Back to news
18 Feb 2015 | News

ICIMOD and Aaranyak monitor and improve the CBFEWS in Assam, India

A technical team comprising ICIMOD and Aaranyak staff revisited the installation sites for the community-based Flood Early Warning System (FEWS) in Assam in August 2014. The FEWS had been installed along the Jiadhal and Singora rivers in the Eastern Brahmaputra Sub-basin in coordination with the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), Dhemaji in Assam, under the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) component of the Himalayan Climate Change Adaptation Programme (HICAP). Each of the eight installations was carried out after conducting a risk, hazard and vulnerability assessment of the areas.

1 min Read

70% Complete
A delegation from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) visited ICIMOD to discuss current and prospective areas for collaboration with ICIMOD.
The team assessed and modified the existing equipment at the installation sites in Dihiri and Kekuri villages in Dhemaji district. They further augmented the existing equipment with a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) enabled unit, so that flood alerts could be shared immediately via Short Messaging service (SMS).  Additionally, the team trained the Aaranyak field staff and local caretakers in its use and maintenance.
The day after the installation, a warning message was received from the system  in the middle of the night.

As part of the field visit, the team also visited downstream communities and interviewed local people regarding the communication networks and effectiveness of the installed FEWS. The local people said that the information received from the CBFEWS is very useful to them for preparing for a flood.

Following the successful installation and testing of the FEWS, the team briefly met with the deputy commissioners and district project officers for disaster management of Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts. They delivered a brief presentation on the community-based flood early warning system (CBFEWS) piloted in the Jiadhal River and Sigora River, and proposed institutionalizing the system under the District Disaster Management Authority. The deputy commissioners of both districts showed keen interest in the idea.

The DRR component of HICAP has been continuously monitoring and augmenting the Community-based FEWS in the two rivers and is considering extending the network across other rivers in the eastern Brahmaputra River Basin, which is prone to incessant flooding.

2
3
1. The FEWS modified by the team is now in place Photo: Sundar Rai/ICIMOD 2. Taking stock of the FEWS equipment prior to installation Photo: Sagar Bajracharya/ICIMOD 3. The team gives a presentation on FEWS to the deputy commissioner of Dhemaji district Photo: Narendra/ICIMOD

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Sign Up

RELATED CONTENTS

Continue exploring this topic

30 Jul 2019 Livelihoods
Our biodiversity, our food, our health

Agricultural biodiversity is essential to ensuring food security, nutrition, and human wellbeing. The diversity in crops and livestock seen today ...

9 Dec 2016 News
Communities Develop Demonstrable Agroforestry Systems with Poulownia Plantation in Sushare Gaun, Gorkha, Nepal

Agroforestry is practiced in both tropical and temperate regions where it produces food, fiber and biomass energy, contributes to food ...

19 Feb 2015 News
HICAP’s Work on Gender Applauded at CRM Expert Working Group Meeting

The study focused on the multiple drivers of change impacting women in Nepal and ...

8 Jun 2017 Himalica
National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Reports Launched on World Environment Day in Kathmandu, Nepal

The reports launched also available for downloading at http://napnepal.gov.np/publication are: Synthesis of the Stocktaking Report for the NAP Process Vulnerability ...

4 Feb 2016 Climate change
Myanmar Journalists Learn Climate Change Communication

A five-day training for 20 Myanmar journalists on reporting climate change adaptation was organised by the International Centre for Integrated ...

15 Jun 2016 News
Payment for Ecosystem Services for Drinking Water Schemes in Dhankuta, Koshi Hills, is Becoming a Reality

After a yearlong effort through an action research by ICIMOD’s Koshi Basin Programme (KBP) and its partner Green Governance of Nepal ...

2 Jan 2015 News
Launch of Development of Monitoring Protocols for REDD+ Policies and Measures using Proxy Indicators

The project seeks to enable sub-national bodies to make informed decisions for developing an appropriate strategy for implementing ...

13 Dec 2017 News
Commitment to Support Integrated River Basin Management in Nepal

Over the course of the next five years, policy and implementation efforts will be made to support integrated river basin ...