Building a Disaster Free India
DISASTERS UPDATE
www.nidm.net
National
Issue No.802
Date: 03.9.07
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
Melting of glaciers: India takes up matter with China
New Delhi, Aug. 31 (PTI): Faced with the danger of receding Himalayan Glaciers
causing havoc with the regional ecology, India has taken up the issue with China for a
joint solution to the problem of climatic changes, the Rajya Sabha was informed
yesterday.
"I myself had raised the issue with the Chinese President and it was agreed that there
should be more discussions for modalities," to work out a joint solution, Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh said.
He said the melting of glaciers was an important issue because it can have catastrophic
effect on the ecology of not only the region, but also the world.
According to the Working Group-II of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change,
the Himalayan Glaciers are receding faster than any part of the world.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences has found rapid melting of glaciers of the Tibetan
Plateau.
"The melting of the glaciers will ultimately trigger more droughts, expand the
desertification and increase sand storms. The melting also threatens disruption of water
supply as many rivers emanate from the Himalayas," Minister of State for Environment
and Forests, Namo Narain Meena, said.
Intervening in the reply to a question on the protection of rivers, the Prime Minister said
while there was improvement in checking pollution in the Ganga, much more needs to
be done.
"...I will be the last person to say that the improvement has been to our satisfaction," he
said.
In his reply, Meena said a total of Rs 2,940 crore had been spent on cleaning of major
rivers, including Ganga. However in respect of river Yamuna the quality of water has not
shown desired results.
Epidemic situation still critical
Special Correspondent, The Hindu, Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 03, 2007
Toll mounts 178 with five more falling prey to cholera
Fresh cases of cholera reported from new areas
Congress calls for State bandh on Sept. 10
Photo: Lingaraj Panda
Damage control: A tubewell being dug in front of Kucheipar Public Health Centre..
The PHC, established 7 years ago, neither had electricity nor safe drinking water.
–
BHUBANESWAR: The cholera and diarrhoea epidemic situation continued to remain
critical in Dasmantpur and Kashipur blocks of Orissa on Sunday as the official death toll
increased by five taking the total number of deaths to 178.
Unofficial reports
The unofficial reports, however, revealed that toll was inching towards the 350 mark with
180 deaths in Kashipur block of Rayagada, 130 deaths Dasmantpur block of Koraput, 27
deaths in Thuamul Rampur block of Kalahandi district and four deaths in Gajapati
district.
As fresh cases of cholera were reported from newer areas on Sunday in all the affected
areas of the worst hit districts of Koraput, Rayagada and Kalahandi, the authorities were
fighting hard to cope with the situation.
In Dasmantpur block, the top district officials were unable to give the latest figures of
deaths.
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The reports reaching from far flung hamlets were being complied with family members
requesting the officials to issue them certificates with regard to the deaths that had taken
in their families. The disease had claimed more than one life in many families.
Office-bearers of the ruling Biju Janata Dal told this correspondent at Dasmantpur on
Saturday afternoon that the health department would have a tough time in the coming
days to issue death certificates as the actual death toll was much higher than the figure
being given by the administration.
Compensation
The State Government has announced compensation of Rs 10,000 to the families of the
dead.
Meanwhile, ActionAid, a non-government organisation, claimed that the official death toll
figures were being kept deliberately low in order to minimise the amount of
compensation.
"If the government reveals the true figure, they would have to offer compensation to
many more families," the organisation said in a press release.
Leaders of the Opposition Congress have blamed the Naveen Patnaik Government for
its poor handling of the situation. The BJD-BJP Government has no moral right to remain
in power, the party has said.
The party has announced to observe a State-wide bandh on September 10 to register its
protest in wake of the situation.
The All-India Congress Committee has announced that it would soon send mobile
medical teams to Dasmantpur and Kashipur blocks to help those suffering from cholera
and diarrhoea.
The State leaders of the party have also urged the AICC president Sonia Gandhi to visit
Dasmantpur and Kashipur blocks.
India: Southwest monsoon - 2007: daily flood situation report No94/2007
Source: Government of India
Date: 02 Sep 2007
RAINFALL SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY (during last 24 hours)
BIHAR
- Light to moderate rainfall has been reported in some parts of the State.
