that expenditures incurred in 1999 were not accounted for until late 2001, the project was not closed until 31 December 2001. After assisting flood victims from its own resources in the immediate emergency phase, the Indian Red Cross Society, supported by this Federation appeal, gave further assistance in the form of food blankets, household items and tarpaulins to 26,000 families in the four worst hit States. These were Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The context

Exceptionally heavy monsoon rains in August 1998 flooded 12 states in northern India, affecting over 23.6 million people and leaving up to 8 million people homeless. The situation was particularly bad in the four states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and West Bengal where an estimated 22,000 villages were inundated. Nation-wide, a total of 4.76 million hectares of agricultural land was flooded.

Many of the flood victims not only lost their crops in the floods, but also the use of their land, which was covered by sand and silt. Months after the floods many of the farmers were still dependent on daily labour opportunities. A large number of families are also still living in temporary shelters: reconstruction of houses is a slow process due to lack of financial resources.

The Indian Red Cross Society's Branches provided assistance to the flood victims from the very beginning. During the first emergency phase the Society distributed relief material from local warehouses to over 22,000 families. As demand greatly exceeded existing stocks an international appeal was launched on 9 September, 1998, for CHF 1,632,000 to provide assistance to an additional 20,000 of the most vulnerable families in the four worst affected States. The State Branches of the Indian Red Cross Society identified their respective target populations, and the National Society, in close co-operation with the Federation, completed the local procurement of relief items and their subsequent distribution.

Red Cross/Red Crescent action

Following the positive response to the Appeal, initial orders were placed at the end of November for the relief items included in the 20,000 family packages. Thanks to very competitive prices obtained from the vendors, as well as the quick response to the Appeal, the number of families to be assisted could be increased from 20,000 to 26,000. It was also possible to increase the number of blankets and the quantity of oil and rice in each family package. Thus the revised beneficiary figures and relief items were as follows:

Because needs varied from state to state, the composition of the relief packages was adjusted accordingly. The State Branches in Assam and Uttar Pradesh clearly stated that sufficient food commodities had been distributed by other sources, and so no food items were included in the relief packages for those two states. In the case of Assam, due to serious problems with mosquitoes, two mosquito nets were added to each relief package.

The additional orders for blankets, tarpaulins and kitchen sets according to the revised target were placed in mid December 1998, and the supplies were delivered by the first week of January 1999. The mosquito nets were purchased locally by the Assam Branch. After an initial delay, cooking oil was purchased from a Government controlled organisation and subsequently distributed.

In mid January the Indian Government decided to increase the price of several essential commodities, including rice. This directly affected the relief operation since the IRCS had placed its order for rice with the Food Corporation of India, FCI, a Government of India undertaking. Several of the State Governments objected to the price increases and were reluctant to implement the Central Government's decision, which meant that the local food control departments were not in a position to release the stocks, even though the Red Cross Branches had paid for the entire supply of rice. The stocks of rice could not be accessed until the end of February, and in the case of Murshidabad not until the first week of March, causing delays in completing the distributions. Once the rice arrived the District Branches started the distribution immediately. As the price had increased, the quantity purchased had to be decreased, and rations were reduced from 25 Kg. per family to 20 Kg. and in some cases to 15 Kgs. per family.

The identification of beneficiaries was in most cases carried out by Branch volunteers in close co-operation with the district administration, while in one case the identification was carried out by the Branch independently.

Since the waters receded before the operation started, water purification tablets were no longer needed. Since the shelf life of this type of chemicals is very short the IRCS will hold the funds allocated in the budget and enter into a contract with a supplier to procure such items at a future date.

Assam (Target 9,000 families)

All the relief items purchased by the National Headquarters were received by the Branch, although after some delay due to problems encountered at the state border crossing. The distribution started on 24 January, 1999, in the presence of the State Governor and the Federation Relief Co-ordinator. The event was well covered by the newspapers and the local TV news.

The Assam Branch purchased mosquito nets from two local vendors. It also purchased some storage trestles, a typewriter and some office furniture to ensure the smooth running of the operation.

