Project Theme

Disaster Risk Reduction

Target Group

Others

Project Period

01 Jul 2015 - 30 Jun 2016

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Introduction

Each year, the mighty Brahmaputra River traversing across the length of Assam causes huge destruction and irreparable loss to the state’s economy which is largely agrarian during monsoon season. Several areas - including the districts of Morigaon, Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Golaghat and Darrang - are ranked as some of the most flood prone districts in the State. There is also a high presence of socially and economically vulnerable communities in these districts.Floods, flash floods, river-bank erosion, and sand casting (deposition of large amounts of sand by flood water) are the most frequent water- induced hazards in the eastern Brahmaputra basin in Assam. The combined impact of floods and land erosion has resulted in some villages disappearing altogether and migration of the displaced to new locations along the river. A predominantly agrarian region, vulnerability to floods is very high. Damage to crops and loss of cultivable land is devastating.  Immediate damage is visible on roads, shelters, homes. High incidence of reduction in daily food intake has been reported with less than a third of the total population having any reserves of food.  Population displacement is widespread as thousands of women, men and children are forced to move to higher ground such as embankments and roads. Flooding has inflicted the greatest harm to the communities in the district of Morigaon. Thousands of people, livestock and property are affected every year. Large tracts of land in Morigaon district are also affected severely by soil erosions. The consequences of these disasters on lives, livelihoods, property and environment can last up to months, often eroding hard-won assets of individuals, hindering human development. The poor and socially disadvantaged groups face greater stress when managing the impact of natural disasters, since they are the least equipped to cope with them. 

About the Project: 

The overall goal of this programme (Phase II) is to sustainably increase community resilience against floods and emerging hazards in Morigaon district of Assam with a focus on the most vulnerable groups in the community. Four key areas of intervention support the programme design: 

• Increasing community disaster preparedness through capacity and institution building
• Improving availability of safe water, sanitation facilities and improved hygiene during floods
• Increasing food security and reducing loss of livelihoods during floods.
• Investing in advocacy to build collaborative linkages between key stakeholders (community, government, partner NGOs) to ensure programme interventions are relevant, representative, and sustainable

Results to be Achieved / Impact: 

Specific Objective 1: Increase target community’s (30 villages) capability to anticipate and prepare for natural disasters (flooding) through knowledge, awareness and training – with a special focus on addressing the needs of the most vulnerable (women and people with disability)

Outcome 1.1  Increased capacity of target community to identify disaster risk and take appropriate action to reduce community vulnerability

Outcome 1.2.  Improved capacity of Oxfam Partner in implementing DRR projects through training;  enable partner staff to work with the government, civil society and communities to plan and implement DRR models that aim at reducing community vulnerability (especially of women) to disaster risk

Specific Objective 2:  To substantially improve water, sanitation and hygiene conditions for the target community  of 30 villages – with particular focus on addressing needs of women and people with disability

Outcome 2.1   Men, women and children in the target population have increased access to, and make optimal use of safe water and hazard resilient sanitation facilities.

Outcome 2.2  Target communities demonstrate improved hygiene practices and take action to protect themselves against threats to public health in a dignified and culturally appropriate manner during a disaster 

Specific Objective 3: To improve food security and support livelihood of target communities in 30 villages by providing productive assets, protecting livelihood assets, and building resilience in maintaining productive assets even when disrupted by disasters. 

Outcome 3. 1 Target communities are resilient to livelihood shocks through improved agriculture and off-farm livelihood protection initiatives during flood & food security initiatives during non-flood/Rabi season.

Outcome 3.2  Target communities have increased resilience to protect their livestock assets during floods

Specific Objective 4: To strengthen government, civil society, and community action for disaster risk reduction in order to enable communities, government and CSOs to identify, plan and act for reducing the vulnerabilities of communities to disasters.

Outcome 4. 1  Target communities are accessing and benefiting from government relief schemes

Outcomes: The project has so far achieved (Achievements 2014-15):

• 10 refresher trainings held for DRR core committee/Village Disaster Response Committee on early warning, first aid and camp management.
• 10 village mock drills were conducted by the humanitarian response committees/VDMCs along with partner staff (in coordination with Civil Defence department in some of the simulation exercises) in all the programme areas. 
• 60 Raised Hand Pumps constructed with GPS coordinate mapping in Jorhat, Morigaon and Darrang districts.  Trainings have been held for WASH committee members on safe usage/storage of water, chlorination of hand pumps, and linkages around water testing, and maintenance of hand pumps. 
• 1400 families were provided with critical family water treatment units. In each programme area 406 households covering 11 villages were supported with family water treatment units. These units are low cost, easy maintenance units which communities can use for water treatment in both flood and non flood periods. 
• A Total of 15 trainings have been undertaken by partner staff on capacity building of WASH committee members. Committee members are trained on public health promotion messages, chlorination of hand pumps, and monsoon preparedness. 
• 1500 hand pumps were chlorinated in the reporting period by partner staff along with WASH committee members. 
• As part of livelihood generation, 60 vulnerable women were trained and provided Kitchen Garden support. Coriander, chilli, cabbage, radish, and beans were provided as part of kitchen garden support. 50 women in Morigaon/MMM programme area were provided support for dry fishing.