An Issue that troubles NGOs in Nepal

International Non Profit Organizations, specially those well meaning ones from India are facing troubles because Indian government is restricting carrying of materials or money to India for relief and rehabilitation purposes. Technically taking money or materials to another country are supposed to pay customs duty to the government. Considering that the operations in Nepal need high amount of money, taking hard cash, which in any case is restricted, is a bad way to follow. Further it can call for legal action. Transferring money to an account in Nepal without the permission of Reserve Bank of India can be construed as money laundering! As the initial special permissions for taking more cash and materials with easy permissions without paying Customs Duty is coming to a close, NGOs are beginning to feel the pinch. 

As for Nepal, all NGOs from India or any other country, shall be treated as International NGOs. The International NGOs are required to be registered with the Social Welfare Council. Read Rules here.  Section 20 under the rules are very important for INGOs. 

There are four important steps:

a) Register with the Social Welfare Council (SWC) which is under the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare. (There is a need to coordinate with this Council on the part of INGOs, and support them where necessary so that all INGOs are registered properly.)

b) INGOs must open an account at any authorized Commercial Bank one single central account into which it can receive all its foreign funds, and it can open sub-accounts to use the money if required. Once in every four months, the INGO must submit a report of receipts to the SWC. 

c) If an INGO is supporting an NGO, such NGO also must be registered with the SWC. That NGO must have different accounts for different projects. The selected NGO is preferred to be a Nepali NGO.

d) Every year, at the end of financial year, the agency must inform the Auditor General in approved format of the closing of accounts, and the Auditor General shall appoint auditors to audit the accounts.

At this moment, the most important thing is for INGOs to register with the SWC, start a central bank account, and if needed sub-accounts linked to the central bank account for spending purposes. Donor money from any country should be directly sent to the account in Nepal. Do not route the money through India, as the money is not meant to be used in India. Any money sent from India needs the approval of the Government of India. (Latest heard is that Indian Government is asking NGOs to put the money in the Prime Minister's Relief Fund to showcase works in Nepal as activities of the Indian Government, and contribution of the people of India.)

Stampede - Can this Evil be Stopped?

Another stampede at a religious function in India (at Patna, Bihar state) has killed 33 people, mostly children and women. Religious places have remained notorious for stampedes in which simple faithful coming with piety and love for their deity have been crushed under human weight. There have been three reasons that have been the major causes of stampedes in religious places:

Structural damage - often a bridge or a stage collapses, following which people rush in concentrated directions, to save themselves. As this rush gets worse, stampede begins.

Lack of Security cover - when there are minor skirmishes that suddenly turn into major brawls, people begin to rush for cover.

Rumours arising from real / perceived / wrongly understood threats lead to excess reaction among people - The rumors may arise from events like a power failure, a sound that resembles to be like a bomb, information that some particular routes are blocked etc.

Both public and the media are making lot of noise on the Patna stampede issue. But, can someone do really something to prevent a disaster like this when such disasters happen even in a open maidan (large open ground) like the Gandhi Maidan in Patna where the disastrous event took place? Let us look at preventing stampedes from the other side around: What can stop or minimize stampedes?

ü Availability of space! Space is the key to avoid stampedes. But in a highly charged religious and political gatherings in a densely populated country like India, it is going to be an idea--only to aim at. So, spaces have to be created. The easiest logic for planning could be 3:1, where 3 is the area maximum used, and 1 being the additional space available. Thus, in case of a stampede when 20 - 30 % of the spaces become unusable, the additional space functions as the buffer to avoid or to minimize the damage caused by boisterous crowds. Planning for extra space is essential.

ü Structural Testing. Structures must be tested against pressures year after year. New structures must be put to pressure tests.

ü Educate people not to lose their cool! It is often in panic that people do such stupid things that they face Death head on. The reason why often people jump off buildings, (and die eventually) although there is help at hand is due to non-application of mind during emergencies. Presence of mind can help save many lives. Rumors and excess reaction can be avoided with education on the nature of hazard and presence of mind.

