Project Number: 26194 September 2007

SOUTH ASIA FLOOD UPDATE

CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of 4 September 2007)

Currency Unit – Bangladesh Taka (Tk)

Tk1.00 = $0.0145 $1.00 = Tk68.69

Currency Unit – Indian Rupee (Rs)

Rs1.00 = $0.0245 $1.00 = Rs40.86

Currency Unit – Nepalese Rupee (Rs) Rs1.00 = $0.0153

$1.00 = Rs65.42

ABBREVIATION NGO – nongovernment organization

NOTE

In this report, “$” refers to US dollars.

CONTENTS Page

MAP

I. FLOODING SITUATION 1

II. FLOOD DAMAGE 1

III. RESPONSE BY THE GOVERNMENTS 1

IV. RESPONSE BY THE DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS 2

Ganges R. Ghaghara R.

Rapti R.

Gandak R.

Ganges R.

Naray

ani R

.

B a y o f B e n g a l

AndamanSea

A r a b i a nS e a

Ten Degree Channel

I N D I A N O C E A N

Brahmaputra R.

DHAKA

Wagha/Attari

Ambala

Jallandhar

DELHI

AgraJaisalmer

Bikaner

Jaipur

Lucknow

BharatpurBhairahawa

Varanasi

Patna

Barhi

Dispur

Tangail Agartala

Sadiya

Kolkata

Bhubaneswar

Asansol

Haldia

Porbander

KandlaAhmadabad

Udaipur

Gandhinagar

Mumbai (Bombay)

Ankola

Panjim

Mangalore Chennai (Madras)

NatavalesaAnakapallyVisakhapatnam

Vijayawada

EdapallyMadurai

Dindigul

Kanniya Kumari

PondicherryPort Blair

Great Nicobar

Bengaluru

Salem

Tiruchchirappali

Hyderabad

Biaora

Raipur

Jabalpur

Jessaimer

Kolhapur

Satara

Poona

Surat

Vadodara

Manor

Hubli

Chittagong

Jorhat

THIMPHUKATHMANDU

Rajbiraj

Purnea

PokharaNepalganj

UTTARAKHAND

R A J A S T H A N

G U J A R A T

M A D H Y AP R A D E S H

UTTAR PRADESH

PUNJAB

HIMACHALPRADESH

B I H A R

JHARKHAND

CHHATTISGARH

WEST BENGAL

SIKKIM

A S S A M

MEGHALAYA

ARUNACHAL PRADESH

MIZORAMTRIPURA

NAGALAND

MANIPUR

O R I S S A

M A H A R A S H T R A

A N D H R AP R A D E S H

KARNATAKA

ANDAMAN ANDNICOBAR ISLANDS

TAMIL NADU

KERALA

GOA

HARYANA

NEPALPEOPLE'S REPUBLIC

OF CHINA

BHUTAN

MYANMAR

Nicobar Islands(to India)

Andaman Islands(to India)

BANGLADESH

I N D I A

PAKISTAN

SRI LANKA

Flood Affected Countries/States

National Capital

City/Town

Road

River

State Boundary

International Boundary

Boundaries are not necessarily authoritative.

SOUTH ASIA FLOOD

0 100 200 300

Kilometers

N

07

-30

03

HR

90 00'Eo

90 00'Eo

70 00'Eo

70 00'Eo

30 00'No

30 00'No

10 00'No

10 00'No

I. FLOODING SITUATION

1. Heavy monsoon rains affect Bangladesh, India, and Nepal from the start of the monsoon season in mid-June until mid-September, generally resulting in localized flooding. Monsoon rains also caused floods in August 2007. Floods were concentrated along the Brahmaputra and Ganges rivers in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal (map). Floods also affected other areas of India, such as Gujarat and Karnataka states. Flooding now has receded in the affected countries.1

2. Renewed flooding in northern and southern areas of Bangladesh has occurred due to heavy monsoon rains both in the upstream of the Brahmaputra and Ganges rivers on the Indian side and on Bangladesh’s southern coast. Water levels are rising for the large majority of the rivers throughout the country. The situation in central Bangladesh in particular is likely to worsen. The Government reports that flood affected people in some districts are beginning to move to higher ground and to flood shelters. 3. In India, most of the rivers are below the flood warning level. The Ganges River was still above the warning level in Mothihari in early August 2007, but the water level was falling. In other areas of India, the water level of rivers is receding or steady, as the intensity of rain in their catchment areas has decreased. 4. In Nepal, floods affected eastern districts along the border with India, including the eastern and central Terai districts.

