Real Risk

droughts. It also helped EFICOR to finalize Madhubani block as

the area of intervention. PADR helped the community to analyse

the ‘elements’ at risk due to disasters and what contributed to

that element being at risk – if crops were the element at risk,

then analysis showed that factors such as land tenancy, cropping

season, forming embankments along the river, and the unpre-

dictable course of the rivers made those crops vulnerable to

destruction.

Such analysis showed which factors could be addressed by the

community itself, and helped to identify the external inputs

needed from the Government or other agencies and what advo-

cacy measures were called for. It was also instrumental in initiating

a change in the attitude of the community towards disaster and

its management. Instead of thinking individualistically, people

could now think about how the community as a whole might

benefit. For example, instead of seeking to get hand pumps

installed near their houses, they now saw how strategically locat-

ing the hand pumps could help larger populations during the

floods. They could also identify their capacities, which gave them

a feeling of empowerment through the awareness that they need

not be helplessly vulnerable to floods.

Capacity building and training

Capacity building was done through the formation and training

of a village-level disaster management committee (DMC) and

task force. The village communities, in informal village meet-

ings, chose literate or semi-literate people who were

knowledgeable, respected and acceptable to most in the commu-

nity as members of the DMC. The DMC also includes

government representatives – ‘ward members’ – from the

Gram

Sabha

(Village Assembly) and members from the women’s self-

help group. Each ten-member DMC has about 50 per cent female

participation and meets once a month. The 20 DMCs were

trained in concepts of disaster management and mitigation and

its need, good practices in mitigation, the role of the DMC, the

need and purpose of the task force, and various skills necessary

for the functioning of a DMC. Once trained, the committee

serves as a decision-making and advisory body on disaster

management issues in the community.

Across the three blocks, 460 youths have been trained as task

force members. Each village has a task force, with members taking

specific responsibilities such as warning, rescue, first aid, shelter

preparation and relief management. Though each group has spec-

ified roles, each member of the task force is trained in all aspects.

This task force passes its skills to other members of the commu-

nity through mock drills.

Small farmers with their own land have been enabled to form

a farmers’ group, and 354 such farmers were trained on subjects

such as varieties and methods of cultivation suitable for flood

prone areas, the benefits and use of organic fertilizer and pesti-

cides, and the ill effects of long-term use of chemical fertilizers.

Mitigation measures

The absence of certain structural assets also contributes to some

elements being at risk. EFICOR addressed the following elements

through the structural mitigation measures given.

Drinking water

– Non-availability of safe drinking water during

floods is a major issue. The consumption of contaminated water

results in a high rate of diarrhoea, dysentery and cholera; and

children often succumb to these diseases, as evident from the

district’s infant mortality rate of 65. Raised tube wells provided

a simple solution – 12 old tube wells were raised and 18 new

raised tube wells were installed. The height of the raised platform

took into account the highest flood level in that area.

Communication

– Means of communication, which are already

very poor, are completely cut off when water inundates the area.

Many people are stranded in these remote villages and suffer due

to lack of basic amenities like water, food, sanitation facilities,

medical aid, etc. Therefore, ten locally constructed wooden boats

were provided to evacuate stranded people to safer locations and

20 kaccha (unmetalled) roads – including minor roads – were

constructed to enable quick evacuation to safer sites. Since the

boats were locally made, the local artisans were able to benefit.

The community took the contract for constructing the roads, and

this infused much needed cash into the community.

Land and agriculture

– Land and agriculture is the element

impacted the most, and this has long-ranging impact on the social

fabric. Though most of the community does not own land, this is

an agrarian society in which most work as tenants or labourers on

the landlord’s fields. Once agriculture is affected, people have no

other means to sustain themselves –men migrate to other states in

large numbers, leaving behind the women, children and the aged.

The migration and absence of the working population

contributes to economic and social regression. To address this,

680 small and marginal farmers were assisted with late-variety

and improved-variety wheat and sugar cane seeds. The intro-

duction of late-variety wheat will allow farmers to sow wheat,

which is the second crop, a month later than the normal variety,

without losing the crop if flooding forces them to sow it late, as

is the case with the variety currently used. Sugar cane is a flood

resistant crop, but its cultivation had been stopped in this area

for over a decade due to the closure of sugar mills. The new

government has reopened the mills, and so the cultivation of

sugar has been reintroduced to enable farmers to benefit from

this opportunity.

Frequent heavy floods erode these lands, as well as filling large

tracts of agricultural land with sand, making it unsuitable for

cultivation for many years. Trees act as a good breakwater, weak-

ening the force of the deluge and preventing it from entering wider

[

] 94

Mock drill by a village task force

Photo: EFICOR