By Ritwajit Das

Consultant (Environment Policy), Inverted Pyramid Consulting,

PGDFM-Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, PGDUM Centre for Urban Economics Studies, University of Calcutta. Visiting Research Fellow, University of Kasetsart, Thailand, University of Philippines Los Banos, Philippines, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka and International Rice Research Institute.
Email ritwajit@invertedpyramid.org/ritwajit.das@gmail.com
Dated 13th June 2013

1. Introduction
Global and regional context
It is a scientifically proven fact that low-lying coastal areas are
highly vulnerable to floods. Among these coastal areas, the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change specifically identifies as hotspots the heavily urbanized megacities in the lowlying deltas of Asia (IPCC 2007 b), which are in acute state of
vulnerable appreciation. Among Asian countries, India with its
7,500 km long predominantly low-lying and densely populated
coastlineis particularly vulnerable. A recent global survey
identified Kolkata and Mumbai as among the top ten cities with
high exposure to flooding under the current climate change
forecasts (Nicholls et al. 2008).The study also shows that exposure will increase in the future; by 2070, Kolkata is expected to
lead the top 10 list in terms of population exposure. What sets
Kolkata apart when it comes to impacts associated with climate
change is its demographic setup and population growth.
There are indeed some wayward climatic shifts happening that
Kolkata is going through and it will be very evident in near future. A sea level of 0.27 m by 2050 was also added to the storm
surge for the A1FI and B1 climate change scenarios based on
current estimates. All these scenarios (without and with climate
change effects) were then modeled to assess the impact in
terms of the extent, magnitude, and duration of flooding (World
Bank, 2010).
Kolkata metropolitan area: KMA
The designated geographical area covered the Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA), a continuous urban area stretching along
the east and west bank of the Hooghly River surrounded by
some rural areas lying as a ring around the conurbation and
acting as a protective green belt. KMA has an area of 1,851
square kilometers and consists of a complex set of administra-

tive entities comprising 3 municipal corporations (including Kolkata Municipal Corporation, or KMC), 38 other municipalities,
77 non municipal urban towns, 16 out growths, and 445 rural
areas (World Bank, 2010). KMC, the core of the city, lies along
the tidal reaches of the Hooghly and was once mostly a wetland
area. The elevation of KMA ranges from 1.5 to 11 meters above
sea level (masl). The elevation of KMC area ranges from 1.5 to 9
masl with an average of 6 masl (World Bank, 2010).
With a population of about 14.7 million (including 4.6 million in
KMC), KMA is one of the 30 largest megacities in the world
(United Nations, 2007). The average population density in KMA
is 7,950 people per km2; in KMC, it is 23,149 per km2. The average per-capita income in KMA in 200102 was $341 (at 199394
prices) (World Bank, 2010).
Kolkata metropolitan area and its slums
A uniquely special characteristic of KMA is its large slum population, comprising more than a third of the total population. These slums not only lack basic infrastructure and services, but are
also the hub of many informal manufacturing activities, some of
which involve highly toxic industries. Little oversight of such
activities is carried out by government agencies. These mixed
residential and commercial/industrial land uses in slums make
these areas highly vulnerable to extreme weather-related
events, especially flooding and pragmatic water scarcity. Potable
drinking water is extremely scarce in these slum areas. Rickety
infrastructure coupled with extreme mismanagement when it
comes to solid waste disposal and unwanted landfills. KMAs
slums is indeed worst suffer of frequent floods and water clogging. The main causes of flooding in KMA are intense precipitation, overtopping of the Hooghly River due to water inflow from
local precipitation as well as that from the catchment area, and
storm surge effects.