Marking of a Milestone

The week starting from 17^th was really a busy one, as a UN team was scheduled to visit and understand how the UN Disaster Management Team (UNDMT) that I lead at the State of Uttarakhand has performed over the last eight months. Number of meetings had to be fixed with several senior officers and a separate larger meeting with NGO and Corporate representatives. The team arrived on 19 Feb noon and there were eight meetings scheduled for the day with the six member UN team divided into two sub-groups. When the day was over at 7.30 pm, it brought me so much of satisfaction as almost every officer, NGO and Corporate with whom the UN team interacted spoke about the great support they have received by way of coordination, information, quality and several additional supports. And doing it under a single umbrella  of UNDMT is again the biggest gain! The UN Team delightedly gave us a well laid out banquet at The Kalsang, a Tibetan restaurant on Rajpur road that gives some wonderful dishes from Tibet, Nepal, China, Japan and Korea. On 20^th morning, we had a totally internal meeting between the UN team and me along with all the team members. The meeting went off well and at the end everyone expressed satisfaction over the way the UNDMT support has moved forward, and the new benchmarks set by the team. The UNDMT mission in Uttarakhand is expected to be completed on 31 March 2014.

Kudos to all the team members!

Never Ending Journey

14 Feb 2014 : Both me and Dr. Mathur left Uttarkashi at noon as we were warned by the District Disaster Management Officer that anytime the roads might close as landslides have begun in some places. So, were rushing to get out. We were told that we should travel through Chamba and Rishikesh, a much longer route in comparison to Musoorie, which is the shorter route to Dehradun. In about 20 kilometers we crossed Dunda and our ordeals began. Couple of landslides had just begun and we escaped them carefully.  As we crossed what is known as Dharasu Bend, Dr. Mathur told me that the worst is over – and we are now free to travel! But that was not to be so!

Just three of kilometers ahead of us at a place called Nalpaani, a landslide from a high mountain had begun almost vertically, and it had thrown much of dirt and was throwing down small rocks. One of the vehicles had damaged its windows. As more vehicles waited, we too began to wait. When for a few minutes the rains seem to withhold, the policemen who had a mini police station next to the location let first the vehicles from the lower hills to climb up towards Uttarkashi. (Did you read it correct? Yes, they let more vehicles to climb up the hill when the landslides were actually blocking the roads.) Once all vehicles from the lower hills had crossed into the upper hills, crossing past us, now it was our turn to move ahead to safety—but then came the shocker!  In line of vehicles was a loaded truck that was standing in front. With much of the slush from the active landslide already having filled most part of the road, the truck was trying to cross it. I was wondering why the police is allowing this to happen. By the time even my thinking was over, the truck had already got stuck in the slush and now it cannot be taken out! We returned back to Dharasu Bend where we had hot rice and fish curry – which was much of the solace against the cold blowing rain. We went back to Nalpaani hoping that the truck will be taken out. Hei, there is a huge earthmover that can be utilized to pull out the truck. No, it cannot be used. Reason: the earthmover had no fuel! Comedy of errors???

Attempt to pull the truck hadn’t succeeded till 5.45 pm, and it was getting dark. We began to look for a place to stay for the night. A little guest house at the Nalpaani and a smaller one at Dharasu Bend were already full with stranded people from couple of buses and private vehicles like ours. People suggested that we travel to Brahmakhal, about 15 kilometers from Dharasu Bend and leave for Dehradun the next morning through Badkot, an alternate route. So, we climbed to Brahmakhal and stayed at Hotel Dhruv for the night, after having some chapatti and vegetables for dinner.

Photo taken from outside my room of our hotel

As we woke up on 15^th morning, a Saturday, we were welcomed by four inches of snow and the snowfall continued till 10.00 am. We had been badly stuck in the snows. Once the roads got better with the snow melting and people voluntarily clearing part of the roads, we took the risk of going back to Dharasu bend, as the previously planned route to Badkot had totally been closed with over 3 feet of snowfall in the higher ridges that we would otherwise have taken. We were happy by then that the rains had stopped and the roads will be opened at Nalpaani. But to our dismay, just about a mile before we reached the Dharasu Bend, the road we had taken the previous night, had closed with fall of huge rocks and boulders. Now that is what destiny would have it!

We called up few officials hoping that the road would be cleared. But nothing was happening. Meanwhile we walked down to Dharasu Bend, took lunch, carried some lunch for the driver, and then asked him to go back if the roads don’t open by 5.00 pm so that he can stay with the vehicle at Brahmakhal in a safer environment. Both me and Mr. Mathur walked and crossed the Nalpaani and another landslide about a kilometer from there, and then took a jeep to Chiniyalisaur. I decided to stay that night in Chiniyalisaur, and not take the risk of traveling late at night through the mountains to Dehradun.