- 09 human deaths (Samastipur - 04, Bhagalpur - 03 and Nalanda -02) have been
reported in the State during last 24 hours.
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- So far, 10,215 villages in 21 districts (235 blocks & 2860 Panchayats) with population
of 213.99 lakh are reported to have been affected in the state.
- 546 medical teams continue to be deployed in the affected districts of the State.
- 1328 Relief Camps continue to run in the State in which about 9,98,4573 people have
been accommodated.
GUJARAT
- Light to moderate rainfall has been reported in some parts of the State.
- So far, 937 villages in 29 districts with population of about 14.87 lakh are reported to
have been affected in the state.
- 248 Medical Teams consisting of 125 Medical Officers and 584 Para Medical Staff
continue to be deployed in the affected districts of the State.
ASSAM
- No significant rainfall has been reported in the State.
- So far, 5946 villages in 26 districts with population of 68.16 lakh are reported to have
been affected in the state.
- In all 28 Relief Camps continue to run in the State in which 51,770 people have been
accommodated.
WEST BENGAL
- No significant rainfall has been reported in the State.
- 34 Relief camps continue to run in the State in which about 9630 persons have been
accommodated.
- 246 Cattle camps continue to run in the State in which about 144000 cattle have been
accommodated.
- 105 Medical camps continue to be set up in the affected districts for providing medical
care.
Loss of Human lives
- As per provisional information received from the affected States, 09 human deaths
have been reported during the last 24 hrs. The cumulative number of people who lost
their lives during the South West Monsoon so far is 2374.
IMD
- Yesterday’s low pressure area over west-central Bay of Bengal and adjoining
northwest Bay of Bengal & coastal areas of north Andhra Pradesh persists. Under its
influence, widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls is likely over
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Coastal Andhra Pradesh till tomorrow and decrease thereafter. Fairly widespread rainfall
with isolated heavy falls also likely to commence over Orissa and Chhattisgarh from
tomorrow onwards.
- The current meteorological analysis suggests that fairly widespread rainfall with
scattered heavy to very heavy fall likely over northeastern States during next 3-4 days.
- In association with an off-shore trough widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very
heavy falls is likely along the West coast during next 3 days.
- The axis of the monsoon trough passes through Anupgarh, Churu, Gwalior, Satna,
Champa Titlagarh, centre of low pressure area and thence south east into west central
Bay of Bengal.
CWC
There are 21 Moderate and 20 Low flood situation sites.
International
Felix surges to maximum strength
BBC News, Monday, 3 September 2007, 04:00 GMT 05:00 UK
Honduras is on hurricane alert as the "potentially catastrophic" Caribbean
Hurricane Felix strengthened to a category five storm.
With winds now up to 270km/h (165mph), Felix passed
Aruba and Netherlands Antilles, sparing them serious
damage.
Felix - the sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane
season - ruined orchards and demolished a concert venue
when it hit Grenada on Saturday.
Meanwhile, a tropical storm has caused fatal landslides in Mexico.
Thousands of people on Aruba took shelter from the storm
The two storms come two weeks after Hurricane Dean, which killed 18 people as it
crossed the Caribbean.
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Henriette watch
Honduras has issued a hurricane watch from Limon south to the border with Nicaragua
as Felix rushes through the Caribbean towards Central America.
On Sunday, thousands of tourists and residents on Aruba and two of the Netherlands
Antilles islands - Bonaire and Curacao - near Venezuela were forced to take shelter as
Felix struck.
Some homes were flooded and trees downed, however
the government of the Netherlands Antilles has ended
storm warnings and the damage appeared slight.
By Sunday afternoon, the storm was about 550km (345
miles) south-east of Jamaica, moving in a westerly
direction at 33km/h (21mph), the US National Hurricane
Center (NHC) in Miami said.
Felix is expected to pass Honduras and Jamaica before
Felix is due to pass Honduras
it hits Belize by Wednesday.
and Jamaica and then hit
Belize
Separately, six people died in landslides caused by
Tropical Storm Henriette in the Mexican city of
Acapulco.
