Bridging sustainably the last mile connectivity in India and Myanmar
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Bridging sustainably the last mile connectivity in India and Myanmar The document discusses bridging last mile connectivity for early warning systems in India and Myanmar in a sustainable way by taking a community-based approach. It provides examples of mobile flood warnings in Uttar Pradesh, India that improved preparedness by connecting central disaster management cells to remote communities through an autodialing system. Lessons from early warning systems in Myanmar emphasize the need for infrastructure, community empowerment and participation, and integrating systems with local governments.
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Bridging sustainably the last mile connectivity in India and Myanmar
- 1. Bridging sustainably the last mile connectivity in India and Myanmar DR. MELGABAL CAPISTRANO DRR Regional Adviser for Asia, Malteser International MR. NAGENDRA SINGH Program Manager, Sahbhagi Shikshan Kendra
- 2. Global EWS as integral Forecasting part of the Community-Based Disaster Risk Management Program National Warning Agency Local Communities Government At Risk Where communities and the threats they face are taken as starting point for EWS END TO development , the last mile connectivity can systems END EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS: be bridged sustainably. connectivity remains underdeveloped The Last mile
- 3. Mobile Flood Warnings in Uttar Pradesh, India Before After More than100000 cusec Supported by: European Commission Humanitarian Organization and Civil Protection & Malteser International
- 4. EW Technology Voice Broadcasting by Phone for Flood Early Warning dissemination Central System Remote System Communities at Risk Server at District Disaster Management Cell . Bahraich with Autodialing Software Modem Includes list of Phones nos. to be dialed
- 6. Lessons Learned • Encouraged people to call back the DDMC and ask for confirmations, when they observe rise of water level • Prepared village groups to hold the administration accountable and thereby keep the system efficient • Tailor made trainings ensuring social inclusion in DRR • Replicability by Government due to integration to their system and low cost
- 7. People Centered Early Warning System in Myanmar Cyclone Nargis revealed a lack of • Infrastructure of the EWS as a Establishment • information empowering process of • awareness and to seek greater communities preparedness, • indicated the need for a access to decision making comprehensive tools.program of which EWS would form DRM an integral part.
- 8. Categories Wind Velocity Tropical Depression Above 17 miles per hour Storm From 18 to 33 miles per hour Cyclone From 34 to 63 miles per hour Strong Cyclone Above 64 miles hour - rice and corn crops adversely affected - few large trees may be uprooted - large number of nipa houses partially or totally unroofed - some old galvanized iron roof may roll off - many banana plants may be destroyed - small and medium size boats are carried away
- 9. Color Track & Proximity of the Cyclone Code Yellow Tropical Depression (TD) or small storm (SS) or cyclone (C) or strong cyclone (SC) is not expected to move towards Myanmar coast at present. Orange TD or SS or C or SC is leading to Myanmar coast line at present. Red TD or SS or C or SC may cross Myanmar coast line within the next 12 hours. Brown TD or SS or C or SC is crossing to Myanmar coast line and onset towards the land at present. Green TD or SS or C or SC has crossed Myanmar coast and out from storm risk. Alert Prepare Evacuate
- 10. Lessons Learned • Village authorities need to be members of the village disaster management committees • Need to carry out participatory exercises (e.g. drills) to ensure governmental and community level actors are all actively involved in the development of the EW systems
- 11. Thank you for your kind attention! Supported by:
Editor's Notes
- The last decade has seen an unprecedented growth in incidence of natural disasters. At the same time the potential for early warning systems to limit their impacts has been acknowledged, with the development of national and regional early warning systems in Asia in particular. “ Last mile” connectivity remains underdeveloped however, partly as a result of it being promoted as an “add-on” to national systems and partly due to a lack of understanding of community’s capacities and needs. This presentation will highlight Malteser International´s project in Myanmar and its Indian partner SSK’s initiative which demonstrated the important contribution the users have made in disaster preparedness and response systems, and as drivers of them. The undertakings showed that where communities and the threats they face are taken as the starting point for EW system development, the “last mile” can be bridged sustainably. The EWS projects implemented in both India and Myanmar form part of a wider CBDRM program, in which increasing community knowledge and inclusive social mobilization had been crucial. The said projects have not been established as standalone activity and this is a critical factor in their success.
- In India, flooding often affects up to 21 M people in 31 Districts of Uttar Pradesh. With the building of upstream dams and the construction of embankments which protected the communities beyond, these structures worsened the condition of dwellers closer to the river, where the poorest communities live. A government early warning system existed which provided warning information from the barrage to the state and then was relayed to the district with limited possibilities of passing the information to the communities at risk in timely manner. To improve the system, information from the barrage now is transmitted to the state and district levels simultaneously. Through the implementation of a successful system based on auto-dialing software and with the engagement of the authorities responsible for district level early warning, the last mile connectivity is now strengthened . Moreover, there are task forces organized and trained to ensure the information reaches each and every household of the communities at risk through hand operated sirens and megaphones.
- Benefiting from this initiative are 72 project flood prone hamlets which were later expanded to 31 more villages by the district administration themselves and thus a total of 103 hamlets with approximately 40,000 individuals. Sahbhagi Shikshan Kendra or SSK, the local partner of Malteser International enhanced the earlier system by sending voice messages for flood preparedness. While working to make it more user friendly, SSK discussed the approach simultaneously with the District Magistrate, the head of the District Administration and the person finally responsible for District level early warning.