According to World Bank Megacity Report (2010) a list of pertinent factors which influence the climate paradigm in the region
is listed identified and written below:
Natural factors. Natural factors include flat topography and low
relief that cause riverine flooding and problems with drainage.
Developmental factors. Developmental factors include unplanned and unregulated urbanization; low capacity drainage;
sewerage infrastructure that has not kept pace with the growth
of the city or demand for services; siltation in available channels; obstructions caused by uncontrolled construction in the
natural flow of storm water; and reclamation of natural drainage
areas (marshlands).
Climate change factors. Climate change factors include an in- Ward 66: demographic profile
crease in the intensity of rainfall, sea level rise, and an increase
World Bank Report, 2010 on Asia Megacities has analytically
in storm surge caused by climate change effects.
identified the 9 most vulnerable wards that may need specific
According to the report flooding from intense precipitation was attention in designing adaptation strategies in Kolkata. And
modeled for three scenarios30-year, 50-year, and 100-year Ward 66 is one of them.
return period flood eventsassuming no climate change effects.
Ward 66 is having an area of 312.50 ha and total population is
The climate change effects were added to the 100-year flood
74041 (KEIP, 2005). The projected population growth for the
event using the A1FI and the B1 scenarios.
year 2035 is 84384. Ward 66 is located strategically and is surAssumptions about the impacts of climate change in Kolkata in rounded by Belighata Canal in the north and Railway line in the
2050 (Sugiyama 2008) included (a) a temperature increase of west, Rashbehari connector in the south and E.M. By Pass.
1.8C for the A1FI scenario and 1.2C for the B1 scenario; (b) a Ward 66 is internally divided into Mazdurpara, Dhapapara, Sefractional increase in the precipitation extremes of about 16 cond Lane and Azad Mohalla.
percent for the A1FI and 11 percent for the B1 scenarios; and (c)
Mazdurpara is socio-economically most backward of the lot. The
sea level rise of 0.27 m by 2050, which was added to the storm
problem of waste management is rampant and cross cutting
surge for the A1FI and B1 climate change scenarios based on
across the entire ward. In all of the sub divisions a pattern of
current estimates. All these scenarios (with and without climate
joint family living is very evident. Family members on average
change effects) were then modeled to assess the impact in
per house hold are around five and more. Majority of the poputerms of the extent, magnitude, and duration of flooding (World
lation is Muslim and they are engaged in diversified livelihood
Bank, 2010).
portfolio like leather factory workers, rickshaw pullers, rag pickThree separate models were used to capture the overall effect ers, scavengers, skilled labourers or construction workers etc. A
of natural, developmental, and climate change factors that lead portion of the of the population is immigrant from Sunderbans
to flooding in KMA. The models generated the increase in (India- Bangladesh), Easter Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
depth, duration, and extent of flooding in Kolkata due to cliWard 66: land use patterns and housing segregations
mate change effects. A separate vulnerability analysis was done
to assess the impact of flooding; this part of the analysis was Ward 66 has a unique land use pattern setup where the core
restricted to only the KMC area because of data limitations. The area of the ward comprises Azad Mohalla, Dhapapara and Sevulnerability analysis was based on three separate indices: (1) a cond Lane which were set up before Mazdurpara. The core area
flood vulnerability index based on the depth and duration of was developed because of immediate need of leather factory
flooding, (2) a land-use vulnerability index based on the nature workers in several small scale leather manufacturing units of the
of land use, and (3) a social vulnerability index based on the Topsia region. Inhabitants of Mazdurpara live in non-concrete
existing infrastructure and the socioeconomic characteristics of house just adjacent to the sewage canal on either side, but inthe population. Finally, the three separate indices were com- habitants of Dhapapara, Second Lane and Azad Mohalla are
bined to form a composite vulnerability index (World Bank, relatively better off than Mazdurpara, because they have con2010).
crete buildings to live.
2

