PAKISTAN RED CRESCENT SOCIETY AJK STATE BRANCH Vulnerability Capacity Assessment Village Pakhar, District Poonch Table of Contents: S.No Contents Page No 1 Executive Summary 3 2 Background of District Poonch/Rawalakot 6 3 VCA Tools: Annex A: Direct Observation 8 Annex B: Historical Profile, Visualization and Projection 11 Annex C: Spatial Mapping 13 Annex D: Seasonal Calander 14 Annex E: Livelihood Analysis and Coping Mechanism 16 Annex F: Venn Diagram 19 Annex G:Prioritization and Ranking 20 Annex H: CIT 21 4 VCA Team 24 5 Recommendation 25 2 Page Executive Summary: The principal purpose of conducting Vulnerability Capacity Assessment (VCA) is to gather information through a participatory way with the ultimate goal of increasing community’s awareness of risks, and help them to plan for reducing vulnerability and scaling up capacity before a disaster happens. Specifically the purpose of the VCA recently conducted by the Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) AJK State Branch is to find out the most vulnerable communities of district Poonch with a view to map out hazards, vulnerabilities and capacities within the targeted areas, village Pakhar, union council Pakhar, Tehsil Rawalakot of district Poonch. Furthermore the VCA aimed at obtaining data analysis (diagnostic tool) for PRCS and community to make decisions about risk reduction measure initiatives (structural and non-structural). Further the VCA will provide a better understanding regarding nature, degree, and risk affected by the people, including determining presence and degree of vulnerability, identify the capacity and resources available, alternative actions that may be conducted to strengthen the impacts of risk reduction program and determine activities focused on increasing the capacity of communities in target villages. The targeted community where the VCA was conducted is village Pakhar located having a distance of 31km from Rawalakot, district headquarters of Poonch. Village Pakhar is one of the biggest revenue villages of district Poonch Rawalakot that consists of four (4) sub villages including Danna No. 4, Shaheed Gala, Ban Bahak, Pakhar Nakka and having many small hamlets. The total population of village Pakhar is approximately 14,000. The standard IFRC VCA methods and tools were used to have better access of information for the five (5) days exercise (25-30 June 2012). The VCA tools used such as spatial mapping, direct observation, semi structure interview, historical profile, visualization and projection, seasonal calendar, livelihood analysis, Venn diagram whereas the methods were talking to wall, prioritization, ranking and CIT model. With the application of the VCA methods and tools the main community hazards were identified. Based on the analysis of secondary data gathered the most prevalent hazards in the community are poor health & hygiene, unavailability of potable water, dangerous foot tracks, lack of vocational centre and lack of awareness on the impact and detrimental effects of these hazards which would 3 Page directly affect people lives, livestock, livelihood and their environment. This situation had increased community’s vulnerabilities resulting on their high dependency from external support. In relation to the hazards identified, communities were able to recognize its causes and effects and the measures that could be taken to reduce the risks to disaster thus minimizing the detrimental effects of land sliding, lack of water supply and poor health facilities, dangerous foot tracks and lack of awareness to Disaster Preparedness and Response. The other capacities identified were road access, educational schools (primary, middle, high and inter college, private), graveyard, shops, river streams, mosque, trees/forest, mobile phones, play grounds and overseas workers. Communities of the targeted area have made recommendations in terms of their needs and priorities which include:- Health Facilities: In Revenue Village Pakhar, there is one dispensary and one first aid post located at Danna No 4 and Ban Behk, but there is no medical staff and medicines which would fulfill the urgent needs of the community in terms of health problems. In most cases the community of the village Pakhar would seek support for health related problems to Khai Galla and district headquarters Rawalakot which is almost 10 and 31 Km away. Water and Sanitation: Water: The residents of village Pakhar are exposed to health hazard due to unavailability of potable water. The sources of water are from springs and it’s usually dry. The village has several water supply schemes installed but don’t’ have proper maintenance so most of them are non functional due to broken pipelines and no water sources. Hygiene: Lack of awareness regarding hygiene promotion and poor personal, domestic and environmental hygiene conditions and practices were observed. No sewerage, drainage system and solid waste management. 