STRENGTHENING ADAPTATION CAPACITIES IN COASTAL COMMUNITIES Factsheet

Strengthening of Bund, Coastal Plantation and Pond Renovation

Vanagiri, Tamil Nadu, South India

Community Vanagiri

Vanagiri is one of six villages involved in the CapCoast project in coastal Tamil Nadu. Vanagiri (N11°7’41’’ E79°51’21’’) is a small rural community located in Sirkali block of Mayiladuthurai taluk, Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu. The next bigger settlement is Poom-puhar (90,000 inhabitants). Vanagiri can be reached via the tarred Sirkali Road. The village is located at the Bay of Bengal with the few houses only 150m from the sea shore. The distance to the next river (Cauvari) is about 200m and to the Savagar is 1km. Vanagiri is the home of approximately 5,000 people from about 975 families with fishing being the main source of income of the community.

Renovation of Pond Community meetings

Climate Change Impact on Community

Due to short distance to Bay of Bengal and low lying land, Vanagiri is highly exposed to cyclones and floods. The village suffers chronically from cyclones, floods and droughts such as the severe drought in 1992, flood and cyclone in 1996 and the flood in 2005. Vanagiri was affected by Tsunami in 2004 with death toll around 61 with huge devastation of huts and boats. The village is repeatedly affected by direct intrusion of sea water during cyclones resulting in coastal erosion and increased salinity of ground water. There is also an observed change in the sea water level and sea encroachment for the past 35 years as indicated by the community during field visits. The community informed that a small check dam and two old palm trees have been destroyed and submerged due to sea encroachment and they fear that in the coming 2-3 years their village will be seriously affected by sea wa-ter intrusion. The community also observes that the temperature intensity is increasing as they informed that fishing is becoming difficult after 7.30 am in the past four years which was possible till 11am earlier. Continuous downpour, recurrent floods and strong winds have damaged the sea bund which has affected the housing and livelihoods.

Measures on Climate Change Adaptation (CCA)

For proofing the community against the increasing risks of climate change, the community suggested pilots measures as the strengthening of existing bund, renova-tion of ponds and casurina plantation. The strengthening of bund will prevent sea water from entering in the village resulting in flooding, intrusion of sea water in ground water and fresh water sources, coastal ero-sion and loss of land for fishing allied activi-ties. The technological intervention in the bund were strengthening and repair of bund

with cement, concrete and locally available material, leveling and vegetation for encapsulation of soil by the roots. The community were involved in undertaking these construction activities which provided them ownership and sustainability in terms of operation and maintenance(O&M) of the pilots on their own. The O & M of the pilots will be undertaken by the community as they will be provided with hands-on training by the local contractor and local implementing partners AVVAI. The renovation of pond in-cludes activities like fencing, cleaning, deepening, revetment and repair of inlet/outlet supply system. This pond water will be used by the community especially women and children for domestic purposes to reduce the travel for day to day activities. As a tech-nological improvement it was suggested to pump out the existing contaminated water, deepen the pond to increase its capacity and bio-fencing to prevent contamination of water by animals and other misuse. The pond will also assist in recharging of ground water which will reduce the salinity of the drinking water sources. Casurina plantation was suggested as it will act as a wind block preventing the strong winds and currents from damaging the huts and thatched roofs of the community. The plantation also is a source of livelihood and additional income once the produce is ready (nearly three years), prevents flooding and provides shelter and shade for fish drying and other activities at sea coast. Adelphi Research provided support on developing training and awareness material and site specific local adaptation guides for improved planning at community level.

Case Study and Community Statement

Mrs. Amibika, Age:38; Village: Vanagiri

My name is Ambika, and I am one of the committee members in Vanagiri village for imple-mentation of GIZ’s CCA project and also a leader for Federation of women Self Help Group. As our village is near to coastal area, we face various climatic changes like recurring floods and cyclones, sea water intrusion and tsunami. These natural disasters result in heavy destruction of the water bodies, village infrastructure, land and our livelihoods are affected at large. The disas-ters also causes massive mortality and health hazards, also the health care centres are around seven kms from our villages. We are fishing community and we observe that over the years the

fish catch is poor maybe due to receding beach area and gradual rise of sea level. The storage space near the shore for keeping the boats, ice plant and fish drying is also shrinking. Strengthening of coastal bund and plantation will help us by minimizing the risk of sea water intrusion. The renovation of pond will provide us with fresh water for domestic purposes and it also helps us in recharging groundwater. As a leader of Women Federation, I will cooperate for successful implemen-tation of the project activities in my village.

GIZ-ASEMDr. Dieter Mutz/ Dr. Ashish Chaturvedi A-33, Gulmohar Park, New Delhi – 110049, India

T: +91 11 2661 1021 Tel +91 11 2652 8840 F: +91 11 2653 7673 E: contact@asemindia.com