Distribution Table

Based on the local assessment, the Assam State Branch reduced the number of blankets from three per family to two and the mosquito nets from two to one. The balance of items were distributed to additional vulnerable people affected by the floods. Details are given below:

Bihar (Target 5,000 families)

To avoid extra transport costs the relief items purchased by the National Headquarters were sent directly to the District Branch of Muzzafarpur. However, due to the reasons mentioned above, the purchase of rice and oil was badly delayed and the distribution could only start on 4 February 1999.

The Branch decided, based on a detailed assessment, to distribute a full family package to all families of four members or more. Families of three members and below received a reduced package.

Distribution Table

As the distribution by the branch in Muzzafarpur was organised according to family size it was possible to increase the number of beneficiary families to 5,275.

Uttar Pradesh (Target 6,000 families)

The distribution started on December 30 1998 in the presence of the Federation Relief Co-ordinator. The initial distribution was covered by two newspapers and ECHO funding was mentioned in the articles.

Since the State Government had distributed sufficient supplies of several commodities, the Branch advised that only blankets and tarpaulins were needed, leading to the reduced package.

Distribution Table

West Bengal

The Federation Relief Co-ordinator and the IRCS Assistant Director visited the West Bengal State Branch and the District Branches of Malda and Murshidabad to finalise the procurement of oil and rice. Several distributions in both the Districts were also observed. The Red Cross volunteers were found to be devoted but in need of some training in organising relief distribution. Some on the job training was carried out by the IRCS / Federation team.

Malda District (Target 4,000 families)

The Malda Branch has completed the distribution of all items.

Distribution Table

Murshidabad (Target 2,000 families)

The Murshidabad Branch has completed distribution of all articles.

Distribution Table

Replenishment

To replenish the IRCS stock of relief items distributed during the emergency phase the IRCS purchased the following items:

- Blankets: 34,500 PCs
- Tarpaulin: 3,300 PCs
- Kitchen set: 500 sets
- Oil: 5,500 litres
- Rice: 110 Mt

Other

To enhance the visibility of the Red Cross and when applicable, the EU, Red Cross stickers and EU stickers were printed and attached to the various items. Red Cross pinafores were also produced and used extensively by volunteers at the distributions. The IRCS, from funds allocated in the ECHO budget, purchased two cars to

be used for relief co-ordination. In addition some minor purchases of office and warehouse equipment took place. To strengthen the communications capacity between the National Headquarters and the branches three fax machines were also purchased out of ECHO funds, and one telephone was installed in the Murshidabad Branch office. The transport costs of the relief items were higher than anticipated in the budget, but the minor costs for warehousing covered these increases.

Lessons Learned

The procurement process was strict, but time consuming. To avoid similar delays in the future it has been suggested that the IRCS should enter into one year agreements, renegotiable on a yearly basis based on the inflation rate, with the vendors identified in this operation. IRCS could also design a standard relief package to be used in future relief operations.

The problems encountered with the purchase of rice were mainly caused by the complicated procedures required when purchasing from governmental sources, as well as by the Central Government's sudden decision to revise the prices. IRCS might explore the possibilities of purchasing these types of commodities from other sources.

Water purification chemicals are an essential item for any flood relief operation during the first emergency phase, but are of limited use later, once the waters have receded, and cannot be kept in store.

External relations - Government/UN/NGOs/Media

The contract with ECHO was revised and extended for one month i.e. until 13 February, 1999. A special report on the utilisation of the funds allocated by the German Government through the German Red Cross Society was submitted, and the German Embassy in Delhi duly informed. In meetings with both the Governor of West Bengal and the Governor of Assam, full co-operation and support to the IRCS/Federation flood programme was given.

Contributions

See Annex 1 for details.

Conclusion

Even though the IRCS managed to assist over 22,000 families out of their own stocks in the emergency phase, the time that elapsed between the emergency period and the actual distribution of a complete family package --more than six months -- underlines the necessity of having sufficient stocks on hand. India is a vast country with many disaster prone areas, but IRCS has sufficient warehouse capacity throughout the country and relief items can be procured locally at very competitive prices.

John Horekens
Head
Relationship Management Department

Hiroshi Higashiura
Director
Asia Pacific Department