II. FLOOD DAMAGE

5. The July- August flooding in Bangladesh affected 9 million people in 246 upazilas in 39 districts. Crops were considerably damaged. Most of aus crop was harvested before the flood, but 25% of potential aman acreage has been affected. Vegetable and livestock cultivation have suffered some damage. Small scale manufacturing also suffered a setback in some of the affected districts. 0.7 million homes have been damaged. 2,400 km of roads were seriously damaged and 5,391 educational institutions seriously affected. Fresh flooding in September 2007 is also likely to cause further damage to agriculture and infrastructure. 6. Floods affected about 30 million people in India—17.6 million people in Bihar, 6.6 million in Assam, 1.7 million in Kerala, 1.2 million in Uttar Pradesh, 1.1 million in Karnataka, and 0.7 million in Gujarat. In Bihar, 13.3 million hectares of crop area were damaged, and 255,932 houses reportedly were damaged. The damage to public property has been valued at Rs74.3 million. In Assam, damage to dyke embankments, roads, and bridges has been reported. 7. Floods affected eleven of Nepal’s 75 districts. An estimated 78,000 families have been affected, including more than 22,000 that have been temporarily displaced. Floods destroyed or damaged about 46,000 houses, and more than 130,000 hectares of arable land reportedly was inundated.

1 This Board information paper is based on reports from resident missions in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, and

United Nations sources.

2

III. RESPONSE BY THE GOVERNMENTS

8. The governments of Bangladesh, India, and Nepal are providing relief to the people affected by the floods. An assessment of needs and delivery of assistance in Nepal are more complex, particularly in eastern and central Terai districts, due to security concerns.

IV. RESPONSE BY THE DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS

9. The Department for International Development of the United Kingdom and other bilateral development partners, Nepal Red Cross Society, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Children’s Fund, World Food Programme, World Health Organization, and nongovernment organizations (NGOs) provided immediate relief in the flood-affected areas. 10. In Bangladesh, a special plenary meeting of local consultative groups was held on 8 August 2007 to discuss the floods. At this meeting, the Government briefed the development partners on the status of the floods, and the development partners exchanged views on the process for supporting flood relief and post-flood rehabilitation. Secretary, Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance, recalled that the Asian Development Bank and World Bank had jointly assessed the damage from the 2004 flood in coordination with the Government before providing substantial post-flood rehabilitation assistance. He underlined the need for a similar assessment after the flood waters recede this year. While the Government has started the damage assessment, it has requested from the development partners $150 million in emergency rehabilitation assistance through budgetary support. The World Bank is considering providing budgetary support of $75 million IDA through a supplementary loan to Development Support Credit IV. Negotiations for this loan were completed on 9-10 September 2007 and Board consideration is scheduled on 28 September 2007. The Government has also formally requested ADB and other development partners for assistance to fill the remaining gap. ADB is considering increasing the 1st tranche of the proposed Dhaka Water Supply Sector Development Program being processed in 2007, by $25 million ADF for this purpose. The World Bank will undertake a scoping mission from mid-September in consultation with ADB, DFID and Government of Japan, in preparation for the joint damage assessment mission. 11. The Nepal Red Cross Society, together with the Government’s district disaster relief committees, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, United Nations, and NGOs, are carrying out detailed damage and needs assessments in Nepal. The Foreign Affairs and Home ministries briefed development partners on the flood situation and requested assistance on 3 August 2007. However, the Government has held off making a formal appeal for international assistance, and now appears unlikely to do so. 12. In India, NGO coordination meetings are being held at the state level in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, and Orissa. The United Nations conducted a joint assessment for Balasore district, Orissa, on 12 July 2007 based on interactions with key district and block2 authorities, civil society representatives, panchayati raj institutions (village-level local bodies), and the communities in the affected districts. In Bihar, Assam, and Uttar Pradesh, Sphere India—a national coalition of humanitarian agencies—has conducted assessments through its local partner NGOs of the immediate relief requirement. 13. The Asian Development Bank will continue to monitor the situation and provide further updates, if necessary.

2 A smaller administrative unit within the district with staff operating at that level.