Intermediate Technology Development GroupNepal Country Office

(Draft Report)

IMPACT OF DISASTER ON GENDER

A CASE STUDY OF FLOOD IN NEPAL

Centre for Policy StudiesRabi Bhawan

GPO Box: 5386, KathmanduSeptember, 2000

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all, we would like to express our deep gratitude to Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG), Nepal Country Office and its Country Director (CD) Dr. K. B. Rokaya for entrusting this task to us and providing logistics and other support in the course of the study. We would also like to express our heartfelt thanks to the ITDG staffs, especially Dr. Govinda Nepal, Programme Manager, Energy Sector, Mr. Alok Rajouria, Manager, Programme Monitoring and Evaluation Unit, and Mr. Rishi Wagle, Programme Manager, Transport Unit for their support and encouragement.

Many individuals have helped us in the course of this study in one way or another. Without their co-operation and help the study would not have come to the present shape. Although it may not be possible to mention the names of all, we would like to record our sincere thanks to various persons associated with different offices, as mentioned below, without offending the generosity of others.

In the Ministry of Home, we received cooperation and help from Mr. Padam Prasad Pokharel, Secretary, Mr. Bijaya Raj Bhattarai, Joint Secretary, Mrs. Usha Nepal, Joint Secretary, Dr. Min Bahadur Poudel, Under Secretary, Mr. Lekha Nath Pokharel, Section Officer, Mr. Raj Kumar Niraula, Section Officer, and Mr. Damodar Dhakal, and Mr. Bishnu Bhakta Sigdel.

In the Ministry of Defence, we were helped by Mr. Keshav Raj Rajbhandary, Secretary, and Mr. Yuba Raj Sharma, Joint Secretary.

In Nepal Police Force, Mrs. Sheela Karki, Mr. Mohan Binod Pokhrel, Mr. Thakur Mohan Shrestha, Mr. Kamal Singh Bam, Mr. Ramji Thapa and Mr. Dilip Basnet were very helpful to us.

Mr. Murari Binod Pokharel of United Mission to Nepal, Mr. Kedar Rizal of Department of Water Induced Disaster Prevention, Ministry of Water Resources, Mr. Kabindra Bahadur Bista of Ministry of Works and Physical Planning, and Mr.Singha Raj Uprety, of Nepal Administration Staff College (NASC) also helped us in various ways. Officials of Department of Mining and Geology, Department of Soil Conservation, Luthern World Service, Nepal Red Cross Society, N-Set, ICIMOD, JOCV / JICA and UNDP were also helpful to us.

In Chitwan, we received considerable support from the officials of local bodies and other persons. They were Mr. Babu Ram Puri, Padampur Rehabilitation Commission, Mr. Bishnu Ghimire, President, and Mr. Jagannath Thapaliya, Vice President DDC, Mr. Tika Ram Aryal, CDO, Mr.

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Prakash Raj Poudel, DAO, Mr. Keshav Devkota and Mr. Ram Krishna Bagale, Buffer Zone Development Committees, Royal Chitwan National Park, Mr. Rameshwor Koirala, ADB/N Chitwan and Mr. Naranjan Lal Kakshyapati, Lions Club Narayangadh.

In the survey VDCs, Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen extended laudable help and support. They are Mr. Gopal Raj Pathak, Piple, Mr. Bal Krishna Lohani, Bhandara, Mr. Kashi Ram Chaudhary, Kathar, Mr. Krishna Lal Chaudhary, Kumrose and Mr. Hari Bhakta Ghimire, Bachhauli.

Mr. Narayan Ban and Mr. Mohan Khatiwada, Mayor and Deputy Mayor, Ratna Nagar Municipality, Mr. Yadav Pathak, Chairman, Jutpani VDC, Mr. Ek Dev Ghimire (Master Ba), Govind Pathak and Mrs. Sushila Acharya, Social Workers of Chitwan also provided necessary support in the field.

Mr. Kanchan R. Pandey, Mr. Hari R. Pandey and Mr. Sanjay Deo of Millennium Computer Center provided efficient secretarial services.

A special word of thank is due to the study team members for bearing with the difficult situation in the course of field survey and for their contribution to the preparation of report from their respective capacities.

Last but not least, we are highly thankful to the households and women, who despite their agonies and sufferings, patiently listened and replied to our queries.

8 September, 2000Prof. ( Dr. ) Sri Ram Poudyal

DirectorCenter for Policy Studies

Kathmandu, Nepal

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STUDY TEAM

1. Prof. (Dr.) Sri Ram Poudyal- Team Leader

2. Mr. Alok Rajouria - ITDG Co-ordinator

3. Mr. Phanindreshwar Poudel - Sociologist

4. Dr. Jamal Devi Shrestha - Gender Expert

5. Dr. Bamadev Sigdel - Development Economist

6. Mr. Harish Chandra Acharya - Economist / Social Communication

7. Mr. Rishav Sigdel - IT Expert

8. Mr. Narayan Khadka - Research Assistant

9. Mr. Bhanja Kaji Bajracharya - Research Assistant

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CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Gender Issues in the Context of Disaster11.2 Study Objectives 11.3 Methodology 2

II. HOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICS

2.1 Caste / Ethnicity 42.2 Family Size 52.3 Age Composition 52.4 Educational Status 52.5 Possession and Use of Skills62.6 Occupation 62.7 Land Holding6

III. HOUSEHOLD ACTIVITIES

3.1 Normal Situation 83.2 In Preparation for Disaster 93.3 In Disaster Situation103.4 In Post - Disaster Situation11

IV. IMPACT OF DISASTER

4.1 Impact in General 134.2 Impact by Occupational Groups 144.3 Impact on Women 144.4 Case Studies 15

V. REFLECTION OF GENDER ISSUES IN DISASTER MANAGEMENT

5.1 Needs and Concerns of Women 305.2 Rescue Operation 325.3 Relief Measures 335.4 Rehabilitation Programmes 33

VI. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

6.1 Conclusions 34

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6.2 Recommendations 36

ANNEX: Household Characteristics 40

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I. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Gender Issues in the Context of Disaster

Natural Disasters of various types are common phenomena in Nepal, entailing severe suffering for the households affected and the society at large. Among various types of natural disasters, flood accounts for more than 90 percent of disaster affected people. The loss of property from flood is also equally very high. But there is a dearth of information on the socio-economic effects of floods, particularly on the responses of the affected households to cope with disaster at its occurrence and afterwards and the effect on their livelihood. There is virtually no information on gender differential responses about women's condition in terms of access to food and work-loads for earning livelihood and managing the household. Natural disasters affect the entire family but the vulnerability of women is much greater because of their subordinate position in the family. Studies undertaken to analyze the condition of women in rural parts of South Asian countries reveal worse condition of women relatively to men within households even under normal livelihood condition due to patriarchy and traditionally embedded cultural values. These studies reveal higher female mortality owing to women's high maternal mortality rates, inequalities in food intake relative to men, unequal work burden due to productive as well as reproductive responsibility, lack of control over the means of production, limited facilities for training and lack of employment, etc. The hardships faced by the women of poorer households become worst when the households are the victims of natural disaster. Natural disasters like flood also cause damages to the surrounding environment and sources of water. Since the main gatherers of fuel, fodder and water are the women, their daily search for these require considerable time. Shortages of food compel them to less nutritious food, or miss some meals altogether because women are the last members to eat in the family.

The social implication of disaster is an undocumented and unexplored area in Nepal. The available information on disasters is mainly concerned with quantification of loss and technical analysis of various types of natural disasters that have occurred in Nepal and preventive mechanisms.

1. 2 Study Objectives

The main objective of the study is to analyze gender issues and concerns in the context of disaster and suggest ways of incorporating

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gender based capacities into disaster mitigation and management planning. The issue is examined with reference to flood.

The specific objectives are to:i. analyze the economic and non-economic activities performed by

men and women in managing the family during normal time, at the time of flood, and in post-flood situation;

ii. examine the differential impact of disaster on different occupational groups and age cycles of women;

iii. identify issues and concerns of women's of various age cycles;iv. analyze whether gender based needs and concerns are taken care

of in rescue /relief and rehabilitation programmes; v. suggest measures to make flood mitigation and relief planning

more effective and gender sensitive;

1.3 Methodology

The study is based on a field survey of five VDCs of Chitwan district. Chitwan was chosen for field survey because it was one of the hardest hit districts by the devastating flood of 1993. The district is at a road distance of 145 km from Kathmandu and is also connected by air. The East West Highway passes through this district. The district is situated in between the Trishuli River at Mungling and Narayani River in the north south side and the Lother, Manohari and Rapti rivers in the east west side. The latter three rivers confluence at different points and join the Nararyani River. All these Rivers of the district experienced severe flood owing to extremely intense rainfall on July 20-21 and August 10-11, 1993 in the Mahabharat Ranges. Rapti River broke fragile embankment at Sungurmara of Piple VDC and gushed into the settlements. The settlements lying along the lower sides of these Rivers were fully or partially swept away with lesser and lesser impact on the farther as well as interior settlements from east to west. The Narayani River also inundated some areas and in Madi area river Riu caused the flood. A total 20 VDCs of the district is estimated to have been affected by the flood of 1993. Of these, five VDCs were purposively selected to cover the most severely affected areas and the families. These were Piple, Bhandara, Kathar, Kumrose and Bachhauli, in order of the severity of flood in terms of losses of lives, property and infrastructure. The severity was judged after consultation with the CDO who is also the Chairman of the District Disaster Relief Committee, DDC Chairman, LDO and knowledgeable persons of the district.

A total of 100 flood-affected households at the rate of about 20 each from the selected VDCs were surveyed for gathering data and information. Households are used as the sampling unit rather than

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individual woman because the problems of women are linked with the characteristics and the condition of the households. The sexual or gender division of labour in the households, women's livelihood options, and the relative position of women to men within the household under different stress situations can not be visualized in isolation of economic, social, and organizational set up to which they belong. Variation in the condition of women because of class, caste, age, assets, differences in the forms of work organization and modes of production are seen as being specially important in order to obtain realistic generalization. Women and adolescent girls of the sampled households were also interviewed in order to probe deeper into issues and concerns of women of different age cycles and in different situations. Likewise, elderly women of the households were also interviewed to find out their needs and concerns.

The data collection techniques consisted of:i. systematic interviews of the flood affected families at the place of

resettlement or initial place; ii. observations written down and reviewed in the field;iii. non-systematic interviews with the women including case studies

and oral histories;iv. focussed group discussions of males and females of the

communities in the selected VDCs; and v. interviews with the VDC Chairpersons and the members of local

clubs.