95% of the houses have latrine facilities, but due to 4 Page insufficient water, some households are doing open defecation. Most of the schools have no latrines and open defection is practiced that causes several diseases to children. Foot tracks: Dangerous foot tracks within village Pakhar posing a constant threat to the community. The people are experiencing difficulties in transporting patients, domestic materials, and daily consumable items from and to the main road due to worst condition of foot tracks especially during heavy rain fall and snow fall. In the village there are many link roads but they are in worst condition and not suitable for transport of vehicles. Lack of Awareness: During the VCA, it was found out that lack of awareness regarding health & Hygiene, basic disaster management, safe drinking water, and etc. ultimately lead to health hazards and had increased community’s risks and vulnerabilities to disasters. Lack of Technical Institutions: Though there are two vocational centers present but is not sufficient to fulfill the basic requirement of the targeted areas in terms of vocational education. The houses in village Pakhar are widely scattered and it is very difficult for the community to get access to the vocational centers. These two vocational centers are situated at the lower part of Pakhar village and there is no other technical institute for men to enhance their skills which resulted to an increase of unemployment. The results of this VCA provides a unique opportunity for all stakeholders to work in partnership on different programs that would reduce people’s vulnerabilities and enhance their capacities by mitigating the impacts of disasters on people lives, livelihood and environment. The idea is that the programs would be developed with the more integrated and participatory approach enabling actions in areas of preparedness, prevention and mitigation. Therefore the VCA results will be shared to all stakeholders with a view of developing a plan of action that will improve the living conditions of the people in village Pakhar, Union Council Pakhar. 5 Page Background: District Rawalakot/Poonch popularly known as mini Kashmir takes its name from the city of Rawalakot – the headquarters of the Raja of Poonch before 1947, which is now in the Indian Administrated part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The present headquarters of the district is Rawalakot city. Total area of the district is 855 sq km. Poonch/Rawalakot district is bounded by Bagh district in the north and by Sudhnuti in the south. It shares borders with occupied Kashmir in the east and is bounded to Pakistan in the west. Total population of the district according to 1998 census was 0.412 million while according to projections of 2006 the population is 0.490 million. Average household size is 7.6 and 8.00 persons in rural and urban areas respectively. The 86.84% of the population lived in rural areas. The literacy rate of the district is 67.22% with 72.10% for urban and 66.45% for rural areas. The literacy rate among male is 80.23% as compared to the 54.04% for female. Landscape and Physical features of the Area Poonch/Rawalakot district is a totally hilly area with an average elevation of about 2000 meters above sea level. The mountains in the district are part of the Pir Panjal range. Tolipir is the highest peak in the eastern mountain regions of the district. The Jehlum River flows from north to south and makes the western boundary of the district. The Rawalakot River originating from the Pir Panjal range in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir flows along the south eastern boundary of the district. Kehan nalla, Ranger nalla, and Hajira nalla are notable streams which are mostly flood streams. Climate of the district varies with the altitudes of the area. North-eastern part of the district is very cold. However, the lower valleys have cold winter and hot summer. The maximum and minimum temperature during the month of January is about 7 c and 1 c respectively. In summer during the month of June it is about 16 c and 26 c respectively. The average annual precipitation is about 1800 millimeters. On top of the hills, kail, fir, chir and oak trees are commonly found. Robinia, poplar, and alimthas are grown by people on their farms. In the low land areas mulberry, shisham trees and small bushes are found. Fruit trees include walnut, apple, and wild pear. Fruit and vegetables have great potential of increase in production and marketing. Administrative Structures The district is divided in 3 sub-divisions i.e. Rawalakot, Hajira, Abbaspur and one tehsil namely Thorar. There are 26 union councils. Two town committees (Hajira and Abbaspur) and one municipal committee Rawalakot. It is divided into 4 legislative assembly constituencies. It comprises of 39 Patwar circles and 122 revenue villages. District administration is headed by a Deputy Commissioner. He supervises the activities of the nation building departments in the district assisted by Assistant Commissioners at the sub-division level. His major concern is the maintenance of law and order in the district as the District Magistrate and also to look after the land record as the District 6 Collector.