Kerala Floods – Relief And Recovery

The State of Kerala witnessed heavy rainfalls caused by an extended monsoon that led to flooding and landslide in 13 out of 14 districts that have killed 491 people, thousands injured, and more than 50,000 houses are estimated to be fully/ partially damaged. Due to excess rains all dams in the state reached their capacity that compelled authorities to open the gates. This resulted in wide spread floods and landslide in Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Ernakulum and Idukki along with other affected districts. These severely damage standing crops, shelters, household belongings, water sources and livelihood. Marginalized and excluded communities like Dalits and Tribals have been worst hit by the floods and are facing immense hardships for recovery due to limited coping mechanisms, poor income levels and reliance on daily wage. In addition to impacting the livelihood, the floods also affected the health of the people as drinking water sources got contaminated with dirty flood water, thus, endangering the lives of people living in the region.

Assessing the risk to health of the flood-affected people, PHIA, with support from Canada-based GlobalMedic, decided to distribute household-level water filters and hygiene kits to   the people in the districts of Alleppey, Waynad and Idukki. For field-level logistics management, PHIA got the support of Kerala Medical Supplies Corporation (KMSC) in Alleppey; IGSSS in Waynad; and CASA in Idukki, these organisations played a strong and active role in identifying the beneficiaries and supporting the distribution drive.  A total of 1950 water filters were distributed in these districts between September 5 and October 4, 2018. In addition to water filters, around 710 hygiene kits were also distributed. As the number of hygiene kits available were limited for distribution, priority was given to BPL (Below Poverty Line) households on the basis of the ration cards they held. PHIA also installed 17 community filters in locations where the common community water access points were completely damaged. PHIA also supported in the transfer of in-kind goods worth over INR 45,000/- (this included eatable, female hygiene products, baby food and clothing) in Waynad.