The fieldwork was carried out between July 24 and August 10, 2000. The team of field researchers consisted principally of team leader, sociologist, gender studies specialist, development economist, communication expert and two graduates having experience in field research. A two-member research team spent one week in preparatory work, identifying and visiting the seriously affected VDCs, meeting the Chairmen of respective VDCs and carrying out house listing. The team also met the DDC Chairman, CDO, LDO, District Police, and Army Chiefs and NGOs involved in rescue/ relief and rehabilitation programmes. A second visit was made to each of the five VDCs to carry out the household level interviews, in-depth interviews with the VDC Chairmen, interviews with the local clubs and focus group discussions. The household interviews were made in places of resettlement and initial places of residence. A large majority of households in Piple and Bhandara and Bachaulli are resettled in new places, while in Kathar, and Kumrose families are staying in their old houses after removal of debris and repair of damages caused by the flood. Some families in these VDCs have also built new houses at nearby places. The households were selected using stratified random

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sampling technique in order to have representation of all castes and ethnic communities.

II. HOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICS

Household is an organization within which both sexes live and work to produce and consume goods essential for survival of the members belonging to it. The socio-economic background of the family to which they belong largely determines women's position in the household. Women who belong to well-to-do households do not have to enter the labour market as wage earners and simply remain as housewives. However, child bearing and rearing reduce their capacity to move freely and seek outside jobs. Women in poorer households not only have to carry out the whole gamut of household works crucial for family maintenance – cooking, cleaning, and collection of water, fodder and fuel wood, they also have to perform wage work. Thus, the work burden that the women have to bear in normal condition and in a situation of disaster are linked to the characteristics of the household to which they belong. The characteristics are generally analyzed in terms of caste, family size, educational status and land ownership. Apart from family characteristics, the environment, and ecology of the area also has a direct influence on the life and opportunities of women. Status of natural resources such as pastures, water and vegetation affect the lives of women, as they are the ones who collect fuel wood and fodder, and fetch water. The basic characteristics of the households under study are presented in Table A.1 in the Annex.

2.1 Caste / Ethnicity

The flood affected pockets and the resettlement areas are marked by stable social organizations with assimilative and less caste ridden culture. The dominant castes are Brahmin/Chhetri, Magar/Tamang and Lama, Darai, Danuwar Rai, Tharu, Bote and Damai/Kami/Sarki. The Brahmins also did not enjoy socio-economic preeminence as in other hill and terai areas of the country, probably because of their weaker economic position. Of 100 households selected randomly for interview, 20 belonged to high caste Hindus (Brahmin and Chhetri), 1 belonged to Newar, 4 belonged to low caste Hindus (Kami Damai and Sarki), 17 belonged to hill ethnics (Magar and Tamang) and 58 belonged to terai ethnics (Darai, Danuwar Rai, Tharu and Bote ). Majority of the households (90 percent ) are nuclear and the rest are in joint family

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system. This has implications on the position of women in decision making. Women in the nuclear family enjoy relatively more freedom in family decision making than in the joint family where the elders dominate decision making.

2.2 Family Size

The total population of 100 households is 581, of which 278 are females. The average family size of the households surveyed is 5.8 persons, which is almost the same as the national average estimated at 5.7 persons. The average family size of high caste Hindus is relatively bigger than other ethnic communities - 6.8 persons compared to 6 persons for low caste Hindus, 4.5 persons for hill ethnics and 5.8 persons for terai ethnics.

2.3 Age Composition

The age composition of the population shows that 13.3 percent are below 6 years of age, 24.4 percent below 14 years of age, 57 percent in the age group 14-59, and 5.3 percent in the age group 60 and above. The law does not permit employment of children below the age 14. So, economically active population defined as those persons in the age group 14 and above is 62.3 percent. In rural areas elderly people in the seventies and early eighties also work in the farm as well as non-farm activities as wage labourers.

2.4 Educational Status

Literacy and education status of family members is an important factor in determining livelihood activities and the capacity to cope with the abnormal situation. Education of women is a crucial factor in availing employment opportunity outside home and in managing disaster. The literacy rate of household heads shows that 63 persons out of 100 are literate. However only 20 household heads have become literate through formal schooling system. Regarding literacy of family members, 63 percent is literate, which is significantly higher than the national literacy rate of 48 percent. However, the sex differential in the literacy rate is very high. The literacy rate for females is only 39 percent as against 82 percent for males. Literacy rate among lower caste and hill as well terai ethnics is very low.

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Of those who are literate, 42 percent are literate through formal education and the rest through non-formal education. But as the level of education increases, the number attending successively higher level decreases progressively. There is also a high sex differential in school education. Although the male and female population is almost the same, the number of females with primary, lower secondary and secondary education are lower than the number of males.

2.5 Possession and Use of Skills

Very few household heads possess skills. This means that a large majority of flood-affected households do not have options to earn livelihood other than farming in the marginal land and working as wage labourers. Of those possessing skills only three household heads (two driving and one mason) are regularly engaged in their skill jobs and the rest are dependent on demand for their skill. Among women, only 12 have knitting and weaving and bamboo products making skill, but none is using their skill to produce for the market.

2.6 Occupation

The occupational structure of household heads shows that more than half (54 persons) are engaged in farming, 26 persons work as wage labourers, 6 persons are in salaried job, 2 persons work as drivers and 3 persons are engaged in petty trade. The occupational distribution of family members shows that a large majority of working age population is engaged in farming, followed by wage work. Females are also mainly engaged in farming, followed by wage work. Two women are in regular service job.

2.7 Land Holding

The land ownership pattern shows that except 19 households who are landless, the rest own some land and they earn their livelihood from farming as well as non-farming activities. A large majority of the households owning some land (59 HHs) own less than 0.678 ha, 20 households own between 0.679 ha to 2 ha and only 2 households own more than 2 ha.

III. HOUSEHOLD ACTIVITIES

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Women's relations to men are conceptualized in many different ways ranging from physical structure to physiological differences. Men on average are taller and have considerably greater body mass and greater physical strength than women. The physiological differences mainly relate to women's reproductive role and continuation of family dynasty. Women are usually glorified for their 'maternal instinct' and 'nurturing abilities', both of which define women's identities in relation to men. Owing to their greater body mass, men are perceived as inherently strong, courageous, aggressive and warlike, while women are presented as weaker, docile, and more vulnerable than men.

While most researchers agree on the physiological differences between men and women, there is considerably less agreement on the extent to which these differences actually cause differences in behavior or in the way men and women are treated in society. As is the case with so many other aspects of behavior, the nature-nurture debate is operating in the area of behavioral differences between men and women. The ethnographers have shown that the definition of maleness and femaleness varies widely from society to society. Owing to this considerable cultural variability in behaviour and attitudes between the sexes, most of the sociologists now prefer to speak of gender differences rather than sex differences. The term gender refers to "the way member of the two sexes are perceived, evaluated and expected to behave."

The term gender acknowledges the role of culture in determining the responsibilities between men and women. Many cross-cultural studies also demonstrate the enormous variability in gender role across cultures. Although very important, culture alone can not fully account for the differences in attitude and behaviour between the two sexes. The biological differences also provide a basis for the emergence of a set of attitude and behavior for women that are maternal, supportive and nurturing.

In the sample households covered by the present study, people are mostly characterized by low level of education. The caste/ethnic-related religious-cultural values and social norms and the customs and traditions embedded to these values and norms seem to have shaped the entire personality structure of the individuals. The system of thought and values have legitimized sex role, status and customary behavior in the society. The society has taken sexual division of labour as traditionally granted and made gender specific distinctions between what men and women should do. However, in some cases the gender roles are rigidly defined while in others roles of men and women are flexible and overlap considerably. Women are not encouraged to play major leadership roles and participate in activities outside the

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households at the community and societal levels. Men enjoy the majority of power, prestige and influence. The cultural values inherited by the society legitimize the subordination of women in terms of economic power, prestige, autonomy, and ideological dimensions. Women are placed in a subordinate position in their social relationship with men. Even within the household, women have very limited leadership role to play and they have limited legal rights. The society places minimum values on the potential contribution of women. The degree to which they decide on the major events of their lives such as education, profession, marriage and conception, is very low. And, they are expected to be deferential to men in all respects. On the whole economic and non-economic activities of men and women in the study area seem to be largely determined by the gender ideology prevalent in the society.

In the sample households, the main activities carried out exclusively by men include ploughing, driving (bull cart and tractor), helper/labourer in tractors, fishing, boating, machinery work, rickshaw pulling, carpentry, mason, blacksmith, tailoring and the like. Some of these activities e.g., fishing and tailoring are also carried out by women. But males are expected to do these works appreciably more than the females. On the other hand, child rearing, food preparation, collecting firewood and fodder, cleaning the house, laundering clothes, fetching water, etc are overwhelmingly the female activities. In some cases men also make minor contribution to these tasks. There are a number of works, which are performed by both men and women. These include agricultural operations such as, planting, weeding and harvesting, cattle rearing –tending, grazing, milking the animals, goat /pig farming, knitting and weaving, making crafts (basket, bamboo and cane products, etc.) running a retail-shop, and working as wage labor. It is in this backdrop an attempt has been made to describe activities carried out by men and women in normal and adverse situations such as, pre-flood situation, flood situation and post-flood situation. The distinction between economic and non-economic activities is blurred as some none economic activities may also qualify for inclusion in the category of economic activities.

3.1 Normal Situation

By and large, activities carried out by the people of the area in the normal situation include farming, wage labour and livestock raising. Analysis of economic and non-economic activities carried out by men and women show that male members of more than two thirds of the sample households (69 HHs) depend on agricultural activities as the main source of livelihood. Other economic activities carried out by male members of the households include wage labour, followed by

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livestock raising, employment in formal sector, mason, carpentry, boating, fishing, cart /tractor driving, rickshaw pulling, retail shops, blacksmith, labourer to a tractor /tanker, labor in brick kilns tailoring and elephant driver. Women are also equally engaged in agricultural operations to supplement the family income. In a majority of sample households (59 HHs), women also carry out agricultural activities individually or along with men. Women are also engaged in other economic activities such as, wage labour, followed by livestock raising, basket making out of cane and bamboo, knitting and weaving, spinning, retail shop and helping in blacksmith works. The distribution of economic activities carried out by men and women of the sample household reveals two important trends. First, both men and women carry out more or less the same activities. And second, the skilled and unskilled jobs in organized /formal sector are mainly the domain of men.

