Cyclone AMPHAN made landfall in West Bengal on 20th May 2020 at about 2.30 pm (IST). The storm had weakened from a super cyclone to an extremely severe cyclonic storm and was the fiercest in 100 years to hit West Bengal (WB). National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the WB government facilitated in the evacuation of about five lakh people in West Bengal. An estimated storm surge of 5 m (16 ft) inundated a wide swath of coastal communities with saline water and communications were severed. Amphan left in its wake destroyed mud houses, crops, uprooted trees, electric poles, and affected transportation and communication completely. Power outages continued for a week in urban areas and about 15-20 days rural areas depending upon their remoteness.

The worst affected districts were South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas and East Medinipur. In North 24 Parganas, about 5,500 homes were damaged. A million homes were damaged in South 24 Parganas and breached embankments led to the flooding of villages and swaths of cropland. Saltwater inundation affected surrounding areas following damage to 19 km of embankments. Across West Bengal, 88,000 hectares (217,000 acres) of rice paddies and 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres) of vegetable and sesame crops were damaged.

European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid funded IREACH project of Caritas India and partners intervened in 2 Gram Panchayats (GPs) in the South 24 Parganas district. The project is operational in 32 sansads of these GPs and will reach out to an estimated 25,000 people. The Rapid Assessment conducted post-cyclone identified Food security, Water, Sanitation & Hygiene and Shelter and NFI as priority humanitarian needs.

Caritas India is providing Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT)to 807 families and as on July 31st, 2020, most affected 556 families have received this support. The organisation is also supporting 504 families with Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) for shelter repair and 368 families have received this benefit. This safety net is designed in the short-term to offer immediate relief to the poorest and hardest-hit families.

Piyarjan Bibi has lost everything and did not have any money even to buy food and clothes. The Cyclone Amphan has destroyed her house. Caritas India supported her with unconditional cash transfer to meet the immediate need of her family.

Caritas India has rolled out a robust cash transfer process by conducting the existing situation survey and informing the administration and political leadership about the program. Beneficiary identification process included visits to the target areas to establish contact with the village inhabitants and meet key informants. Meeting with people’s elected representatives (Pradhan, Upo Pradhan, Sabhapati) were undertaken and the project discussed in detail. After their consent, the work to form the Beneficiary Selection Committees (BSC) was done. The BSC was explained about the donor project components.

Subsequently, the PRA process included transects walks in the villages to assess the situation closely and group discussion with the key informants, who form the BSC. These informants included Panchayat representative, ICDS worker, ASHA worker, SHG members, Opinion Leaders, Teachers, Social workers from NGOs, etc. The role and responsibilities were explained to the key informants and canvassing to ensure their participation in the BSC.

The vulnerability criteria as explained to the BSC included: Single woman, Separated/divorced, Widow/ Widower, Tiger widow, Persons with a disability, elderly with no one to take care of them, internally displaced households, returnee migrants, returnee trafficked persons, illegal immigrant, people politically or socially discriminated against in humanitarian aid, households with chronically ill members, damaged households who are not able to build back, underprivileged social groups. Total of 140 BSC members in 32 sansads supported to identify the beneficiaries.

In the coming days, hygiene kits will be provided to the 1830 families in Sagar and Mousuni Gram Panchayats. Addressing the sanitation and water needs, 100 toilets and 30 tube wells will be repaired along with chlorination of two Gram Panchayats. The organization will also be working on disinfecting 15 sweet water ponds for domestic use with WaSH awareness programs in 32 Sansads.