WSPA Disaster Assessment and Needs Analysis Uttarakhand Flash Flood June 2013

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1 WSPA Disaster Assessment and Needs Analysis Uttarakhand Flash Flood June 2013 DART Assessment

2 Author(s): Dr Ashish N Sutar and Hansen Thambi Prem Glide number: Not Available Revised by: Version: 1.2 Emergency context In June 2013, a multi-day cloudburst centered on the North Indian state of Uttarakhand caused devastating floods and landslides in the country's worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami. Although parts of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in India had heavy rains, some regions of Western Nepal, some parts of Western Tibet also experienced heavy rainfall, over 95% of the casualties occurred in Uttarakhand. Destruction of bridges and roads left about 100,000 pilgrims and tourists trapped in the valleys leading to three of the four Hindu Chota Char Dham pilgrimage sites. The Indian Air Force, the Army and paramilitary troops evacuated more than 110,000 people from the flood ravaged area (Source: Even after four weeks since the disaster has hit Uttarakhand, many villages are still inaccessible through roads. The immediate needs like food are available for next 15 days in these areas which are provided by Government and supplemented by humanitarian agencies. Livelihood has been badly impacted in affected villages, required the development of plans and strategies for short, medium and long term support for recovery of livelihoods. As per the Sphere India s Situation Report (SITREP) No.8 dated 20 th July 2013 the damage assessment is as follows: districts affected-13, village s affected-4200, human life lost-580, people injured-4463, people missing-3078, livestock lost-8716, houses damaged-2780 and cattle shed damaged-870. In view of this disaster, two emergency coordination meetings were organized in WSPA New Delhi office in the first week of July 2013, in which animal welfare organizations such as Brooke India, Donkey Sanctuary India (DSI), Humane Society International (HSI) and Bombay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA) participated. It was decided in the meeting that the organizations will work in their own organizational teams focussing in different districts to address the needs of animals in all the affected areas without duplicating the efforts. WSPA DM team visited Pithoragarh district and carried out the Disaster Assessment & Needs Analysis (DANA) in Dharchukla and Musyari Blocks in coordination with District Veterinary Office (DVO) and with a local NGO called APAAR from 29 th June 2013 to 21 st July As per the Pithoragarh DVO, there has been a total of 2145 animal loss and 185 animal owners have been affected. Based on the discussions with stakeholders and findings of the DANA, a Participatory Response Identification Matrix (PRIM) was developed. The proposed interventions aim to meet the Livestock Emergency Guidelines & Standards (LEGS) objectives of providing rapid assistance in terms of

3 veterinary services, protecting assets by fodder tree plantations and by constructing safe animal shelters with facility to conserve water and stock feed. Apart from these interventions few cross cutting activities such as training to animal owners, development of disaster management plans and development of Information Education & Communication (IEC) materials for management of animals in earthquake, landslides and flash floods prone regions will be implemented to complement the achievement of the two LEGS objectives. These interventions will directly benefit 92,036 animals, 9795 households from 81 villages in Dharchula Block and indirectly benefit 548,412 animals of Pithoragarh District in Uttarakhand. The time frame planned to implement these activities are from July 2013 to July The Great Himalayas of Uttarakhand have a rich biodiversity of flora and fauna where several people are dependant for their livelihood. At the same time the people and animals are very vulnerable to regular landslides, earthquakes and flash floods. Several acres of land and property along the river belts of the valleys have been washed away due to soil erosion, therefore as a sustainable long term solution it is important for WSPA to intervene to support the needs of animals and people in this region. Impact of disaster on animals and the community (Please include information sources) Impact on the community Which groups of people have been most affected? Where are they? Why have they been most affected? Are the most affected groups the poorest groups? Cultural role/importance of animals? The Khedain community is almost fully dependent on livestock for their livelihood. They migrate to the identified higher altitude pasture lands (locally called Bhugyal ) along with their animals by walking for up to 10 days, once every six months (April to September). The women and men mainly make carpets from the goat s wool, they also collect and sell rare medicinal plants. In the Bhugyal, they cultivate rajma and potato during their stay in the upper hills while the livestock graze on the pasture lands. The crops are harvested and carried on their back to return back from the upper hills by walk along with their animals to sell the crops. Some family members along with their animals are still in the upper hills, they are unable to return back as the passage is entirely cut-off and not sure of their return. In the upper hills many animals were washed away, one person lost 60 goats, which was the maximum loss. Impact on livelihoods (if relevant) Which type of livestock is owned in the area and what was each type used for (e.g. draught power, milk, meat, sales)? Was livestock sold as a regular source of income before the disaster? Which ones? How many per year? What price on average? Where do people sell them/ who did they