The non-economic activities carried out by men and women include household works, and social activities including participation in festivals, ceremonies, social gatherings and associations. Women in more than 90 percent of sample households are mainly engaged in different types of household chores, child rearing, food preparation, fetching water, collecting wood and fodder, cleaning house and laundering clothes. Participation on behalf of family in social functions such as, marriage, death, festivals, religious functions, etc. is the sole responsibility of men. The male members also mainly make participation in formal or informal social gatherings and community meetings. However, in a few households women also participate in such activities. But the level of participation of women in social activities such as, social gatherings and community association meetings is relatively low.

In some households (27 HHs) men are found assisting women in household chores. Some 18 household heads did not report the presence of rigidly defined gender-specific roles in carrying out the household chores /family activities. In these households, both men and women are thought to be equally responsible to each of the household activities. The general opinion is that both men and women must be supportive to each other to run the family smoothly.

3.2 In Preparation for Disaster

During rainy season every year, the villagers are constantly haunted by the fear of possible breakage of embankments along the river Rapti and consequently flooding of the village. However, the villagers do not seem to be taking any concrete activity in preparation for the flood. The most common activity carried out by the villagers in preparation

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for the flood is searching a shelter in a safe place. This is done when they notice higher water level and tidy flow of water in the river. If they feel insecure, they (mostly in the evenings) untie their cattle, and move to a near by safe place taking women, children, and valuables. The next morning, they would see if the situation were out of danger. If so, the men would go back to their homes to save whatever would be possible, while women and children stayed in the same place.

The demarcation of activities undertaken in preparation of flood into economic and non-economic is only indicative because there is no standard criterion for such classification. However, an attempt is made to broadly categorize these activities into economic and non-economic on the basis of nature of activities. The major economic activities carried out by men are untying of cattle to set them free, taking household properties, cash and other valuables utensils and clothing to a safe place. The non-economic activities of men include taking the whole family to a 'safe place' near by the village or neighbor's house or relatives' concrete home, and inform VDC office as well as fellow villagers about rising water level and tidy flow in the river. Some households did not have any idea about the preparation for flood and so they did nothing.

The flood preparation activities carried out by women are similar to those of men. Among the economic activities, they also untie the cattle, and carry household properties, valuables and cash to a safe place. The non-economic activities include moving to a safe place, or neighbour's house or relative's home with the children. In 28 households women did not have any idea. Accordingly, they did not do any thing in preparation for flood.

The activities carried out by men and women in preparation of flood seem to have three distinct characteristics. First, men and women undertake the same activities. There is no specific role of men and women. Second, the activities are ad-hoc in nature. Third, they do not seem to be taking any long run measure.

3.3 In Disaster SituationAs explained earlier, preparations for the flood by the villagers of the study area are ad-hoc, sporadic, and temporary in nature. So, in a situation of flood, people are concerned to saving their own lives first and their movable properties. If they can save themselves, they would carry out rescue operation for others. Sometimes they may undertake rescue activities even at the risk of their own lives. These observations, however, depict only the general practice and further investigation needs to be made to find out specific activities carried out by men and women in a situation of flood. But the demarcation of activities

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undertaken during flood into 'economic' and 'non-economic', as in the case of preparedness for flood, is not easy.

The main 'economic' activities carried out by men during a flood situation include taking cash and other valuables with them, carrying utensils and clothes to a safe place, untying livestock and manage to live on the 'ration' of food, clothes and utensils supplied by the relief agencies.

The 'non-economic' activities carried out by men in a situation of flood are mostly related to rescue and relief measures. These are saving own's life, rescuing women and children and informing about the flood to the VDC office/ HAAN office. A large majority of households covered by the survey took shelter in a safe place (school building, VDC building, office building) along with women and children. Some took shelter in their relatives' house and some others approached the relief camp and took shelter there. The army, through helicopter or boat, rescued persons who were stranded in a tree or a mound. In a bid to save life, some persons climbed up trees, and some others remained on the roof of the house. Some 4 households did not do anything. One household did not get any information about the disaster and the whole family was swept away by the flood, resulting in the death of two children and rescue of two adults after they were found anchored to the trees in the next morning.

The economic activities carried out by women in a situation of flood are the same as those carried out by men. These include taking cash and valuables with them carrying utensils and clothes to a safe place and manage to live on the 'ration' of food, clothes and utensils supplied by the relief agencies.

The non-economic activities carried out by women in a situation of flood are also the same as those of men. They also carried out activities ranging from conveying information to the VDC office/ Japanese camp and going to a safe place along with other members of the family and household valuables. Women who were placed in a dangerous situation were rescued by the army through boat or helicopters. Women of one household remained on the roof of the house. Women in one household did not have any idea about the activities to be carried out in a flood situation, and women of some 4 households did not do anything.

From the activities carried out by men and women in the flood situation, a few important observations are evident. First, men and women carry out the same activities. It is perhaps due to the fact that the first and foremost collective concern of both men and women is

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centered on saving their own lives and property. Second, most of the activities are of emergency nature. People acted on the basis of what their instinct suggested at the particular moment. Third, activities are mostly related to rescue of lives and valuables and procurement of relief benefits. 3.4 In Post-Disaster Situation Activities undertaken by the people in the aftermath of flood are mainly determined by their usual mode of livelihood in normal situation and the impact of flood on it. So the post-floodactivities would be basically the same as those in normal situation. But the loss of the sources of livelihood compounded by the loss of lives and property due to flood would force people to indulge in any sort of income earning activity. Similarly, rescue and relief measures undertaken during flood and the rehabilitation programmes also affect activities of people in the post-floodsituation.

By and large, people of the area are engaged in agricultural farming, wage labor and livestock raising for earning their livelihood in post-flood situation. The loss of household property (food stuff, clothes, utensils, household appliances and cash and other valuables) and livestock, destruction of house and crop of the year, and the decrease in the crop yield in the following years due to loss of fertile soil of land had placed people in severe hardship after the flood. The relief measures and rehabilitation programmes were not also sufficient to bring the flood-affected families back to their original position. So in post-flood situation, people were mainly engaged in rebuilding their houses and livelihoods. They were also engaged in various other household activities to maintain the family peacefully. These activities can be classified into economic and non-economic on the basis of their nature. Activities related to the sources of livelihood such as agricultural farming, wage labour, land renovation and productivity raising efforts, sale of farm land, borrowings/loans, and the like can be classified as economic activities. On the other hand, activities, which are not directly related to earning livelihoods and which are mainly household/ family-related activities, can be classified as non-economic activities.

The economic activities carried out by men of a large majority of sample households (70 HHs) are related to the restoration of land fertility and increase in crop yield. Some households (21HHs) carried out farm renovation works in their farmland under the 'food-for-work' programme. Some of the households (17 HHs) also hired tractor-blades to level the land by taking loans from the village moneylenders/ relatives or by selling some of their farm land. Due to the effects of flood on their livelihood, some people have started to engage in

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activities, which they did not do before, such as wage labor (12 HHs), and cultivation of other's land as tenants (4 HHs). Family members of some households are engaged in various other activities such as, job in organized sector (7 HHs), begging (1 HH), fishing (1 HH), mason (1 HH), spinning (2 HHs), carpentry (1 HH), retail shop (2 HHs), rickshaw-puller (1 HH), and metal works (1 HH). A couple of persons have left their home in search of job (2 HHs), while a few others (7 HHs) have taken loans or sold their farm land to manage 'two meals a day'. The economic activities carried by women have also been the same as those of men. They have played a supportive role in renovating the land (21 HHs), and earning livelihood working as wage labourer (23 HHs). Some women (5 HHs) have been living in the 'relief camps' and depend on the daily wage as the only means of livelihood. Some others have managed to cope with the 'economic hardships' by taking help from the relatives or by working for the relatives. Some of the women have engaged in 'new' activities as the alternative sources of their livelihood, such as spinning (2 HHs) and retail shop (1 HH). Women of two households have started begging.

The non-economic activities carried out men in the post-floodsituation are mainly related to household / family chores. These activities are the same as those in the normal situation. The main non-economic activities carried out by men in the after-flood situation include repair of damaged house, house construction in the settlement area, collection of firewood, labour contribution to build community infrastructures, such as schools, renovation of irrigation canal, etc.

As in the case of men, women's non-economic activities in the post-flood situation are the same as in the normal situation. Assisting men in the repair of damaged house, collection of fodder and firewood from the community forest and managing the household drudgeries are the main non-economic activities performed by women.

IV. IMPACT OF DISASTER

4.1 Impact in General

There was considerable damage from the flood of 1993 in the five VDCs covered by the survey. Discussion with the VDC chairpersons and local knowledgeable persons revealed that the scale of human and natural tragedy involved was very high. The grim and despairing struggle of men, women and children to save themselves from drowning, the agony of farmers watching their farm land covered by

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debris and the pain of those who have lost their close ones are invisible in the statistical figures. Seven years later, the ravages of flood are still evident in various forms.

In the VDCs covered by the survey, the flood affected about 1000 families. The death toll was 15, of which 6 were women, 4 were men and 5 were children. Some deaths occurred after the flood, but the cause is associated with the flood. The death of cattle was in thousands. Many flood-devastated settlement were a living hell for several days due to bad odor of decay of dead animals. Community properties such as schools, drinking water system, irrigation system were also destroyed. In Kumrose VDC, the unique community canal of 572 meter, constructed with the support of CARE, Nepal in 1986 was severely damaged and made useless. The canal had brought about a significant change in the socio-economic condition of the people residing in the VDC. Among the households covered by the survey, 5 households were bereaved by the death of household member from the flood. The dead persons were 2 girls 2 men and 2 children, of whome one adult and one child were swept away by the flood. One man drowned the next day when he went to the flooded house to untie the cattle and 1 baby of 13 days died of pneumonia after 7 days. The total land damaged by the flood was 29.84 ha. About 74 houses were completely damaged and the rest were partially damaged. Household assets such as untensils, bed, etc. were also swept away in large quantity. Some 70 households lost livestock and poultry. The number of livestock and poultry lost was 39 cows, 45 goats, 16 oxen, 6 pigs and 136 chickens, community resources such as drinking water system, irrigation canal, hand pumps, and 2 schools were also damaged.

