Case7-August-2017
India as a country is highly vulnerable and exposed to natural calamities. About 80% of India’s geographical area is vulnerable to cyclones, floods, landslides, drought, earthquakes and other hazards. About 60% of the land mass in India is prone to earthquakes, over 40 million hectares are prone to floods; about 8% of the total area is prone to cyclones and 68% of the area is susceptible to drought (Source: Disaster Management in India – Status Report prepared by the Government of India).
When a tsunami struck the coastal regions of Southern India in 2004, DHAN swiftly entered into relief, rehabilitation and restoration of livelihood with a longterm sustainability focus. At that point of time, DHAN had no prior experience in carrying out relief operations. DHAN with its unique model of community organisation, assisted around 80,000 affected families along the Tamil Nadu coast, channelised relief materials to the needy and ensured equity. Followed by relief operations, DHAN initiated rehabilitation and restoration of livelihoods of the affected communities. DHAN organised communities into groups and networked them to plan and implement sustainable livelihood interventions.
The following table shows the vulnerability of the states of India to disasters
| Total number of Cyclonic Storms (CS) / Severe Cyclonic Storms (SCS) crossing different coasts (1891-2000) | Total No. |
|---|---|
| West Bengal | 69 |
| Odisha | 98 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 79 |
| Tamil Nadu | 62 |
| Karnataka | 02 |
| Maharashtra & Goa | 18 |
| Gujarat | 28 |
| Kerala | 03 |
Post - Tsunami interventions and experiences led DHAN to envisage a development programme theme to aid the communities along the coast. Coastal Conservation and Livelihoods Programme works with disaster vulnerable communities in the coastal areas. DHAN Foundation promoted this programme, based on its experience in tsunami mitigation programmes. Presently, the programme has reached out to 1,25,000 members in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu and Odisha
The programme believes strongly in sustainable development through conservation and efficient management of natural resources. The programme found a need for comprehensive development framework as the coastal areas are prone to multiple hazards and relief work addresses only the temporary and emergency needs of the affected community. Hence, the programme devised a framework that addressed the short-term and long-term needs of the community. The development framework has four phases: Relief, Rehabilitation, Conservation and Community-led sustainable development.
DHAN promoted different people institutions such as SHGs, Cluster, Federation, Producer and Marketing Groups, and Disaster management committees and routed its development initiatives through them. The people’s institutions were promoted to address
Cuddalore District consists of seven taluks viz. Cuddalore, Panruti, Kurinjipadi, Chidambaram, Kattumannarkoil, Vridhachalam and Tittagudi. Among these, Cuddalore and Chidambaram are coastal taluks that lie in the heavy wind and cyclone zone while the other five taluks lie in the flood zone. Cuddalore has always been classified as a multi-hazard prone district. Heavy rains and showers during October, November and December inundates low lying areas, coastal areas and the areas near major irrigation sources. Cyclones are also a part of the North East monsoon. Due to floods, a sudden outbreak of several water-borne diseases was also experienced in the past.
The Cuddalore district also lies in the Zone-3 earthquakes seismic category. The district has a coastline of approximately 52.5 km. Therefore, the district is vulnerable to cyclonic depressions and the resultant rains which cause floods. The district, however, suffers from flooding when excess water flows down these local rivers and over the fields due to Northeast monsoon rains in the river basins and in the district itself. The problem owes its genesis to the location of the district. The recent disasters over the last fifty years are as follows.
When the coastal area of Tamil Nadu was severely affected by the tsunami in 2004, Cuddalore was the second worst affected district. Cuddalore district faced floods and cyclones again in 2008 and 2011. The poor depend on the relief and rehabilitation activities at times of disaster. Disaster risks are a regular phenomenon in the region. The poor socio-economic conditions of the majority of the people coupled with a recurrence of disasters forms a vicious circle of poverty.