Predominant land use within Ward 66 area is residential and

mixed residential and commercial. Apart from these built up
areas, open land, water bodies and low lying areas are other
land use types. Open land in the study area is declining at a fast
rate due to population influx and housing development. In the
eastern part the land was originally part of waste dump yard of
Dhapa (KEIP, 2005).
As per the primary respondent sample the area was once a wetland and was rich in natural resources but the onset of series of
degradation started once small scale industries like leather tanning and manufacturing units began emerging in the local area.
To accommodate more labourers the factory owners started to
build dingy housing complex around Ward 66 starting from
Azadh Mohalla to Second Lane and Dhapapara. The aftermath
of this incident was acute mismanagement of land use patterns
and living space development. Buildings were raised without any
proper Environmental Impact Assessment protocols and the
technical aspect of the micro-development plan was definitely
on realms of extreme deficit.
There is absolutely no waste management plan in the area
hence; landfills are automatically developed within the internal
areas of Ward 66. The inhabitants of these areas are dumping
solid waste everywhere be it open fields, alleys, gap between
buildings or road sides. The waste problems are being critically
identified by the sample respondents which need to be addressed and must be dealt with on a sustainable basis.
Ward 66: socio-economic profile
Ward 66 is a heterogeneous mixture of different social classes, it
consists of several economic strata which is converging among
themselves. The livelihood portfolio is very much diversified and
falls is a wide spectrum of range. The socioeconomic map of the
region is distinctive and gives a definite pattern. Inhabitants living in the core area of Azad Mohalla, Dhapapara and Second
Lane are economically better off than Mazdurpara. It could be
attributed to the fact that these areas are developed much earlier and have almost secured livelihood options like working in a
leather factory and its associated clusters. Whereas Mazdurpara
is a case of makeshift arrangement, where inhabitants came to
live because of severe lack of opportunity elsewhere. Inhabitants of Mazdurpara are poorest of the lot. Inhabitants of Mazdurpara are mainly daily labourers, scavengers, rag pickers, rickshaw pullers and unskilled labourers, whereas the inhabitants
of Dhapapara, Azad Mohalla and Second Lane are relatively stable with their livelihood portfolio as most of them are engaged
in leather factories or its associated cluster works.

2. Climate change vulnerabilities in urban slum

slides, heat waves, drought and water supply constraints that

climate change is likely to bring in slums. It will also explore the
implications for adaptation, focusing on preparedness as well as
responses to extreme events and to changes in weather
patterns. As is the case with many poor groups, if adaptations to
climate change fail to take account of the disproportionate risks
for urban poor as they will be less than adequate in responding
to the challenges.
Factors specific vulnerability related to climate change of resident of Ward 66
The situation of women and children of Ward 66 are critical
and decisive when we take climate change vulnerability angle in
overall inclusion of social dimension. First of all primary sample
respondents during the action research are economically very
downtrodden and socially backward. The economic vulnerability
is almost engulfing poor households in the slum areas in series
of disproportionate risk related climate change. The living condition, mainly the housing infrastructure is supremely intuitive and
critical for all the areas and especially to Mazdurpara as all the
100 Household respondents live in non-concrete housing
structure. The primary sample respondents living in Azad Mohalla, Dhapapara and Second Lane are living in concrete structures but its highly congested and solid waste litters are almost
seen everywhere in roads, between adjacent buildings and micro islands of waste litters or landfills in alleys associated with
the buildings. Ward 66 is vulnerable because of inadequate
infrastructure, unplanned land use, and poor socioeconomic
and environmental conditions. Infrastructural problems are
getting worse with increased building activity, as these areas
have become attractive to developers after becoming part of
KMC. The poor infrastructure coupled with faulty sewage system makes the Ward 66 inhabitants highly vulnerable to floods,
heavy rain and water clogging. Ward 66 is low lying and the
problem related to siltation is very prominent.
Water crunch in ward 66
The entire primary sample respondents mutually agreed to the
fact there is acute deficit of clean potable water. Inhabitants
struggle every day to have water to survive in daily basis. The
present governmental and municipal setup is inadequate to give
the inhabitants proper treated drinking water. Due to severe
and extreme water scarcity the inhabitants have to ferry water
from peripherals and outside area of Ward 66. It further adds
on to their overall social, physical and mental stress, as mainly
women and children have this added responsibility to ensure
there must be availability of drinking water in house hold. Many
of the inhabitants of Azad Mohalla, Second Lane and Dhapapara
buy water from vendors for the purpose of drinking and cooking.

