Southern India: ACT International Appeal Targets Poorest
NEWS STORY: Sandra Cox UPDATED: October 7, 2009
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND — ACT International has launched a preliminary appeal for flood relief in southern India for relief operations underway, as fears mount that the region could face severe food shortages.
Torrential rain that caused floods in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have killed nearly 250 people and left 2.5 million homeless. The exact death toll will be known only after the water recedes completely. The government has opened 1500 relief camps where 827,000 people are taking shelter.
The floods follow the worst drought the region has experienced in decades and have destroyed thousands of hectares of standing crops. Floods have also destroyed houses, civic infrastructure, electricity and telecom facilities and paralyzed road and rail transport. The supply of fresh vegetables and other food items is scarce and prices have risen drastically.
While the water levels of rivers in Andhra Pradesh have slightly reduced, the misery of people in the worst affected districts has not eased.
ACT International members report displaced people evacuated to overcrowded relief camps set up by the government are living in very difficult conditions. Food and water supplies are insufficient. Reports have been received that the food packets supplied by the Government are often either not received or have been spoiled. Shelter and sanitation facilities in the camps are also inadequate. However some people in isolated villages have no camps in which to take shelter of any sort.
The people in relief camps have had to leave all their possessions behind and have only the clothes on their backs. Having no sleeping materials and personal items, basic sanitation and personal hygiene is a serious problem.
When the flood waters recede, people will return to homes which will either have collapsed or still be full of mud and sand. The loss of livelihoods is catastrophic and it will take some three to six months to get people back on the road to recovery, ACT International members in India say.
ACT International Response
To date, ACT International has been conducting initial assessments and carrying out distribution of relief in several of the worst-hit areas. It has initiated an emergency feeding programme in two districts.
ACT International’s preliminary appeal for emergency response aims to reach the most vulnerable people in the communities worst affected. The proposed relief comprises:
a two-month response by Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA) to provide a cooked meal to 12,000 people each day for five days; dry food rations for 7500 families; clothing, blankets and household utensils to 7500 families; plastic sheets to 3000 affected families as temporary shelter in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
a three-month response for United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India (UELCI) to assist 7500 families with food, non-food relief items and materials to repair damaged houses in 80 villages in Andhra Pradesh.
a third response by Lutheran World Service India (LWSI) is being forumulated to focus on providing food rations for 20,000 families for 15 days, non-food relief items for 5000 families and sanitation and emergency shelter materials in Andhra Pradesh.
Priority will go to the poorest families that have lost their homes and belongings, particularly marginal and landless farmers, women-headed households, children and people with low access to basic services. People who have lost their ability to earn an income, household goods, and livestock and property are also high priority. The heaviest burden has been on women who have to look after the welfare of the entire family in stressful situation. A danger in this period is that poor and marginalized will resort to taking loans from money lenders and land owners.