- The system has now been in operation for a period covering third monsoon season and was made operational through the following steps: Installation of the software at the District Disaster Management Cell or DDMC with dedicated IT staff working for 24 hours during the period for potential flooding. Mobile and landline numbers for the members of community early warning task force, concerned village and district authorities were fed into the system It was agreed that updating the telephone list would be a shared responsibility with communities informing the administration when phone numbers change. When information indicate the likelihood of a flood the DDMC immediately creates a voice message, based on the information available and releases it to all mobile and landline numbers. This information goes directly to the current project villages, where people are also monitoring levels, using local, traditional, methods. The Hamlet Disaster Management Committee (HDMC) then makes a decision to mobilization volunteers and EW task force to take appropriate action using hand operated sirens to generally alert people, and mega phones to give specific information on the possible timing and severity of the flood.
- The project has not asked the people to discontinue with their traditional practices. Rather they are encouraged to call back the DDMC and ask for confirmations, when they observe rise of water level in the channel, or when they get messages from the people living in the upstream areas. Previously many a time these messages appeared to be like rumours. But now they have the opportunity to get it confirmed from an authentic source, and which helps them to respond better. The project has attempted to make the government system more efficient and accountable and is based on the assumption that the administration will exercise its duty as envisaged in the DM policy, and will continue managing the EWS. After a recent successful state level workshop, the government is committed to upscale the system to other 29 districts in a phased manner – benefitting up to 21 M people. There remains an element of risk also however, as high staff turnover can affect effectiveness, but having a DM policy in place helps. Village groups are prepared to hold the administration accountable and thereby keep the system efficient, and Malteser International and SSK have prepared the ground to ensure that communities act in this watchdog role. They are ensuring this through regular dialogue and engagement. The intervention also included specific training modules, for all stakeholders, on “Social inclusion in DRR” as developing an understanding of vulnerabilities – especially of people with disabilities – is regarded as critical. For hearing impaired members of the communities at risk for example, the trained task forces visit their households and inform them accordingly.
- Myanmar is vulnerable to natural disasters which have claimed numerous victims in the past, especially along coastlines of the Ayeyarwaddy Delta and Rakhine State. The devastation caused by cyclone Nargis in 2008 revealed a lack of infrastructure, information, awareness and preparedness, and indicated the need for a comprehensive Disaster Risk Management program of which EWS would form an integral part Malteser International has supported local early warning systems in targeted villages since 2008. Due to their remoteness and top-down political dynamics in the country, the process of community engagement has proven challenging with the establishment of EWS seen as a process of empowering communities to seek greater access to decision making tools. To do this Village Disaster Management Committees (VDMCs) have been supported through holistic Community Based Disaster Risk Management approaches. These have involved capacity building, activities to assist in understanding weather conditions and forecasts, and translating these into non-technical terminology as the core of the EWS.
- In the system established the early warning is initially derived from public radio weather alerts, based on information from the national Department of Meteorology and Hydrology. These concern primarily the movement of weather fronts. The VDMCs are then responsible for communicating this information on to the wider community which is assisted through the provision of radio sets and megaphones. The main innovation has been to implement an easily understandable EWS derived from complicated hydro-meteorological data. A series of community consultations were convened to test the translation of information into simple, locally understandable, terms. This has proven relatively simple and understandable to everyone. As an example, when the intensity of a cyclone is aired on the television or radio, it is referred to as a tropical depression, storm, cyclone or strong cyclone. These have little meaning for community members. As such a process was gone through, these technical terms were translated into tangible impacts at community level. The cyclone categorized as having a wind velocity of between 34and 63 miles per hour is thus explained as likely to result in the following: Moderate damage to agriculture, rice and corn crops adversely affected, few large trees maybe uprooted and other impacts. By presenting weather conditions in this way they rapidly become understandable.
- An understanding has to be taught since government has the color codes determines the track and proximity of the tropical storm or cyclone. The color codes can only be heard over the radio or announced over the television. Yellow means a threat is developing but is not expected to move towards Myanmar. Orange that one is heading towards Myanmar, and red that one may cross the coastline within 12 hours. Green means the threat has passed. This system has been worked out through discussions with communities, in which women have played a major role. Based on the analysis carried out, women were found to be in the forefront of responding to disasters and saving family members and assets. Because of this, from the initial phases of the project, the decision making capacity of women was increased through special women empowerment workshops and by ensuring their participation in the various trainings and learning activities traditionally dominated by men. Using the two mentioned measurements - the strength and intensity of the event and the area it will affect in combination, a flag system with only 3 signals has been developed to ease understanding of the complexity. The number of flags determines the agreed response which the community should undertake appropriately: one flag – become alert, two flags –prepare to evacuate and three flags- do evacuate!
- Based on the experiences in Labutta and Rakhine, the key lessons learned have been that engagement of local authorities has to start at an early stage. Village authorities need to be involved as members of the village disaster management committees formed by Malteser International. They are the members of the community who are credible in disseminating early warning messages. The major challenges have been the complex local sources of information, lack of resources and the difficulty of accessing remote communities. There is also a continued need to carry out participatory exercises (e.g. drills) to ensure governmental and community level actors are all actively involved in the development of the systems, as the links between the village level disaster management committees and the regional and national level early warning authority still needs further strengthening. This is not surprising under the prevalent conditions to date in Myanmar. Moreover, the government is now thinking of revising their disaster management law which was formed immediately after Cyclone Nargis.
- We would like to acknowledge the contributions of donors such as DIPECHO and the German Government through the BMZ for their support in helping at risk communities prepare for and be more resilient to disasters. Thank you very much for your attention!