Enlarge Map
One adult and two children were killed when flooding caused a boulder to smash into a
home.
Three siblings died when a landslide hit their home in another part of the town.
The NHC has warned that Henriette could become a hurricane on Monday and threaten
Mexico's Baja California peninsula on Tuesday.
The Atlantic hurricane season is expected to peak on 10 September.
Hurricane Felix turns catastrophic Category 5 storm
www.chinaview.cn
2007-09-03 14:31:07
BEIJING, Sept. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- Hurricane Felix had grown to catastrophic Category 5
storm packing winds up to 165 mph (270 kph) as it swept through the southern
Caribbean on a path toward Central America and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, U.S.
forecasters said late Sunday.
Forecasters at the hurricane center said Felix, the second hurricane of the 2007
Atlantic storm season, was strengthening at one of the fastest rates seen, as measured
by the drop in its minimum internal pressure.
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Although a tropical storm watch remained in effect Sunday night for Jamaica and
Grand Cayman Island, all watches and storm warnings for the islands of Aruba, Bonaire
and Curacao had been lifted.
Felix hit Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire with heavy winds and rain over the weekend.
Thousands of tourists took shelter in hotels, The Associated Press reported.
Forecasts called for Felix to pass just north of the Honduran coast before possibly
hitting Belize on Tuesday or Wednesday, according to CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras.
Felix is then expected to cross the Yucatan Peninsula and head out over the Gulf of
Mexico, Jeras said.
Felix's pace is expected to continue for the next 24 hours as it heads away from the
Netherlands Antilles and into the open waters of the central Caribbean.
Category 5 is the fiercest class of hurricane, with storm surges greater than some six
meters above normal.
Hurricane Dean became a Category 5 storm in mid-August before slamming into the
Yucatan, south of the tourist resort of Cancun.
The 2007 hurricane season, expected to be a busy one, is reaching its peak. Most
storms hit from August 20 to mid-October, with September 10 marking the statistical
height of the season.
Hurricane Felix lashes Dutch Caribbean islands
3 Sep 2007, 0324 hrs IST, AP
ORANJESTAD, ARUBA: Hurricane Felix strengthened into a powerful Category 4 storm
on Sunday after toppling trees and flooding some homes on a cluster of Dutch
Caribbean islands as it churned its way into the open waters of the Caribbean Sea.
Felix lashed Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire with rains and heavy winds, causing scattered
power outages and forcing thousands of tourists to take refuge in hotels. But residents
expressed relief it did far less damage than feared as the storm's outer bands grazed the
tiny islands.
``Thankfully we didn't get a very bad storm. My dog slept peacefully through the night,''
said Bonaire medical administrator Siomara Albertus, who waited out the storm in her
home with her Labrador Retriever.
Felix, packing maximum sustained winds of 220 kph (140 mph), was now expected to
spin over the open waters of the central Caribbean, before skirting Honduras' northern
coastline on Tuesday and plowing into Belize on Wednesday as a huge hurricane
capable of major damage.
The government of the Netherlands Antilles discontinued all storm watches and
warnings for Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire at 2 pm EDT (1800 GMT), according to the
Miami-based center.
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The storm forced tens of thousands of tourists and residents on the three Dutch islands
off Venezuela to remain in their homes and hotels, stocked up with water, flashlights and
emergency provisions.
In Curacao, several homes in a low-lying area were flooded. Many Bonaire residents
prepared for the worst, installing storm shutters and hauling their boats ashore, but
winds from Felix's outer bands left little damage.
In Aruba, there was also little visible damage, although at least one catamaran snapped
off its mooring, a house was damaged by a downed tree and power was temporarily
knocked out in a northern town. The island's airport was also closed.
Felix became the second Atlantic hurricane of the season on Saturday evening after
Hurricane Dean, which killed at least 20 in the Caribbean and carved out a destructive
swath stretching from St. Lucia to Mexico.
At 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT), the storm was centered about 710 kilometers (440 miles)
southeast of Jamaica and was moving west-northwest at about 32 kph (20 mph), the
hurricane center said.
