Koshi River Floods in Sunsari and Saptari OCHA Appeal and Situation Report No.6

Kathmandu, 28 August 2008

This situation report is based on information received from the OCHA Office in , UN Agencies and humanitarian partner organisations.

I. Situation in Sunsari and Saptari Districts, Eastern August there were roughly 21,300 people in shelters in Inaruwa, the District HQ of Sunsari, and other VDCs of Sunsari as well as in shelters in . 1) Flooding: The Koshi River continues to erode the embankment it broke through on 18 August (see earlier 9) In Saptari, a household level survey is being carried out by Situation Reports) and has effectively altered its course. Oxfam, UNICEF, WFP and UNFPA, and the total number The river now flows to a large part through the broken of displaced persons is expected to be over 4,000 families embankment passing several VDCs in Nepal and into on the Saptari side alone. The displaced are currently , where it has flooded up to 1,000 villages to the east staying in , Joginiya-2 and Hanumannagar VDCs of its previous course and affected reportedly more than a and along the highway and embankments of the Koshi million people. River. Some displaced persons are also reported in schools of Porrtaha and Kanchanpur. A section of displaced 2) In Nepal, four VDCs in remain essentially settlements on the highway is not accessible by road. under water: (Shree)Haripur and Shripur(javdi), as well as Saptari also hosts a number of affected people from , the Western parts of Laukihi and Paschhim Lalpur and Fatehpur in district in Bihar/. remain completely flooded. Other VDCs in the area (Bhokraha, Madhuwan, Narshigha, Bashntapur and II. Humanitarian Response Dhuskighat) have experienced some limited flooding and are hosting displaced people. Saptari District has not been 10) Ongoing and completed assessments: Initial flooded as such, but has seen an influx of flood displaced assessments by the Government and aid agencies have people, in particular to Bhardaha and Hanumannagar. been completed, and the relief operation is in full swing. All available assessments are being shared with relevant 3) The East West highway remains impassable and may take counterparts and are posted on the UN Information considerable time to repair. The flood has caused Platform designated floods website. significant damages to other infrastructure, including phone lines and installations. In India, electrical 11) Actors on the ground: The Government continues to transmitter facilities have been damaged, causing Nepal to take the lead in coordinating the relief efforts. The District introduce a temporary load-shedding schedule of 16 hours Disaster Relief Committees (DDRC) of Sunsari and Saptari per week, up from 7 hours. have been mobilized in this regard. A series of senior Government officials have visited the area and have called 4) Technical assessments and repair efforts are under way. on the Nepali population to provide generous Initial assessments focus on repairing the road contributions to the relief effort, and have directed the connections. It appears that it will be necessary to redirect government on the ground to maximize their efforts in the river back into its original bed in order to remove the order to provide effective and tangible relief to all affected flow of water into the flooded areas and begin the repair of persons. The MoHA has also deployed the Joint Secretary damaged infrastructure and housing constructions. responsible for disaster relief to reinforce the government‘s response on the ground. 5) Displacement: The Government (Ministry of Home Affairs - MoHA) estimates that at least 70,000 people are 12) UN agencies as well as humanitarian organizations have affected by the flooding in the area. Although figures of followed developments closely from the outset and have displaced persons still differ somewhat according to mobilized a full-fledged coordinated relief effort on the various estimates, a minimum of 45,000 persons are in ground. Working through a cluster system and need of shelter and humanitarian assistance. coordinated, with the help of OCHA‘s presence in both districts, in daily contact group meetings, services have 6) In addition to the persons displaced from VDCs in Sunsari been extended to the flood affected population with a focus District, the number of flood displaced persons from on shelter, food, water and sanitation, as well as health in Bihar, India, has been reported to be services. considerable. MoHA estimates the number at 3-5,000, while other estimates are higher, reaching a total of 13) UNICEF, WHO, WFP, UNFPA, OHCHR and UNHCR have 10,000. MoHA has confirmed that humanitarian all sent staff to the affected areas since 19 August. OCHA assistance will be provided on equal terms to those in line has set up a temporary presence in both Saptari () with international principles. and Sunsari (Inaruwa). The Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator is planning to visit the area in support of the 7) There is as of yet no official report about human casualties relief efforts on Friday, 29 August. or missing persons. A total of 21 persons have been reported missing to NRCS as of 25 August. 14) The (NRCS) has taken a lead role in the mobilization of volunteers, collection of data, 8) A large section of the displaced persons have been brought registration, provision of relief efforts, coordination among to or have otherwise found their way to the approximately agencies and provision of first aid services for displaced 27 shelters in Sunsari and Saptari districts. As of 28 persons, among other things.

