Floods are age old but must South Asia's
response to floods be age old as well? South Asia is now emerging to be a
leader in reducing disaster risk. Such regional efforts were well received by Asian
countries in the recent Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction
(AMCDRR) held in Delhi in November 2016.
The ongoing floods in Assam in the North
East of India and Gujarat in the West of India offer an opportunity to re-look
the flood response in South Asia.
Therefore, this issue of
Southasiadisasters.net enlists what can be done differently. Cyclones are one
such area. Floods and cyclones go hand-in-hand and the recent cyclone
Mora in Myanmar offered an opportunity to look at floods recovery in an urban
setting. New ways must be found to deal with floods in cities and towns
that propel South Asia's economic growth. What is needed is "new
dimensions" that David Sanderson and others offer in the recent book
titled, "Urban Disaster Resilience".
The second area is dams. A large number of
dams are built in South Asia, and many more are being built to irrigate and
mange floods. But are these dam safe from floods? Are they safe enough
to protect the development and progress that they are supposed to spawn.
Third, obvious but not well recognized
area is floods and forestry in South Asia. Forests slow down run-off and thus
reduce floods. Floods wash away forests. Both impact each other and yet there
is no clear direction on how to manage floods in forests and manage forests
to reduce floods in South Asia. Women leaders in Nepal are thinking and
reflecting on this overlap from a leadership point of view.
The Fourth area is ongoing
activities around DRR road maps. DRR road maps do not adequately address
issues of rampant and repeated floods and how to reduce flood impact as
well as its causes. A road map for flood prone areas such as Assam or Gujarat
in India is overdue. Hazard specific action plans are overdue at the
sub-national level. The challenge of mainstreaming floods in South Asia's DRR
road maps is widely shared in civil society members in Nepal, Bangladesh, and
Pakistan.
Fifth, is it smart for a city to be
flooded: have water logged roads and partially submerged housing colonies?
Smart City infrastructure investments in India offer an opportunity
to reduce risks, if not all, at least flood risks faced by its
economic hubs and low income communities.
Sixth, relief offered after floods is not
new to South Asia. What is new is possible and now pioneering use of cash
transfer in such relief. ECHO South Asia has done effective work in cash
transfer after floods with its partners in Odisha in India in 2014. And the
direction is promising.
The above six are not the only ways to
deal with floods differently in South Asia. But the above are some of the key
ways that need urgent and additional attention while dealing with floods in
South Asia.
– Mihir R. Bhatt
See more: https://www.dropbox.com/s/njvaj77epw9ldtn/159%20Snet%20Floods%20Again.pdf?dl=0
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