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Community-Based Flood Preparedness Project- Pakistan
Kot Nizam is a village of Tehsil Pindi Bhattian (district Hafizabad, Punjab - Pakistan ). The village is a victim of a mega development project, namely the motorway between Lahore and Islamabad . The construction of motorway seven years ago has divided the village fields into two sections and has changed the natural water flow. Resultantly, over 200 acres of fertile land, famous for the typical Punjabi yield, have become uncultivable and barren. Livelihood opportunities and the environs became causality because of that.
The task before RDPI was manifold as the flood management policies leave out the local communities each year. Then, the education and health facilities are almost lacking in the area. Most importantly, due to the political structures set from the colonial times and the social stratification prevalent since ages repressed the people as they could not have a hope to solve their problems on their own. They have been compelled to always look toward the above i.e. administration, the local elites etc. Sense of community is obscured for the parochial kinship-based identities and elite power maneuverings in the area.
As for the dangers of the flood every year, 166 villages in district Hafizabad are prone to the disaster. 106 of such villages fall within the boundaries of tehsil Pindi Bhattian - Kot Nizam being one of them.
The construction of the motorway has further enhanced the vulnerability of the village, because no alternate arrangements were done for the drainage of the flood/ rain water in the area. 12 villages are a classical example of the mega project`s after effects, Kot Nizam being hit the worst. After the mega project been erected, it was left surrounded from all sides by stagnant rainwater pool and there was no road or track to link various parts of the village settlements. Naturally, the marginalized families took the heat of all this ill-development, but even the well-off households had to suffer because of the motorway construction. According to the local wealth ranking criteria, collected by the RDPI, the ratio of rich, well-off, poor and very poor families stand respectively at 10 %, 40 %, 32 % and 18 %. The other data gathered by the RDPI surveys show that currently 67 % households live in nuclear families, while 33 % have joint family system. Household size varies from 3 to 8 per family; the Katcha houses make the 52 % of all, whereas the 25 % are semi-Pacca and 23 % being Pacca. The dearth of facilities can be gauged by the fact that there is no toilet available in 98 % houses in Kot Nizam.
The dismal aspects apart, the RDPI took it upon itself that it would develop data based flood prevention and management in Hafizabad district and particularly around the Kot Nizam village. The other measures to be done included formation of community based organization in the village, enhancement of the livelihood options, improvement of drainage system, provision of easy access to Kot Nizam through a link road, improved health and training facilities, increase in the forest/ woodland areas, strengthening of linkages between the villagers and the line departments, encouragement of women to take part in disaster mitigation activities, increase the technical capacity of the local flood management committees, and dissemination of awareness on flood prevention and management among the local populace and the governments of the Hafizabad district.
Various research, structural and non-structural activities were then carried by the RDPI. The fruits of the project have now witnessed massive community mobilization, the demonstration of appropriate and cost-effective technology.
Structural activities undertaken by RDPI included:
• Construction of 1.7 Km brick surface link road
• 8 Km long drainage channel (in three phases)
• Multipurpose community center (Commnuity-Flood
• Preparedness Training Centre)
• Plantation of flood resistant woodlands
Non-structural activities include:
• community mobilization and organization
• formation and capacity building of Village Organisation,
• linking VO with local developmental institutions
• livelihood enhancement trainings in relation to flood prevention
• agriculture, livestock, forestry, social sector and vocational, capacity building of existing district/tehsil flood management committees
• project advocacy and networking activities
The project was supported by ITDG- South Asia and DIPECHO
This initiative is funded by the European Union (Dip ECHO South Asia flood preparedness programme).
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