This paper will talk about probable impacts on children of

different ages from the increasing risk of storms, floods, land- 3

Majority of the population rely on KMC water vans which arrives

at midnight and dawn to the area, there is point of fumigating
social conflicts associated with water collection which is always
subjected to long queues. Some local goons have started a water
selling business in the area as they use their muscle power to
collect water from the KMC water vans and again sell them to
the local helpless people because most of them dont have the
capacity to fight these water mafias on their way to collect water in long queues so they succumb to their bargain. The problem becomes rampant during summers as there is more demand for water from the community side and water mafias
take over the entire collection of water by themselves as they
also pay their way to KMC officers and water distributor agents.

waste disposal management in Ward 66 area. Almost majority

of open spaces within the Ward 66 area has been converted into
solid waste dumping sites which cater to local households
waste. There are waste management system placed by KMC in
some selected parts of Ward 66, its miniscule and frequency is
not at all regular. Around 90% of primary sample respondents
have reported that problems related to waste management is
of paramount importance and some of them even related it with
perennial diseases like malaria, dengue, diarrheal dysentery,
typhoid, hepatitis etc. Waste problem in the study area is so
acute it is literally visible in every part of the Ward 66, it seems
the very core of the solid waste disposal problem has definitely
surpassed the carrying capacity of the region.

Slum inhabitants of Mazdurpara have to travel to a distance of

500 m 2 Km during summers to fetch water. The inhabitants
of Ward 66 use KMC tap water for cleaning and washing purpose, but the frequency of water availability is also irregular and
asymmetric in nature. It has also been reported in national and
regional newspaper archives that the chemical composition of
water indeed have enhanced level of iron and arsenic elemental
forms.

Primary respondents have indeed identified solid waste management as one of the key areas which needed to be addressed by
the community to ensure sustainable development and community based adaptation approach. The problem of waste management has already surpassed the threshold level and community
is extremely help less because of this issue which needs urgent
and pragmatically earnest attention.

3. Study Objective

Unsustainable Infrastructure (House and Sanitation Facilities)

Currently Mazurdpara, Dhapapara, Second Lane and Azadh Moin Ward 66
halla which comprises Ward 66 dont have any micro spatial
Except Mazdurpara area entire Ward 66 has a mix of concrete information at place. Total population of Ward 66 has been reand semi concrete infrastructural setup. From situational point ported to be around 8,000 by KEIP in year 2005, which will be by
of view where vulnerability is concerned the degree of vulnera- any means grossly underrated. Total population of the region is
bility is definitely cross cutting across Mazdurpara, Second expected to be around 20,000 (CINI Data Base, 2009). The study
Lane, Azad Mohalla and Dhapapara. The buildings are clubbed objective is to fact find, and scope climate change related imtogether and in extremely deplorable condition. It is visibly evi- pacts on slum inhabitants.
dent that there is indeed severe lack of overall maintenance.
However, there is less qualitative information on the degree of
Sunlight and air ventilation in the house of those inhabitants
participation that men have in activities concerned with cliwhich live in buildings are very improper and inadequate. Sanimatic adaptation interventions in day to day affairs. This qualitation facilities are skewed disbursed, all the inhabitants of Maztative study aims to look at the effectiveness of communities
durpara dont have individual household latrines, and there are
approaches to address climate change impacts and gender incommunity latrines which are awfully unhygienic and non conequity at the specific region. The study has been divided into six
crete. Some of the latrines are made of bamboo which get dyssub-segment of vulnerability assessment to get vivid observation
functional during the monsoons and rainy seasons. KMC
about the actual status of these urban slum inhabitants when it
doesnt maintain the service delivery associated with communicomes to climate change vulnerability assessment.
ty toilets.
Major objective associated with the study It has been reported by primary sample respondents of Mazdurpara that during rainy seasons inhabitants suffer injuries To fact find and scope probable climate change related impacts
when they use toilets due to infrastructural collapse. There are on slum inhabitants especially women and children (Ward No.
also reports of small children dying and drowning in the nearby 66) of Kolkata.
canal on which the toilet was built.
Sample Size: 200 Households (Non-probability stratified samMenacing and ever increasing waste disposal problem in Ward pling- covering Mazdurpara, Dhapapara, Second Lane and Azad
66
Mohalla).
Waste problem is visibly evident in the entire Ward 66 region.
The problem arose because of non existence of systematic 4

Conceptual framework associate with the study

Specific objectives associated with the study

Assessment of women (age and weight) distribution.

Assessment of educational level of the women respondents.

Assessment of livelihoods patterns among women respondents.

Assessment of time allocation patterns among women respondents.

Assessment of access control profile among women respondents.

Assessment of health related vulnerabilities among women

respondents.

Assessment of heat related stress among women sample

respondents.

