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FROM THE FIELD

Shelter Strategy Incorporating DRR for recurrent Floods
19 Nov 2008 10:00:00 GMT
 Source: Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society (SEEDS) - India
SEEDS / Nitin Verma

Website: Website: http://www.seedsindia.org

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High protected plinth below the shelter unit
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High protected plinth below the shelter unit
SEEDS

Background

•  Disaster risk reduction

•  S. Asia monsoon

•  South East Asia Monsoon

•  Floods

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SEEDS, A Non-Government Organisation is presently involved in building resilience for communities against future floods while rehabilitating them, post disaster, in one of the most recurrent flood plain in Orissa, India. SEEDS along with its partner organisation Christian-Aid and funding from ECHO has drawn a shelter strategy that addresses immediate Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) issues during the post disaster rehabilitation and response process in a project under "Orissa Flood resilient Shelter Program - 2008". Basta block in Balasore district in Orissa province of India face recurrent annual floods. Owing to geo-climatic reasons people living in the area are forced to face fury of floods every monsoon season beginning june to september. These recurrent floods bring misery, damage and uncertainty to life; families are forced to take shelter during floods at higher locations, leaving their belonging and houses in water behind. Three rivers namely Subarnerekha, Burabalanga and Jaloka are equally responsible for this plight of the communities. SEEDS has designed an intermediate shelter unit for rehabilitation of 2007 flood victims to improve their resilience against floods reckoning the fact that lot of post disaster efforts delay DRR components to address emergency response. These units offer high plinth protected by a retaining wall or patched protection that offers stability to the foundation and structure in mild or moderate floods. The same unit offers water tight seal till sill level that protects the beneficiaries and their belongings if water rises further. In case of High flood the beneficiaries can use attic to store their belongings and can take refuge for short durations as well. The unit comes with bags of sand enough to block the door way to keep water seal intact. The community responded well to the efforts and quickly started raising plinth to height that can dodge highest level of flood waters for their shelter units. These plinths are then protected against any washout or stagnant water damage or water seeping down to the foundations offering outmost protection for any protection against it. Other steps included designing an open able bamboo truss roof for these shelter units that can be carried along to high areas in case future floods rise to unprecedented heights. These bamboo trusses can support thin polythene sheets or thatch to make an emergency shelter to offer refuge on higher locations. The "Orissa Flood resilient Shelter Program - 2008" aims to construct 400 shelter units with 200 sanitation units on a twin sharing basis along that. The projects also aim at retrofitting 5 schools in the area and upgrade these as flood refuge areas to increase the reach of the benefits of the program beyond direct beneficiaries.


[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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Topics

•  Disaster risk reduction

•  Floods

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Emergencies

•  S. Asia monsoon

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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

Background information

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S. Asia monsoon - [Who works where]

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