Raising plinths to combat flooding

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MG Neogi | Published: August 30, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

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People of low-lying and flood-prone areas are seriously affected by flooding almost every monsoon due to the climate change. Sometimes these floods affect the same areas 2-3 times in the same monsoon. Flood water inundates people's homesteads and homes. They then need to take shelter on any raised platform like a flood-protection embankment or a road. They often shift their thatch or tin-roofed houses there. Whatever household assets they possess-cattle, goats and poultry, are brought with them, even if they live temporarily in a school building.  In such a situation they often have little food and sometimes no food at all.
As most of the homes of the poor are made of bamboo, jute sticks and straw, they get damaged easily by heavy monsoon rain and rot when under water during flooding. Thus they need to be repaired immediately after floods. They mainly earn their livelihood by working as farm labourers. Having no work during flooding they spend from whatever savings they have to buy food for the sake of survival. House repair often goes beyond their capacity.
Household assets such as cattle, poultry and goats are valuable for the rural poor both for their survival and improving their livelihood. During any major flooding, the poor face great difficulty to save their livestock. Even if they can save their livestock and take them to their makeshift homes, it remains difficult for them to shelter the animals and feed them properly. For these reasons, they are forced to sell the animals at a very minimum price, which may be only one-fourth of their real value.
At many of the homesteads in rural areas there are vegetable gardens and seedlings of timber and fruit-bearing trees surrounding houses. These homestead gardens are a good source of food and nutrition to those families round the year. These homestead gardens on low-lying land get damaged by flood water almost in every monsoon. They need to be raised again after floods and it takes 3-4 months to produce vegetables again. Replacement of fruit-bearing trees is not possible unless homesteads are raised above the flood level.
Social security is another problem during flooding and women are the worst sufferers. Floods often inundate tube-wells, which are the only source of drinking water in rural areas. So, the scarcity of drinking water in flood-affected areas is another common issue. A similar situation arises, when it comes to safe sanitation. Water-borne diseases like diarrhea break out. Sometimes even devastating epidemics occur at community levels and children are most vulnerable to the risks.
To overcome the adverse situation faced by rural people, a number of donors aided by non-government organisations (NGOs) like RDRS took different initiatives to raise plinths for extremely poor families in flood-prone areas. To make its interventions cost-effective a number of NGOs joined in implementing it in some areas, where 5-10 homesteads were raised approximately 60 centimetres above the highest flood level. Most of the donors along with the NGOs used the following criteria and system to select the particular households for raising their homesteads:
n The selected areas should be stable and, permanent ones, which will not be eroded by rivers or strong currents.
n The areas should be the most vulnerable flood-affected ones, where most of the houses are regularly inundated during any monsoon.
n The selected households should be the most vulnerable ones in the flood-affected areas.
n The areas chosen should be finalised in consultation with local government agencies such as union councils, union disaster management committees (UDMCs) as well as the local communities themselves.
n The selected households should agree to repair or maintain the raised homesteads as and when necessary by their own initiatives.
After selection of households, NGOs' technical-field staff estimated the required amount of soil and the cost for each household to raise their plinth above the highest water level. While raising the plinths the NGOs also built 4 to 6 cement pillars to replace some of the bamboo pillars and make the houses stronger. This can prevent homes from getting damaged during storms and heavy winds. In the raised homesteads, families can raise permanent vegetable home gardens to ensure availability of vegetables round the year. Likewise, different kinds of fruit trees such as papaya, guava and mango can be confidently planted.
Raising the ground of a homestead above the flood level helps protect people's homes from getting damaged. Plantation of grasses and trees around the homesteads prevents erosion. Since the flood water cannot inundate such homesteads, vegetables and fruits remain available throughout the year.
Drawing from experience of the last five years, it is estimated that around Tk 19,500-23,400 (250-300 US dollars) are enough to raise one homestead, which then provides a foundation for sustainable development for an extremely poor household. This gives the household members remarkable benefits, allowing them to adapt to the changed climatic conditions.
The government of Bangladesh is going to initiate a number of projects concerning climate change issues. As homestead raising has proven to be one of the best and most sustainable options for flood-affected households, it is expected the government will consider the programme while planning any project to mitigate the climate change effect. NGOs are also expecting that donor agencies and projects will incorporate the homestead-raising component in their disaster risk reduction programmes to resolve the present inhuman conditions faced by the most poor and vulnerable communities as a result of flooding.
Dr. MG Neogi is a consultant at IRRI Bangladesh. mgneogi@gmail.com