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

12 May 2017 HICAP
ICIMOD Knowledge Products Launched at IPCC Event in Kathmandu, Nepal

Adaptation Solution Brief: Strengthening women’s roles as risk and resource managers at the frontline of climate change Launched by Nand Kishor ...

Reducing Pollution from Motorcycles

The air in Kathmandu is extremely polluted, with fine particles (PM2.5) being the major cause of concern.  If you ask ...

Participation in sixth Regional Conservation Forum meeting in Bangkok

The Sixth Regional Conservation Forum (RCF ), organised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Asia Office, the Ministry of Natural Resources ...

15 Nov 2017 News
Regional Hands-on Training on Community Based Flood Early Warning System (CBFEWS)

A five-day course in September 2017 was designed to enhance the capacity of participants to install and use community-based flood ...

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 ...

19 Feb 2016 News
Visiting Climate Smart Village

  A high-level delegation visited ICIMOD and CEAPRED’s pilot implementation on climate smart villages (CSV) in Patlekhet and Kalchebesi in Kavrepalanchok ...

28 Sep 2015 News
Investigating Lemthang Tsho (Lake) outburst in Bhutan

Early in the evening on 28 June 2015, a yak herder ...

28 May 2013 HICAP
Scoping mission to Assam, India for place-based study on Food Security and Gender

A scoping mission with a team from Aaranyak led by Suman Bisht and Sarah Nischalke from ICIMOD visited five villages in Tinsukia ...