PROSHIKA
Cyclone (Sidr) 2007 Relief and Rehabilitation Programme

Background

While Bangladesh was struggling to cope with the aftermath of two spells of flood occurring in August-September 2007, a devastating cyclone, Sidr, hit the southern, particularly the south-western districts on 15 November. The cyclone has caused a great loss of lives, property and crops. It has heavily damaged the physical infrastructure, made innumerable people homeless and severely affected human and animal health. Intervention is therefore urgently necessary to provide emergency relief to the cyclone victims and rehabilitate them. PROSHIKA is carrying out a survey to assess the damage in 41 affected upazilas through its field staff and group federation members. The survey findings available so far show that an immediate response has become imperative in those areas.

 Extent of Damage

Due to a serious disruption of the communication system many of the cyclone-affected areas could be reached quite a few days after the incident. The extent of damage is therefore yet to be fully assessed. However, available reports show that over 40 lakh people have been affected in the hurricane, of which the number of casualties runs into thousands while the number of the injured is much greater. Nearly 9 lakh houses have been ruined totally or partially, innumerable livestock perished and hundreds of kilometers of roads damaged. Massive damage has been done to crops, mainly the Aman and rabi crops. Around 10 lakh tonnes of Aman rice production may be lost along with other standing crops in an area of 8  lakh hectares of land, according to a primary assessment of the agriculture ministry. A big portion of Sundarbans, world's largest mangrove forest, has suffered a colossal damage.

 PROSHIKA's Capacity and Experience

Since PROSHIKA's poverty eradication and sustainable development efforts are guided by a concern for poor men and women, the organization has been making interventions under its Disaster Management Programme (DMP) in aid of the poor disaster victims since 1984. Having carried out its relief and rehabilitation activities over a period of two- and-a-half decades, PROSHIKA has gained considerable experience and expertise in this area. Preemptive programming has complemented these responsive interventions with the construction of two-storied cyclone shelters in the coastal areas together with coastal afforestation over a stretch of 135 kms. Through intensive disaster management training for its staff and group members to build their awareness and make them remain ready for any disastrous event, PROSHIKA has set a process in motion through which it can rush to the helpless people to reduce their sufferings and ensure their rehabilitation in the shortest possible time.

PROSHIKA has widened its experience and skill base by carrying out relief and rehabilitation activities during the floods of 1984, 1987, 1988, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2004 and 2005, the cyclones of 1985, 1991 and 1997, the tornadoes of 1989, 1996, 2005 and 2006, and the monga of 2005. The floods of 1988 and 1998 and the cyclone of 1991 were colossal and wreaked unprecedented damage. During the 1988 flood PROSHIKA carried out an extensive relief and rehabilitation programme at a cost of Tk. 7.19 crores, The relief and rehabilitation programme carried out during the 1998 flood was even more extensive involving a cost of Tk. 19.23 crores. The activities conducted in response to these disasters were food and baby food distribution, running health camps, repairing tubewells and latrines, vaccinating cattle and poultry and providing fodder for them, loan disbursement, seed distribution etc. With such long and successful experience of carrying out disaster rehabilitation, PROSHIKA can play a significant role in mitigating the sufferings of the poor people affected by the 2007 cyclone and restoring their livelihood opportunities.

 Proposed Activities

While a great number of people, uprooted from their hearth and home, are still struggling to survive amid the problem of starvation and various health hazards, the challenge of restoring their lost livelihood opportunities, rebuilding the sanitation system and reviving the base of agriculture is now looming large. The sectors of rural life and economy worst hit by the floods are: a) food security b) health (human and livestock); c) agriculture; and d) housing. In order to help the cyclone-effected people to survive and recover their losses in these sectors, PROSHIKA has decided to carry out a relief and rehabilitation programme in the upazilas identified for the purpose ( list attached at Annexure I) .

 Emergency Food

To feed the starving people, food items worth Tk. 600 each will be provided to 2,06,000 families. The food support will cover such items as rice, pulse, oil, salt and potatoes.

Health

a) Human: Natural disasters in Bangladesh are always accompanied by water-borne diseases like diarrohoea, jaundice, conjunctivitis, skin diseases etc. Besides, disasters like cyclonic storms and hurricanes physically hurt many people. To help the cyclone-affected people cope with these challenges, PROSHIKA has planned to set up 229 medical camps (one camp per union in severely affected areas, one camp per two unions in moderately affected areas and one camp per three unions in less affected areas) in 41 upazilas for 10 days, benefiting 10 lakh people.

Small children, the most vulnerable section of the poor cyclone-affected people, are suffering from a severe food crisis as it has become difficult for their half-fed and starved mothers to breast-feed them. If PROSHIKA can feed 100 babies average per union for 14 days covering 410 unions, the health status of the starved babies will hopefully much improve.