Assessment of degree of awareness on

knowledge patterns on developmental plans,

scheme and activities.

Assessment of mobility survey.

To identify overall gap in infrastructural assessment.

To identify pertinent active adaptation strategies applied by

the communities during summer, monsoon and winter.

To identify level of thrift and savings patterns employed by

the communities.

The specific objectives associated with the study are further categorized into (i) General Assessment, (ii) Women and Children
Assessment and (iii) Climate Factor.

first-hand

Assessment of holistic waste management issues in the

household.

Assessment of socio-economic condition of the area.

Assessment of safe drinking water availability.

Assessment of educational level and patterns in the region.

Assessment of sanitation requirements among households.

Overall infrastructural assessment whether the respondent

living in concrete and non-concrete house.

Assessment of livelihood patterns of the sample respondent

and their expenditure patterns.

Assessment of demographic distribution of the sample re

spondents.

To assess overall consumption patterns in households.

Assessment of equal share provisions of food.
Assessment of water treatment and frequency of diseases
occurrence.
Assessment of productive activity within the house and in
the neighbourhood.

Overall vulnerability assessment of the children including

education, health and work related hazards.

To identify family member having social plans.

Assessment of heat stress observed in children of primary

respondent.

Assessment of energy sources quantitative and qualitative

aspects.

Assessment of malnutrition and age weight index of chil-

dren.

Assessment of lighting facilities in the household and assessment of cooking, water heating and appliances usage in the
household.

Assessment of quality of care in slum children and availabil

ity of parental care.

Assessment of parents perception of the sample respondent.

5

To identify the level of participation of men and women in

daily activities and in decision-making processes involving
overall resource management.

out. A total of 200 Household interviews have been carried out

and 193 respondents were women and 7 of them were men.
Methodology
This includes asking specific questions on income sources, expenditure patterns, disease occurrence, educational history,
Desk review
waste management practices, water sanitation hygiene practices
Series of secondary literature reviews have been carried out on
and seasonal adaptation measures employed by the house
climate change induced impacts on urban slums. Scientific literaholds.
tures on climate change impacts on women and children had
been covered comprehensively. All possible linkages associated Focused group discussion (FGD)

4. Methodology and limitations

with climate change adaptation and communities coping mechA total of 7 focused group discussions were carried out, of
anism have been screened through extensive literature reviews.
which 120 of the participants were women and 15 children.
Formats about questioning on communities related to climate
Observation
change have been covered.
Field study

Overall, the level of participation of women and children in the

SSI, HHLI and FGD were good. On a few occasions, a number of
individuals would be called for a FGD, but more participants
came than expected. The researchers decided to let them join,
so it became a Group Discussion rather than a FGD. It did not
limit the findings, but rather helped to show the gender relations in mixed groups as to who spoke up and, more importantly, who did not.

The study team visited 4 identified sub ward areas viz

Mazdurpara, Dhapapara, Azad Mohalla and Second Lane
in Ward 66. These areas have been selected on the basis of
its socio-economic and demographic characterizations.

Target group and individual semi-structured interviews with

majority of women and few men to identify perceptions
and attitudes of community on issues related to water scar- Selection of house-holds or sub division or communities inside
city, waste management, food security and energy services of Ward 66
requirements.
The selection of communities was agreed upon with local repCommunity observations to triangulate data with regard resentatives taking into account the socio-economic aspects. In
to equal benefit and changes in household
roles and behaviour. Perception scoping of
children by house hold on children as active agents.

Thematic mapping on vulnerability analysis, institutional mapping and seasonal

calendars to plausibly capture relevant
house hold perceptions and observations
on climate change.