On Saturday, Felix brought heavy rains and strong winds to Grenada as a tropical storm,
ripping roofs off at least two homes and destroying a popular concert venue. No injuries
were reported and Grenada's government was still assessing the damage.
Tropical storm watches were issued for Grand Cayman and Jamaica, which was
battered by Dean on Aug. 19. A watch means tropical storm conditions could begin
affecting the island within 36 hours.
``Remember that Hurricanes Mitch, Wilma and Michelle passed far from the island yet
tropical storm force winds, waves and storm surge damaged coastal areas,'' said
Barbara Carby, director of the Cayman hazard management office.
In Belize, residents stocked up on water and food, and nailed boards over windows to
protect against the hurricane's howling winds. Many who lived in low-lying areas were
seeking higher ground.
Things were more calm in Honduras, where authorities were keeping a close eye on the
storm but had not started evacuations. Along the northern coastline, tourists were still
lounging by the pool and enjoying the sun.
On Honduras' Roatan Island, home to luxury resorts and pristine reefs, the weather was
normal and guests were simply enjoying their vacations, Mayan Princess Beach Resort
& Spa employee Arturo Rich said.
Rebecca Waddington, a meteorologist at the hurricane center, advised employees of oil
platforms in the Gulf of Mexico to monitor Felix's progress and said the storm could
reach the area in four to five days.
Off the Pacific coast of Mexico, meanwhile, forecasters said Tropical Storm Henriette
could strengthen to a hurricane and stay on a path that would threaten the southern tip
of the Baja California peninsula by Tuesday.
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Henriette dumped heavy rain on western Mexico earlier, loosening a giant boulder that
smashed into a home in Acapulco, killing an adult and two children and injuring two
other people. A teenager and her two brothers were also killed when a landslide
slammed into their house in a poor neighborhood of the resort city.
Felix becomes rare top-ranked storm
Reuters
Curacao, September 03, 2007
Hurricane Felix became an extremely dangerous Category 5 storm on Sunday as it
swept through the southern Caribbean on a path toward Central America and Mexico's
Yucatan Peninsula, US forecasters said.
On a similar though more southerly track as last month's powerful Hurricane Dean,
which killed 27 people, Felix's top sustained winds had increased to 165 miles per
hour(270 kph) by 8 pm EDT, the US National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
That made the second hurricane of the 2007 Atlantic storm season, located about 390
miles southeast of the Jamaican capital, Kingston, a Category 5 storm on the five-step
Saffir-Simpson scale, capable of causing catastrophic damage.
Forecasters at the hurricane center said Felix was strengthening at one of the fastest
rates seen, as measured by the drop in its minimum internal pressure.
It was passing over a warm eddy of water in the central Caribbean, finding in it the fuel
needed to rev up to a Category 5.
Hurricane Dean became a Category 5 storm in mid-August before slamming into the
Yucatan, south of the tourist resort of Cancun.
US Gulf of Mexico oil and natural gas producers, who account for a third of the United
States' crude production and 15 percent of its natural gas production, were monitoring
Felix, but had not evacuated offshore workers so far because its forecast track did not
appear to threaten them.
Category 5 hurricanes have been rare. Before the devastating 2005 hurricane season,
only two years on record had seen more than one Category 5 hurricane.
The 2005 season experienced four, including Katrina, which devastated New Orleans,
and Wilma, the strongest Atlantic storm ever seen. The increase in the number of topranked hurricanes has provided backing to research showing global warming may
produce stronger tropical cyclones.
Storm watches
Despite its rapid strengthening, Felix was too far away to prove much of a threat to the
Netherlands Antilles.
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Dawn had broken on Curacao to reveal toppled trees and flooded streets but neither it
nor its sister island Bonaire reported serious damage or casualties.
"The local population and visitors remained in their homes and hotels overnight. No calls
were received on the emergency line set up in preparation for the storm," Bonaire Lt Gov
Herbert Domacasse said in a statement.
In Curacao, unused to hurricanes because hurricanes normally track well to the north,
supermarkets remained open late into the night to allow startled residents to stock up on
emergency supplies.
