Monsoon Action Plan is a joint document consisting of a series of strategic actions; developed by women leaders and other stakeholders, including Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. The objective of the plan was to make slum people of three wards resilient towards climate change stresses through women empowerment and creating sustainable models for future impact. The plan has been implemented in the wards – Behrampura, Vastral and Vejalpur of Ahmedabad to avoid flooding/inundation. It has also contributed to the reduction of malaria.
Process in Making of Monsoon Action Plan:
The first step was to sensitize slum dwellers through community meetings and focused group discussions by MHT on climate change, the stresses related to it, their effects and the importance of becoming resilient. Since this action plan is for the people and by the people along with the government and other stakeholders, therefore, through discussions and meetings with CAG members and people, challenges faced by slum dwellers pre and post-monsoon were identified to share the same with other stakeholders.
The second step was to organize the multi-stakeholder workshop on Monsoon Action Plan in Ahmedabad. The workshop witnessed the participation of 36 people from different stakeholder groups such as representatives from Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, MHT, NGOs, thematic experts, women leaders and councilors from the above mentioned three wards of Ahmedabad. The goal was to understand the challenges of monsoon management for urban poor and to share effective, sustainable solutions for mitigating the pre and post-impact of monsoon affected by climate change. The workshop progressed with healthy discussions and concluded with strategic actions to problem solving and mitigation in the form of “Monsoon Action Plan,” which was then implemented by women leaders to directly impact 50000 individuals in 3 wards of Ahmedabad.
Construction and Repairing of Brick Embankments:
Flooding/inundation has been identified as one of the significant stresses in Ahmedabad. To prevent the houses from the adverse effects of flooding, brick embankments, locally referred “Palis,” are built at the house entrances. Under this monsoon action plan, MHT sensitized CAG members to identify houses in slums of 3 wards and constructed and repaired the brick embankments, especially in low lying areas which are highly populated by slum dwellers.
Flood Warning Signage
Through awareness meetings, MHT sensitized CAG members to identify the most sensitive slums towards flooding/inundation. After identification of these slums, CAG members undertook the action of marking the entrance of the houses with yellow and red color. This action improved the resistance of individuals towards flooding. It made them aware that when the water level touches yellow signs, they need to get alert and move their things to safer places. If the level rose till red sign, then they need to make an immediate call to the corporation for pumping out excess water and/or move to identified safe shelter.
Contribution by Mahila Housing SEWA Trust