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15) LWF, ActionAID, British Nepal Medical Trust, UMN, Plan 24) On 24 August, the CDO (DDRC) agreed with agencies to International, Save the Children, World Vision, Care take the lead for camp coordination and management. UN Nepal, Caritas, Nepal Christian Relief Society, IRC, Oxfam, agencies (UNICEF, UNFPA, UNOCHA) and I/NGOs RRN, Concern, Merlin, DEPROSC, RRN, KVS and a (Oxfam, Concern) are in discussion with the CDO on how number of others are present and involved in the relief the coordination mechanism can be further improved, and effort. Among local organizations Madvari Seva Samiti, how camp coordination and management gaps can be Nepal Agrawal Samaj and Madvari Mahila Manch are also filled. involved. Political parties have also been involved in the relief efforts and have mobilized supplies. 25) With regard to the sites for the interim camps to be established in the coming days for an interim period, land will need to be identified and assessed. NRCS has 16) Within most sectors (food, nutrition, health and water/sanitation, protection/child protection, education), recommended that a minimum of 30 square meters be leadership has been established through the cluster available for each family. system, and cluster leads have taken the lead in conducting assessments and collecting information, as 26) CARE has distributed 500 NFI sets to 500 families (3,000 well as coordinating with involved agencies. Camp persons) on the Saptari side, which include clothes for management is also emerging as a major issue. adults and children, baby clothes, jugs and buckets, blankets, tarpaulins, a sanitary kit, a mat and kitchen utensils. 17) Please see the attached matrix for distributed, available and potential resources. 27) Food: Immediate food needs have been met with locally available food stocks and donations from a number of 18) Emergency Shelter and NFIs: Shelter has been a more organisations and private contributors, in particular problematic area due to the enormity of the challenge to through NRCS. As an initial response, WFP will provide a provide adequate shelter to a large number of displaced 15-day food basket consisting of , pulses, salt and families. Upon request from the government authorities in vegetable oil to 50,000 flood victims. WFP is prepared to 23 August, NRCS has agreed to hold shelter coordination provide food for up to 30 days for families who cannot meetings at district level, and will start to do so next week. return to their homes because of high water levels. Distribution is scheduled to begin in Saptari this week, and 19) At present, 21,264 persons are registered in 27 shelters in next week in Sunsari. Sunsari district, according to NRCS. In addition, some 22,000 are in makeshift shelters in Saptari and on the 28) Strikes in Nawalparasi and other locations along the East- Western side of Sunsari accessible from Saptari.1 The relief West Highway are delaying trucks carrying WFP efforts have been concentrated at the shelters. Security is humanitarian food relief to flood victims. WFP has begun provided for by the authorities, but is still less than escorting trucks through this section of the highway. In a required in some locations. A considerable number of press release, WFP has urged people not to block its food people is also still deprived of shelter but remains difficult deliveries. to account for. Some people are forced to stay in the tents prepared from and other clothes. 29) The European Commission‘s Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO) made an early commitment of US$ 1.5 20) Many of the shelters are still overcrowded, and there is a million. The contribution will cover the costs of food shortage of adequate sleeping mats (especially for assistance for 50,000 people for up to 30 days, as well as children), private areas, separated areas and bathrooms some post-flood recovery activities. Based on initial for women, areas for children, and toilet facilities. assessments, WFP estimates that it will need an additional US$3 to US$5 million in contributions to meet longer- 21) NRCS has deployed volunteers to each camp/shelter term food needs and to provide livelihood support and location. One representative from NRCS has been recovery for flood victims. deployed for the monitoring and supervision of the camps and one representative from the NRCS has been deployed 30) Save the Children US and the Red Cross in Sunsari and for the collection and distribution of the relief materials. DEPROSC in Saptari are responsible for managing the general ration distribution to affected families who have 22) Oxfam (together with its partner Koshi Victims‘ Society) taken refuge in the temporary camps across the two has committed to and started the construction of districts. (bamboo) shelters for 2,500 families in Saptari. Oxfam has already fixed 200 shelters and is aiming at providing an 31) There is as of yet no reliable estimate of crop damages, as additional 1,800 in the coming days. the eventual damage depends on the time fields will be inundated. The Ministry of Agriculture has also begun to 23) The temporary shelters in Saptari district are being set up assess the situation in this respect. in Bhardaha VDC alongside the highway and in schools in Bhardaha and Hanumannagar VDCs. The exact number of 32) W ater, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH): Despite the people staying in these locations is not yet clear. It is efforts by the authorities and relief agencies to provide planned to relocate people currently on the embankments adequate water and sanitation facilities, wide gaps persist and along the highway in Sunsari (accessible only from in the registered shelters and in makeshift shelter areas Saptari) to these shelter locations. Additional shelter with regard to the numbers of hand pumps installed and locations are being examined. There are plans to relocate the numbers of latrines available. Open defecation is people displaced from Sunsari to temporary shelters and widespread and poses risks for public health. UNICEF has those from India in schools. therefore begun to install an additional 700 latrines, as well as 500 tube wells. There are sufficient stocks of hygiene kits for 15,000 families. There is also a sufficient 1 In its daily Koshi Disaster Update (posted on the Nepal Information supply of water purification tablets and buckets (apart Platform) NRCS provides an account of the population in the various from a small gap on the latter). shelter camps in Sunsari.