Research tools
Semi-structure interviews (SII)

Individual interviews - sample of selected

respondents to obtain representative information.

order to ensure that any geographical and socio-cultural varia Key informant interviews (KII) individuals in the communi- tions were represented and accounted for, the study selected
ty who may have overall good slum-wise knowledge and/or the communities based on the following criteria:
particular information, insight or opinions about the topic Diversity
under study.
The study aimed to include both homogenous and mixed comComplete house hold interviews
munities in order to identify whether caste and ethnicity were a
Extensive house hold level interviews related to socio-economic factor in the level of women's participation and gender roles.
assessment, children vulnerabilities, women vulnerabilities, food However, the selected communities were Muslims by religion.
security and energy consumption patterns have been carried
6

Target group

Participations

Random cluster sampling was applied to select respondents for

the semi-structured interviews and house hold level interviews.
Initially, the proposal suggested 50% of the total respondents
were women and 50% men. However, more women were interviewed because in some communities, particularly in the Mazdurpara and Second Lane many of the men had left to work
somewhere else and only young boys or elderly men were present. Likewise, the study aimed to achieve a balance between
respondents who had some sort of environmental and health
awareness training and those who had not. This is important for
assessing whether there has been any filtration of these training
messages at the household and community level. The sample
was stratified (i.e. technique to ensure certain groups in the
population are included, despite limited size of sample) to ensure that the views of various groups based on caste, ethnicity
and economic status was included.

Initially, participation of the sample respondents was called

open and mainly targeted for women respondents. There was
indeed active participation by women community members
mainly from Mazdurpara. Women members of these slum communities had made it a point to join semi structured interviews,
house hold level interviews and focused group discussion.

Limitation
The main limitations of the study are summarized below:
Methodological limitations

Opportunities to participate
In general, women have had more challenges than men in carrying out the roles that they were given in the day to day affairs
viz. house hold maintenance, reproductive roles and livelihood
opportunities. Issues such as illiteracy, physical strength, low self
-confidence and self-esteem and socio-cultural norms limited
the ability of women to fully carry out their responsibilities.
Barriers to participate
There is a trend of increasing participation by women and excluded groups in community-level activities and development
work and a growing awareness of the benefits of attending
meetings and being involved.

However, a number of factors were identified that limit or preDue to the selection constraint, it was not possible to sevent the involvement of women and excluded groups:
lect completely homogenous communities based on caste
Perceived costs and benefits
and ethnicity.

Women and men weigh the costs and benefits of participating

in activities such as meetings. Burdened by household chores
and with minimal support from their husbands and family members, women have little time for attending meetings and participating in community work. Men, likewise, consider the costs of
Operational limitations
women's participation and recognize that more household work
Due to time and resource restrictions, the study was carried out may fall on them if women become involved in community
in only in Ward 66, of Kolkata Metropolitan Area, which may work.
not be completely representative of other communities in othAge
er regions.
The age of women influences the frequency and degree of par4. Findings
ticipation in meetings. Older women have more respect and
The findings of this study has been sartorially extrapolated and higher status in society than younger women, and are able to
analyzed. There are altogether 12 sub sectors where findings give their opinions more freely.

The sampling for the target group had to be adjusted in

some communities to address the limited number of men
available for interviewing and absence of selected respondents at their homes.

have been placed under its pertinent heading and category. The
findings are very exclusive and critical if CBOs plans to intervene
in the area of climate change adaptation especially in Urban
Slum context. There are so many latent attributes and findings
that surfaced during the study time period. The findings related
to food security, waste management, energy services and infrastructural setup are of paramount important when it comes to
devising any strategic programme implementation for climate
change adaptation for these community members.

Religion and ethnicity

Religion and ethnicity is another factor that limits women and
men's ability and opportunity to participate. Hindu women and
men participated less in meetings due to a combination of societal limitations and their own feeling of inferiority and lack of
education. Their language style is informal and people look
down on them. As a result, they feel less inclined to attend
meetings.

Economic status

Access to information

Although there is an increasing trend of women attending

meetings, it is often women and men from the better-off households who have more free time. The poorer households do not
have time to attend meetings due to the need to earn wages.
There is also the perception that the poor do not have anything
substantial to contribute to the meetings due to their lack of
education.

Women were often not notified of meetings. There was a lack

of sharing information between men and women and amongst
women themselves.

Education
The gender parity in literacy rate between men and women is
definitely prominent in Ward 66. However, challenges remain,
such as the high dropout rate of girls in secondary school. In the
slum communities there were positive trends of girls attending
school, but still a high level of illiteracy among women is prevalent. The low level of literacy and education was cited often as a
reason for women not participating in meetings.
Intra-household and intra-family relations
Women have more influence in a nuclear household compared
to a joint household where they are living with their in-laws.
They are able to decide things jointly with their husbands and
have more decision-making power over what to cook and what
to buy, compared to if they live in a joint household.

