Experiences of Kalvi Kendra and Community people
S.Chinnappan
Kalvi Kendra
Climate Change and its Impact on Coastal areas
About KalviKendra Kalvi Kendra, “the NGO” was born on the bed of a man-
made Disaster - a communal violence on Dalits that tookplace in 30 years ago in Villupuram. A Dalit colony had beenset on fire, 12 Dalits had been murdered.
This incident was the foundation for establishment of KalviKendra with objective of promoting a world of fraternity andequality for deprived sections torn by hatred and enimity
Kalvi Kendra started working on Disaster RiskReduction as a follow up of Tsunami Rehabilitationwork from 2005 onwards.
About Area- General Information Coastal area of Villupuram District, Tamilnadu, adjoining
Pondicherry, Union Territory of India
It is 30 km coastal line with population more than 3.5Lakh.
In the region, the poorest communities are fishingcommunity and dalits living on coast line
They become more vulnerable as they are living in floodplains- only available place to live and suitable for theiroccupation (fishing and agriculture)
In coastal regions, lack of infrastructure such as No early warning system and Hazard resistant houses.
Lack of saving, credit linkages, insurance leading to limited capacity to recover from disaster.
Apart from Hazard, vulnerability and Capacity Assessment, community also reflected some changes in climatic conditions/patterns over the years.
Densely populated coastal area are facing the following problems:
Increased risk of Sea Level rise- damage of houses and properties
Sea erosion has accelerated – 3 coastal villages submerged in sea in last two years. (Thanthirayan Kuppam, CM Chawadi, Nadu Kuppam)
Sea level increasing leading to intrusion of “Salt water” into ground water and badly affecting the drinking water. Saline water lead to hundreds of acres of land become alcaine.
It has also lead to loss of wetlands/mangrove bio shields.
Accelerated evaporation reduced the effectiveness of water reservoirs and water bodies
Over a period of time, as per local community, fish catch has reduced, . They have to go FAR AWAY in sea to catch fish.
Low agriculture and fishing leading to forced Migration especially among Dalits.
Rainfall is Unpredictable in Coastal region. Past years have seen unusual floods.
As per villages, earlier (3 decades back) Cyclone used to come and go without causing much damage. Now, their speed is high, and they cause disruption .
Change in season, rise in temperature, has started affecting Tourism in Pondicherry
Being in Costal/high risk area, Adaptation is more difficult than others who are living in plain.
Finally.... Ms. Malini Mehra (Political Scientist) and founder of
Centre for Social Marketing cautions-
if the earth Global surface temperature goes up by 2 degrees, Chennai and Mumbai could be submerged
into sea
Risk reduction Measures by people
Initiated and being supported a movement called
“Save the Earth Movement”
- It’s a peoples movement at the grass root level to
protect the environment and save the earth by doing little
things what they can do at their level. This movement
focusing on the following activities
1. Environment building
To make everyone in the community to aware of the global
warming and to understand the climate change adaptation
through seminars, meetings, workshops, cultural programs,
hand outs, pamphlets, posters, etc.,
Efforts continue....3. Environment Protection Supporting Organic farming
Reducing usage of plastics
Rain water harvesting
Tree plantation
Usage of smokeless choolas
Running CCA Mart (Selling CFL lamps, saplings, organic manure, insurance products, eco friendly and recycling materials > 20 microns)
Collecting and dumping of e-garbages
Integrating the DRR concept with the on going development activities
Evolving modules for SHG training programs
Evolving curriculum for School Children
School safety and Insurance for Children
Training modules for Farmers
Mock drill and exercises to the Rescue teams
Training in swimming, First Aid, safety measures.
Publishing of IEC materials
Kalvi Kendra has been involved in implementing a CMDRR program on a pilot basis in 10 flood-prone villages located on the bank of the river Thenpennai, Villupuram District, Tamil Nadu, adopting the following strategies
Strengthening the Elected PRI leaders to be proactive to CMDRR program
A Consortium of PRI leaders has been formed and oriented in Preparing and implementing Contingency and Development plan for their community
Create infrastructure facilities (prevention walls, rescue centres, hazard free shelters)
Creating DRR Reserve fund
Involving in Lobby and Advocacy with the District Administration to mobilize the local resources for DRR program
Pilot Program - CMDRR
Human Safety - CMDRR Formation of DRRMC (Disaster Risk Reduction Management
Committee) at the village level which constitutes the members of elected leaders, Village Administrative Officer, Head Master / Teacher, representatives of youth, women and men, elders, etc.,
Participatory Risk Assessment (Hazard, Vulnerability and Capacity)
Planning the DRR activities
Reviewing & Monitoring the DRR activities
Infrastructure Development - CMDRR
Infrastructure Development (Construction of Rescue
centres, retention / prevention walls, hazard resistance
shelters, safe drinking water)
Agriculture Development - CMDRR
Raising bunds on the river side
Insuring the crops and cattles
Nursery Raising
Flood resistant crops
Conducting veterinary crops
Organic farming
Tree plantation
Livelihood Promotion - CMDRR
Promotion of Savings and thrift
Credit linkages
Supporting Income Generation Activates
Entrepreneur Development
Information and Awareness - CMDRR
Organizing Cultural programs
Training and orientation on DRR to various groups in the
community
Integrating DRR education to the school going children in the
evening coaching centres
Promoting CRPs (Community Resource Persons)
Establishing Public Announcement System
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