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33) In Saptari, UNICEF has not been able to coordinate the used as shelters. A detailed assessment is currently being sector in the same way as in Sunsari, but has committed to prepared and is expected by the end of the week. But initial install 100 latrines in collaboration with Oxfam (and can figures show an approximate number of 10,000 children provide up to 500 under the condition that additional that have been directly affected by the flooding, and an funding is provided). Concern has also committed to additional 11,000 children who cannot go to school installing 100 latrines and 100 hand pumps in Saptari. because their school buildings are used as shelters. In many schools, no school teachers or school authorities 34) Health: There is at present no shortage of medicines and were found in place. Hence, efforts have begun to identify medical supplies. However, there are still some reports of and mobilize teaching personnel for assisting in the relief unequal or otherwise inadequate distribution of items and effort, and provide education to affected children. a shortage of medical staff in some outlying areas. 42) One immediate action taken has been the establishment of 35) WHO has provided 4 sets of Interagency Emergency safe spaces for children, which will also allow for the Health Kit (IEHK 2006), which can cover up to 40,000 provision of educational services (and are important for people for 3 months, 1 set of Malaria Kit, which can cover protection purposes). Sets of books and recreational up to 10,000 people for 3 months, 1 diarrhoeal kit (Italian) materials will be provided. UNICEF has education-in- and 50 outbreak response/emergency medicines which emergency kits, which can be provided. can cover up to 5,000 severe cases as requested by DoHS. 43) The District Education Officers (DEOs) have taken the lead 36) A second emergency health and nutrition working group in coordinating school related efforts, in effective meeting was held in on 27 August where coordination with the education cluster. possible disease outbreaks in the affected areas/shelters were presented and discussed. For more details, refer to 44) Protection/child protection: Following the joint the designated FLOODS website. protection/child protection/education assessment carried out in the past days with participation from OHCHR, 37) UNFPA has a physical presence in Saptari. UNFPA UNICEF, Save the Children and IRC, in Sunsari a number medical staff (through a Mobile Reproductive Health Unit) of protection issues have emerged. In Saptari, a team will and the district coordinator have been in the flood affected be deployed shortly to begin an assessment on 29 August. areas from the outset providing mobile health services. Many pregnant women and sick people needing 45) Clothing for children has been identified as a need, and immediate hospital care have been transported to Rajbiraj UNICEF has already begun to provide adequate supplies of hospital using the UNFPA vehicle. Since Rajbiraj hospital clothes and bedding. Also, 9 cases of separated children does not have comprehensive essential obstetrics care have been reported, and a tracking mechanism has been (CEOC) services and the road to Biratnagar is cut off, instituted with the help of NRCS. Another important area UNFPA have stationed a separate vehicle (moved from identified was the need for psychosocial support, which Mahottari field office) in Rajbiraj to transport pregnant will be facilitated through the establishment of safe spaces, women needing CEOC services to Hospital. more of which will need to be provided to meet the needs.