Next morning at 11.00 am, the driver along with the vehicle came after all the roads were opened, and then I traveled to Dehradun and reached at 5.45 pm – dead tired. By the way: what or whom should I blame for the ordeal? The nature’s fury?  My luck? The policemen who did not follow proper order in passing vehicles? The journey that should have taken just six hours turned out to be a terror of 54 hours.

Super Week

The last week has been one of the most hectic weeks I had in terms of networking, organizing and analysis. The week started with organizing for some high profile visits that are due in mid-February. On 4 Feb there is a Coordination Meeting to be organized between more than 12 Government departments involved in livelihood enhancement and civil society organizations engaged in livelihood and economic recovery in the state. There was also a visit for couple of days by Mr. Vijay K who is documenting the involvement and impact of UNDMT in Uttarakhand. And finally, being end of the month, as the reports started flowing in, doing a lot of data analysis. On an average I was writing 20 mails and was receiving about 35 mails in the official ID for Uttarakhand that I use, besides the scores of mails that I get in my personal ID. 

It was also a week where I could feel that things are moving much faster that I can imagine in few sectors as work has started getting implemented by various organizations, and good number of activities are getting completed. Oh yes, the much awaited news (though I would have personally preferred this to happen in April or May after the national elections) came that the Chief Minister of the state has resigned, and the new Chief Minister took charge on Saturday, 1 Feb 2014 evening. This may have further implications as some officials may get transferred, which may be for good or worse, but will take time to get the ball rolling. 

To top it all, I also got to meet one of my teammates : Mr. Praveen Pawar. He is an amazing person....we always make fun of him asking him to stand the elections from Rudraprayag, and he is sure to win! Not just the officials and civil society know him, even the community has begun to recognize him. He is one damn good guy I have in the team. As we spent the morning together, he had some serious questions that kept lingering on - which certainly had to be answered by himself to himself. I was able to help him and get to know himself better. And that made me feel so close to him. Thank you Praveen for being a wonderful friend.

Disaster Recovery: Responsibility of Neighbor

It is much easier during emergencies for many Good Samaritans to pop up from nowhere and support the people in distress, and often these Good Samaritans are some good neighbors. As the time passes and the recovery and reconstruction begins, I have noted some strange human behavior taking over the genuine humaneness of persons, a behavior that goes beyond the ethereal. I have heard of persons who have allowed their land to be used freely, in spite of their own land or person loss in the family, so that other families who have lost their land may have a place in which they can set up a temporary tent as long as the "refugee's" house comes up. This is one of the most sublime of all. But the other side is also true. When the person who has lost his house, now has got compensation from the government and some money to build the house needs land for constructing a house looks for land, even the cost of bad land (risky and vulnerable land) price has gone up. A friend was telling me on Monday, in some villages the cost of land has gone up so much so that people cannot afford to buy the land, or if they buy the land, they cannot build the house!

So, there is demand for more money by way of compensation or support! Where will this circle end? In most disaster places I have noticed that the price of land going down, and it is true that the price goes up during reconstruction, usually due to the additional money coming in by way of wages and new employment opportunity created. But, price of land going up through the roof....a plot costing 400,000 rupees on a barren hill, which would require land and soil treatment besides any construction can take place.... Well, that is legalized robbery of different kind. Unless human tendency to support, serve and love remain, the vulnerable will continue to look for the most vulnerable locations to live with vulnerabilities and risks.

Are we chasing disasters?

In a meeting with the Special Representative to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ms. Margarita Wohlstrom held at the India Habitat Center in a meeting of UN and few select representatives for reviewing the suggestions that have risen from various consultations across the country on looking beyond the Hyogo Framework for Action, I mentioned that "If we do not move ahead of the disasters they would catch, and in fact they have already caught up, with us. If we do not catch up with disasters they would catch up with us. Are we chasing disasters? It is not about doing better against each disaster, but is about doing better to minimize risks against future disasters." 