4.2 Impact on Occupational Groups

Not everyone was equally affected by the flood. The flood severely affected the small farmers and the households of lowest wrung of socio-economic hierarchy. The most affected households were those who were staying in low lying flood prone land close to river Lother and Rapti. These households mostly belonged to terai ethnics, followed by hill ethnics. These communities lived by the side of the river because of the convenience of fishing and collecting logs and wood being carried by the river. These communities earned their livelihood from fishing and working as wage laborers. Occupation wise also there was differential impact of the flood.

The major sufferers have been the landless and small farmers. Before flood, the landless used to earn their livelihood cultivating others' land on share-cropping basis and working as agricultural wage labourers.

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The flood washed away large tract of farmland and converted vast areas of land into a desert. As a consequence, the opportunity to cultivate others' land on share cropping basis is severely curtailed. Even if the land is available, it is not worth labouring on it because of terribly poor yield. When the farming operation is severely limited, there is hardly an opportunity for working as wage labourers.

4.3 Impact on Women

The flood of 1993 has made women's life more difficult. The impact has been diverse on different age groups of women. Before flood, the housewives managed the households with the produce of the land and the earnings of their husbands and their own. They were used to the habitat of their house. They also used to get seasonal employment as wage labourers in agricultural season. But after the flood they have been exposed to various problems and difficulties. The main common problem of women and young girls is the lack of employment opportunity for earning livelihood. To ensure their own survival and that of their families, women are entering the labour force along with men in search of wage employment. But women are facing more constraints than men in obtaining employment because of limited activities in which women are usually engaged. The farm activities in which females are employed include rice planting, weeding, and harvesting. The women who had lost all their meager belongings and their life long savings have not been able to compensate their losses even after 7 years.

A large majority of mothers (40 out of 110) are faced with the problem of sending their children to school owing to lack of income to provide for books, stationery, and clothes. They said that spending on children's education is out of question, when the family is hovering on the verge of subsistence. Three women are suffering from the common post disaster reactions such as, 'nightmares' and 'horror of flood in future'. Such reactions, although normally expected to settle in first few months, have become protracted and continued up to the present.

A large majority of school going age girls are out of school in the study area. The reasons behind this are economic, economic hardship due to flood and lack of basic facilities. Forty percent of the girls could not attend school due to extreme poverty. Another 33 percent of the girls were unable to do so due to the disturbance of livelihood after flood and 13 percent of girls could not go to school due to lack of time. They were forced to walk farther and farther to collect fodder and firewood. Some of the girls were forced to discontinue education because of their fathers' indulgence in playing cards and drinking alcohol. The flood has

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made three young girls, who wanted to complete at least SLC, to discontinue education. The main reason has been the economic hardship of the family.

Mothers as well as young girls are also facing problems in gathering fuel, fodder and water in the present resettlement area. The resettlement area is a squatter with limited access to safe water, electricity and sanitation facilities. There are not even tube wells or latrines at the community level, not to speak of their availability at the household level. Construction of latrine in the homestead is not possible because of small piece of land (0 .017 ha) provided to each family for housing purpose. The lack of toilet has affected women and adolescent girls more than men because of the need of former for privacy in defecation. They have to wake up early in the morning or wait till darkness for defacation.

The old people are in a more difficult situation than before. Generally old people feel more secure and get proper care in a joint family. As a consequence of flood, many joint families were broken down into nuclear units and forced to settle in new places. This has adversely impacted on the old people by making them alienated and insecure. This, in turn, has resulted in low access to various services from the family members with regard to adequate food and timely treatment, which they used to get before the flood

4.4 Case Studies

Seven case studies are presented in order to highlight the condition of women who were either lactating mothers of a few days or have lost their primary relatives due to flood. Though the case studies are limited, they can be taken to be representative of women's issues and living condition in general, in emergency, and rehabilitation and reconstruction phases of flood cycle. The issues contained in these case studies can be equally valid in other flood-affected areas of Chitwan or any other district. The case studies are built on the tales verbally expressed by each individual woman. Although each voice is separate, they constitute a collective voice showing the peculiarity as well as similarity of difficulties faced by women at different phases of disaster cycle.

1. Shanti Maya Rai : A Case of Post Partum Trauma

Shanti Maya Rai, who is 23 years old and is a 'Danuwar Rai' by ethnic, lives at Raigaon of Bhavanipur Kuna in Ward No. 8 of Bhandara VDC.

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This place was developed for settlement of families of Pyaridhap village made homeless by the flood of 1993.

Shanti Maya was never admitted to any school for education. Nor does she posses any skill. She was married at the age of 16 with Harka Bahadur Rai (23 years) of the same village. By then, Harka Bahadur had already left his school after passing class three from the local school.

After her marriage, she lived with her husband’s family, which was an extended family consisting of Harka Bahadur's parents, brothers and sisters. The family had a small piece of agricultural land of 0.2119 ha. The major source of livelihood for the family was the produce of the land, which was of best quality for growing rice because of alluvial soil and availability of irrigation facility throughout the year. Two crops of paddy were harvested every year with as much as 1000 kg. of rice per crop. They also used to cultivate other's land on lease on crop-sharing basis. They raised livestock –buffaloes, goats and chicken. On the whole, the economic condition of the family was fairly good.

Shanti Maya had delivered a baby just 8 days before the occurrence of flood (5th Shravan, 2050). On that day, the water level and its flow in the Rapti river was unusually high. The villagers of Pyaridhap sensed the probability of flood in the village and, so as a precaution, took shelter in the 'safe' place nearby the village. Shanti Maya and her newly born baby were also taken to her mother's natal home (maternal uncle's home). The next day, she left her uncle's home and stayed in a house nearby the highway. After three days, she was sheltered in the relief camp, set up at the high way side. Her family members who were at the house also managed to escape and saved their life. They were also sheltered in the same camp.

Shanti Maya stayed in the camp for about a month along with other flood affected families in a congested environment. During her stay there, she was under severe mental stress and strain due to the feeling of uncertainty and loss of confidence. She was worried about the loss of property, livestock, crops, and land. The environment in the camp was painful not only because everyone was distressed but also because of physical ailments of a large number of people with severe cough and cold, diarrhea and dysentery. There were cries in each nook and corner all through the day and night. Shanti Maya felt suffocated to the environment but had no option. The disturbances often disturbed the sleep of the newly born child and made him cry.

Shanti Maya and her 8 days old baby were exposed to a very adverse situation in the camp. She had to live on the ration of food, clothes and

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utensils, distributed by the relief agencies. Not only were the food items insufficient to her but the distribution was also irregular and uncertain. Very often she did not get food on time and sometimes, she had to live on one meal a day; and even without any meal in some days. She said that the influential persons were in a position to grab disproportionate share of the relief material at the cost of others in the camp.

Although Shanti Maya heard about the special treatment / relief materials warm clothes bed materials, milk powder, cooking oil and a chicken being provided to the lactating mother, she did not receive any of these. Even the ordinary ration was not easily accessible to them. At that time her father-in-law was also sick, and so her husband could not go outside the camp to enquire about the items being distributed.

After about a month, Shanti Maya’s family was allotted 0.0255 ha land at Bhawanipur Kuna for resettlement. Harka Bahadur‘s three younger brothers also managed to get 0.0339 ha land each for resettlement in the same area. All the brothers constructed a separate house of their own and began to live separately in a nuclear family of their own. Their parents, however, lived in Pyaridhap – the original place. Thus, the flood has resulted in the disintegration of an extended family into five different nuclear families–four families at Raigaon/Bhavanipur Kuna and one at Pyaridhap. However, all the families own the land of 0.2119 ha at Pyaridhap in common. They work on the farm together and share the yields of the crops. The agricultural land at Pyaridhap is about one hour walking distance from the residence at Bhananipur Kuna. The soil of the land was flooded away and the land was filled with sand, concretes and stones. The land remained almost barren for another four years. They had to work hard on the land to repair/improve its surface. In order to improve the agricultural land, the relief agencies supplied 'food-for-work' to them. They received 3.5 kg. of rice per person per day for working on their own land. The VDC also supplied 'Grader-Blades' to level the surface of the land. Recently, the family spent an amount of Rs. 15,000.00 on hiring a 'tractor-blade' to level the surface of the land. They have also taken a loan of Rs 15,000.00 from Nepal Bank Ltd. for hiring a 'tractor-blade' to level the surface of the land on the collateral of the land itself. The productivity of the land has increased some what over the last three years. It is now as much as half of the 'original' one. Last year, they produced as much as 500 kg. of rice from each of the two crops of the year.

Shanti Maya’s husband, 30 years old, possesses the skill of bag-stitching. He acquired the skill while working in a factory in Kathmandu. Now he works in a bag-stitching company in New Delhi where he could find the job throughout a year and earns as much as

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1500/ IC per month. This has been the main source of her family income. Recently, after eleven months of his continuous work in New Delhi, he has come back home with a 'sizeable amount' of money.

Shanti Maya performs a number of household works. They include among many others, rearing her children and goats, cooking, collecting firewoods, fetching water and the like. She also works on her as well as on rented land. She even works as agricultural labour for daily wage. As a labourer she learns Rs. 70.00 a day. However, the work as a daily wage labourer is not available throughout he year. Her work, as agricultural labourer, is mostly concentrated in rice plantation and harvesting seasons.

Although Shanti Maya has mothered three children, but none of the births was delivered in the health facility. The delivery was assisted by the traditional birth attendants (TBAs) . In case of sickness, she visits the Health Center and the Medical Halls at Bhandara. She consults the traditional healers (the Jhankris). She has not yet sent her daughters (7 years and 5 years) to school, although there is a primary school at Bhavanipur Kuna near by the Raigaon. She is, however, determined to send the daughters to the school. She feels that education to the children of poor families like hers should be completely free. In the settlement area, drinking water is one of the most serious problem faced by Shanti Maya and her neighbours in Raigaon.

Thus, the flood of 1993 besides impinging hardships and mental depression to Shanti, affected the life of Harka Bahadur in two ways. Firstiy, he lost his family property including the productivity of the farm land, the only source of family income. Secondly, Harka Bahadur and his three younger brothers managed to get a separate homestead of their own and lived in the nuclear family of their own.

2. Kamala Chaudhary: Strain of Disastrous Misfortune

Kamala Chaudhary, aged 28, is a resident of ward No. of 3 Kathar VDC, which is in the inner parts of the district. She has come from Tharu peasant family. Kamala got married with Jhochia Chaudhary at the age of 19. At her schooling age, she was not enrolled by her guardians to school. So she is illiterate like her husband. But she still dreams of informal education. She knows the importance of education for social change and is determined to enroll her children - 5 year old son and 1 year old girl to the school once they attain schooling age.