Over 70% of the total population in the region belongs to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and Most Backward Caste reflecting the low social acceptance and low Human Development Index (HDI) of the region. Cuddalore district is ranked 16th among the 29 districts of Tamil Nadu on HDI. The per capita income at constant price is Rs. 7,587 (1996-1997) and amongst the lowest in the state, 29 % of the total district population is living below poverty line as per the HDR which is higher than the state average of 19% for Tamil Nadu. There is huge disguised underemployment in the rural areas of the district.
Coastal water bodies such as ponds and farm ponds were renovated to facilitate irrigation. In addition to individual livelihood strengthening, collective marketing was encouraged among the small and marginal farmers. The women in the SHGs were organised and supported to initiate small and petty trades and livestock activities.
The floods in 2015 had actually put the community in distress. The people who are just getting back to their routine from the devastation caused by the Thane cyclone had to suffer severe damages to crops and lives. More than six lakh people were affected by the floods. Nearly a lakh houses were inundated. People lost their belongings and were forced to depend on relief supplies. DHAN Foundation team along with community leaders visited the villages affected by the flash floods to show their solidarity. Dry food items, medicines, milk, mats, blankets and groceries worth Rs.1.25 crores were sourced from various community sources and provided to the needy.
The federations facilitated recovery work such as removal of fallen trees on the roadsides and houses, supporting people to shift their belongings from damaged houses to a safe area, safeguarding old people, community cooking, supplying drinking water and assessing village level damages. During this flood, it was realised that there was need for shelters and community buildings at access points. Many in the flood-affected community lacked regular employment. The scale of the devastation experienced by the people due to the disaster would require long term and continuous support to restore their livelihood and habitats. Lack of skillbased livelihood has restricted their earning opportunities.
Only 5% of the Indian labour force aged 20-24 years has obtained vocational skills through formal means. In industrialised countries, this percentage varies between 60% and 96%. The skill development initiatives support the supply of trained workers who are adjustable dynamically to the changing demands of employment and technologies. The skill development initiatives will harness inclusivity and reduce divisions such as male/female, rural/urban, organised/unorganised employment and traditional/ contemporary workplace. Though the government has provided a big impetus to skill enhancement, the rural poor are still neglected because of inaccessibility.
DHAN partnered with Aditya Birla Financial Services to improve the livelihoods of the most marginalised through skill enhancement by establishing Skill Building Centres in three backward blocks – Kurinjipadi, Cuddalore, and Parangipettai. These centres act as one of the key components of resilience in this highly disaster-prone zone.A multipurpose cyclone cum flood safety shelter was proposed which will act as a shelter during flood/ cyclone and as a school during non-disaster period. This will act as a specific intervention in disaster preparedness and as a platform for livelihood enhancement.
Each skill building centre is proposed to conduct vocational education programmes, events for the growth of youth, and awareness building for the communities. They will serve indirectly 3,000- 4,000 households. A community-based Disaster Risk Reduction Committee will be set up to manage the proposed multipurpose cyclone cum flood safe shelter.
The Kurinjipadi and Cuddalore skill building centres became operational in July 2017. So far, 233 persons have undergone training in tailoring, computer skill enhancement, beautician course, financial literacy, and vegetable and mushroom cultivation. Totally, 49 members of the SHG have undergone financial literacy training giving them a better understanding of financial literacy and wiser application of resources. The vegetable and mushroom cultivation training facilitates the farm communities to learn new skills and sustainable farm practices from the experts.
In skills such as tailoring, computer skill enhancement and beautician course, 119 young persons have undergone the life skills training. This training has made these young aspirants attain new skillsets. Once they complete the course/training, they could engage in small entrepreneurship activities or get employed in the larger service sectors of their respective trade.
These skill centres surely will add value to their family economy and facilitate them to lead a decent life good enough to overcome the loss caused by the floods. Skill training translated into livelihood base, in the long run, would help create a cluster of activity. This will help them be resilient enough to face disasters. These skill centres and the cyclone/flood shelters will ac as a resource platform to promote desired skill enhancements in the highly backward disaster-prone area, thereby facilitating employment generation and will be accessible to communities at times of disaster to safeguard their lives.