Look at a dozen of major disasters that stuck us in the last year. We have lost over 20,000 lives, and have gone backward in billions of dollars on pure economic terms. All our responses have been getting better and more humane. Our reconstruction activities have been more and more getting standardized. But look at the linkage between development and disaster. There is still a vast gap. We just do not want to bridge it just how how hard it may look to be. None of the nations and states want to lose a pie by way of development matrix, but would not mind to lose a million in terms of hazards--both generated and responded.

One key indicator if we look at is waste generation and waste recycling. Waste has huge impact on the environment and can lead to several new hazards or increase exposure to such hazards. Look at the kind of E-Waste that we are generating. And then look at the municipal wastes. It is out rightly not in proportion. But by the fact that we are generating more e-waste, is a sign that "we are developing" (?). In fact the amount of e-waste generated would be 33% higher in 2017 in comparison to 2012. "The average Canadian, for example, generated about 24 kilograms of e-waste in 2012. That’s more than 860,000 tonnes for the entire country, roughly equivalent to the weight of about 1,700 fully loaded Boeing 747s at take off." (Source: The Star.Com )

How fast is our recycling units growing? The highest of waste recycled according to World Mapper is in Netherlands, and what is the percentage -- 45.2%, and then it keeps dropping drastically but for few rich and highly environment conscious countries. In other words, even Netherlands is left with more than half of its waste every year.  In this order, if we look at any of the other key indicator, air pollution, green house emissions, forestation, population management, and all these have a sad story to tell. 

Probably we are fighting a losing battle, unless we take up seriously issues that contribute to hazards and get ahead of disasters before they keep going ahead of us. Or else, we will literally be chasing the wind!

An Untold Story: Silence of the Lambs

Couple of days back a friend working with an international non-profit organization that focuses on children's issues, sent me a mail about a missing family in the tragedy of 16 - 17 June that took away the lives of more than 5,000 people. This family was still searching for their only son who had disappeared along with his wife and an young son of about 12 years old since 17 June. I replied that the mail was incomplete if it has to be shared with any of the districts or state officials on missing persons. Later I got a call from this family. ( For the sake of this post, I shall call it Jenny's family.) When Jenny called me I was heading for a meeting, and so I scheduled to speak to her later on 19th afternoon. This post is all about that conversation that left me numb.

Jenny is married and well settled with her family along with her father. It is the story of her missing brother and his family that they are searching for as her father is inconsolable. I took details about the missing persons. Then I heard her speaking about children....women. I said "But wasn't only your brother and his wife and their single son involved?" She said, "Yes, but my uncle's family too traveled along with them." "So, how many were they?" She said, my uncle died sometime ago. My aunt along with her five daughters, their husbands and 7 children (total 18) of them and my brother, his wife and the son (that makes it 21) traveled from Delhi to Haridwar, and from there they traveled by a vehicle to upper hills. They had visited Badrinath around 15th and then on 16th they were in Kedarnath after trekking the mountains from Gourikund. They had called us after the darshan (worship). As it was raining, they decided to stay back in Kedarnath thinking that it would be difficult to trek back the 14 kilometers on the mountains with all the children in the rain. They thought it is better to stay in a place where there are lot of people in stead of getting stuck at a smaller place on the way. Since 17 June, we have not heard from any of them."

With my throat already dry, I asked her calmly, "I am very sorry to hear about this. You mean 21 persons in a single family have been just missing for the last four months?" She replied, "Yes Sir. Each day is a silent hell in our life. The rest of the family, all of us, find it even difficult to speak with one another. It is too much of SILENCE at home. None of us have much to speak to each there. With what words can any one comfort the other?"

I sympathized with her and told her that from my present position I can only share her story with the government and tell them to see if the matter can be expedited as early as possible. I checked with her if they had filed the missing person report with the police, and if inquiry has been completed, for which she replied positively. I checked if they gave DNA samples. She replied that it was not done as the Doon hospital that was handling was over crowded, it was an eternal wait for a whole day.

A whole family had been silenced. Silenced along with the thousands, leaving many more to remain in silence as they keep waiting for their beloved ones, who may never return. The trauma of the remaining members of similarly affected families would take decades to heal. Until then, pray that these families find solace in the company of good friends.

The Change Agenda : Health

One of the sectors that I believe that needs to rework some of its strategies for implementation is the health sector. Most of the national policies for health, specially under the NRHM, though have some specific clauses for mountainous and tribal regions, there are certainly two issues that are not adequately covered in terms of policy or practice. 