As in every natural disaster in Bangladesh, a huge number of tube wells have become dysfunctional in the 2007 cyclone. To meet the  crisis of drinking water, PROSHIKA has taken up programme for installing  water treatment plants,  supplying water  with water pots, from tanks, distributing household filters and washing tube well. Under this programme PROSHIKA  will  install 4 water treatment plants per thana and provide water in 16 thanas. PROSHIKA will also distribute household filters to 300 families per thana covering 4800 families. These filters are produced by Canada Bangladesh Filter Ltd. After that 30 tube wells per union will be washed in severely affected areas, 20 tubewells per union in moderately affected areas and 10 tubewells per union in  less affected areas, thus covering 410 unions.

Many of the ponds in the affected areas have become contaminated by salinity, rotting dead bodies and tree-leaves, posing serious health hazards. PROSHIKA has therefore planned to clean and re-excavate those ponds.  A total of 60 labourers would be employed for 5 days per union in severely affected areas and 40 labourers would be employed for 5 days per union in moderately affected areas for the purpose of cleaning ponds in 280 unions. This would also provide the unemployed wage-earners with employment.

b) Livestock: A large number of cattle and birds have been destroyed by the cyclone, putting the poor farmers under enormous hardship. The remaining livestock is now afflicted with various water-borne diseases on the one hand and with a severe fodder and feed crisis on the other. To help the cyclone victims cope with these crises, PROSHIKA would set up 229 medical camps  for 7 days in 410 unions in 41 upazilas to vaccinate and deworm livestock, and provide medicine support to them.

Agriculture

The agriculture sector has been worst-hit by the cyclone of this year. As of the most poor people depend on agriculture and fisheries for their livelihood, the destruction of crops, particularly the Aman and vegetable crops, has driven them into a state of uncertainty. To help them recover their losses, PROSHIKA would provide Tk. 50 each to 2,06,000 families for buying vegetable seeds. To make up for the damaged Aman crops boro seeds will be distributed to 2,06,000 farmers (10 kgs each). For nursery rehabilitation, Tk. 10,000 will be provided per nursery in 200 unions. To rehabilitate the damaged banana groves, 75,000 banana plantlets will be distributed in 200 unions. Five kgs of pulse seeds each will be provided to 75,000 farmers.

Interest-free Housing Loans

Poor people in rural areas mostly live in thatched and, in some cases, tin-roofed frail houses which fall easy prey to natural disasters. The cyclone has damaged a huge number of houses, causing enormous distress to the homeless people. To address this problem, PROSHIKA would provide Tk. 25,000 each to 10,000 families as interest-free loans for house building. The loans will be realized from recipients within a period of five years. 

 Estimated Expenditure

The total expenditure for the relief and rehabilitation programme, has been estimated at Tk. 54,78,08,600 of which Tk. 12,36,00,000 will be spent for emergency food supply. An amount of Tk. 6,93,58,600 will be spent for health rehabilitation of which Tk. 6,64,73,200 will be used for human health and Tk. 28,85,400 for livestock health. The activities under this head will include setting up medical camps (human); baby food distribution; water treatment plant installation; water supply with water tanks; vans and pots; household filter distribution; tubewell washing; cleaning and re-excavation of ponds; and setting up medical camps for vaccination, de-worming and medicine support (livestock). The agricultural rehabilitation will involve an amount of Tk. 10,48,50,000. Agricultural rehabilitation activities will include vegetable and pulse seed distribution; boro seed distribution to make up for damaged Aman crops; and seedling and banana plantlet distribution.

An amount of Tk. 25,000 will be given as interest-free loans per family to 10,000 families for  house building. The detailed budget may be seen at Annexure II.

Implementation Plan

To implement the emergency relief and rehabilitation programme PROSHIKA has already drawn out an elaborate action plan. The activities will start on 1 December 2007 and continue till 31 December 2007.

The affected Upazilas have been divided into three categories: i) severely affected, ii) moderately affected, and iii) less affected. PROSHIKA will support 8,000 families in each severely affected upazila, 5,000 families in each moderately affected upazila and 3,000 families in each less affected upazila.

Committees have been formed at different levels to implement, monitor and oversee the activities. A four-member Advisory Council headed by PROSHIKA Chairman Dr Qazi Faruque Ahmed will be responsible for providing overall guidance to of relief and rehabilitation activities as well as for  their supervision.

A 21-member Central Relief and Rehabilitation Management Team headed by a Director will:

i)       formulate programme based budgets for the working areas along with the necessary guidelines, and send them to the relevant Area Development Centres (ADCs);

ii)      make decisions based on the information provided by the Central Relief and Rehabilitation Implementation and Monitoring Team as well as in consultation with the Advisory Council when necessary;

iii)      hold meetings from time to time to review the progress of the overall relief and rehabilitation process; and

iv)     consider and approve the proposals of the Central Relief and Rehabilitation Implementation and Monitoring Team.

