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Local Engagement, Maintenance and Support Prove Powerful during Aila-aftermath
Sunday, June 21, 2009
By: Rajashi Mukherjee
An update on Cyclone Aila from Water For People-India
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Aftermath of Cyclone Aila in India and Effects on Water For People Programs
 Local Engagement, Maintenance and Support Prove Powerful during Aila-aftermath
Perhaps the key lesson learned from ‘Aila’
was that the best input any external agency like Water For People
can provide to a community is to promote
systems and structures that give them
strength to deal with the worst. While other
areas struggled to mobilize help after the
cyclone and suffered outbreaks of diarrhea,
our water committees swung into action
with the Jalabandhus to first get their water
sources functional. They understood the
importance of safe water in averting further
disaster.
When asked why these water sources had fared better than others, villagers were clear:
"Our
committees are our strength, we are used to working together to maintain our water source;
we had skilled personnel who knew what needed to be done, (the technical input came only
after the mechanics were trained; we had material (spares) available with us. Also, we chose
our Tubewell sites well – they were all on highland, they had platforms and a shade, used the
best materials and were regularly maintained by our mechanics.’
The concern however is whether these tubewells
will withstand the pressure of so many users." |
 What was cyclone Aila?
Cyclone Aila was a tropical cyclone that had been developing over the Bay of Bengal and hit West
Bengal and Bangladesh on May 25th, 2009, leading to a major climatic disaster, affecting the lives
of millions
A tropical cyclone is one which is caused over warm oceans. In order to initiate one, the sea
temperatures need to be above 25.6 degrees Celsius, and is characterized by violent winds, heavy
rainfall and therefore can be potentially very dangerous. The main cause for such cyclones has
been attributed to global warming. Due to increased global warming over the last few years, sea
temperatures have been continuously on the rise. As it is known that these dreadful cyclones are
caused over higher temperature oceans, the rising global warming increases the threat from
similar cyclones to recur in the near future. In fact it is said that this cyclone did not strike with its
actual potential. If it had, things would have been far worse.
 Aila, also known as Severe Cyclonic Storm Aila, was believed to have been developing and
intensifying over a few days, the warnings of which was not received with enough importance.
On the 21st of May, the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JTWC) reported that a tropical
disturbance was persisting 950 kilometers south of Kolkata. The disturbance developed further on
the 22nd. The JTWC issued an alert saying that the disturbance was becoming stronger and
more defined. Despite this alert, the warning was not reported adequately. The name Aila was
given when it reached 350 kilometers south east of the Sagar Islands.
The worst affected:
On the 25th. of May, cyclone ‘Aila’ struck at a speed of 90-100 kilometers per hour affecting the North and
South 24 Parganas, Hooghly, east Mednipur, Howrah, Burdwan, and Kolkata, among
other places . The tidal surges and floods triggered by Aila washed away roads, damaged
bridges and submerged fields. Some areas became totally inaccessible and after a fortnight
continue to remain under water.
At least 275 people have died, and officials say the death toll could mount due to epidemics in
the cyclone's aftermath. In West Bengal at least 5.1 million people were displaced, with more
than one million people stranded in the Sundarban islands alone, most of them without any
food or water, sleeping out in the open with no shelter. About 400kms (of 3,500 km) of
embankment caved in, flooding the villages with saline water, about six feet high, wiping out
homes and all personal belongings, roads, ponds, cattle, fish ……………
Immediate response:
 The immediate response to Aila was one of shock. Given the level of ‘disaster unpreparedness’
of the authorities, relief was slow to come about. Kolkata, the capital city, lay inundated with
uprooted trees blocking roads and tearing down electricity connections. Hard put to deal with
the chaos in the city, the government was more than challenged to reach out to the remote
villages. Bulk of the initial relief was done by the local NGOs who mobilized help from all
possible sources, estimated the extent of damage and communicated the needs of the
villagers.
On 27th May, a Natural Disaster Management Force was formed by the State for relief
operations. On 30th May, the West Bengal government decided the rebuilding of embankments
in Sundarbans shortly to save the place from further floods. Although delayed, the army and
navy were summoned to help out with relief. The Government of India provided for a fund of
Rupees (R's). 10,000,000.