The authorities opened shelters for people living in vulnerable areas, such as on the
coastline, and the island's airport closed for several hours.
Hurricane watches in Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire were lifted but tropical storm watches
were up for Jamaica and Grand Cayman, even though Felix was expected to keep well
south as it moved west-northwest near 18 mph (30 kph).
The storm was expected to produce up to 4 inches over the Guajira Peninsula in
northern Colombia.
The 2007 hurricane season, expected to be a busy one, is reaching its peak. Most
storms hit from August 20 to mid-October, with September 10 marking the statistical
height of the season.
Mild earthquake shakes southern California
3 Sep 2007, 0003 hrs IST, AFP
LOS ANGELES: A mild earthquake shook parts of southern California on Sunday but
there were no reports of injuries or serious damage, authorities said.
The 4.7 magnitude quake struck at 10.29 am local time (1729 GMT) about 81 kilometers
(50 miles) southeast of Los Angeles near Lake Elsinore, the US Geological Survey
reported.
Witnesses near the quake's epicenter, which occurred near the Santa Ana Mountains,
reported being jolted by the tremour but police and fire authorities said they had received
no reports of injuries or damage.
"There were no injuries reported to us at this time," said Jody Hagemann, spokeswoman
for the Riverside County Fire Department.
Seismologists believe there is a chance California will suffer a major earthquake due to
movement in the San Andreas fault, which runs close by Los Angeles. Experts say the
fault line causes a massive quake every 150 years. The last such disaster was in 1857.
In January 1994, a 6.7 magnitude quake in Northridge, near Chatsworth, was blamed for
72 deaths, more than 10,000 injuries and around 12.5 billion dollars worth of damage.
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Rainstorms cause flood in Greece villages
NDTV Correspondent
Monday, September 3, 2007 (Chalkdiki)
As fires raging for ten days in southern Greece died
out, nature struck Greece once again, this time, it's
floods.
Rainstorms have caused heavy flooding in two
villages, where cars were carried away into the sea
by the currents.
have been uprooted.
Streets were covered in rivers of water and trees
Meteorologists predicted that more rain can be expected in the next few days.
Rain is also expected to touch the fire stricken regions of the Peloponnese where one
fire front still continues to burn.
Climate change could trigger global food crisis
By Ian Sample, science correspondent
Aug. 31 (Guardian News Service): Climate change and an increasing population could
trigger a global food crisis in the next half century as countries struggle for fertile land to
grow crops and rear animals, scientists warned yesterday.
To keep up with the growth in human population, more food will have to be produced
worldwide over the next 50 years than has been during the past 10,000 years
combined, the experts said.
But in many countries a combination of poor farming practices and deforestation will be
exacerbated by climate change to steadily degrade soil fertility, leaving vast areas
unsuitable for crops or grazing.
Competition over sparse resources may lead to conflicts and environmental destruction,
the scientists fear.
The warnings came as researchers from around the world convened at a UN-backed
forum in Iceland on sustainable development to address the organisation's millennium
development goals to halve hunger and extreme poverty by 2015.
The researchers will use the meeting to call on countries to impose strict farming
guidelines to ensure that soils are not degraded so badly they cannot recover.
"Policy changes that result in improved conservation of soil and vegetation and
restoration of degraded land are fundamental to humanity's future livelihood," said Zafar
Adeel, director of the international network on water, environment and health at the UN
University in Toronto and co-organiser of the meeting.
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"This is an urgent task as the quality of land for food production, as well as water
storage, is fundamental to future peace. Securing food and reducing poverty ... can
have a strong impact on efforts to curb the flow of people, environmental refugees,
inside countries as well as across national borders," he added.
The UN millennium ecosystem assessment ranked land degradation among the world's
greatest environmental challenges, claiming it risked destabilising societies,
endangering food security and increasing poverty.
Some 40% of the world's agricultural land is seriously degraded. Among the worst
affected regions are Central America, where 75% of land is infertile, Africa, where a fifth
of soil is degraded, and Asia, where 11% is unsuitable for farming.