A 36-member Central Relief and Rehabilitation Implementation and Monitoring Team headed by a Director will:

i)       review the information obtained from the working areas and give their guidance to the working areas in consultation with the Central Relief and Rehabilitation Management Team where necessary;

ii)      hold periodic meetings to review the implementation progress;

iii)      identify the 'severely affected', 'moderately' affected and 'less affected' areas in consultation with the Field Operation;

iv)     reallocate resources based on need assessments and change the numbers of recipient households if necessary;

v)      provide assistance to the Central Procurement Committee in the procurement of relief materials.

A Development Area / Upazila Relief and Rehabilitation Implementation and Monitoring Team headed by the Upazila Federation President will:

i)       take up a programme for relief distribution;

ii)      procure relief materials from appropriate sources through the ADC Procurement Committee; and

iii)      do the procurement through spot quotations where possible and in case the spot quotation method is not feasible the ADC Procurement Committee will do the procurement through their formal resolutions.

iv)     Medicines, vaccines, baby food and seeds (vegetable seeds, maize seeds) will be sent from the Head Office to the development areas. These materials will be allocated and distributed by the above team.

A Union Relief and Rehabilitation Implementation Team headed by the Union Federation President will:

i)       prepare a list of the cyclone-affected people in cooperation with the Village Federations;

ii)      finalize the above list in consultation with the Upazila Relief and Rehabilitation Implementation Monitoring Team and the Thana Federation;

iii)      distribute cards to the affected people in cooperation with the Village Federation; and

iv)     form Village Relief and Rehabilitation Committees with members from the Village Federations.

Procurement Method

To successfully carry out the relief and rehabilitation activities, materials such as medicines, vaccines, baby food, vegetable seeds, boro seeds etc will be procured centrally through the Central Procurement Committee according to the central procurement policy. Materials such as seedlings, tubewell parts etc will be procured through the ADC Procurement Committee according to the field-level procurement principles. However, in all field-level procurements assistance may be taken from the concerned central department.

Relief and Rehabilitation Planning Principles

·              While listing the cyclone-affected people priority should be given to those who have not received any assistance from any other source.

·              Federation members of all levels should be involved in the relief and rehabilitation process.

·              All kinds of master roll should be used in the relief and rehabilitation work. The master roll proformas will be provided by the Head Office.

·              The concerned Deputy Commissioner/Upazila Nirbahi Officer should be informed before the commencement of rehabilitation activities in an area.

·              It should be ensured to the extent possible that the concerned union/municipality chairman/member, Deputy Commissioner and Upazila Nirbahi Officer as well as the local community leaders are present during the relief and rehabilitation work. They should be requested to sign the master rolls.

·              The money allocated for an ADC will be sent to the concerned ADC's DMF account. However, in case of any emergency the Upazila Relief and Rehabilitation Implementation and Monitoring Team may draw money as loans from any account (other than the PKSF account) subject to the approval of the concerned Central Coordinator.

·              The relief and rehabilitation activities will be carried out in accordance with the approved policy/guideline of every concerned programme.

·              Relief and rehabilitation intervention may be considered for those non-PROSHIKA areas where no VGD card or relief goods have as yet reached.

·              The activities should always be done using PROSHIKA's banner and should be duly photographed. Efforts must be made so that the activities are covered by the local and national media. The local press club should be involved in the process.

 Process of Sanction and Accounts-keeping

·              The Area Coordinator (AC) will sanction all expenditures incurred in her/his development area if those are within her/his competence. Any expenditure beyond the AC's discretion will be sanctioned by the relevant zonal coordinator and the central coordinator.

·              The bills/vouchers for the centrally procured materials will be sanctioned by the Director (Administration).

·              The main head of the expenditure is 'Cyclone 2007 Relief and Rehabilitation Programme' under which the sub-heads such as seed procurement, transportation, doctors' allowances etc will be worked out.

·              The Accountant of an ADC will keep the accounts for all expenditures met out from her/his ADC. The Head and the Member Secretary of the Upazila Rehabilitation Implementation and Monitoring Team will monitor the accounts.

·              Any team member working full-time for the relief and rehabilitation programme may be given a maximum amount of Tk. 100 per day as honorarium.

·              On completion of the programme all expenditures along with activity-wise statements will be adjusted in the Head Office. The ADC Accountant will maintain all bills, vouchers, account books, master rolls, stock registers, chalans etc.

Reporting

The Upazila Relief and Rehabilitation Implementation Committee will report the progress of activities in an area to the Head of the Central Relief and Rehabilitation Management Team every 3-4 days. They will submit proforma-wise reports along with the photographs within 15 days of completion of the programme.    

         Annexure-2

PROSHIKA’s Planned Emergency Relief  & Rehabilitation Activities for

Cyclone (Sidr) 2007

At a Glance

The following emergency relief and rehabilitation activities will be carried out in 410 unions in 41 upazilas/thanas.