The first issue is site selection for health facilities. Most health facilities (health sub-centers and Primary Health Centers) stand on lands donated by a local community member. We all know that except in few cases, often there is a need for cajoling someone into offering a plot of required land at no cost or at exceptionally low price because that is what the community is willing to pay collectively for it. So, what do you get for free or minimum cost? The minimum! Often the place is in a very vulnerable location either near a river, or on a slope or in flood prone location, as it happens in deltaic plains. Placing critical life line structures in vulnerable locations is not a right approach. This needs correction. The governments may have have to buy the land or at least a proper land area vulnerability assessment must be done before a plot of land is purchased.

The second issue is the case of vaccine packaging. Those in health sector know that most vials with vaccines for children come in doses of 10. Even in the plains where the population is much higher, it is difficult at times for the health Staff to open a vial because there aren't enough children to whom she can administer the vaccine. In the hills of Uttarakhand and in similar terrains in the country, where the population is still thinner and spread in far off places, this is much more difficult. So, either citing the policy the vaccine is not administered as the health staff cannot open the vial, or, the vaccination gets delayed, and the chances of a child not getting vaccinated increases. There is a serious need for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to review the policy on medicine procurement - specifically relating to packaging of vaccine vials. The manufacturers must be clearly instructed to prepare vials of 3 dozes for the hills and 5 dozes for the plains. If there are problems in production of multiple types of bottling, the vaccines can be packed in dozes of 5 per vial across the country. This would reduce wastage, improve vaccination and ensure greater results. Once the size of the vials is changed, the rules can be altered to ensure that even if there is one child, the vial can be opened so that no child is missed!

Prices with pharma companies must be renegotiated as these may try to sell hard the larger vials because they get paid based on the number of doses a vial holds.

Kedarnath : Satellite images showing pre-disaster  & post-disaster situation; In the post-disaster image (right) you can also notice the birth of a new stream!

Susceptibility and Consequential Vulnerability

As I continue to work on the Social Sector Plan for the most affected villages in five districts  of Uttarakhand, along with lots of inputs and preparatory works from my colleagues in the districts and in the State, I began to wonder about one thing. What are we really focusing on? Or rather, what are all the humanitarian agencies focusing on in their emergency response in Uttarakhand. As I kept pondering through these questions, in one of the daily mails that I share with my colleague (and mentor ) Sarbjit Singh Sahota of UNICEF, wrote " Response to Event Vulnerability will happen, but what about our response to Consequential Vulnerability?"

The people who were most vulnerable and highly exposed at the time of hazard striking them are dead and gone. Families have have lost their loved ones, bread winner, cattle, shops, valuables, almost everything ! The humanitarian agencies continue to respond with food baskets, clothes, temporary shelter, medical camps etc. There is an attempt to strengthen the emergency response system, the critical infrastructure and life line services which have been highly impacted in these districts. So, we are taking care of the "event vulnerability", i.e. people and resources who were vulnerable and have been affected by disaster are taken care of temporarily.

But what about Consequential Vulnerability -- vulnerability that is born of a disaster? People who were better off or in lower middle class, now have become poor. People who had land have now become landless and homeless as their houses and land were carried away. People who had a bread winner at home have become widows, father or motherless, orphans. People who could cultivate some grains have become paupers. Those who earned from shops and cattle have now come to seek asylum. 

The way we treat consequential vulnerabilities today will have an impact on event vulnerabilities and susceptibility of these people to disasters tomorrow.

Time the Compensation

One of the questions I have begun to ask in this assignment in Uttarakhand state is: Is the timing of giving compensation to families who have lost their houses "the right time"? Let us examine the facts. 

Usually after a disaster, immediately there is a hue and cry for compensating the loss. The governments, in order to get a political mileage and to silence the voices, immediately announce a compensation package, and at times it is even revised to increase the earlier package. In the case of Uttarakhand, each family that had lost its house got 200,000 rupees. Indeed, although the disaster had taken place on 16 - 17 June, during my visit to Pithoragarh district closer to the Nepal-Tibetan border with India as early as in the first week of July, I found that the families had been compensated. I was pleasantly surprised at that time the compensation has reached the community and people are happy that they received the money without any delay.