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The Tharu community mainly depends on agriculture, followed by fishing, service and other semi-skilled or un-skilled manual works for their livelihood. Most of the marginalized Tharu peasants work in other's land on share-cropping basis. But Kamala' s family is not engaged in share-cropping. Her husband Jhochia does carpentry work in Kathar VDC and she works as un-skilled agricultural in the VDC. The family has 0.5679 ha land which is not sufficient to sustain their livelihood. That is why, they both have to work hard for extra earning for maintaining their family. Whenever they have time or do not get work, they go for fishing in the riverside (Lothar and Manahari).

The flood of 1993 occurred at night around 1 o'clock in the mid night. They were sleeping inside the house. The flood penetrated the house. When the flood water was full up to the ground floor of their thatched hut, they hurriedly climbed up the roof of their house. It was too dark outside and they could not see any thing except sound of cry and weep of children and men. They were much terrified and could not think what so had happened to them. As they were sitting on the roof of their thatched hut, all of a sudden their hut began to crumble down and eventually fell apart. Kamala fell from the roof, lost control of her daughter, who was in her arms. She was also separated from her husband. When she was swept away half km. away from her house, one of her cousin noticed her and swam to the water. He managed to catch her hand and rescued her. Thus, she was saved. On the other hand, Kamala's husband, who was also swept away almost half km. away from his dwelling, managed to hold a wooden pillar of a bridge built over a small rivulet in the area. Thus, her husband was also saved. Kamala was reunited with her husband the next morning. She was overwhelmed with happiness but at the same time had the agony of losing her child. When she saw her husband alive she gazed at his face for some time and rushed towards him and embraced him strongly weeping for at least half an hour. Besides the house, the flood also washed away several chicken, one pig and two goats. Kamala estimates that the loss of property was worth Rs. 75,000.00

Kamala's life, like other women of her village, has been made more difficult by the flood of 1993. The agricultural land has been converted into a desert of sand and rock. They have not been able to renovate the land for lack of fund.

Kamala's family lived on the ration of food, clothing and other materials, distributed by various government and non-government bodies in the relief camp for three months. They were provided cereals, old clothes, utensils, tent and lumber to construct their house. Kamala says that rehabilitation programme did not care much for the

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children, pregnant women, young children and old men. She feels that benefit of relief measures had mainly gone towards the upper class because of their connections with the local political leaders and relief distributors.

Kamala says that males of the Tharu community do not pay much attention to household works and often play card and drink much. That is why, Tharu women have to bear much burden inside the house. This has created hardship in the family. She has heard about women's group for socio-economic empowerment of women. But such groups were not coming up in the area. She is determined to educate her children up to higher secondary level at any cost.

3. Santi Darai : A Case of Post Partum Strain

Mrs. Santi Darai, aged 27, is a resident of Ward No. 9 of Kathar VDC which is in inner part of the district. She belongs to indigenous Darai peasant family consisting of five family members. Santi Darai got married with Bhunte Darai at the age of 17. She is an illiterate mother of four children - three girls child and one boy. The girls are 11 years old, 9 years old, 7 years old and the boy is just 4 years old. Her two elder girls go to the primary school and the last two stay at home. At her schooling age, Santi did not get any primary education facility at local school of her village. She seemed to be more frustrated and nervous when we talked about her education. She still dreams of receiving non-formal education of any kind from any source at her village. Knowingly or unknowingly she gave four births and had to bear the burden of feeding and educating them. She intends to have laparoscopy very soon.

Santi's family owns 0.5424 ha of land. They also work in other's land on share-cropping basis. Santi's couple work for six months in the agricultural land and generally remain idle for six months. Her husband is a carpenter but he does not get regular job. Santi is frustrated of not possessing any skill training in the past. She said that no one came to her village to provide skill training to the uneducated Darai women before or after the flood. She is highly interested to receive income generating training.

At the time of 1993 flood, Santi was sleeping with her husband and children. It was at mid-night between 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. All of a sudden, the water level rose up and up. They were frightened and could not guess what had happened or gone wrong in their area. The roaring, crying and weeping sound of children and women of

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neighborhood further terrified the situation. Meanwhile, some knocked and called "Santi quickly come outside the house and proceed toward highland area with your children". Santi followed the voice, came outside and managed to reach to a safer place at a height and stayed whole night there, sharing the sorrows with other villagers. Santi recalled that the flood was deadly and it is beyond one's capability to count the losses of life and property in Kathar VDC. She also added that at the time of flood, they were not rescued by any ferry, helicopter or boatman. The neighbourers rescued them and provided moral as well as material support through various means.

At the time of flood Santi was at her post partum stage of 10 days. She required good food and needed rest but had to remain in the camp along with her neighbors. She had to clean the dish, take care of young children and work as manual labourer along with her fellow women. During her stay in the relief camp, Santi's family had received some old clothes, some cereals, utensils, etc. from the relief agencies such as, CARITAS, Red – Cross, RRN and the DDC and VDC. But these materials were not sufficient for meeting their minimum requirements. The women and children were not treated differently from men during the time of rehabilitation.

She recalled that she was not treated as a pregnant women and she did not get any additional relief materials or food. She had to manage all the problems by herself with the support of her husband. The life was much hard for the couples. Her husband had to work for 10 to 12 hours a day as paid worker in the farm or construction sites. Santi earns just Rs 70 per day from the manual work. Her husband earns hardly Rs. 2000 per month. Santi is confident that if she were given skill training in sewing, knitting, etc. she could earn additional income to support the family. She does not prefer to go outside her house for work because she has to care the two young children. She is in need of money to enroll her children at local school in the near future.

4. Thuli Rai: A Case of Severe Economic Hardship

Thuli Rai, aged 38, belongs to Danuwar Rai ethnic. She was married at the age of 17 to a person who was one year senior to her. She had never been to school, nor been to adult literacy classes. So she is illiterate. The family used to live in Parsa village (Ward No. 8 of Piple VDC) before the flood of 1993. After the flood, her family is resettled at Sundarbasti along with other flood affected families of Piple VDC.

At Parsa village, the family had a tile roofed one-story house and owned 1.0 ha bigha of land. Things were good and they were well

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managing the family of 8 persons with the produce of land supplemented by extra income earned by her husband as a carpenter.

The flood made the family homeless. The house and 0.4746 ha land were washed out by the flood. The remaining portion of the land was full of debris of sand and stones. The family also lost one buffalo and 5 goats.

On the night of flood, an elderly neighbor woman informed that the river was damaging the embankment and there was a danger. Immediately upon hearing this information, her husband took her and 7 children to a higher place safe from water. At that time Thuli had a delivery of 10 days. At a time when she needed complete rest, good care and nutritious food for the physical upkeep of both the mother and the child, she had to stay in a very difficult situation. The family was put at a relief camp nearby the bus park along with other flood-affected families. The family stayed at the camp for one month surviving on the insufficient ration of food distributed by various relief agencies of RRN, CARITAS, Red-Cross. At that time, her need was greater because of her recent delivery, but there was no special consideration of her needs and concerns. She had received one chicken, 1 litre of oil and 1 litre of ghee from Man Mohan Adhikari, the opposition leader at the lower house, who visited the camp. Apart form these additional items, no extra consideration was given to her. After 4 days of her stay in the camp, the baby child had caught fever. She took him to the nearest health post for treatment and was cured after 10 days. The child was very feeble and suffered from malnutrition owing to her poor health. She was not able to satisfy the child by breast feeding and the family had no means to bottle feed the child. Thuli was also very weak and often had nausea. Apart from the small baby, she had to take care of other 6 children who were of 13, 9, 7, 5, and 3 years of age. Her husband, highly depressed over the loss of property and pathetic condition of his wife, was not in a mood to search wage work. After a week, he started to search daily wage work as a laborer or carpenter, but it was in vain. As there were several others like him in the labor market and the opportunity for wage work was limited, he could not get wage work regularly.

After a month of stay in the camp, the family was moved to the resettlement area and was allowed 0.017 ha of land for housing purpose. The family stayed in a temporary hut for some months and constructed a house by selling some land. In the new place, Thuli gave birth to two children. When enquired about why the couple did not control births when they did not have the means to support them, she was rather shy to answer. After some gossip, she told that the couple did not simply think of using temporary birth control measures, even

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though they knew about these. Her husband had bone TB and was treated by an orthopaedic surgeon in Kathmandu. The doctor had advised him not to undergo vasectomy operation. Thuli herself was not ready to undergo laparoscopy operation because of the fear of side effects such as back pain, difficulty in doing heavy works, bleeding, etc. The couples have, however, started using temporary birth control measures after the birth of last girl child who is now 2 years old.

The family is now facing a great hardship to fulfill the basic needs. In an effort to enhance the earning, her husband borrowed Rs. 10,000.00, at the interest rate of 36 percent (Rs. 1 per day per Rs. 1000.00) from a local money lender, pledging the collateral of land in 1996 to start goat farming He bought the goats and everything was going well, but last year, a strange unknown disease spread and the goats died one after another. There was no veterinary treatment facility in the village. He had no other source of income to repay back the loan, which was accumulated to Rs. 19,262.00 by 1998 due to compounding of interest amount. So, her husband was forced to sell one half of his land at an amount of Rs. 98,000.00. The money was partly used to repay back the loan, partly to roof the house with tiles and the remaining amount was used to repay the credit of purchase of food and clothes in the last 2 years.

The family has now only 0.2373 ha of land, the produce of which is hardly sufficient to meet the food requirement of the family for 2 months. The eldest son, who is now 20, attended up to 9 class and has given up study owing to poverty of their family. He is willing to work as wage labor, but is not able to get the work throughout the year. The wage work is available only in April and July which are ploughing and sowing season for maize and planting season for paddy, respectively. The wage rate is only Rs. 70.00 per day for 6 hours work. The eldest daughter who is now 18 years old eloped last year with a person not known to the family. Perhaps the main reason for this runaway was the inability of the parents to arrange her marriage with someone better than them. The girl has a problem in the leg and limbs while walking. The disease was not treated owing to lack of finance. The next son is continuing education at class six. The second daughter, aged 14, is a dropout in class four and stays idle. Other three children are continuing education at the nearby school. The boy, born at the time of flood, studies at nursery in the same school along with his elder brothers and sisters.