38) Nutrition: Special food items for children/infants and 46) Another issue identified by the protection cluster is the lactating and pregnant women are in need. Even though need to include women in camp/shelter management some agencies have started to provide special needs food committees. for young children, this needs to be extended to reach all children affected by the flood, especially those outside the 47) Due to the mixed background of the displaced population, shelters. which includes traditionally marginalized and deprived communities, discrimination issues will need to be 39) Following a call by the cluster for supplementary feeding, monitored carefully. this particular concern has now started to be addressed by World Vision International in Sunsari and Concern in 48) The district Women‘s Development Office has taken the Saptari. World Vision is already supporting feeding of lead in coordinating efforts in this regard, and has children under 3 with Sarbotham pitho twice a day in 8 mobilized paralegal committees to monitor protection shelters in Sunsari, which could be expanded to other concerns among the displaced. shelters. Sarbotham pitho will be replaced by fortified supplementary food to be supplied by WFP. 49) As per the request by the Sunsari LDO/DDRC INGOs and the UN jointly formed three monitoring groups comprising 40) As long as displaced persons do not have their own shelter of UNICEF, World Vision, Plan International, Save the space, it will be difficult to prepare their own food. Children and RRN. Additional nutrition-related training will be required. Instructions with regard to the use of formula for infants 50) Logistics: IOM is providing support in transporting relief whose mothers are unable to breastfeed have been issued. items from Kathmandu to the area through its regular Anaemia among women has been reported, but can be flights to the Eastern region. UNMIN has also been addressed through specific interventions by health teams, supporting the transportation of relief items and personnel as sufficient supplies are available. to the affected areas.

41) Education: An initial rapid assessment has shown that 51) Security: The affected areas belong to the parts of Nepal in total 60 educational institutions cannot be used for that tend to be associated with higher security concerns. schooling, including 25 school buildings that have been The security situation among displaced communities has flooded in the inundated areas.2 23 school buildings are so far been reported to be acceptable. However, in flooded areas cases of looting and theft of remaining property have been reported. Dacoits (i.e. armed bandits), including from 2 17 Community schools, 6 madrasas, 13 boarding schools, and 24 ECD India, are allegedly using boats to reach houses abandoned centers. due to floods and taking away remaining property.

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52) Cluster coordination contacts: school and student kits, emergency health messages and Food: WFP, Kimberly Deni, [email protected] psychosocial support for flood affected families.

WASH: UNICEF, Larry Robertson, [email protected] 58) WHO is appealing for US$ 853,150 to procure essential Health: WHO, Damodar Adhikari, [email protected] emergency/outbreak response medicines for Saptari and Nutrition: UNICEF, Monique Beun, [email protected] Sunsari districts, buffer stocks for Kathmandu and pre- Protection: OHCHR, Annette Lyth, [email protected] positioning of international emergency health kits in all the Child Protection: UNICEF, Amra Lee, [email protected] regions.

