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Response to tsunami disasters in Maldives
14 January 2005 (Shamsul Huda –WHO)
1. Drinking water: The existing systems of Rain
water harvesting got severely disrupted. Desalination as an alternative has
been adopted. The current status is as follows:
a. 2
desalination plants were already in operation before the tsunami hit. Their
capacity is 30,000 liters per day each.
b. 4
mobile units have been put to operation after tsunami hit; capacity: 500
liters per hour.
c. 1
US marine ship going to arrive
today with desalination capacity 95,000 liters per day. It is equipped with
motorboat distribution capacity.
d. 2
desalination plants from Singapore are going to be installed in
about a week with capacity 240,000 and 200,000 liters per day respectively
2. Drinking water (contd.): Desalination plants
are going to continue till commencement of rainy seasons in May. Distribution
and storage have been taken care of. Strong efforts are on for restoring the
broken rainwater harvesters before commencement of rainy season (next three months
from now).
3. Housing: Temporary shelters (camps) are
under construction by Min of Environment and Building construction. Those who
have got their house damaged, or those who have abandoned their island will
be housed in these camps. These camps will come as a complete package with
rainwater harvesters, toilets and sewage disposal.
4. Restoration of RW Harvesters: MoH
and UNICEF jointly making arrangement for restoration of the RWS by providing
gutters and storage tanks wherever necessary. This work has been planned for
completion before May 2005.
5. Water Quality Monitoring: MOH in collaboration with UNICEF
is procuring H2S strip for bacteriological testing and
Conductivity meters for salinity measurement. Monitoring of WQ should
continue till a surveillance system has been installed.
6. Cleaning of wells: Dug well water is used for
cooking and washing. Many of the dug wells got severely damaged. Yet there
are some wells which are structurally in good condition but got muddy by the
tsunami impact. These wells are going to be cleaned and put under operation.
MOH in collaboration with UNICEF is procuring small pumps for this purpose.
With community involvement these are going to be cleaned. Water quality needs
to be monitored for its salinity.
7. Repair of latrines, septic tanks
and sewer lines:
MOH with UNICEF support will provide assistance to the families whose toilets
got broken. This should include restoration of sewer lines and repair of
septic tanks.
8. Cleaning of septic tanks: MOH with unicef support procuring desludging
pump for cleaning of septic tanks.
9. Hygiene education: unicef with the health promotion wing of MoH is launching hygiene campaign.
10.
Critical Issues: While the immediate response
looks quite ok and has a time-plan for completing the rehabilitation by may,
it is important to adhere to the following critical elements:
a. Rainwater
harvesters have to be put in place well before the start of Rains, say before
the end of April.
b. Clear
methodology supported by logistic provision for continuing hygiene education.
c. Short
and clear guidelines (with precautionary notes) for cleaning of dug wells and
septic tanks.
d. Closely
monitoring of the progress of rehabilitation work
11.
Other priority issues: Now that the immediate issue of
drinking water provision is being dealt with a fair degree of confidence, it
is necessary to embark upon working on sustaining the efforts in Water and
Sanitation Services. Following are the suggested areas for providing emphasis:
a. Health care waste: To provide immediate guidelines
to the Regional and AtollHospitals and island clinics.
b. Water quality surveillance: Water quality monitoring should
be upgraded to a water quality surveillance system. This should correspond to
the needs identified by disease surveillance group.
c. WSH preparedness: Water, Sanitation and health
should feature as one of the main element of the national preparedness plan
and to be implemented as a entry point.
d. Sewage treatment: The existing system of pumping
sewage in the sea suggests finding immediate alternatives. The pilot project
on Reed Bed treatment plant also got washed away by the tsunami hit. There is
a need to rehabilitate the reed bed treatment plant; in addition an Up-flow
sludge blanket could be tried in another island.
e. Improved storage and management
of Rain Water:
The present system of collecting household level rainwater at 2,500 liters
per family often comes inadequate for the long spell of dry season. There is
a scope of increasing the storage capacity, especially for larger families.
During the assessment of tsunami effect it came upfront that the community
storages are running empty at the beginning of dry seasons. Management
aspects of community water storage require to be improved.
f. Alternative water for dry season:
So far only Rain
water has been the traditional source of drinking water in Maldives. From reliability consideration
some alternative is necessary to search for. Household level distiller is one option which is
worth considering.
g. Geo-Hydro behavior: The shallow lens on the top
layer of the reef islands got first burst out by the upward pressure from
below the land surface and then by downward percolation from ocean wave
surge. There is no information on the extent of damage caused to the fresh
water of the reefs’ shallow and thin fresh water aquifer. Traditionally the
inhabitants are dependent to this water for cooking and washing. It is needed
to investigate on the replenishment of fresh water in the islands.
12.
The
priority issues indicated in the bullet points No.
11 above are crucial from sustainability of water, sanitation and health. WHO’s technical assistance should therefore be directed
covering these issues.
The
above note has been prepared as a follow up to the other sectoral partners
like MOH, UNICEF and WHO colleagues.
Prepared
by,
Shamsul Huda
WHO/Male
14
Jan 2005
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