Project : Sambandh

According to the district record of Cuttack , Banki is the worst flood affected Block in the district, every year the area is affected by the Mahanadi flood. The high elevated River bed the habitation in lower land and the weak river embankment are multiplying the vulnerability of the community. The river Rana, a subsidiary of the Mahanadi , contributes to the flooding as well, Beside the flood water of these to rivers a major thread is the rain water the trains out of the watersheds and remain on the agricultural fields for upt o one month before it trains out into the rivers.

The Banki area faces also many other disasters. The one with the most impact are droughts in summer, cyclones and conflicts with Elephants passing through from the nearby sanctuary.

The local communities do not have the capacity in terms of financial and human resources to cope with this situation..

Facing this situation Sambandh felt the need of a shift in its strategy for disaster management in the Banki area from the provision of relief to strengthening peoples capacity in responding to these disasters. This means to enable local communities on the base of the resources available to them to react to hazard in a way that reduced their vulnerability and losses. In collaboration with DIPECHO and Welthungerhilfe Sambandh has taken a decision to implement a pilot project in Community Based Disasters Risk Management (CBDRM) preparedness in three selected villages of Banki.

The project villages consisting of almost 1233 households with more than 5917 people. 80% of the total population depend on agriculture mainly Kharif crop, Rabi vegetable and summer paddy. The area is very fertile and suits the cultivation of vegetables very well. 75% of the total population is literate.

The regularly appearing disasters compel the youth to the villagers to migrate, seasonally and permanently, to other areas to seek employment. This weakens the economy of the area even more and hampers the implementation of the CBDRM project.

he project aims at strengthening the capacity for disaster response of the local people and local institutions. The project acts on different levels. First we make the people aware of their own capacity and motive them to get actively involved in a holistic disaster management. Further do we build up and strengthen the capacity of local people through training in the required skill, support to manufacture needed rescue equipment and building linkages with local government bodies and other institutions. Of equal importance is the cooperation with the local government. We do not only communicate the concept of CBDRM to them but show them also ways to deal with and plan for disasters better. With the communities as well as the government we set up disaster actions plans which are agreed upon and form the base for a safer way ahead.