As Kerala Recovers from Floods, some useful insights from Assam

Introduction: 

• The “one-in-hundred-year” Kerala floods have been at the centre of the national consciousness for the last two weeks. People living at present in Kerala have never seen anything like this before when 12 of the 14 districts of the state were simultaneously affected by floods, with 5 of them having been affected most severely.
• In the national discourse there are many questions being raised: could the release of water from the dams have been better managed? Could the early warning system be more efficient and people-centered? There are no simple answers, these questions will have to be deliberated upon over the coming months. However, for the people of Kerala, the urgent work of recovery and reconstruction cannot wait.
• There are other states in the country such as Assam that witness floods more than once every year. In the current monsoon season, so far, although the state of Assam has a rainfall deficit of 30%, yet some parts of the state have experienced flash floods. The recurrence of the floods appears to be ‘normal’ for many communities in Assam.
• Even though on most socio-economic indicators – health, education, awareness – Assam lags behind Kerala, communities in Assam have learned to quickly recover from frequent floods, and build their resilience to recurrent floods.

Although the Kerala and Assam contexts are very different, there are some lessons that can be usefully transferred from Assam to Kerala, specifically with regards to post-disaster recovery:

Adapting the built environment to the high flood risk context: 

• Over a long period of time, some communities in Assam such as Mishing tribe in Majuli have developed house structures that can withstand high level of flooding.
• In case, of Kerala, the first option would be to move houses out of the flood plains but given the pressure on land, it may not be always possible.
• In such a context, drawing inspiration from Assam, it may be possible to devise house designs that are appropriate for Kerala and are resistant to floods. The work on developing such designs must begin very soon.

community-based recovery: 

• Constant self-initiated engagement of communities in Disaster Risk Reduction mechanisms before, during and after the floods is a lesson that can be borrowed.
• Housing types, the travel, and communication through boats, building social capital for better recovery are examples of engagement on their own level.
• Community-Based Disaster Management allows the understanding of region-specific issues and devises region-specific solutions.

Diversification of livelihoods:

• Floods in Assam cause huge impacts on livelihoods. Some of the most flood-affected communities in Assam cope with the impact of the flood by diversifying their livelihoods. Here again, the Kerala context is different from Assam.
• Yet it may be important to explore opportunities for building the resilience of livelihoods through diversification.

Emphasis on local self-governance: 

• In Assam, the floods are so frequent that relying on higher levels of governments for support is not always possible. Hence, the locals self-government is the first line of support for post-disaster recovery.
• Kerala can use this disaster as an opportunity to further strengthen local self-governance by giving a bigger role to local self-government in recovery and rehabilitation.

Gender parity in the management of post-disaster recovery: 

• In Assam, many issues of gender inequality remain. But in post-disaster recovery women play a major role.
• Woman have insights and perspective that are not there with men. Giving them an important role in recovery ensures that the final outcome serves everyone’s needs. It also helps in building the resilience of both men and women.

Protecting the household and productive assets: 

• In Assam even when people lose their houses, they protect their household assets and productive assets.
• This helps them recover faster. In Kerala, as people go back to their houses, they should prioritising salvaging and restoring their household assets. These will be very important for their recovery.

Attitudes and preferences of the communities:

• In Assam, due to the awareness of the intensity of flood situation, over a period of time, the community preferences have bent towards mitigation strategies (as opposed to only response), choice of flood resilient livelihoods and choice of flood resilient housing types across different social groups.
• Such social attitudes serve as a basis for bottom-up approach, wherein ‘Risk Governance’ derives its strategies from communities. This makes the local administration – the District Disaster Management Authority – as a facilitator and creator of avenues of opportunities for the communities.

Conclusion

• All aspects of Disaster Risk management including recovery demands holistic implementation. It involves utilization of available human, physical, cultural, political, economic resources, to identify and develop the weak areas for disaster preparedness and prevention.
• The exercise of Disaster management becomes efficient by well-built communication and coordination mechanisms which are a function of strong systems built over a period of time. The communication and coordination systems fail largely when the systems based on the resources are poorly developed.
• Kerala can draw on the experience of other states like and Assam and go even further and set an example of how recovery and reconstruction should take place after big disasters.

By: Ziyaur Rahman