Education: UNICEF, Melinda Smith, [email protected] 59) In order to provide rapid and flexible funding to local and Save the Children, Gopini Pandey, actors, primarily NGOs, in times of emergencies and [email protected] disasters, OCHA appeals for US$ 600,000 to set up an emergency response fund. III. Overall Needs 60) OXFAM is appealing for US$ 35, 270 for procuring shelter 53) Beneficiary selection is problematic in some cases. The items, fuel wood, and to cover transportation costs of both government has begun a registration system in order to IDPs and shelter kits in Saptari. identify authentic flood victims. NRCS has started the process of registration of displaced families. So far, around 61) IFRC is issuing an appeal for 1,361,802 Swiss Francs 700 families have been issued beneficiary cards in Saptari. (approx. US$ 1.23 million) for shelter kits and non-food It was agreed that all the agencies use the same beneficiary relief items for 5,000 affected families. card for providing relief and also to assist in new registrations. V. Coordination

54) The timeframe of the humanitarian situation is currently 62) OCHA maintains a small presence in Inaruwa of Sunsari impossible to establish. Depending on the eventual repair and in Rajbiraj of Saptari. AIN has an information desk at of the embankment and the re-direction of the Koshi River the CDO‘s residence in Inaruwa (since 22 August). into its original bed, the displacement and related humanitarian needs may last for a period of between 4 to 63) In Saptari, regular meetings between UN agencies and 12 months or more. In addition, recovery and INGOs are held at the UNFPA office in Rajbiraj every rehabilitation of the flooded areas, much of which has evening (1800 hrs). Meetings with the CDO and the relief been covered by sand and silt, will take some time. A full organizations have been held every morning. The CDO has recovery and complete return of all displaced families appointed a focal point to liaise with relief organizations. might therefore take up even longer than that. Coordination meetings are also scheduled every day at 0730 hrs at the NRCS office. Efforts are underway to set IV. Appeals and Additional Funding Needs (Short up an information centre, possibly at NHRC. Term Relief Requirements) 64) Cluster coordination meetings have taken place at both 55) Based on initial assessments, WFP estimates that it will district and central level. The food and health/nutrition need an additional US$ 3 - 5 million in contributions to clusters have convened twice in Kathmandu, the protection support short to medium-term food needs and recovery and education clusters once each. The water and Sanitation support for flood victims. cluster has coordinated efforts through direct contacts facilitated by UNICEF as the cluster lead. 56) According to the initial estimates of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, more than 390 animals 65) A meeting of the protection cluster will be held in have died due to the floods and a further 30,000 have Kathmandu, OCHA office, on Friday, 29 August at 1530 to been affected. FAO is appealing for US$ 1.8 million to buy discuss the follow up from assessments completed so far. fodder, concentrates, deworming medicines, and to carry out carcass disposal activities in support of the flood 66) All available assessments, reports, photos and tools affected farming families. (including the IRA toolkit) can be accessed at the FLOODS section on the Nepal Information Platform 57) UNICEF is appealing for US$ 1.7 million to provide http://www.un.org.np/floods/index.php shelter, safe water, sanitation facilities, hygiene kits,

For more detailed and updated information please visit the Nepal Information Platform (http://www.un.org.np) or contact:

OCHA Office in Kathmandu Wendy Cue, Head of Office, OCHA Nepal Tel. (+977) 98510 87520, (01) 55 48 553, email: [email protected] and [email protected] ° Aditee Maskey, 98510 72938, email: [email protected] ° Marcus Brand, 98418 29420, email: [email protected]

OCHA Office in Biratnagar Leith Baker, Humanitarian Affairs Officer Tel. (+977) 9804069034, SATphone: 8821643338874, email: [email protected] ° Yadav K.C. (+977) 9803649141, email: [email protected] ° Bitu Babu Shreevastav (+977) (0)21/537357, 9806815955, email: [email protected] ° SAT BRT: +88 216 8334 1163, SAT vehicle: +88 216 4333 8868

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