Flood-Ridden Assam Needs Your Help!

We are a non-profit organisation, working in parts of rural Assam in fields of sustainable livelihood, child rights, financial literacy, etc. Our intervention areas in Morigaon and other close-by regions have been thoroughly affected by floods, with our last-mile partners, community members, their families and neighbourhoods facing a severe shortage of essential items. Markets have been rendered inaccessible, and there has been loss of life and property for many of the community members we directly work with, as well as other members of the community. The community members are still at a high risk of losing their lives and property, and susceptible to diseases such as the Japanese Encephalitis if their needs are not met.

In Morigaon, which is the second-most affected district in this year’s floods, more than 200 villages and more than 1,00,000 households get affected by every year by the floods. As per DONER ministry records, Morigaon district loses more than 1000 hectares of land every year to flood and erosion.

Gagalmari, ShukutiputaHabi and Tikhabori are the three villages under Mayong Block where RGVN’s MoiPragati programme is being carried out. All these villages are flood affected, and they are in dire need of emergency items.

A brief survey has been done by us in these villages and the need for the following items was identified:

1. Baby Food

2. Biscuits

3. Cattle Feed

4. Candles

5. Mosquito Nets

6. Buckets

7. Mosquito Repellent

8. Glucose

9. Water

10. Soap

Our plan of action to help with the disaster:

1) Collect the above items deposited by donors at a collection point set up in our office building premises;

2) Use the funding to purchase the above items. An estimated budget has been created, after identifying the proportional need of these items;

3) Use our network of community leaders and the local government under the MoiPragati programme in these villages for identification of beneficiaries and aid in the distribution process;

4) Set up a committee with local stakeholders who shall help us identify the most affected families/individuals/communities and set up a distribution mechanism;

4) Provide a transparency report to donors about the utilisation of funds, and the impact of the relief work

We are also in conversation with local authorities to collaborate with other agencies doing relief work, and also to identify changing needs as they crop up, and respond accordingly.

We are seeking to provide basic relief support at this point, by surveying the affected people to identify their immediate needs and provide those items at the earliest and in the most efficient manner with our dedicated field teams. The following aspects have been kept in mind while the relief intervention was planned:

1) Hunger and thirst alleviation: To provide ready-to-eat foods such as biscuits and glucose and baby food for ages under 5 for hunger mitigation and bottled water until arrangements can be made for meals

2) Soaps for maintaining hygiene and stop the spread of contagious diseases which generally have an outbreak during floods

3) Candles, as electricity connections have been intermittent, with some places not having any access at all

4) Mosquito nets, Mosquito repellent to prevent Japanese Encephalitis affecting this area

5) Buckets to collect usable water for later usage

6) Cattle feed to ensure the cattle are being fed regularly, as they are a huge source of livelihood for the community