But this is the rainy season. People do not have much work. Most of the affected families are living on the generosity of the government which comes through free or subsidized food and some benefits given by the non-profit organizations. Today, that is about two months from the disaster, how much of that 200,000 is left with the families to reconstruct their houses? In any case with the rains continuing, the house reconstruction cannot start before October. So, how much will be left on the first day when the deprived family needs money? People eat, purchase clothes, pay for medicines, they travel and buy some utensils etc. with the same money.

This takes me to the first question: Is the timing of giving compensation to families who have lost their houses "the right time"? Or, should the "housing compensation be better timed?". One option I would propose is the following (an idea I shared with a few and later I wrote to Eilia J. in Care India yesterday, to share my opinion. 

Hon'ble Chief Minister of Uttarakhand gives compensation 

I would propose that the government gives the money in 3 or 4 installments; and all installments should be paid as advances (unlike in Indira Awaj Yojana where money is retroactively paid). This might have some force on the families too to take responsibility for the money and the house, while at the same time help in standardizing, completing the housing, and improve the the Cash Transfer mechanism as well.

If given in one time advance, it looks like the government has given the compensation, and it has technically washed its hands off! A longer term engagement by splitting the money will also give space for more dialogue on land rights, land usage issues, environmental concerns, risk prevention and management etc. 

May be it is time to rethink some of our compensation policies.

Walk Down the Death Hill

05 July 2013: As we left our hotel a little later than usual : at 8.30 am, and we went to the local administrative office. One or two officials were beginning to come at about 9.00 am. We took some information from them about a relief camp in Dhapa and in Jimighat which functions as a transit relief camp. We decided to go to these places as they were next to each other: Dhapa camp along the road side, after which there is no road connection (as it has been cut off) and Jimighat down below the hill. We crossed Dhapa after about 50 minutes of drive on a bad damaged road, and went further for about a kilometer, beyond which we could not proceed. We decided to walk. Initially, the road wasn’t bad. As we began to walk down, we met two village travelers walking up. I stopped them and ask where they were heading to, where are they coming from and how long is the distance. One of them stopped to answer: We have been walking well beyond Martoli (closer to Indo-China border) for the last five days, and we shall reach Munsiyari today. There is no food in the hills, and so we have been walking, going past one transit camp after another so that we can get some work, live in a relative’s home, and have some food. They said that their families are in the ITBP camps and may be shifted by the army once the weather gets better. I told these men to wait for us at Dhapa camp so that we can give them a lift to Munsiyari when we return.

We then walked down towards Jimighat. It was a steep, almost 80 deg slope down hill. We were holding on to few roots and rocks in several places as the path was wet and slippery. It was like learning to walk like a little kid in all fours! The walk down the hill alone took full 40 minutes. It was a very tall mountain indeed! When we reached there we saw a kind of a little tent which the men there (who were going around smoking and looked drunk) said, “This is the relief camp!” When we introduced ourselves they brought a banner and hanged on it, and they were happy to get photographed. I walked and saw that it is just a single room structure with lots of holes, filthy, and dark. They were cooking food for lunch. I realized soon that these men were smoking hash, and were blowing it upon your nose! We also found a large notice on one side of it : “Hotel School mein hai” (which means, “The hotel has been shifted to the school !” So, where is the school? The school does not function for want of students. Due to repeated disasters and social issues most children are staying in Munsiyari town for studies. (This is an information that we could empirically verify, although people said that it is true that many families in upper hills keep their children in smaller towns.) There was a little bridge that connects the Milam sector with the main area next to this camp. People coming from the Milam sector can sit here, eat, relax and then walk ahead.  The bridge was in a very dilapidated condition and can break any moment. We visited few families in the neighborhood, spoke to them. I hardly saw women, and just a few children, in comparison to the number of men. I kept wondering where have they all gone? This place is a clear threat to children and women. (I heard on next day in Munsiyari that in the Jimighat camp, on 5^th evening, after we had left, a woman was molested.)

The walk up was still more tiresome. We had to stop several times as our heartbeat went up and perspiring too much. On our way up, picked those two travelers at Dhapa camp, and traveled back to Munsiyari. 