Despite the steps taken by the government and other organizations, two weeks into the
disaster, the situation in many places, especially the Sundarbans has not improved much.
Villages continue to lie submerged. Diarrhea is rampant as safe water is scarce, defecation is
in the open, carcasses of dead livestock float around next to the makeshift tents. The villagers
remain in dread of the next full moon day when the high tide may add to the havoc.
 Situation in Water For People project areas:
Water For People operates in 133 villages in the Sundarbans, within Pathar Pratima and the
Sagar Blocks. Preliminary estimates recorded a ‘100%’ damage in 44 of these 133 villages.‘100% damage’ meant the family stranded on the embankment with no personal belonging, a
collapsed or washed-out house, an agricultural plot submerged under six feet of water, a pond
and the nearby water source (i.e. the community tubewell) overflowing with saline water from
across the broken embankment and no sign of relief, other than what the local NGOs was able
to manage.
Each of us at the Water For People office had a terror story to relate the day after Aila struck
Kolkata. But our experiences paled in comparison to the news that slowly filtered in from the
field. As the stories of destruction, village by village, reached us we saw our hard labor of
four years being washed away in a few hours. The names were familiar – Gangapur,
Sripatinagar, Sumatinagar; the first tubewell sites of Water For People India; villages with
90% coverage of water and sanitation. What would now happen to our ‘sustainable, replicable
model’, with all the structures destroyed and all the documentation wiped out. The morale
was low all around.
A hurried package of bleaching powder, halogen tablets and ORS pouches was all that we
could arrange for the partners as an immediate response from the $600 from that we raised
from our own sources.
A visit to the field was possible only a week
later. Two staff members, Jyoti and Deepa, braved it to the
affected sites. It was still not safe to go into
the villages – about four feet of water still
remained, but they met the partners and
local government representatives. Three
partner NGOs, Sabuj Sangha, Sundarban
Social Development Centre and Rural Aid,
had already mobilized about 120 volunteers
who were working round the clock,
reaching relief to the families. The partners
recounted the horror stories of the cyclone
and shared a video of
what had happened. The film did not have
subtitles or a narration but the images were
enough to tell the story. What also struck
our team was the dedication of the large
contingent of volunteers, men and women,
who were out there doing their best with
limited resources available.
 On the third day of their visit, the Water
For People team were able to enter the
villages. Sumatinagar in Sagar was the first
stop followed by Gangapur in Pathar
Pratima. The last thing they expected was a
welcome party along the embankment,
waving out, weeping and embracing as
soon as they alighted from the boat. Quite
an aberration from the reaction meted out
to the political leaders who were being
booed out of every relief site they visited!
As Jyoti recounted – “We were treated
like friends…….companions……true
well-wishers who would not distribute
token relief and disappear, but guide
us how to cope. The Panchayat
members only had words of praise and
gratitude for Water For People’s
initiative in promoting Water
Committees and training local youth as
Jalabandhus.”
Sanitation, which would have reached the
100% coverage mark by the end of the
year, has also taken a beating. About 60%
of the toilets in these villages were installed
through the government’s Total Sanitation
Campaign. A majority of them were single pit
(squatting plate without lined pits) models
without strong superstructures – almost all
of them were wiped out in the storm. The
villagers proudly took Jyoti and Deepa
around to show the ones that still remained
– a bizarre sight of tiny toilet structures
popping out of the flooded fields, surrounded by debris of broken huts and uprooted trees.
Water For People had supported 800 toilets in the area. Almost all of them had survived the
cyclone, albeit with broken doors or tile or filled up pits that would be taken care of once the
water subsided. What was lost were the bank papers, loan registers, family cards etc. which
would have to be replaced once the families returned to normalcy.
