The Flood preparedness capacity of communities and local governments in Kankai River basin has been increased in the period of last three years. The project has carried out different trainings, orientations, workshops, exposure visits, etc., to increase the flood preparedness, risk reduction, mitigation and response capacity of communities and local governments.
“Before the project intervention in our communities, we had to individually prepare for the monsoon flash flood. We did not have adequate knowledge on flood risk, flood monitoring and water in our community was the only way we knew there was flood,” says Durga Prasad Rajbanshi of Kichakdangi. “When the flood hit the community it was difficult for us to save our lives and properties. Things would go worse when the flood hit during night or the flood occurred without heavy rainfall in our locality,” he explains the suffering of the people in his community. Identifying the heavy loss of lives and properties and limited flood response capacity of the community in Kankai River basin, the Kankai end-to-end early warning project was started with one of the major key outcomes as strengthening community and stakeholder awareness and capacity in data and information sharing, understanding, monitoring and preparing for effective EWS and response to the flood disaster in Kankai River basin.
The project designed its activities and ensured involvement of communities and stakeholders from central level to local district, VDC or municipality level for increased flood preparedness and response capacity. Different trainings, orientations, workshops, exposure visits on DRR, EWS, search and rescue, community action for disaster response(CADRE), DRR mainstreaming at local level, Institutional management of EWS, flood mock exercise, etc, were organised throughout the project period for shifting the priority of local communities from flood affected to flood prepared communities and shifting the priority of local government from flood relief and rescue to flood preparedness and mitigation.
“Previously we had pre-monsoon cluster meeting and updating of district disaster preparedness and response plan (DDPRP) as preparedness measures but these measures were limited to the district level only. However, after the delivery of the project activities the preparedness scope has changed in Jhapa. Flood mock exercise from district level to community level is organised to test and evaluate the response capacity of the community and the stakeholders. The coordination with community and stakeholders is strengthened for better preparedness,” says Lok Raj Dhakal, president of Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) Jhapa.
The preparedness scope of the communities has been changed in the recent years. The influence of the project activities has motivated the communities to prepare with go bag (jhatpat jhola) with important documents and valuable goods. The communities keep their moveable belongings to a raised level to avert damage from flood. “Whenever we get flood alert or warning, we put our moveable assets to a higher level and take our livestock to a safer place,” says Raj Bhakta Sunuwar, CDMC coordinator at Hokalbadi.

“We did not think about disaster preparedness and mitigation measures; only discussed about relief and emergency response but after building our capacity on DRR with the support of Kankai end-to- end EWS project, we have allocated resources from VDC council, the people are aware and have mobilized the resources in highly vulnerable communities identified by the government to establish DRR fund, improvements of escape routes and DRR planning and emergency response,” says Rajendra Parajuli, VDC secretary of Taghadubba VDC. As a result of capacity building of communities and local government in Jhapa and Ilam districts in Kankai River basin have established DRR fund at all 25 communities, 11 VDCs and 2 municipalities, he adds.
The upstream and downstream communities have established and strengthened linkage and network for better flood preparedness. The communities have established and strengthened coordination with local government and security forces for flood preparedness. The flood mock exercises with active participation of community, stakeholders and security forces have enhanced the flood response capacities of all. “Participation in mock flood exercise helped us in developing our capacity and coordination for effective rescue and response during a disaster,” says Bishnu Prasad Shrestha, in-charge of Korobari police post.
“Previously we did not have adequate knowledge for flood monitoring and our response was limited to moving away to safe place when the flood water risked our lives. But it was not good as moving with children and belongings was very risky,” says Roma Mandal of Nayabasti. “We have now learned about flood risk, the vulnerabilities in our communities and flood monitoring. We keep our belongings safe with onset of the monsoon. The CDMC and task force members coordinate pre mock exercise, update us with necessary contact numbers. We update our communication channels and equipment so that we are well prepared before the flood hits our community,” she adds.
The local VDCs and municipalities (now rural municipalities and municipalities respectively) have started to allocate some budget for local DRR fund since the time of project interventions in Kankai basin. This has capacitated the local government to act for preparedness and implement emergency mitigation measures. The communities have also established and been mobilizing DRR fund which has made them capable of carrying out small mitigation measures and preparedness activities before the flood. Mitigation measures like culverts, evacuation routes, bio-dykes are built or upgraded for better flood response.

The scope of flood preparedness in Jhapa has increased in the recent years after implementation of the project. This can be evaluated from the fact that there were no any human casualties and less damage to properties in the project communities in comparison to other adjoining communities in Kankai River basin. However, the preparedness of the communities and stakeholders is not adequate to avert losses of lives and properties. Awareness, capacity building trainings and standard operation procedure (SoP) for functioning of EWS needs to be developed for better flood preparedness and response.