Madness at Madkot

04 July: Both the teams left at 6.15 am after a cup of black tea that the hotel thoughtfully provided,  and we separated after picking up an ITBP soldier each from the camp. I had Mr. Neeraj as our driver and Mr. Suresh, an ITBP soldier as our companion, along with Rahul and Bharati, my team mates. As the car climbed through the hills, Bharati took ill, and we stopped quite a few times, and at Thal for breakfast. When we reached Munsiyari at 12.30, our stay had been booked at KMVN guest house, a government run building. The lady at the front desk told us that the cost of the rooms would be 1250 per night. I was surprised that it is pretty costly with the rooms not so well maintained, with no AC etc. However, we thought of continuing to stay there. We visited the Munsiyari block office and had a brief by the Addl. District Magistrate Dr. Raghav Langer who was stationed there to coordinate the relief operations. He gave us a lot of information verbally asked one of the block officers to give further information to us in printed formats. As it was taking time, we thought of collecting the information on the next day, have lunch now (it was 3.00 pm), so that we can visit a village on the same day.

We asked Bharati to stay put at the hotel since she wasn’t feeling well, and we three men (me, Rahul and Suresh) proceeded to Madkot. Our journey to Madkot took over an hour, although the distance was hardly 16 kms. The road had been damaged at several locations, but it had been “mended”. When we crossed the river Gori just ahead of Madkot, we saw the crumbling village. Its school and several buildings had been damaged or gone in the water about 90 – 100 feet down the valley. We had discussions with families, shopkeepers, the village leader and finally we visited also the relief camp where 12 families whose houses had been fully damaged were living.

Madkot village is an entry point to several other villages, and so it had lots of shops and the houses were well built. My first impression was that the people of the village cannot be too poor here. Purely looking at the houses, there were about 30% of families who can be classified as poor, as other families lived on shops or jobs, and they seemed to be better off. We were even surprised that there were two hotels in the village! One of them was just on the river bed, and might be threatened soon if the river doesn’t change its course, and the other was a lot more interior and in a secure location.

The relief camp had been set up on an abandoned building by a failed / attempted hydro power station in a nearby location. When we visited the camp, we saw the place to be clean. After a brief with the staff at the camp, we went to visit the families in the camp.  (I am not discussing programmatic issues in this blog, because this is a personal one. And so such have been presented in official reports. Only human stories and personal experience are mentioned here.)

We saw a man on wheel chair, two other men, few children and a old lady, and we started talking to them. Other family members had gone into the village as they go about their normal work and they return whenever they think off to come to stay at the camp. They had come with all their properties as they saw the river beginning to eat up under their houses. We saw dish antennas, parked cars, heaters and even power generators! As I said earlier, many of these families were not poor. But nature had punished them, and have been left homeless and landless now. The three buildings in the camp had two floors each, and in each floor two families were staying! So, well set!

Where politics steps in: We were told that the local Member of the Legislative Assembly has told these families not to quit the camp as this place is better secured, unless and until the government gives them a better house! Arrogance of leadership.

Early Alert System : Restarted

The SMS Based Early Alerts has been restarted. The system was conditioned in the last year due to severe regulations from TRAI, over 60% of people's phones attached to DND and several people in the community we serve changing their phones. Now, we have worked out an automated system, but it will work only on a fresh one time request from those who wish to receive it. We shall continue to work further to improve our services to you.

People living in India may register by sending an SMS with the text ALERT INDIA from your phone to 09434753999. On receiving the message a confirmation message will be sent to the sender's phone within 30 seconds.

Disaster Management Plans

I had the opportunity to study through at least eight disaster management plans from one of the districts in the last 25 days. I have also had the opportunity of studying more plans in the past year, specially while undertaking a study with colleagues in Unicef and State Inter Agency Group of West Bengal. As I get in deeper into them, I can identify the following positive points that are emerging over the period :

a) There is a lot more appreciation of integration of plans by various departments, although not all relevant departments submit their departmental plans.
b) There is a move to view emerging disaster risks, albeit the fact that these are mostly geophysical or infrastructure related risks. For example, a block has identified train accidents as a risk after a new rail line has come up in the block.
c) Good amount of data / information is being added into the plans in most blocks and districts.

