Dharampur Workshop Hands Flood Protection Works to the Community

Sixty three people gathered in Jahu with one question to settle. Who will look after the nature based flood protection works at Kheri Khad once the project team steps back? By the end of the community workshop, villagers, panchayat leaders and government officials had agreed on the answer, and it starts with the community itself.

The workshop on Nature based Solutions (NbS) for Disaster Risk Reduction was held at Hotel CM Royal Palace, Jahu, Dharampur (Mandi) on 30 September 2026. The Himachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (HPSDMA), Caritas India and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) organised it. Officials from line departments, local institutions, Panchayati Raj representatives, technical experts and villagers took part. Sh. Joginder Patiyal, SDM of Dharampur Subdivision, was the Chief Guest.

The meeting reviewed the interventions built at Kheri Khad to protect the 33 kV power substation at Dharampur. It also settled how routine maintenance, community monitoring and the role of the Gram Panchayat will work over the long term.

Ms. Anuradha, Senior Associate, Caritas India, welcomed the participants and gave a detailed overview of the project. Through before and after photographs and drone footage, she showed how the riverbank has changed.

In the technical session, Er. Ravi Bhushan Sharma, Technical Expert, Bioengineering, explained how plants and structures work together to protect fragile mountain soil from erosion and landslides. Dr. Vaneet Jishtu, Senior Scientist, HFRI (Retd.) and Technical Expert, Biodiversity, spoke about choosing native plant species. He said these plants bind the soil and help bring back local vegetation.

An open discussion on operation and maintenance, facilitated by Caritas India, brought the community into the planning. The Pradhan of Gram Panchayat Bharouri suggested a study of the affected area after every disaster, so that local people stay fully informed about the measures taken, the area analysis and the scientific findings. A woman participant asked that Nature based Solutions be taken across the entire Dharampur area.

Chief Guest Sh. Joginder Patiyal appreciated how international agencies, state authorities and local communities have joined hands to tackle disaster risks in the Himalayan region. He said institutional preparedness and community vigilance are both essential. Sub Divisional Kanungo Sh. Desh Raj also praised the project.

Participants agreed that the Kheri Khad model, built on Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) principles, has worked well. They called for it to be replicated across Dharampur and in other vulnerable watersheds of Himachal Pradesh.

The stakes are high for the area. The substation on the bank of the Son Khad supplies electricity to fifteen Gram Panchayats. Floods hit it in 2014, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, and a landslide struck in the same year. Power transmission was cut at times, and access to the Dharampur Bus Stand and the wider Nagar Panchayat area was blocked.

ICIMOD chose the Son Khad watershed as a pilot site. After an inception workshop in Shimla on 3 November 2025, Caritas India began work at Kheri Khad, and implementation started in June 2026. The works combine bioengineered slope stabilisation and plantation with geotextiles (fabric that holds soil in place while plants take root), gabion structures (stone filled wire crates that absorb the force of flood water) and river training works.

In the days before the workshop, teams completed a household baseline survey in the Son Khad area. They carried out 410 household interviews across 13 Gram Panchayats between 15 and 25 September 2026. The survey gives a starting point against which the impact of the interventions can be measured later.