MAHAKALI RIVER BASIN, KANCHANPU

Mahakali river basin

• The Sharda River, also called Kali River
and Mahakali River, originates at Kalapani
in the Himalayas at an elevation of 3,600
m (11,800 ft) in the Pithoragarh district in
Uttarakhand, India.
• It flows along Nepal's western border with
India and has a basin area of 14,871 km2
(5,742 sq mi).
• Max recorded flooding : 15,430m3/sec
June 2013
What is CBDM?

• Community-based disaster management (CBDM) is an approach to building the

capacity of communities to assess their vulnerability to both human induced and
natural hazards and develop strategies and resources necessary to prevent and/or
mitigate the impact of identified hazards as well as respond, rehabilitate, and
reconstruct following its onset.

• CBDM strategies have become increasingly important in the face of global

climate change, increased populations expanding into more vulnerable regions,
and the heightened recognition of a need for greater linkages between top-down
governmental and community level responses.

• CBDM empowers communities to be pro-active in disaster management and

creates a space for them to develop strategies on their own terms rather than
waiting for already overstretched governments and NGO's
Mahakali

Country : Nepal
Province : Sudurpashchim Province
District : Kanchanpur
Area : 1,610 km2 (620 sq mi)
Density :280/km2 (730/ sq mi)
Region : Far- Western
Ecological area : Terai
Area covered : 1,610 Sq. Kms
Elevation : 176 m - 1,528 m
No. of VDCs : 20
Population : 529,548
• Mahakali formerly Dodhara-Chandani, is a
municipality in the Kanchanpur District.
• Kanchanpur district is in Terai, part of Far-Western
region and Mahakali zone. There are 20 VDCs in
Kanchanpur. Flood is the main hazard in the
district. Mahendranagar is the district
headquarters.
• Kanchanpur district is one of the disaster-prone
districts identified by Nepal Risk Reduction
Consortium (NRRC). Every year the
community of Kanchanpur district are affected
by multi-disaster primarily flood.
• The most communities are highly vulnerable
due to the poverty, disadvantage caste and
ethnicity, hazard, education etc.
• The villages are under the process of disaster
resilience through establishing Community
Disaster Management Committee (CDMC),
who supports to get access to disaster risk
reduction (DRR) information, vulnerability and
capacity assessment and developing trained
man power for preparedness and response.
• Kachanpur district lies in Sudur Pashchim province which spreads 280 35” north
to 290 08” north latitude and 800 25” east to 800 33” east longitude (DPRP
Kanchanpur, 2069).
• During 2010, Flagship 4 consultation meetings identified the most vulnerable 47
districts in Nepal based on secondary data. This data included the Nepal Multi-
Hazard Scenario Assessment and the Nepal Vulnerable Districts to Disasters,
1971-2007 (NRRC, Flagship Programme, 2013).
• Kanchanpur district is one of the vulnerable districts of 47 identified
by Flagship 4.
• The villages where vulnerable communities live adjoining with the
Mahakali River basin, including marginalized groups, persons with
disabilities, and the elderly people highly affected by the risks posed by natural
hazards.
• The Mahakali River is one of the largest rivers of Nepal, marking the border
between Nepal and India.
• The river flood annually affects the study villages. Kanchanpur districts
experienced major flooding in 2013, that affected thousands of people
and damage huge properties damage
Process of emerging community resilient characteristics
 Vulnerabilities and capacity

• Everyday challenges faced across the wards in the different development regions
were largely concerned with poverty, resulting from landlessness or low
agricultural productivity, and limited local employment opportunities.
Vulnerabilities
Nature of disasters faced
As the result of VCA, flood is most important hazard in all community. Since all the studied villages
are adjacent with Mahakali river from top to bottom, community always stricken by flood which are
as the first ranked hazards. As the second ranked hazards, three communities have wild life attack as
the risk.

Community wise hazards identified by VCA

Provinces
• All provinces except province
1 extend across the Himalayan,
Mid hills, inner Tarai and Tarai
regions.

• Province 2 lies in the Tarai

region and is home to multiple
river floodplains that ordinate
from the high mountains, mid
hills and Siwalik region.

• All provinces are risk to

earthquakes, disease outbreaks,
flood and climate impacts.
Major disasters and losses in Kanachanpur
Community based management practices done to reduce risk
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Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium(NRRC)
• The Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium (NRRC) was instigated in 2009
by the UNDP and officially launched by the Government of Nepal in
2011.
• Led by the Government of Nepal, the NRRC is a unique mechanism
bringing together humanitarian and development partners with the aim of
developing a long-term disaster risk management action plan for Nepal
(NRRC 2013).
• The NRRC has five priority areas or ‘Flagships’, reflecting the priority
areas identified in the National Strategy for Disaster Risk Management.
These are:

1. School and Hospital Safety;

2. Emergency Preparedness and Response Capacity;
3. Flood Management in the Koshi River Basin;
4. Integrated CBDRR;
5. Policy and Institutional Support for Disaster Risk Management
Outcomes associated with the Nine Minimum Characteristics

Characteristic 1 - Organisational base at VDC, ward and

community level

• The level of engagement between the VDC and community

level committees varied, with limited engagement in the case
study communities in Kanchanpur.
• CDMC members were largely selected based on how active they
were in the community and their level of knowledge of disasters
and disaster management.
• the most vulnerable households to floods in the community were
• unable to participate in meetings as they were engaged in day
wage labor. They were, as a result, replaced on the CDMC.
• A high level of female participation in the CDMCs was
reported.
Characteristic 2 - Access to DRR information

• Information about flood hazard was gathered by the communities

themselves through their own monitoring of river levels and
changes in the flow and color of the river, as they have
traditionally done.
• Whilst householders also listened to weather forecasts on the
radio, it was unclear how accurate these forecasts were or how
they informed household and community decision-making.
• More formal flood early warning systems had been established in
all communities .
• Information on the height of the river was provided by the gauge
reader upstream. The gauge reader communicates with the VDC,
NGO, the CDMC Chairperson, early warning system task forces,
and village leaders, and the alarm is then raised within the
communities.
• Communication channels varied between communities.
• Mock drills for the early warning systems were an annual activity.
• Awareness raising activities included how to prepare for floods,
e.g. securing belongings, preparing dried food, identifying safe
spaces, and how to reduce the risk of health hazards after a flood.
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