Where do they lack in making a good plan?

a) All these plans are mostly response plans, and not risk reduction plans. Therefore, the plans have a life time of just one year, and need annual revision.
b) Tools are not used to identify and link the broader line of stakeholders into the plan. Therefore vital support services are not mapped into most of the plans. Critical services cannot run effectively without support service systems. For example, if a plan identifies hospitals for managing rail accidents, it has not mapped blood banks, ambulance services, crowd and transport management into the plan itself.
c) Disaster risks with emerging from external elements or elements with long-term impact are not planned for, and they are left as international issues or health hazards etc. For example, a block that has serious problem with floride contamination in water has not brought it into the plan as it is a "health hazard". Similarly, a block that has seen civilians dying in fire between Indian and Bangladeshi border security forces has not mapped any plan for civilian evacuation in such emergencies. Increasing deficiency in drinking water availability in a block has been  left as a drinking water problem, and not seen from the perspective of climate change issues merged with environmental exploitation that will lead to long term impact on the community.

What do we need to do immediately?

a) The disaster management plans must have two sections : one for emergency response and another for identification of long term risks and planning -- say for 30 years or 50 years.
b) Officers and elected representatives involved need to be seriously trained in long term risk reduction planning and risk assessment.

People's Joy, My Joy

On 11 Feb, I managed to drag myself into the Sunderbans, in spite of so many works hanging around my shoulders. It was time to meet the people. It was also an occasion to meet some of the senior officials from ECHO who were on a trip to the Sunderbans to review one of the projects they were supporting. Since, in Brajabhallavpur, Patharpratima Block, South 24 Parganas district, we have initiated the Manually Operated Display Boards (MODB) that display the wind speed, rainfall prediction and tide height in some of their partner areas, I went there to support and enable better understanding of the system. So, in stead of me explaining the system, I was asking the men, "Can you tell me what is all these?" They explained so well that it put me to understand that the extra mile I as a person and what CKS as an organization has taken is a step in the right direction. I asked the women, "Can you explain what these red, yellow and green stand for? And what will you do practically if you see these signs?" Amazingly, some of the women explained it very beautifully. Then came my poser, "Do you think that the information given here is actually matching with reality as experienced by you?" The women said, "Yes, one day the board read that there would be 4 mm rainfall. And there was lots of clouds throughout the day, and there was some mild shower in the evening." The men joined the chorus, " The information on tide is absolutely correct. We have verified it by placing a bamboo inside the water and testing the height. It was absolutely fine. And the wind speed too changes as it is mentioned in the board."

I can recall the joy of the people on their face. I know that this time, if another cyclone like Aila comes, people know that they would be alerted early, and they know what to do. One simple step is a big leap for the mankind. I am satisfied. The joy of the people is my own joy as well.

Power of the Powerless

I will be leaving for Kathmandu on 29 Jan 2012 to give a training in Disaster Risk Reduction. RedR India has asked me to be one of the two trainers who will be taking this training. As I was reflecting about disasters and developmental issues, I began to wonder on what is the actual power of the "powerless". The most vulnerable sections of society, people who have been socially and economically excluded due to reasons of birth, disability, gender, age, wealth and upbringing are the most affected in times of disasters. It is for their welfare the governments function. It is for their safety the social and political systems are. But ultimately, do these people have any real power? I remember watching one of the various films on the life of Jesus. In this the Satan tempts Jesus with the third temptation: Power!

"Power is what every man seeks. It was what they kill for. It is for this they wage wars!" What power do these vulnerable people have? Just over their own bodies,  over the small shelter they own, and a little control over their own children when they are young. Apparently they have at least these powers. But in some places, all these too seem to lose meaning. Go to the stone quarries in Birbhum district of West Bengal or the bordering districts of Jharkhand and Bihar where stone quarries thrive. Every one will say, the women there do not have any power over their own bodies. The women (and only young women are employed) are abused to the core. And they end up suffering from silicosis besides the sexual exploitation when the evening falls. 

The States of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have many stories to tell of how the rich destroy the houses of the poor for no reason of their own. If one person of the lower caste commits a sin the entire village bears the brunt of the rich land lord. They live in fear. Absolute fear.

The power over children is a long lost battle. There are numerable stories that keep regularly appearing in media where poor families have sold their children to keep other children's survival in tact. We know of children who are engaged in labor to pay back the debts of their parents. There are children who are sold for money and sex. There is the huge "camel racing"! And now, read through the media in West Bengal. You have children dying of institutional apathy as they do not get appropriate medical care. Where are our children?

In this context what is the power of the powerless. How can we speak of people's rights that needs to utilized to ensure access to freedom, development, growth and less vulnerability? It is all one big question: What sustains the social inequality.