Putting resilience at the centre of development
In flood-prone Saptari District in Nepal’s south, strong information pathways are crucial to disseminating timely warnings about disasters to communities
Saptari, Nepal: Following two days of near-constant rainfall in this part of Saptari District in Nepal’s south, the River Khando was swollen, its waters flowing strong. Mohammad Salim was watching the river from the porch of his house on the banks in the Rupani Rural Municipality that morning in September, and knew it was just a matter of time until the early warning system was set off.
“Sure enough, the meter box began ringing – the water had risen 38 inches above warning level,” he says. “I immediately relayed the information to the Local Emergency Operation Centre in Tilathi Koiladi, from where it went out to chairpersons of different wards for their action.”
Fortunately, the rain had stopped in a few hours’ time and the river quickly receded. Still, Mohammad says, the exercise was a good way to keep the system running.
“We know what can happen if people aren’t warned in advance,” he says. “We’ve seen it many, many times in the past, especially during the monsoon.”
Mohammad is the appointed caretaker of the early warning system (EWS) on the Khando. The EWS essentially comprises a mechanism that gauges the level of water in the river and sends out a warning signal to the meter box installed in Mohammad’s home if the water breaches a certain cut-off height. Once the signal is set off, he has been trained to communicate the danger to focal points in downstream communities– such as the low-lying Tilathi Koiladi Rural Municipality – giving them time to evacuate.
The EWS, installed just last year, is just one of a number of initiatives that have recently been undertaken by several rural municipalities in Saptari through the UNICEF-supported Child-Centred Disaster Risk Reduction (CCDRR) Programme. The programme is an effort to help build the resilience of children and communities in disaster-prone areas by equipping them with knowledge, skills and mechanisms through which to prepare and respond to disasters.
According to CCDRR Programme Officer Rajesh Jha, Tilathi Koiladi and its surrounding areas fit the very definition of vulnerable. “The settlements here are at the mercy of not just one, but several rivers,” he says. “To make matters worse, regular siltation has caused the beds of some of these rivers, like the Koshi, to rise, translating to more frequent flooding.”
“Communities always have to be on alert,” he adds.
To facilitate this, the programme had supported the setting up of a Local Emergency Operation Centre or LEOC at the Rural Municipality office in Tilathi Koiladi. The centre is designed to serve as an information hub, collecting data – such as on river water levels from different sources – and transmitting the necessary information to relevant authorities and communities.
“We’re still in the process of establishing a proper communication channel,” Rajesh explains. “We plan to distribute high-frequency radio sets to disaster focal points in all communities, including members of child clubs, in the near future, to help the information flow more effectively.”
Other interventions supported by the programme has been the setting up of an emergency shelter, with handwashing stations and toilet facilities, for the use of around 60 people in case of an evacuation. And because access to safe water is often one of the key challenges following a disaster, several submersible pumps have also been installed.
Besides these infrastructural support, a key part of the programme’s work in the area has also been focused on schools and child clubs, specifically in providing children and staff with trainings in disaster risk reduction, among other forms of support. Many DRR campaigns have been led by child clubs, including encouraging households to plant banana trees – a natural deterrent for fires – and general greenery alongside rivers, to help strengthen the banks.
Tilathi Koiladi chair Satish Kumar Singh believes that orienting children on disaster risk reduction is important.
“By teaching one child, you are effectively educating three generations because they will most likely pass on the information to the generation above them and their own children in the future,” he says.
The ward chair says that while awareness about disasters and the need for preparedness has certainly risen in communities, there is much more to be done. “For all the threats they pose, these rivers are a big part of our social and cultural lives here,” he says. “The only solution is to put disaster resilience at the very center of our development work.”
