Flood, West Bengal

Assam

Three waves of devastating flood hit over six million people this year in the state of Assam. 26 districts out of 27 were affected. The extent of damage was the heaviest in the last three decades. Nalbari in lower parts of Assam was among the worst affected districts. Flood damaged standing crops, paddy fields, livestock, houses, breach of highways, embankments. Thousands of people uprooted from their houses & villages and rendered them homeless. Affected people rushed off to national highways to take shelter in temporary shelter camps set up by the local government/agencies. 
HelpAge India’s Guwahati office immediately judged the flood situation in Assam and viewed urgent need for their intervention. HAI was requested by HI for financial support to help flood affected people in Assam by way of providing them some kind of relief support. HAI supported Flood Relief Programme implemented in 17 villages of two Blocks viz. Banbhag & Borigog Banbhag in Nalbari District of Assam. Apart from other damages, people’s health was also affected badly by way of spreading water related disease. In response to this cause, following health camps were conducted in the flood affected areas. Assam Govt. aid included chura, gur, sugar, bleaching powder. As per the villagers only 3% of the affected people received the items and that too was in limited quantity. One woman of 62 years died of starvation on 9/8/07. The ration distribution officials came in boat and returned after handing over the items to the gram Panchayat president rather than distributing the items on their own. There was no assessment study conducted by the govt. The nearby PHCs didn’t take up any medical intervention program. HelpAge India also supported 300 beneficiaries with relief material. 
Items and their quantities/numbers provided to each of the 300 beneficiaries (150 women + 150 men) are as under:

S.No. Items Quantity per person 1. Blanket 1 2. Dhoti (men) 2 3. Ganjee (men) 2 4. Blouse (women) 2 5. Saree (women) 2 6. Mosquito net 1 7. Bedhseet 1 8. Shawl 1 9. Towel 1 10. Petticoat (women) 1 11. Plastic Drum 1 12. Plastic Jar 1 13. Plastic Bucket 1 14. Shirt (men) 1 15. Medicines per beneficiary   16. ORS per beneficiary   17. Bleaching powder per beneficiary   18. Halogine (water purifier) per beneficiary

 

Bihar & Uttar Pradesh

The problem of floods in Bihar is an annual phenomenon during the monsoon season. In 2007, all rivers were flowing far above the danger mark with the highest number of deaths reported from northern part of Bihar. In 2007, among the ten flood affected districts, Madhubani and Darbhanga were worst affected districts in Bihar. Roads had been inundated with up to three feet of water, while railway tracks were often the only elevated structures available above swollen rivers. The state disaster management department estimated a crop loss in 1.7 hectares of land estimated at over INR 11,642 million, complete or substantial damage to more than 597, 855 dwelling units valued at INR 8158.5 million and damage of community infrastructure worth INR 12,201.8 million. Death of human and cattle were 667 and 719 respectively.    The initial response of HelpAge India to the flood affected communities of both Darbhanga and Madhubani was the launch of a fully equipped Mobile Medical Unit (MMU) to address the immediate medical needs of the affected communities but with focus on the destitute elderly and those from the disadvantaged sections of the community.   This medical assistance provided with a view to help them meet the immediate life saving needs, progressed into addressing the preventive health and hygiene needs, measures for fulfilling their daily needs duly focusing on the most vulnerable age groups of children and the elderly. To meet the immediate food needs HelpAge India also provided relief pack t0 1500 very needy elderly families covering 10 villages from Madhubani and Darbhanga districts of Bihar. With the primary objective of protecting the families from any water borne diseases, caused due to contamination of water 450 bottles of Halozone bottles each containing 1000 tablets were distributed among all 1500 families. Preliminary follow-up discussions held with the communities indicate that the jerry cans were handy in carrying and keeping the water safe for longer duration and very much appreciated by the community.  The Jerry cans also allowed the families to keep their drinking water covered therefore a possibility of some effective reduction in morbidity. Community groups were formed at project villages involving 10-15 families and 100 Sintex water storage tanks were distributed and installed at the community level. This would effectively cater to the requirement of 25 families with one time fill-up. The tanks were located in most accessible yet on higher ground to prevent contamination from where each of the families could take safe water. Firstly the water was stored in the tank and then required amount of Halozone tablets (25 tablets) were put for water purification.  Since the area of the Tarpaulin was small, while small and medium families were provided with one sheet each, two sheets were provided to the 400 large families.