For the third consecutive weekend CTC volunteers traveled to scout flood affected villages near Cuddalore to assess damages to homes and livelihood and kick start initial rehabilitation for the most impacted/needy. A report below on last weekends visit. Those willing to get involved in rehab please get in touch with us. Rebuilding of homes is currently on hold until the Government takes a clear stand on their rehab strategy.
Date: 27-Dec-2015
Villages: Poothambadi, Kalkulam and Kutchipalayam
Team Members: Siva, Manoj, Masu, Vinoth Sankar, Malan, Kavi, Vasanth, Kannan, Dany, Sugi
Boothambadi Village
There are around 170+ families living in Poothambadi village and among those 60-70% of the families are living in huts. Major sources of income are agriculture and cattle.
Providing Thatched Shelter
5 houses were completely destroyed during the flood along with their belongings. These 5 families were staying in nearby/relative’s houses. Govt has allotted the new house. These families are so badly hit that unless Govt. funds reach them, they won’t be able to start building their houses.
The amount which has been sanctioned by the Govt will not be sufficient to construct a good house. People have to take loan to construct the complete house.
Note: In common it might be a temporary solution. But until that family constructs a new house, they need a shelter and in this current situation the family has to spend Rs.6000 – 7000 to construct a temporary house. Once they constructed the new house, this thatched shelter can be used as a shelter for cattle and some other purpose.
Phase 1:
· We provided the materials worth of Rs.6000 for these 5 families and they will construct the house and stay there until they construct the concrete house
· Materials include thatch roof, nails, sticks, ropes.
Phase 2:
· Waiting for the announcements from the Govt on sanctioning the amount for constructing the homes
· Request any NGO’s or Donors who can help them financially and construct the house
Provided Tarpaulin Sheets for the family’s broken roofs:
Around 37 families were identified where the roof was damaged during the flood and rain. The broken walls were reconstructed by them manually.
Govt has sanctioned the new concrete house for them but the money has not been credited in their account. Until they construct a new house people will be staying in their old house.
Phase 1:
· Big size tarpaulin sheets (12X18) have been given to them to stop the leakages from the roofs when it’s raining
Phase 2:
· Need to identify any NGO’s or donors who can help them on repairing old houses
Cattle Lost:
Around 40 cattle died during the flood. Among that 16 cows’ dead bodies were identified and conducted postmortem. Only these 16 cows will be covered in Govt Flood Relief.
Phase 1:
· Identified the families and their loss of the cattle
Phase 2:
· Planning to bring Bank’s help on providing them loan for cattle
Agriculture Land damages:
More than 20 acres of paddy fields were severely affected which were situated near to bund where the river was breached. Flood deposited huge amount of soil, infertile sand on the paddy fields. Paddy saplings were completely washed away and withered due to over water stagnation. They lost their soil’s fertility and the amount they spent for growing the paddy. Farmers will start resuming their agriculture works in another month. Farmers have to hire the labor to remove the deposited soil from the paddy field before starting their cultivation. Govt is yet to announce the Flood relief fund for agriculture loss.
Phase 1:
Phase 2:
· We can help them by providing either volunteering support or financial support to remove the soil from the agriculture land
· We may help them to purchase the manure (Organic/in-organic) which will increase the yield
Life Loss:
Two youngsters with aged 30-35 were lost their life during this flood.
Both of them have 3 kids each and the kids are still in Primary Schools.
Govt has given some amount for each family. These two families also getting the Flood relief Home
Those two persons were the major source of income in their family and their loss is completely collapsed their family.
Phase 1:
Phase 2:
· Planning to support them which will help them to earn considerable amount on monthly basis.
· Need to identify the capability of the persons from their family(His wife, His Mother/Dad)who can earn some money out of it
Planting Palm Trees/Vettiver Saplings on River beds:
Govt has announced a plan of desilting and strengthening the river bunds.
Phase 1:
Phase 2:
· Planning to sow the seeds of Pal Trees which will strengthen the river beds
· Vettiver is from grass family and helpful on strengthening the soil on the river bunds and reduce the soil erosion.
School Damages:
Phase 1:
Phase 2:
· 70% of the compound wall was completely washed away during the flood
· Identifying potential sponsors or insist the Govt to reconstruct the broken wall
· The walls were protecting the school from animals and anti-social elements who pollutes it
· The roof of a class room was seeping. Help may be required to stop the water leakage and stop the further damage to the roof during the raining season
Kalkulam Village
Kalkulam village is situated few Km from Poothambadi village. Around 450 families are staying in this village. 90 percent of the people are doing agriculture.
Provided Pottery Wheel:
Around 15 families are staying in this village who are involved in Pottery works and making Clay pots, clay ovens and lamps.
The flood washed away 6 people’s wheel, belongings and soil they kept for making pots.
Pongal is the main celebration when they will make huge no of pots and earn some money.
Phase 1:
· Ordered 6 pottery making wheels and will be delivered to the village by Wednesday/Friday
· Ordered 14 units of soil to make the pots and among that 2 units have been distributed to 4 families equally
Phase 2:
· They usually sell these pots to the local retailer who will purchase in low cost and sell to people by earning maximum profit
· Identifying the contacts where they can sell their making by earning considerable amount of profit out of it
Providing Lost Pigs:
Around 5 families were staying in that village who earns money from Pigs. Around 20 pigs were died and 5 were brought into the flood relief.
Phase 1:
· Planning to help them by providing Piglets so they can grow them and earn the money
· Communicating with the Salesman who sells the Pigs
Phase 2:
Agriculture Lands:
Majority of the people are involved in farming activities. For the past two months they are not doing any works. The river was breached in three places and deposited huge amount of soil across the paddy land and they will resume their work one month later
Phase 1:
· Planning to provide provisions (Rice, Dhal)
Phase 2:
· It’s difficult to remove the deposited soil from the land. So they will add more fertilizer and manure to get yield in this year (Ex. Gypsum)
· They are requesting us to help in the forms of manures (Organic/in-organic)
Kutchipalayam Village
This village is situated at the banks of river which enters into the sea near Chidambaram. Most of them are huts.
· During the flood time, water was damaged the walls and after water starts receded people starting reconstructing the walls by their own
· Water is the major problem which this village is facing
· People need to walk a Km to get their drinking water
· Drinking water is taken from a hand bore well which is of 10-15ft depth
· Water is more saline further deeper to 15ft
· During summer time, people have to walk another km to get their drinking water
Water Purifier Installation:
Water purifier is the first thing the village needs.
Phase 1:
· Took the sample of water from this village and need to discuss with the Water purifier technician on the contents of the water
· Looking for the quotations to install the water purifier and the purified water can be stored in small overhead tank
Increase the height of the water Channel:
During high tides (Full Moon and New Moon days) sea water is breached into the village and entered into the farm land.
Hence the salinity is increased in the soil and people started quitting the farming and moving out of the village for some other jobs.
Phase 1:
Phase 2:
· Planning to increase the bund height of the channel during the summer so, sea water can be stopped entering into the village
· Communicating with experts on Organic farming to restore the farm lands which are filled with salt water
· Talk with farmers and help them to get back to their farm lands
Rain Water Harvesting:
Phase 1:
Phase 2:
· Install Rain Water harvesting pits to improve the quality of the ground water
· Use closed bore wells as “Rain Water Harvesting Pit”
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