Update from Kiran Kumar vissa, AID India Volunteer. Just a while ago, I shared the report from Srihari about the visit to Sangala. Out of the team that went with the relief material on Oct 11th, Suresh stayed back in the village while the rest of the team returned to Hyderabad. I went on Oct 14th night to Kurnool, took a couple of agriculture resource people, and went to the villages again to specifically look at the agriculture damage. At 2:30 am on Oct 16th, Suresh and I took the train back to Hyderabad.
Instead of a narrative like Srihari's, I am sharing some important notes from our visit. Please also look at the photographs with comments at: http://picasaweb.google.com/kiranvissa/KurnoolFloodReliefTrip2# 1. Suresh offered to stay in the villages for 3-4 days, and that was really important for us to plan the trip. We knew from the first trip to Nagaladinne area that it is not possible to go from Hyd, do a good job of distribution and return the same night. 2. We also had established a good relationship with a local youth Mohan from nearby village, who is very enthusiastic about helping in the relief and also long-term rehabilitation. Mohan's presence and the fact that we planned a 5-day long trip, meant that we would get a very good picture of the local situation, and also ensure that the relief material reached the really needy. 3. It was clear from Srihari's report from Day 1, and from Suresh's report after extensive conversations with villagers on Day 2, that the most critical problem is that of agriculture. While the relief supplies kept coming in from donors, government, cultural groups and NGOs, the fear everyone had was how they will be able to earn livelihood after this disaster. Majority of the people were dependent on agriculture, and not only was entire crop lost in many fields but also the land was extensively damaged. Many farmers were saying "We dont think we will be able to grown anything in the next 2-3 years." 4. I spoke to Revathy, an AID Saathi who has a lot of experience in restoring land that was damaged in tsunami and other disasters including Tamil Nadu floods of 2005 and cyclone Aila in West Bengal this year. She is very interested in helping but no tickets were available before Diwali. I discussed with Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA) folks in Sec'bad. They already have field staff working with farmers in 5 villages near Kurnool town. Two of them, Joharapuram and Paditelapadu, were heavily damaged in the floods. We planned a joint visit to assess the agricultural damage. 5. Meanwhile, Suresh and Mohan also made contact with Mr.Bhargava of Progressive Organization of People (POP) based in Kurnool district who is also a partner of Akshara network. A group of 3 volunteers from Pune came to stay in Sangala and help with the relief work. Saurabh who is the most active member of the team is an architect and has worked on appropriate shelters etc earlier. 6. Temporary shelters: After meeting with many villagers in Sangala and nearby villages, the Pune team and Suresh felt that we should not rush into building temporary shelters. Firstly we needed to ascertain the govt's plans. More importantly, whatever we do in shelter contruction needs to be done in close collaboration with the people. They are the ones to know and decide what kind of house they want. If they prefer a pucca house constructed with Indiramma pathakam, then our making a bamboo structure wouldnt be appropriate since it would be surely torn down or abandoned very soon. Since the timing was still too early on both these counts, we decided that we wouldnt move hastily on temporary shelters. 7. Agriculture Damage: As you can see from the pictures: 8. (a) There is heavy sand deposit of 4-6 inches uniformly in many fields. http://picasaweb.google.com/kiranvissa/KurnoolFloodReliefTrip2#5394226554399865890 In some places, there are sand casts of 2-3 feet. http://picasaweb.google.com/kiranvissa/KurnoolFloodReliefTrip2#5394228185784739090 9. (b) In many fields, there is heavy erosion of top soil of 4-6 inches. It would be tough to grow crops on such land. http://picasaweb.google.com/kiranvissa/KurnoolFloodReliefTrip2#5394227241790364386 In some places, the erosion is so dramatic that there are large craters up to 12 feet deep formed in fields close to the river. http://picasaweb.google.com/kiranvissa/KurnoolFloodReliefTrip2#5394226647915179042 10. (c) The floods flattened much of the paddy crop that came in its way. Even where the crop is alive, because of lack of electricity, there is no water supply to the field for past 20 days, so there is no hope of saving that crop either. 11. Agriculture and govt: We met the Joint Director of Agriculture of Kurnool district to discuss the situatio. He only told us about the existing GOs for compensation, which is highly inadequate. More importantly, he was not ready to discuss at all about going beyond cash, and providing some technical support for farmers to get their fields back in shape. 12. Agriculture and us: In the Oct 17 meeting of BoSF called by Prashanti, I updated about AID's interest in focusing on restoration of agriculture. Any other groups or individuals who are interested in supporting this aspect are welcome to join us in discussions and visits. 13. Our next visit is during the next 3 days. Starting tomorrow morning (Oct 21), two agricultural scientists from CSA and I will reach Kurnool. Revathy and her husband from Tamil Nadu will reach Kurnool around noon. We will visit 2 nearby villages that day to meet with farmers and discuss the way forward. Suresh (Deepala) will join us on Oct 22nd morning (you can contact him if you are also interested in coming). We will visit 2-3 other villages in Nandyal and Gospadu Mandals (affected by Kundu river floods) - there are local activists of APVVU working in these Mandals who can organize follow-up programs. We will also meet with Krishi Vigyan Kendra scientists in Banaganapalle. 14. From this trip, we hope that the basics of plan for restoration of agriculture can emerge. For this, we will have a discussion on Oct 24 (Saturday) or Oct 26 (Monday) in Hyderabad. Any of you is welcome to join - I will inform about venue and time. We will look at what can be done both for agriculture and cattle/animals. thanks, Kiran I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still i can do something. I will not refuse to do something I can do .( Helen Keller )