The majority of soil erosion is caused by water, either through flooding or poor irrigation,
with the rest lost to winds. Farming practices such as ploughing also damage soil, as
does repeated planting in fields, which depletes the soil of nutrients.
"You can sum it up as need, greed and ignorance," said Andrew Campbell, an
Australian environmental consultant. "Some pressures on soil resources come from
simple human needs, where people don't have any option but to grow crops or farm
animals. But in other instances world markets demand produce, so farmers try to meet
those markets. And sometimes, there will be land that's cleared that should not have
been, or grazed when it shouldn't have been. All these place great pressures on soil
resources."
He warned that increased competition over depleted resources would lead to conflict "and the losers will inevitably be the environment and poor people".
According to the UN's food and agriculture programme, 854 million people do not have
sufficient food for an active and healthy life.
The global population has risen substantially in recent decades. Between 1980 and
2000 it rose from 4.4bn to 6.1bn and food production increased 50%. By 2050 the
population is expected to reach 9bn.
The threat of a food crisis is exacerbated by fears over energy security, with many
countries opting to plant biofuel crops in place of traditional food crops.
India, for example, has pledged to meet 10% of its vehicle fuel needs with biofuels.
Andres Arnalds, of the Icelandic soil conservation service, said the pressures on food
production would have knock-on effects all over the world because of the international
links in food supply.
Mr Campbell said: "If we can improve agricultural practices across the board we can
dramatically increase our food production from existing lands, without having to clear
more or put more pressure on soils. Simple things like good crop rotation, sowing at the
right time of year, basic weed control, are what is needed. They're very well known but
not always used."
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Pakistan: Women, children at increased risk in flood-affected
areas
Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
Date: 02 Sep 2007
JOHI, 2 September 2007 (IRIN) - Rukhsana remonstrates with her infant child as he
refuses to settle on an embankment where she wants him to relieve himself. After a brief
bout of shrieking from the child, he finally relents and his mother wipes him clean with a
hefty palm-full of soil - ignoring the flood-water about 10 feet below which laps higher
with every new gust of wind.
"I don't dare take him near that water," Rukhsana says, wiping her hands clean on her
own, tattered dress. "Have you seen what's happened to the other children here? They
all have some skin disease or other. I don't want that to happen to my child, but this
water is all we have and I know he's going to get it, too, because we have to drink this
same water to survive."
Behind Rukhsana and her child, a row of makeshift shelters stretches into the distance
in the sub-district of Johi in Sindh Province's Dadu District, about 350km from Karachi.
Locals have used everything available to shield themselves from the sun: `charpoys'
(local beds), bed-sheets, `dupattas' (head-scarves) and `chaddars' (that cover a
woman's entire body). Tents are in short supply.
Since heavy tropical rains and a cyclone struck southern and southwestern Pakistan in
late June, killing 400, displacing nearly 400,000 and adversely affecting 2.5 million
people, the intervening two months have steadily seen the situation, especially for
women and children, go from bad to the verge of becoming "much worse", relief and aid
agency officials say.
"Problems are growing"
"Problems are growing in these flooded areas, particularly for women and children,"
Jabeen Abbas, a child protection officer with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), told
IRIN. "They have more emerging needs now which are not being met: they are more
vulnerable, they need medical help, they live in shelters or camps set up in local schools,
they don't have clean drinking water - and the flood-waters in Dadu, for example, are just
not receding."
About a 100km away, in a badly-hit part of the sub-district of K.N. Shah, children play
happily at the edge of what seems like a beach: flood-waters stretch out to the horizon
with only tree-tops visible, and the children splash around energetically, blissfully
unaware of the many hazards present in the water. Snake-bites are becoming an
increasing menace, according to locals, with water-borne diseases proliferating by the
day, according to aid agency and relief officials.
Abida, a 60-something woman in K.N. Shah who identifies herself with just the single
name, props herself up on her `charpoy' which lies in the open and shouts instructions to
someone in Sindhi. A local helps with the translation into Urdu. "My grandchildren have
all had diarrhoea since the floods happened and we were displaced. My youngest grand-
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daughter needs immediate medical care, but no doctor has bothered to come and see
us."
