This process needs to be taken forward by district administration and NGOs in the four districts in the Commissionary so that such plans are developed in other flood prone villages. The process outlined in the manual and the capacities of trained local NGOs in the district can be made use of in the process.

PGovernment support to enhancing Community Flood Preparedness and recovery
The process of developing Village DMAPs and subsequent workshops in which these and the existing district Gorakhpur flood management plan was discussed with the local community provided a feedback from community that highlighted the need to equip and strengthen community-based systems. The consultations also generated a lot of practical suggestions for improving community flood preparedness and coping mechanisms. These include -

Co-ordination across sectors and levels of administration
Community consultations revealed the perception that existing District Plans are not regularly updated, not shared with Community / Civil Society, Information often incorrect, generally limited to rescue and relief and generally reflect a top down, centralized approach. So too the village level exercises are often done in isolation from the administration. There is an urgent need to strengthen coordination among Government / NGO – CBO Panchayat / Civil Society at the different levels (State, Division, District, Tehsil, Block, Village).

NGO Programs
Innovative work in the state is being done by several NGOs. The TA established working relationships with several NGOs working in Eastern UP particularly, the Poorvanchal Gramin Vikas Sansthan (PGVS), Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group (GEAG), and Catholic Relief Services. The TA consolidated the experience and expertise of these NGOs in developing and implementing village level plans and engaging with the state and district level officials in dialogue and partnership on disaster preparedness and mitigation issues. The three NGOs are already developing a new program for demonstrating mitigation measures at the local level in a cross section of villages in Eastern UP. Their continued presence, insight, commitment and involvement make them a continuing asset and key partner of the CDM and the new system as it moves ahead.

Training
An intensive program of disaster management training for a range of target groups needs to be developed and undertaken. A lead role needs to be taken by the DM cell at SIRD. However the CDM also needs to identify other agencies in the state, particularly at the district level that can play a supportive role. Clearly the expertise available in NGOs active in the state who have played useful roles during the TA needs to be tapped. Programs that need to be developed and conducted are:· Disaster management Orientation workshops

Target groups for these programs include state and district level Govt officials, departments involved in various aspects of disaster management, responder agencies, frontline functionaries involved in flood management and relief operations, NGOs and community organisations. Similar programs are being conducted in by the DMMC in Uttaranchal, NCDM Delhi and ADPC. Assistance in the development of curriculum for the above courses can be requested from these agencies.

Public awareness campaigns
In partnership with an NGO, the TA produced flood preparedness posters (3000 sets of 6 each) for distribution to NGOs, the office of the Relief Commissioner, and the new Disaster Management Centre at SIRD, for further distribution to District Magistrates, MLAs, health centres, Panchayat offices, and other appropriate community centres, there is clear need for such public awareness campaigns to be sustained and carried out in a more targeted and focussed way. One step to be taken is to introduce flood preparedness in School curriculum. A specific program needs to be taken up with the Dept of Education.



TA RECOMMENDATIONS AT TECHNICAL LEVEL IN UTTAR PRADESH

Application of Flood forecasting Model
A review of the flood forecasting and warning systems currently in use by the Central Water Commission (CWC), and in particular in the Rapti and Gandak basins, has recommended to the CWC and Irrigation Department the testing of an improved forecasting model using Artificial Neural Networking. The proposed ANN based approach should be used as a forecasting tool instead of current practice, and its use pilot tested during the forthcoming season. This recommendation is under consideration of CWC Lucknow office.

Flood risk mapping
Under the TA, flood hazard maps of peak inundated areas during the 1998 floods, overlaid on a baseline maps of critical facilities, were prepared. This is a first step in developing a GIS based DM Information System. The maps are prepared in a hardcopy and on a CD and should be sent to all potential user departments including DM, Irrigation, Rural Development, Food and Civil Supplies, Planning, Health, Telecommunications, Jal Nigam, UP State Electricity Board, PWD, Environment as well as development NGOs working in the area. Further workshops demonstrating the maps and their potential use in preparedness planning, response and vulnerability analysis for mitigation needs to be undertaken.

The Remote Sensing Applications Center and CDM need to work out a phased program for further development of Flood risk maps, initially for all four districts of the Gorakhpur Commissionary and then for other major districts and urban centres which are hazard prone.

The IIT Roorkee report also identifies flood stages of different return periods at four sites in the Rapti and two stages in little Gandak. The report recommends that topographical surveys of the flood prone areas to a 1: 5000 scale showing contours at a 0.2 m interval be carried out. Based on the flood frequency analysis and topographic surveys, areas under submergence for different return periods can be identified and inundation maps drawn up. This exercise should be linked with the maps prepared by UP RSAC.

Review of Communication Systems
The TA undertook a review of the existing communication systems in the Gorakhpur district administration and provided a blueprint for upgrading radio communication systems for use by field engineers during the flood season. This was presented to the steering committee in Nov 2001. The conclusions of the study must be reviewed and taken up for implementation. A further report can be commissioned comparing the efficacy and costs of the proposed system and its possible integration into the current telecom infrastructure of the district as well as with other departmental networks already existing in the police and district administration.

Flood refuges
In its inception report the TA proposed the concept of village level refuges in the form of raised platforms (plinths) for refuge during periods of extended inundation. These are intended to provide temporary living space during the flood period. Another concept is to examine the upgrading/floodproofing of an existing community building. Essential to the concept is the planning of appropriate water and sanitation facilities. In CWC publications such an approach has also been identified to be pursued as a non-structural mitigation measure. It is recommended that though these concepts could not be taken up during the TA, it is worth pursuing in selected villages to develop an appropriate design and model.

Review of Natural drainage and Bundhs in eastern UP
A paper prepared under the TA reviewed ‘Disruption of Natural Drainage and Recurrent Flooding in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, focussing on Maharajganj District (Annex II: 21). The study revealed that flooding results largely from inadequate internal drainage. The natural drainage system in the district has been obstructed through the construction of a large number of bundhs and embankments, which trap natural rainwater runoff and the floodwaters that top over the embankments. It is difficult to get this water back into the regular river channel. The regulators are not very effective in siphoning off water from the tributaries.

The paper highlighted the reappraisal of flood risk and mitigation measures in other parts of the world with recognition that structural measures of flood protection are proving increasingly ineffective, and have serious environmental consequences. It may be more useful in Maharajganj district to undertake an extensive technical study of the drainage system of the district and neighbouring areas in eastern Uttar Pradesh, and design a system through which the efficiency of the drainage system as represented by different rivers and streams could be enhanced, rainwater runoff facilitated and the flooding reduced. A sustainable solution may also involve retirement or dismantling of bundhs, or installation of more efficient regulators in the bundhs.

If the artificial obstructions on the drainage are removed, floodwater could disperse over a large area, bringing with it silt for improved soil fertility and reducing the level of submergence. The principal channels of drainage will also work more efficiently, and be able to drain the water in the district and region much faster. It may not prevent or control flooding; rather it will rather bring about an adjustment with floods, and improve the agriculture and the local ecology in the process. The study and possible solutions should draw on recent work internationally in this regard.

Comprehensive water management strategy
During the TA, parts of U.P were declared drought-affected due to late arrival of monsoon rains and resulting crop damage and loss. Water logging is another recurrent problem, often exacerbated by the construction of embankments that obstruct the natural flow of a river. Rather than occasional discrete efforts constrained by administrative boundaries to deal with the problems of flood, drought, poor drainage, agricultural crop patterns/timing, changes in ground water, insufficient water, etc., there is need to examine problems and opportunities holistically, through a comprehensive water management strategy taking a river basin approach for flood control and management measures.