Thuli is facing a very difficult time to feed and cloth 8 children and bear the schooling expenses of four of them. Thuli says, "work and schooling of children are the two important things for us presently". She is somehow managing the family with the income earned by her husband

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and the eldest son. Thuli is concerned to start income generating activities, but lack of resource is the main constraint. Thuli argues, "if resource was available, I would take up buffalo rearing but for this I would have to sell the land, and if some thing goes wrong, I would be nowhere"

5. Bal Kumari Rai: A Case of a Widow's Agony

Bal Kumari Rai who is 40 years old, is a Danuwar Rai by ethnic and lives at Sundarbasti, Madtol of Bhandara VDC. This area was developed to rehabilitate the people of Parsa, Parsauni, and Pratappur villages of Ward No. 8 of Piple VDC, affected by the flood of 1993. Bal Kumari's initial house was in Parsa village of Piple VDC.

Bal Kumari was born to a Rai family at Hatiya VDC of Makwanpur district. She was never admitted to any school for education. When Bal Kumari was 16 years old, she came in close contact with Buddhi Bahadur Rai, aged 20 years, of Parsa village of Piple VDC, who then lived at her village and worked there as a wage labourer. She fell in love with him and consequently eloped from the house to get married.

After the marriage, Bal Kumari lived with her husband's family at Parsa village of Piple VDC. Buddhi Bahadur's family was an extended family consisting of his parents, brothers, sister, and sister-in-laws. After some years, when Bal Kumari had 5 children (four sons and a daughter), they were separated from the joint family and lived in a nuclear family of their own. Like other women of her community, Bal Kumari had delivered all her births at home with the assistance of traditional birth attendants (TBAs). She had never been to health facility for antenatal or post- natal check-up.

After separation from the family, they had a house of their own made of timber and bricks with roof of corrugated sheets. They had received 0.5763 ha of land as their share of parental property. The land was of best quality for growing rice because of fertile soil and availability of irrigation facility throughout the year. They used to harvest two crops of paddy a year, producing as much as 3000 kg. of paddy from each of the two crops. Besides, they also cultivated others' land as tenants on crop-sharing basis. They also raised buffaloes, goats, and chicken. The produce of the land and the products of livestock raised by them sufficiently met the family requirements.

The bad days started to the family after the flood of 1993. One day before the disaster the villagers of Parsa noticed exceptionally high flow of water in Rapti river and feared destruction of dam and flood in

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the village. As a precaution, the households untied their cattle and buffaloes, left their homes and took shelter in a 'safe' place near by the village. Bal Kumari's family too left their home and took shelter in a house by the High Way side. True to their fear, the river broke the embankment at mid-night and flooded the entire village. As other villagers, Bal Kumari lost whatever materials she had in the house - food stuffs, clothes, utensils, etc. in the flood. Three buffaloes 5 goats and 15 chicken were also swept away by the flood. Her house was completely damaged. The land, which had standing paddy crop, was filled with sand and concrete.

The next morning along with other villagers Bal Kumari's family was taken to a relief camp. Bal Kumari and her husband were panicky and were haunted by the feeling of insecurity and uncertainty because all the property they had was swept away by the flood. Her husband was particularly worried about livestock, because he had forgotten to untie the buffaloes and goats out of haste to take the family to a safe place as soon as possible. He thought that it was his duty to untie and rescue the buffaloes and goats so that they could also save their lives. So he decided to go home. But his family members, relatives, and friends advised him not to go there, because the place was still water logged. Despite repeated resistance from his fellow villagers and relatives, Buddhi Bahadur was determined to go to perform his 'minimum duty' of untying and rescuing the livestock, which have become a part and parcel of his life. He seemed to be confident in accomplishing the task because he was a good swimmer. As Danuwar Rai community lives near the river and depends on boating and fishing for livelihood, playing with water is not uncommon to them. They are also good rescuers of local people in case of their drowning in the river.

But this time fate was not to his side. Buddhi Bahadur could never reach his home. On half way to his home he stuck on a swamp. He could not get out of the swamp and was drowned. No one could dare to go there to rescue him. The army was immediately called upon for rescuing him. The call was promptly responded and Buddhi Bhadur was rescued. He was rushed to district hospital in an ambulance, which was called upon by the army through telephone. Buddhi Bahadur was given emergency treatment to bring him back to consciousness from the state of coma. But he did not gain consciousness and died in the hospital the next morning. The death of husband was an irreparable loss to Bal Kumari throughout her life. She wept for several days and did not eat any thing. Her close relatives constantly solaced her and stood ready to help her in case of need. She gradually reconciled with her ill fate as ordained by the God and started to look after her young siblings. The family was granted an ex-gratia amount of Rs. 2000.00 towards the funeral expenses.

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After three days, Bal Kumari and her children along with fellow villagers, were placed in a relief camp made of tents by the side of the East-West High way at Madtal of Bhandara VDC. She had to live on the ration of food, clothes and utensils distributed by the relief agencies. They stayed there for about three months. During these months, Bal Kumari did not have any other option for livelihood.

After three months of stay in the camp, Bal Kumari was taken to the resettlement area at Madtal of Bhandra VDC by her brother-in-law (younger brother of her husband) who had managed to acquire a small piece of land (0.017 ha) for resettlement there. Almost all the flood-affected families had managed to acquire 0.017 ha of land for resettlement but Bal Kumari was left out. As she was a widow, her concerns and needs were lost sight of by the authority in the allotment of land. She stays in a hut attached to her brother-in-law's hut at his mercy. She may have to quit the place any time, if her brother-in-law asks to do so.

The most pressing need of Bal Kumari is to have a piece of land of her own so that she would be able to live without the constant anxiety of being made shelter less. The family has been managing food and clothing by working hard as wage labourers. But it is next to impossible for them to own a piece of land for shelter of their own from their meager hand- to-mouth earnings. The need for a separate shelter has become most pressing because two of her sons are married and are in need of separate rooms. It may not be possible to accommodate all in the present hut when the next two sons also get married. Although Bal Kumari owns a land of 0.5763 ha at Parsa, but it is not suitable for residential purpose because of low level and the risk of flood. They cannot 'risk' their lives by residing in the flood-prone area.

The main source of livelihood of the family is wage work. Although her sons and their wives supported Bal Kumari in earning livelihood, their total earning is not sufficient to meet the family expenses and schooling of three children. The problem is compounded because opportunities for working as agricultural. labourers are not available throughout the year. She also started to make home liquor for sales in the local market to supplement the wage earning. There was no production in their land for three years. She got the support of 3.5 kg of rice per person per day for working on her own land towards its reconstruction under the "food for work" programme. In addition, the VDC also applied Grader-Blades to level the surface of her as well as others' land in the area. She also hired 'tractor-blades' at her own expense to level the surface of the land. As a result, there has been an increase in the productivity of land and the level of production has

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reached half the quantity before the flood. The family also cultivates other's land as tenants on crop-sharing basis but do not raise any livestock for lack of grass and grazing place.

Bal Kumari has a debt of Rs. 1,00,000.00. She has borrowed this money from the local moneylender pledging the land as collateral at a very high rate of interest. The loan was used for meeting household expenses, bearing the cost of tractor-blades to level the land and sending her eldest son to Dubai, UAE. He has been working in Dubai since April 1999 and has sent Rs. 30,000.00 to the family after a year. The amount was not sufficient even to cover the interest of the loan. Bal Kumari is worried about capturing of land by the moneylender, as loan repayment in near future does not seem feasible.

6. Devi Rai: A Case of Post Partum Distress

Devi Rai is one of the thousands of victims of the 1993 flood, which affected most of the poor people in Chitwan. They had to leave their place as their huts were washed away by the flood. Her 60-years-old mother-in-law told that the devastation of flood reduced them to shedding tears. Their grief was unbearable.

Born in 1970 in Hile, Parsa village of Chitwan, Devi got married when she was 20 years old and at that time her husband was 22. she never had any opportunity to go to school like most of the girls in her community.

Before the flood they used to cultivate 0.017 ha of their own land area and used to live in a hut of mud. Her husband used to earn some money by selling fish. This source of earning has also been lost now, as the local authority does not allow fishing in Rapti river. Nevertheless, life was manageable to them somehow.

Nowadays, while Devi cultivates 0.1695 ha of other's land on crop-sharing basis, her husband works as a tractor driver. He earns about Rs. 150 per day. But mostly he squanders his earning in gambling. The share of crops that she gets, about five sacks, is the main source of income for Devi. Obviously, this is not enough to support the family livelihood. Devi sadly expressed her grave concern for not being able to send her four children, two boy's and two girls, to school due to lack of money. She expressed that the government should provide free education and books so that children like them can attend school. She is very much aware of the need of education. She is even willing to attend adult education classes if she has such a facility in her area. When enquired about why she has not practiced family planning, she

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expressed her apprehension about the side effects and her unawareness about various measures of family planning.

Like many other flood victims, Devi lives in a hut of mud constructed in the forestland of Sunderbasti. In the beginning her community was constantly harassed by forest guards to vacate the place. Devi Rai recounts the hardship faced with her newborn baby after the flood.

The flood that devastated her life came at night. She was mother of 7 days to her first born at that time. They had to fend for their survival without any outside help. As she had just delivered her baby, her father took her to his place, but soon she had to return to her family, as her maternal place too feared flood.

Devi Rai and family did not receive immediate relief but got ration for three months. But the ration was too less to feed her and her family. Thus, she could not breast feed the baby adequately and there was no facility for bottle-feeding.

Devi said that there is less fear of probable flood in the present place. Her major worry is unemployment in the off-season and limited land. Like many others in her community, Lood victim families were given 0.017 ha of forest land, which is too small. This has created a great inconvenience to defecate during the day. She told that all the girls and women have this problem.

Mostly farming, household works, and water fetching and fuel collection in the forest consume her daily time. When wage labour was available during planting season she used to work. She used to get Rs. 70.00 for a day, while men used to get Rs 80.00 for the same work for a day. We could not meet her even at her hut early in the morning at 7 a.m. She had already left for the rice-mill for paddy processing. She told that she had to wait in queue for two-three hours for her turn to come.

She is worried that she and her family could not cultivate their old land as the top soil has been completely washed away and now covered by sand and stones. It is beyond their means to clear the sand and rebuild the land.

She does not know the existence of the programmes like Production Credit for Rural Women (PCRW) and other micro finance programme.

7. Fohari Chaudhary: Woe of Child Death

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Fohari Chaudhary, aged 38, belongs to Tharu community. She was married at the age of 17 with a 19 year landless person of her own community. She is illiterate. She was not sent to school by her parent owing to poverty and has not also been benefited from non-formal education. Fohari lives at Dabali village, Ward No. 6 of Kumrose VDC. Her family was settled there by the Small Farmers Development Programme some 15 years ago under the "Housing Programme for Landless Farmers" The family was allotted 0.017 ha of land and a small loan for house construction.

