START Network joins Caritas India Flood relief efforts

The START Network, a collaboration of over 50 international and local humanitarian charities has come forward to join Caritas India in its humanitarian relief efforts in Odisha Flood. Caritas India is one of the members of the START Network.

More than 950,000 people have been affected and around 34, 000 hectares of farmland destroyed by the floods in the State. The assessment revealed that 334 houses are almost damaged, and all these people live in makeshift camps. The scarcity of food, drinking water, and healthcare services is looming in the community, especially among children, women and elderly people.  Bhogarai, one of the worst affected blocks in Balasore was selected after due discussion with the concerned block-level Government Officials.

The targeted area is highly marginalised with a population of agriculture labours, fishing communities, subsistence farmers or informal workers with a high proportion of Dalit communities. Caritas India facilitated the formation of village-level committees in each of the 11 villages to select the most affected families for support. A total of 1815 households were proposed for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)-Non-Food Items (NFI) support in Bhogarai block of Kumbhiragadi, Tukuri Hazira and Jay Rampur Gram Panchayat in Balasore.

The first distribution of WASH-NFI kits was initiated on 8th September in Nankar village, in the presence of BDO, Bhogarai, Director, Balasore Social Service Society (BSSS) and Sarpanch Jayrampur Gram Panchayat. 47 WASH-NFI Kits were distributed at Nankar village, and another 21 kits were distributed at Khadikabadi village. The entire selection process and distribution of kits in the 2 villages was led by the community, local volunteers, and PRI members, as well.

Along with the distribution of the WASH-NFI kits, WASH promotion activities focusing on hand washing, safe drinking water practices, village cleaning drives, menstrual hygiene management and good hygiene practices, have also been initiated in the intervention villages along with the IEC poster campaign.