Droughts and Floods

For a GIS zealot like me, this is breaking news on the Indian mapping front. Finally a GIS application for risk-mapping and management of floods in India!

The Flood Risk Mapping Study, funded by the Water Resources wing of the Public Works Department to a tune of Rs 2,17 crores, is an initiative of the Tamil Nadu State Government. It is supported by the Centre's Department of Science and Technology and Survey of India in the research component of the project. This one-year project is being handled by Anna University’s Institute of Remote Sensing (IRS), Chennai.

Discussion on the recent flood situation  at North Karnataka regarding the injustice meted to the Dalit women, caste discrimination being shown towards Dalits in the flood affected villages.

Venue              : Conference Hall, Legislative House, Bangalore
Time                : 11 am – 3.00 pm

'Alliance for 5 Life Sustaining Elements' ( ALSE), is a group of 6 senior NGOs (list  is available in the concept note) who are working in the rural development sector since 2 to 3 decades in Andhra Pradesh, have collective

We thank Sevabharati Karnataka, www.sevabharatikarnata.org from where we have picked up these files.

Sevabharati Karnataka is one of the organisations working on relief work. They are planning to build 2349 homes at a cost of Rs. 1 Lakh each in 19 villages across 7 affected districts. More information is available at their site:

http://www.sevabharatikarnataka.org 

'Alliance for 5 Life Sustaining Elements' ( ALSE), is a group of 6 senior NGOs (list  is available in the concept note) who are working in the rural development sector since 2 to 3 decades in Andhra Pradesh, have collective

Friends,

This being a water related portal, most of you reading this will be aware of how important is water to one. In recent days, you all might be seeing that there has been devastating floods and huge amount of destruction caused by Rain. It was really very painful for all of us to see the situation over in northern karnataka wherein people have lost almost everything - Houses and crops. For a farmer, water is everything. Without this, he cant even imagine his life.

Just imagine a farmer for whom water is something like a GOD suddenly becoming destructive. This is what has happened in many villages of northern Karnataka. Whole of Onion, sugarcane crops is completely blown away due to heavy rains.

We, a team of Volunteers from Aastha went to Ramdurga Taluk of Belgaum district to do our bit to all those who have been hit by heavy rains and floods. With the support of our Keane colleagues, we were able to collect huge amount of old clothes and donation. With the donation we received, we purachased, sarees, utensils, dhothi, towels, blankets, biscuits and with the assistance of Taluk tahsildar and local Village heads, we were able to support more than 200 families.

But, there were so many children crying out of hunger which made our hearts heavier than ever.

In the name of floods and heavy rain, it has made so many people homeless!!

 Biome Solutions, a Bangalore-based company working on sustainable architecture and buildings visited some flood affected areas in Guntur to observe the situation and see the suitability of applying "Ecological Sanitation", a new approach to sanitation. (Search on India Water Portal for "Ecological sanitation" for more information on this). Their report  after their travels can be seen below.

A point of interest is the picture of a flooded toilet. Pit toilets which are the norm in rural areas have the disadvantage that during floods the pit below the toilet (where the human waste accumulates over time) gets flooded and the toilet becomes unusable. The faecal matter can come out of the toilet pan and create a real mess which needs to be cleaned up. 

Read their report at: 

http://biomesolutions.blogspot.com/2009/10/visit-to-flood-affected-areas-in-guntur.html

Picture from https://www.thehindu.com : (https://www.thehindu.com/2009/10/14/images/2009101451490301.jpg) , drinking water being supplied by tanker in Bellary district

No fresh flood threat:

https://www.thehindu.com/2009/10/13/stories/2009101353490400.htm

Several articles cover the post-mortem of the floods, triggered by CWC statements that their warning to the government of AP was ignored

PIL filed alleging negligence on the part of AP government

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=3&contentid=20091014200910140355037187a9b2d4c

Rosaiah reacts:

https://www.thehindu.com/2009/10/14/stories/2009101450460100.htm

https://www.thehindu.com/2009/10/13/stories/2009101359070300.htm

The recent floods in North Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have caused widespread devastation.Government and civil society organisations have responded quickly and relief work is going on on a wide scale. There will be a high degree of activity in relief and  rehabilitation for the next 6 months for sure.