Page 16 - HUDCO DESIGN AWARDS 2023-24

2018: WHEN KERALA WENT UNDER & EMERGED UNITED
When Kerala, India’s Southernmost state, is overwhelmed by unprecedented floods in mid-August 2018, help poured in from all
quarters. The last such floods were seen in 1924, so when the relatively small state’s yearly monsoons quickly change course
to alarming levels, the devastation is vast. More than 400 people died and 8,000 people were displaced. Districts such as
Idukki, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha were the worst affected. But, as with such calamities, the resilience of a people
also comes to the fore in such times of trial. Kerala is no different.
Relief efforts went on from August to September, seeing to the immediate basic needs of survivors.

PROJECT BHOOMIKA
Project Bhoomika began in all earnest even before it was given a formal name. After the phase of disaster management and
relief programs in one of the largest and first such exercises witnessed in Kerala, experts from various fields came together to
see how they could offer help that was a lasting solution. Countless people had suffered inconceivable damage to their houses
or complete wiping out of structures. The seed idea was to provide shelters using appropriate technology and creating a
process-driven deliverance system which could serve as a model for such rebuild programs.

PROJECT BHOOMIKA, HARIPAD, ALAPPUZHA DIST, KERELA

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