Funded by UNDP
Supported by ICON/ADAPT Nepal
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
1. Flooding is a common phenomenon in the Himalayan Rivers. Every year floods affect thousands of people in the Himalayan region. Every year the monsoon floods of immense magnitude from the Himalayan Rivers cause huge loss in terms of damage and disruption to economic livelihoods, businesses, infrastructure, services and public health. Long term data on natural disasters suggests that floods are by far the most common cause of natural disasters in this region. This has both an immediate effect such as loss of life by drowning as well as a long term effect such as the spread of disease. Fifty five percent of all people whose lives have been affected by natural disasters are the victims of flooding. Between 1980 and 2008, every year an average of 10 million people suffered flood damage, a statistic which makes floods the most devastating of all natural disasters.
2. Flooding is already one of the most widespread of hydrometeorological hazards, and international panels such as IPCC and ISDR have predicted that it is very likely that flood hazard will continue to increase in many areas of the world, including the Himalayan region, (McCarthy et al., 2001). Both the number and magnitude of flood risks are increasing. This increase is partly due to an uncertainty in the way that natural phenomena are understood and interpreted, and partly due to the increasing vulnerability of people living in the flood plain or in an area with high exposure to a flood event.
3. The Koshi flood that occurred on the 18th of August had a devastating impact. The disaster occurred due to the breach of eastern embankment of the Koshi barrage at Kushaha of Sunsari district. The flood entered into the settlements damaging national highways, power transmission lines, communication cables, schools, health posts, village roads and private and public buildings. After the initial rescue and relocation works carried out by the administration, security forces and NGOs, the immediate remedial measures for flood control are being carried out to restore the pre-flood situation in the affected district. The objective of ongoing repair and construction works is not only to repair and retrofit the damage caused, but also to create a situation such that it is safe for the internally displaced people (IDP) to return to their homes and farms.
1.2 Objectives/scope of the study
4. Although the Koshi River is now flowing back within the guided embankment, there are several activities that need to be undertaken to ensure that such disasters do not happen again. There was an immediate need to undertake a risk and vulnerability assessment to ascertain :
a. Risk for and vulnerability of the IDPs in returning back to their place of origin vis-à-vis the quality and pace of repair and construction work along the embankment, especially the breach area;
b. Adequacy of flood preparedness and early warning;
c. Likelihood of return of the flood in the area.
5. The broader objective of this assignment was to carry out a rapid assessment of the ongoing remedial measures undertaken for the Koshi Floods in terms of hydraulic and structural effectiveness. More specifically, the objectives of the assignment were::
a. To make a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the immediate vulnerability of the flood affected people of Koshi, especially a risk and vulnerability analysis of the quality and pace of ongoing repair works vis-à-vis the flood displaced community in a participatory manner;
b. To assess the adequacy of flood preparation and the early warning mechanism in the flood prone region;
c. To assess the likelihood of the scenario of the return of floods of similar magnitude and the potential for disaster.
d. To develop a risk management plan to deal with possible flooding that will facilitate coordination between agencies, including the UN system agencies
e. To prepare a medium term action plan and an implementation plan.