Fohari has given birth to 6 children. Of then, 3 daughters have already been married and they stay with their husbands. The eldest son is also married with one girl child of 2 years of age. Her husband and the eldest son both work in a motor garage in Kathmandu since last 3 years. The son does not earn much because he is at the learning phase, but her husband earns and also sends some money back home, which is the main source of livelihood for 5 persons. Fohari and her daughter-in-law also work as wage labours, if they get the work. But the work opportunity is limited to a few months of a year, particularly during farming season.

Fohari's second son, who is 8 year old, is sent to a nearby school. He studies in class one. But the daughter, who is 12 years old, is not sent to school because of financial constraints. To Fohari, the economic loss from the 1993 flood was not as severe as to others, because her village was further away from the main catchments and the land was not washed away. The house was, however, filled with mud and debris.

Although Fohari did not have to suffer severe economic loss due to flood, she had to bear the woe of her youngest girl who was born just 3 days before flood. The whole village had sensed the probability of flood in the evening. Her husband took her and the children to a nearby village mound. At that time she was highly delicate and needed good care. But it was exposed to harsh climate and unfavorable environment. They spent the whole night there without food and sleep. Next morning, their village was full of water. The rescue team came there in a plastic boat and took them to the relief camp set up at Khairani, by road side. Her husband did not go with them and stayed there along with other men of the village, waiting for the floodwater to recede and return back home.

Fohari was sheltered in the camp for 5 days along with her 7 small children whose age raged from 3 days to 11 years. She was forced to live on the ration of food and other materials distributed in the camp. She did not receive extra food and clothes in consideration of her need. She was forced to survive on the ration of food and other materials,

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which was insufficient to meet her requirements. The distribution was not also regular. The small children often cried out of hunger, but there was no way out to satisfy them. Fohari was too weak to speak loud to draw attention of relief providers towards her pathetic condition. Thus she had a very hard time to keep the newly born baby and herself alive in the relief camp.

Fohari found her newly born baby having high temperature on the second morning of her stay in the camp. The problem was communicated to the relief providers, and a health worker came in the afternoon and gave some medicines. The temperature did not recede and Fohari did not know what she should do. By then on the 5 th day, she was sent back home along with her children.

At home, the condition of the child became worse day by day. Fohari was not in a position to take the child to a doctor or the hospital for treatment because she did not have money for that. At a time when the family was on the brink of starvation, no one could think of treatment of the sick. She had no alternative other than praying the God to her child's life. But on 14th day of arrival at home, the child succumbed to the illness. Her neighbors told that the baby died of pneumonia.

Fohari had thus to bear the psychological trauma of losing her child due to flood. She feels that had there been no flood or had her concern of a lactating mother taken care of in the camp, or had the ill child been treated well, the child would not have died.

V. REFLECTION OF GENDER ISSUES IN DISASTER

MANAGEMENT

5.1 Needs and Concerns of Women

The needs and concerns of women are determined by their reproductive as well as productive role in the family. In the patriarchal society, which prevails in Nepal, there is bias against women in every stage of life. The bias against women starts at a very early age. They are given the least priority in education and psychologically trained in household drudgeries from the childhood. These give rise to certain needs and concerns specific to women in normal as well as abnormal situation.

A large majority of flood-affected women belonged to poor households. As such, their needs and concerns are mainly related to education and

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income generating skill. The flood has ravaged the livelihood of all the people. In certain cases their condition is very pathetic. Therefore, a grave concern of these women is to get regular job and skill training supported with other facilities.

Except in cultivation season all the women are unemployed. They cultivate other’s land on share-cropping basis. In off-season they have no job except to look after household work. Thus, the entire flood affected women expressed that they should be provided with employment opportunities by the government to overcome their economic hardship

Except cultivation women and girls do not have any skill. Even to sew their clothes they have to depend on other women. Eighteen women and girls are very eager to learn some skills. Though Department of Cottage Industry, Department of Labour, Women Development Division of Ministry of Women and Social Welfare and some NGOs have been involved in skill training in Chitwan district, it seems none of these agencies have any programme in the study area. Young women are keen to learn sewing and knitting skills.

All mothers are concerned about their children’s education. They expressed the need for free education of children. They are not in a position to afford fee and other expenses required for purchasing books and copies. Most of the women felt very sad that they were not in a position to send their school going age children to school.

Some of the women also feel the necessity of adult literacy classes. In the rehabilitated areas not a single NGO is found involved in adult literacy programmes.

Some women are eager to start some income generating activities if they can get loan. But they have no access to Production Credit for Rural Women (PCRW) or any other type of credit. Due to the lack of access to credit, even enterprising women are forced to remain idle and work as wage labourer occasionally.

All the women expressed the urgent need for toilet facility in their home. Due to limited land space they do not have provision of toilet. Although men ease themselves in open place but girls and women have to wait for darkness to answer nature’s call. They are also in need of drinking water facility as there are only a few taps and these too are at a far distance from the settlement. The women also expressed the need for health facility in their settlements.

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Another need of women is access to fodder and firewood, which has become very difficult to gather. The security guards of the Royal Chitwan National Park harass them, if they descend the river embankments and try to collect fodder and firewood in the riverbanks.

Women of some localities are very much concerned about alcoholism of their husbands. In the absence of employment opportunity, many men are using their leisure time in playing cards and drinking liquor. Their addiction to these bad habits has caused severe worries to the women. During the course of field visit the study team had to spend a night in a shop at Pidrahani village of Kathar VDC, by the side of Rapti river and observe the intensity of male alcoholism and card playing. The shop resembled a rural casino cum pub. The shop had a thatched shed with wood plank on the floor, especially built for playing card and drinking alcohol. One part of the ground floor of the two-storey house was used for the shop and the other spacious part was used for accommodating three to four teams of players at a time. The shop also served a wide range of alcohol ranging from home brewed soft and hard liquor to bottled alcoholic drinks. The card game and drink continued round the clock using lantern in the night but there was frequent alteration of players. At mid night a woman was heard shouting at her husband engrossed in card playing that the buffalo had delivered a baby and he had no concern for the demanding job. Several women in the locality narrated the agony of their husbands' addiction to alcohol and card playing at the cost of family welfare. The wife and the adolescent girls worked hard to earn livelihood and improve the living condition of the family but their efforts were negated by the irresponsible household heads. The women also tried to advise the husbands to refrain from such activities for the sake of family welfare but instead of realizing the truth of the situation, the husbands were adamant and abused the wife saying that they had no right to control their spending of paternal property. These women have the anxiety that sooner or later the shopkeeper or the village money-lender on account of credit to their husbands would capture the small piece of land that the family has and pauperize them. 5.2 Rescue Operation

The flood occurred at mid-night. So the households could not receive rescue assistance till the morning. In some villages, some of the household heads sensed the impending flood a few days earlier and had sent their wives and children to their relatives' residence. Some other households who captured the signal of disaster, i.e., heavy roaring sound of the river, took the women and children to a safer place in the same evening. But households, who were at the interior parts of the villages and had not sensed the danger, were sleeping and

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suddenly woke when soaked with flood water. They immediately woke up the women and children who were sleeping inside and untied the cattle. A large majority of the household heads were able to take their wives and children to a higher place or close by forest and spent the whole night there. The women also ran out of the house but their lack of preparedness to face the disaster and lack of swimming skill made them highly vulnerable to being swept away by the flood. Their ability to rescue themselves was constrained by their long hair which easily got entangled in bushes and flotsam, and their 'sarees' restricted their swift movements. So, a relatively larger number of women and children were drowned.

The rescue operation started in the morning. The Royal Nepal Army and the Nepal Police were engaged in searching trapped people and rescuing them. The army used helicopters and boats to rescue the people. Priority was given to air lift women and children first. The police also started rescue operation and search of missing persons.

5.3 Relief Measures

The affected families were temporarily sheltered in various places available and in tents. Schools, go-downs, and vacant offices were used to accommodate the victims and provide immediate relief. There was a massive upsurge of material support from various actors: local people, DDC, VDCs, NGOs, private sector industries and religious groups. The relief activity also spun off politicians and government minister to the site.

The relief activity was not programmed to address the issues and concerns of women. The affected people were provided fixed ration of rice, pulse, oil, clothes and blankets on head count basis. The relief activity was carried out in a piecemeal manner, distributing whatever was made available by various organizations. Hardly any specific attention was given to the needs and concerns of women, particularly the pregnant and lactating women. Only in some relief camps visited by the opposition leader Man Mohan Adhikari, the lactating women were provided one chicken, one litre of oil and some additional clothes. But the stock carried by him was not sufficient and the lactating women of all relief camps were not invariably benefited. The condition of some women, as narrated by their husbands were very pathetic.

5.4 Rehabilitation Programmes

After 2 to 3 months of temporary shelter in the relief camps, the families were re-sheltered at Gadauli of Piple VDC and Sundarbasti / Madtal, Bhavanipur Kuna and the defunct office space of Eastern Rapti

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Irrigation Project of Bhandara VDC. The affected households were allotted 0.017 ha. land per household for housing purpose, but they were left to build their dwellings by themselves. A large majority of the families have built their houses with bamboo, ropes and leaves, or using thatch as the roofing material. Some relatively well-to-do families have built brick / stone houses with roof of corrugated sheets. Women also were equally involved in the construction of their dwellings. However, the piece of land for homestead seems too small to a relatively large family. Women of such families are finding their dwellings too congested to maintain conjugal privacy and allow separate space to the grown up children. Women also face problem in defecation because of lack of toilet due to shortage of space for its construction. Nor is there any public toilet in the resettlement areas. The lack of drinking water facility in the areas has caused additional problems to the women who are mainly responsible for fetching drinking water.

Women who are concerned to supplement their husbands' income by working as wage labourer or by undertaking income generating activities have not been able to do so because of the limited employment opportunities. Opportunities for wage employment of women are confined to certain seasons of a year, i.e., rice planting, weeding and harvesting seasons. Thus, the women are not in a position to sell their labour whenever they want. Although some women have learnt weaving and knitting skills, they have not been able to use the skills for income generating activities for lack of understanding of business practices and support facilities. Women who are interested in animal husbandry have difficulty in accessing credit from the institutional sources due to lack of asset, which could be pledged as collateral. Although school facility is available in the settlement areas, yet a large majority of women are not in a position to send their children to the school owing to lack of means to support educational expenses. These issues and concerns of women could have been well incorporated in the resettlement programmes, but they did not seem to attract due attention. The affected women were thus left to fend themselves. The post disaster rehabilitation programme did not seem to incorporate the mechanisms towards reducing gender disparities, intensified by the flood.