4 sell them to? Proportion of family income based on animals (% of family income)? Has the disaster damaged roads used to access local markets? Are communal marketplaces, slaughterhouses, silos or other common facilities damaged or collapsed? What is the impact of the disaster on the assets and livelihood activities? Most of the community rears country cattle, goats and mules; very few rare buffaloes. The country cattle and buffaloes are mainly used for agricultural draught and milk for household consumption. The goats are reared for wool, meat and income. Usually the livestock is sold in the village for a good price, after the flash floods the prices have decreased. As people stay in steep valley, most of the grazing lands and agricultural fields are fully washed away by the flash floods ad people are concerned about safeguarding the small portions of lands available. The community use mules for transporting people and goods in the hilly regions due to poor road access. Women usually go to the forest early in the morning and collect fodder leaves for their animals. What are the main sources of food and income? Impact on food security (if relevant) Most of the paddy fields and grazing lands are washed away by the flash floods. The community cultivate cereals such as rajma, lobia and maize in their fields. The main sources of food are rice, wheat, dhal, fish and vegetables; chicken and mutton are consumed occasionally. The main source of income comes from agriculture i.e., cultivation of wheat, paddy, pulses and vegetables. The people get income from selling carpets, vegetables and live animals. Impact on livestock (and agriculture if relevant) How many or to what extent farms, pastures or crops have been flooded or otherwise damaged? Has equipment/ machinery been damaged by the disaster? Has livestock been slaughtered for meat? How were the animals fed? Is there still access to feed/ fodder? Have livestock holdings been affected by the disaster? Are animal shelters still standing? Most of the paddy fields and grazing lands are washed away by the flash floods. In many places there are fresh cracks observed which has high probability of more landslides to occur if the heavy rains continue. The leaves of mulberry, bamboo, jack fruit and other local trees are provided as alternate green fodder. The animals are kept in the open without shelter due to this last year 90 goats died due to electric thunder. Although minor landslides are frequent in the hills which these rarely create significant impact on people or animals. Livestock are not registered in the local government veterinary office and, therefore, is difficult to accurately track the animals affected, lost or migrated. As per Sphere India report 870

5 cattle sheds have been damaged in the affected areas of Uttarakhand. Impact on companion animals Have animal shelters been affected by the disaster? Are there stray or abandoned animals in the affected area(s)? Can human shelters accommodate pets? The affected communities are staying in the temporary camps set up by Army and Red Cross along with their companion animals. There are community dogs and cats but they can take shelter close to human settlements and there is no harm right now as the situation is improving. Impact on veterinary services Has the disaster affected the normal functioning of veterinary services in the area? Are they sufficient to meet animal welfare needs? Are there any endemic diseases or outbreaks? The veterinary services are generally intact, however as the roads are cut off in many parts of the State, and the DVO is finding it difficult to reach the affected areas to provide veterinary services. The District Veterinary Office (DVO) has 8 disaster management teams in place (4 teams for Dharchula block and 4 teams for Munsyari block). A total of 6 teams have been deployed for the response work in the affected areas by choppers. Only 2 teams for Munsyari block is yet to be deployed due to bad weather. As per the DVO there has been no spread of disease reported so far. Impact on animal numbers Pithoragarh District of Uttarakhand State (Source: District Veterinary Office, Pithoragarh) Blocks Animals Affected Dharchula Block Musyari Block Based on the information received from DVO a total of 2145 animal casualties have been reported. There are no facilities for carcass disposal in the affected areas.

6 Animal welfare needs LEGS Participatory Response Identification Matrix (PRIM): Rapid Onset Emergency The below PRIM has been developed in consultation with the local stakeholders, out of the identified technical interventions, DART has decided to address the interventions related to veterinary service, feed, water and shelter with awareness and capacity building as a cross cutting component. Technical Interventions Livelihoods Objectives Rapid Assistance Protect Assets Rebuild Assets Immediate Aftermath Emergency Phases Early Recovery Recovery Destocking n/a n/a n/a Veterinary services ** ***** ***** Feed ** ***** ***** Water * * * Shelter ** ***** ***** Provision of livestock n/a n/a n/a Scoring against livelihoods objectives: ***** Significant benefits/highly appropriate **** Benefits/appropriate *** Some benefits ** A few benefits * Very little benefit/not very appropriate n/a Not appropriate Emergency phases: Appropriate timing for the intervention Proposal for intervention The response interventions aim to meet the Livestock Emergency Guidelines & Standards (LEGS) objectives of providing rapid assistance in terms of veterinary services, protecting assets by fodder tree plantations and by constructing safe animal shelters with facility to conserve water and stock feed. Apart from these interventions few cross cutting activities such as training to animal owners, development of disaster management plans and development of Information Education & Communication (IEC) materials for management of animals in earthquake, landslides and flash floods prone regions will be implemented to complement the achievement of the two LEGS objectives.

7 Anecdotal information and media (links to images, videos, etc.) Daily Mail: New Delhi Television Llimited (NDTV): Public: Information Sources Relief Web: National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA): National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM): Sphere India: Indian Meteorological Department (IMD): Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre (DMMC): Pithoragarh District: Annexes Annex 1: WSPA Disaster Assessment Form Annex 2: LEGS Assessment Checklist Annex 3: Assessment Photos Annex 4: Discussion with Stakeholders Annex 5: Satellite Map Showing the Intervention Area END