 Lessons learned:
Perhaps the key lesson learned from ‘Aila’
was that the best input any external agency
can provide to a community is to promote
systems and structures that give them
strength to deal with the worst. While other
areas struggled to mobilize help after the
cyclone and suffered outbreaks of diarrhea,
our water committees swung into action
with the Jalabandhus to first get their water
sources functional. They understood the
importance of safe water in averting further
disaster. Taking a cue, the local
government of neighboring areas
commissioned the Jalabandhus to revive
water sources in their own locations. When
they ran out of spares, the Panchayat
mobilized more to get the job done. There
could be no better way of convincing the
government about the relevance of having
trained in house mechanics – their phones
have not stopped ringing!
When asked why these water sources had fared better than others, villagers were clear ‘our
committees are our strength, we are used to working together to maintain our water source;
we had skilled personnel who knew what needed to be done, (the technical input came only
after the mechanics were trained; we had material (spares) available with us. Also, we chose
our tubewell sites well – they were all on highland, they had platforms and a shade, used the
best materials and were regularly maintained by our mechanics.’
The concern however is whether these tubewells
will withstand the pressure of so many users.
Earlier families and their livestock used pond
water for bathing, washing etc. With the ponds
filled up with saline water, every possible use of
water is from these tubewells. Jyoti advised the
villagers to spread out large sheets of tarpaulin
on four posts, punch a hole in it and collect the
rainwater through this into large plastic
containers. With the monsoons round the corner,
this would be a simple task. The Government has
a plan to drain the ponds, emptying them
before the rains, but this may take time. This
could be an interim solution for providing water
for any purpose other than drinking.
Permanent or semi permanent toilet
structures survived the storm while the low
cost models were completely washed away.
A large number of squatting plates, supplied
to the poorer households had also collapsed.
This has reiterated the need for ‘good
workmanship’, ‘quality materials’ and above
all strong structures for any construction
work in the area. The Total Sanitation
Programme in the Sundarbans will have to
recast to design structures which would be
comparatively low-cost but also be able to
withstand such calamities which are an
annual feature in these areas.
Even though the toilets survive, it will be a
long time before the families can go back ‘home’. Living on the embankments they
need makeshift sanitation, especially the
women who have no bush or tree cover to
shield them while defecating. Young girls
whom Deepa had helped draw up their
school toilet design, voiced their distress to
be living out in the open. Jyoti advised the community about construction of temporary public toilets. The partner NGOs have talked to the Panchayat members and work has begun in four locations where temporary
structures with 10 to 12 toilet units in each will be set up.
 Estimation of damage:
Cyclone ‘Aila’ struck suddenly, taking communities by surprise. There was no scope for them
to prepare themselves from its devastation and families have lost everything. It will take a
long while for them to reconstruct their homes and lives and put the psychological trauma
behind them.
While the water sources could be revived, a back up plan for alternative water supply is to be
worked out, to prevent the existing system to completely collapse. About 250 low cost toilets
and shallow pits of some new constructions have caved in. These will need to be redone. Some
toilets with semi-permanent superstructures will need to be reconstructed after the water in
their pits have subsided.
 Thousands in the areas have lost their homes. Partner NGOs are continuously updating
themselves about relief and reconstruction packages being announced by the government and
following up with the authorities to ensure that no one is left out. A big loss has been the total
wipe out of all forms of documentation of bank accounts, water committee records, loan
repayment cards etc. These will have to be reconstructed slowly.
All three partner NGOs are determined to reconstruct and retrieve every bit of investment and
time inputted in the water-sanitation sector. They have given a time frame of three to four
months to bring things back on track. An additional $4000 may be required to make this
possible. Details of the reconstruction plan will be worked out in due course after surveys and
analysis of the situation. The Panchayat, partner NGOs and the local CBOs (community-based organizations) will all be a part of
this plan.
    
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The Water For People-Honduras program was slightly affected over the weekend due to political unrest in the country. The President, Manuel Zelaya, was removed by a military coup from his position and sent to Costa Rica on Sunday. The National Congress has appointed Roberto Micheletti as the new president and he has established a national curfew of 9:00 p.m. - 6:00 a.m. Water For People is monitoring the situation closely, and for the safety of its in-country staff, will reduce field work during the next week to avoid political protests. Normal operations will resume as soon as possible.
I recently toured our programs in West Bengal, India, with our
incredible in-country staff. On the last day of the trip we started
sketching out how we measure our successes.