In one of the settlement areas, Rural Reconstruction Nepal (RRN) had given raw wool to women for spinning in order to enhance their earnings. Since the scheme itself was ad-hoc and temporary, it could not provide a sustainable source of livelihood. The RRN also provided 3.5 kg. of rice per person per day to the affected families in some VDCs to work on their own land towards its renovation under the 'food-for-work' programme. However, this programme was not in variably

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implemented in all the VDCs under study. Some of the VDCs also provided Grader-blades free of cost in order to help the households renovate the land. In some settlement areas, women were provided skill training in making bamboo and cane products. But, they have not been able to utilize the skill for commercial production owing to lack of market access and easy credit facility. Women, like the male members of their family, were equally involved in the reconstruction works.

VI. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

6.1 Conclusions

The overwhelming majority of households in the flood affected five VDCs covered by this study are poor. The poverty is reflected by the meager land they own. In rural areas land is the major determinant of peasant household's welfare situation. The more land they have, the better off their socio-economic position is. The situation becomes worse when this meager land is also washed away by the flood.

The flood of 1993 has turned the poor more vulnerable, marginalized them further and also uprooted some of them from the land. There has also been loss of natural environment and community infrastructure such as schools, health posts, growing land, etc. Although these losses affected the entire family, the historically disadvantaged position of women was further intensified in many ways.

First, the displacement from the original place of living has led to a deteriorating situation and decreasing access of women to natural resources. As the main gatherers of fuel, fodder and water, their working day has lengthened. Similar implications for women's time and energy have arisen because of lack of common grazing land and acute shortage of fuel wood. The creation of Buffer Zone in order to maintain bio-diversity and wildlife in the Royal Chitwan National Park and surrounding areas has denied their access to the river banks for grazing animals, gathering grass and collecting logs and wood carried by the river. Prohibition of fishing in the river has further accentuated economic hardship of women of terai ethnics, who are used to earn their livelihood by fishing in the river as their family occupation.

Second, when schooling came within the reach of poorer households, the boys were given preference, while the girls were kept at home to carry out household drudgeries and homestead activities.

Third, the poor housing status in the resettlement area has adversely affected women's safety and security as well as their health and

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productivity. The housing status is usually measured in terms of space per head of family and the availability of three basic facilities- drinking water, toilet and electricity. The small pieces of land (0.017 ha) allocated to each affected family for dwelling purpose in the resettlement area has meant very congested space to maintain privacy of conjugal life for majority of women, and there is virtually no space for the construction of toilet. During the visit of the settlement area, majority of households were found not having toilet. This has caused a problem to the women as they can not defecate when they wanted to. They have to rise before dawn or wait until dusk. Children and adults suffering from diarrhea and dysentery were forced to squat around the house, making the surrounding environment filthy and disease prone. Compounding all this is the lack of electricity and long distance to fetch drinking water and shortages of water during dry season.

Fourth, shortages of food have compelled women to low intakes of micronutrients via food allocation. Generally women are the last ones to eat in the family and hence in a situation of shortage they are compelled to remain content with left over or miss some meals altogether. This has severe implications on the health of pregnant and lactating women.

Majority of the women in the resettlement areas were found concerned to supplement their husbands' income by working as wage labourers. But the opportunities are limited. The level of occupational diversification of female labour force is observed to be very poor in the survey areas, where most women are engaged in homestead activities only. The low diversification implies lack of diverse skills and development of organized sector. A large majority of women covered by the survey do not possess any technical skill as such. Although some women have received skill training in knitting and weaving, they are not in a position to utilize their skills for lack of necessary support services.

In some flood affected villages, grassroots initiatives have led to the formation of women's savings groups aimed at pooling member's monthly savings regularly to form and expand a common fund. But the male members of their families have not appreciated their participation in association and they are being constantly harassed. The gender ideology prevalent in the community encourages the men, and not the women, to assume leadership role and influence at the household as well as the community level. Besides, the lack adequate understanding of women about the modality of the scheme has been a constraint to expedite the programme. Although they have been able to mobilize some fund, it is too small to undertake income-generating activities. It would require several years to grow the fund into a sizeable amount,

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by which time, the participants may loose their patience and withdraw their membership from the scheme.

5.2 Recommendations

The findings of the study reveal the need for a multi-pronged approach to disaster management, particularly in the context of flood. In this regard it seems necessary to initiate a long-term programme towards control and management of flood in Chitwan district. Activities to be undertaken for the control of flood should focus on protective measures and awareness programmes, while the activities relating to management of flood should concentrate on capacity building of local community to disaster preparedness and mitigation. Since women are the most vulnerable sections of the society and they have different needs and concerns than those of men, it is important to adequately incorporate women issues in disaster preparedness, mitigation and management plan.

1. Flood Control Plan

The risk of flood in the areas surveyed has increased in recent years due to accumulation of sediments in Lother and Rapti river over the years. This has elevated the riverbeds. As a consequence, the settlement areas outside the embankments have been left to remain at relatively lower level than the riverbeds. In case of heavy rainfall, the river may break the weaker part of the embankments and gush into the settlement areas with huge amount of silt and debris. The risk of flood has also been accentuated due to soil erosion caused by depletion of forest for various purposes related to agricultural farming and collection of forest products. Nevertheless the risk of flood could be minimized, if not controlled by initiating various measures. An extensive flood control plan could be developed by incorporating the following measures in an integrated framework.

i. Implementation of afforestation programmes in the upper parts of the rivers;

ii. Control of depletion of forest by providing alternatives for those who depend on forest products or practice slash –and – burn farming in the catchment areas of the rivers;

iii. Raising up the embankments of the river;iv. Lowering the river beds by allowing extraction of stone and sand

(this would also generate income to the local bodies);v. Reinforcement of gabion wires and stones in vulnerable parts of

the embankments and the spurs;

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vi. Regular inspection of embankments and spurs during monsoon months;

vii. Installation of rain gauges in various catchments of the river; andviii. Installation of early warning system.

2. Flood Management Plan

The current practice in flood management plan seems to be based on the concept of charity. The rescue operation, relief measures and resettlement schemes seem to be ad-hoc and sporadic, based on whatever is made available by the outside agencies. This does not seem to be effective to enable the affected households to return to the normal situation, as they were before the flood within a reasonable time span.. There is, therefore, a need for a comprehensive flood management plan to better manage the rescue operation, implement relief measures catering to the emerging needs of the people and make rehabilitation programme more effective towards providing sustainable livelihoods to the affected families. To accomplish the above, the flood management plan should be developed with a long-term purpose. The plan must aim at building local capacities and mechanisms to deal with the disaster situation and active involvement of people in flood response, relief and rehabilitation activities.

a. Capability Building of Local Communities

The following measures may be suggested for capability building of local communities:

i. Making local people as well as school/college students of the area aware of the causes and effects of flood;

ii. Training to local people on various aspects of disaster management;

iii. Involvement of local people in various stages of flood management; and

iv. Navigation training to youths of the selected communities of flood-

prone areas.

b. Capability Building of Local Institutions

Following measures are suggested for capability building of local institutions in flood management:i. Setting up of a rapid rescue force in the DDC;

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ii. Training to the officials of local institutions in disaster management; and

iii. Provision of rescue materials such as, rafting boats, dinghy, etc. to the VDC's of flood prone areas.

3. Women Centered Flood Management Plan

Flood Management Plan should be made women-centered in order to cater to their needs and concerns. The plan should aim at placing women and children and their special needs high in the agenda of flood response and mitigation activities. This could be better accomplished by actively involving women in various phases of flood management. Certain activities can be most effectively managed by women such as, food distribution during relief, post disaster child care and sanitation, and undertaking income generating activities. The following measures are suggested to make the flood management plan gender sensitive.

The relief measures should ensure that: i. Pregnant and lactating women are allocated extra food, clothing

and other materials in addition to ration quantity;ii. Particular attention is paid to their health and childcare; andiii. Women who have lost husbands or children in the flood are

provided emotional support and psycho-social care.

The rehabilitation / resettlement programme should focus on:i. Adequate provision of dwelling space so that construction of toilet

is possible;ii. Provision of drinking water facility (e.g. hand pump) within a

reasonable distance;iii. Skill training to women, supplemented with support services such

as, cheap credit, training on business practices, market linkage, etc;

iv. Support for schooling of girl children of ultra-poor households;v. Provision of seed money to women's savings group and training in

office management; andvi. Promotion of local NGOs to act as social mobilizers of women for

awareness build up and organized group action directed towards self-reliance.

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Annex

Table A1 : Households Characteristics

Characteristics Households(n=100)

Total Family Members (n=581)

Caste / EthnicityHigh Caste Hindus 20 136Newar 1 6Low Caste Hindus 4 24Hill Ethnics 17 76Terai Ethnics 58 339Age CompositionLess than 6 - 776 – Less than 14 - 14114 – 25 5 15926 – 59 81 17360 and over 14 31Family StructureNuclear 90 360Joint 10 221Literacy (n= 504) Literate 63 306Illiterate 37 198SchoolingPrimary 10 83

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L. Secondary 3 26Secondary 6 18H. Secondary 1 3SkillsWeaving/Knitting - 12Carpentry 9 9Masonry 6 6Traditional Skills 8 8Driving 2 2OccupationFarming 54 194Wage Labourer 26 93Salaried Job 6 18Driving 2 2Petty Trading 3 7Others 9 9Study - 190

Source: Field Survey, July 24 - August 10, 2000.

September 8, 2000

Country DirectorIntermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG), NepalKupondoleLalitpur

Sub: Submission of Draft Report of the Study on "Impact of Flood on Gender – A Case of Nepal".

Dear Sir,

Please find enclosed herewith 5 copies of the draft report of the study on "Impact of Disaster on Gender – A Case of Flood in Nepal". A computer diskette of the report is also submitted for your kind perusal.

We will refine the draft report in the light of comments and suggestions receved from your office. The final report will be submitted in due time after receiving your comments.

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We would also like to request you to release the second installment of the study budget. As per the agreement, the second installment is due after submission of draft report.

Thank you.

Your Sincerely,

_____________________(Prof. Dr. S. R. Poudyal)Executive Director, CPS.

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