Poor sanitation
Sanitation and hygiene, along with protection for women from harassment and proper
medical care for children, are key issues facing the local populace, aid officials say.
In a high school in Qamber, about an hour and a half's drive from K.N. Shah, over 300
people are camped on a patch of ground that reeks: surviving livestock are tethered right
next to where a family sleeps in the open and children are forced to play in the same
areas where they relieve themselves. Tepid pools of water, with thousands of flies and
mosquitoes, add to a health scenario, which is sadly repeated across the waterdevastated landscape in Sindh and Balochistan.
Sylvia Risi, the liaison officer for Première Urgence, a French non-governmental
organisation (NGO) which is setting up much-needed water-purification plants in flood
areas across Sindh, told IRIN that hygiene promotion and sanitation figure prominently
on her organisation's agenda.
"Hygiene obviously has been badly hit with the lack of sanitation so, apart from setting
up these water-purification plants, we are also trying to raise awareness for women and
children on hygiene promotion and sanitation," she said, turning around to gesture to the
newly established water purification plant behind her.
"As we have kept on stressing, women and children were the most at-risk groups in
these areas," UNICEF's Abbas said. "Women, particularly, have faced protection issues:
they have been harassed by police when they go and collect relief goods. so the
problems continue to grow. And the situation is worsening by the day."
Schools used by displaced
In a primary school in Qamber, Noor Din, a frail old man with shaking hands, told IRIN
that over 250 people were housed in a school that has only 10 rooms. "There are over
100 people here from my village alone. Our women are falling sick and our children are
dying before our eyes," he wept.
Education is a worry, but with almost every school in every flood-affected district
functioning as a camp for flood-refugees, local children are likely to have no access to
education, locals say.
"The summer break is over and schools should be open now," Abbas said. "But local
administrations face a conundrum: do they force refugees out to ensure local children
get an education? How will they manage? As I said, the problems are already increasing
- and they will keep on increasing!"
Flood death toll rose to 783 in Bangladesh
Source: Xinhua News Agency
Date: 02 Sep 2007
DHAKA, Sept 2, 2007 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- The flood-related death toll in
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Bangladesh rose to 783 till Sunday morning while the flood rehabilitation programs
initiated by the government are underway to alleviate miseries of the affected people.
According to official statistics of the Health Department, six more deaths were reported
during the 24 hours ending 6 a.m. Sunday, raising the flood related death toll to 783.
Some 985,000 villages in 39 out of the country's 64 districts were completely or partially
affected by the flooding, the worst since 1998. Crops and vegetables on about 140
million acres (about 56.7 million hectares) had been submerged.
Meanwhile, the government has initiated vulnerable group feeding (VGF) program which
will cover 41 districts. According to the program, 10 kg rice will be distributed free of cost
every month to some 3 million people till December this year when paddy crop will be
harvested.
So far, a total of nearly 134,000 tons of rice have been allocated to carry out the
program.
Ahead of the month of holly Ramadan, the government has also decided to take
measures to stabilize the prices of essentials in the kitchen market.
In terms of the rehabilitation of agriculture sector, the government has allocated 300
million taka (about 4.3 million U.S. dollars) for the affected farmers and also allocated
15.5 million taka (about 221,000 U.S. dollars) for preparing seedbeds and seedlings
among the farmers.
Flood kills three in northeastern Nigeria
Source: Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA)
Date: 02 Sep 2007
Abuja_(dpa) _ A man, a woman and her baby drowned when the River Yedzaram in the
Michika area of Adamawa State in northeastern Nigeria burst its banks Sunday.
Sani Moda, Vice-Chairman of the council area, said relatives of the man promptly
claimed his body, while the mother and her baby were buried together.
"Nobody showed up to identify the woman and her baby nor reported the case of
missing relations," Moda said.
Flooding this season has hit all the 16 wards of the council area, destroying about 100
houses, farmlands and roads.
He said the council had forwarded its request for assistance to the state and Nigerian
governments.
Last Tuesday, five persons, including four children, were killed in floods near Minna,
central Nigeria, after torrential rains lasting more than 15 hours. dpa ah pb
Compiled by
AD Kaushik
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