Socio-economic assessment
General particulars
The general particulars of sample respondents can be stated as
follows, which are presented in Table 2. It broadly includes the
sex composition, family size, age structure, type of family and
religion distribution. Among the 200 sample respondents,
96.50% are males. Similarly age wise 35.00% of the respondents
belong to the age group above 26 -35 year and 32.50% respondents belongs to age group of 19-26 year. About 74.50% of
the respondents have Nuclear families and 25.50% belonged to
Joint family system. Religion group-wise 99.5% belonged to
Muslims and 0.5 % to Hindus. The respondents present a dynamic array of pattern which project definite diversity prevailing
in the study area.

Socio cultural norms

Socially prescribed norms of men and women's role and character that are based on a patriarchal system restrict women
from participating and voicing their opinions. While lack of interest was noted as a reason for low participation, other women
said they were interested in what happened in meetings, but
they are pressurized not to raise their voice in society.
Another reason was the fear of backbiting from both men and
women. The gender division of labour limits women to the
household sphere, and when they attempt to extend their presence and activity in the public sphere, they are looked down
upon.
Cultural, religious and social norms shape men and women's
views of gender relations in the Ward 66. In women's understanding, women should be confined to the private sphere and
men should work outside the home. This implies that these
women did not want to challenge the status quo and believed
it was a woman's duty - not her husband's - to do housework.
The women also felt that their housework was not that hard
compared to the work outside the home that their husbands
did. The household chores are not detrimental to their physical
health, while work outside the home was much harder and suitable only for men.

Occupational diversity
Similarly in terms of primary occupation one notices in Table 3,
26.8% are somehow involved with leather related work (Leather
Strap Cutter 13.83% and Leather Factory Worker 12.97%), 2.31%
Businessmen, 5.76% are direct shop owners, 2.02% engaged in
Regular Employment, 13.83% are Daily Wage earners, 2.88%
are Rag pickers, 2.88% are Rickshaw-Pullers, 4.08% are Housemaids and remaining are engaged in various other occupations
such as various categories of artisans, petty traders, weavers,
construction workers, electricians, drivers etc.
8

Asset distribution
Nearly 71.50% of the household respondents have mobile phone
connections followed by 68% which owns television set. 14.50%
of the household respondents owns bicycle and 91.50% of
household respondents owns fans. One household actually owns
a fully functioning internet based computer system.

General demographic distribution

The average size of the family is 4.75 of the sample households
taken for the study. The sex ratio found to be 1007 females per
1000 males which is phenomenally good considering the high
fecundity rates within the community. The adults members in
the house hold comprises 59.74% and children comprise relatively higher 40.26% compared to other collateral studies. The
working member comprises 34.32% of the total population.

About 63 families from the sample respondents are immigrants

and settled in Ward 66 because of better livelihoods opportunities. About, 37 families came from other parts of West Bengal
and 26 came from other states of India mainly Northern Bihar,
Easter Uttar Pradesh, Mumbai etc.

General vulnerability assessment

General vulnerability assessment segment tried to address the
overall vulnerability aspects of the sample respondents about
their infrastructure, living conditions, assessment on water resources, sanitation facilities etc. As per Table 6, 56% of the
house hold respondents live in concrete house structure, 5.50%
live in semi concrete structure and 38.50% house hold respondents live in non-concrete setup. 75% of the sample respondents
live in one room, 22% of the sample respondents have 2 rooms
and 2.5% of the sample respondents have more than 3 rooms.
54% of the households have own toilet facilities and 46% of the
households uses community toilets. Sources of drinking water
patterns are one of the critical findings that emerged after completion of the study. 30% of the sample respondents rely on Municipality (KMC) for their primary drinking water source, 28.50%
of house hold respondents reported that they buy drinking water from local vendors due to situational constraints like avoiding conflicts in water filling queue, lack of time, lack of man
power to allocate water filling activities for the household etc.
For Washing and Cleaning Clothes 36.50% of primary respondents preferred water pump, 30.50% preferred natural ponds, 23
% preferred tube wells, 15.50% use time tap by KMC and 2.50%
use well. More than 80% of household respondents dont have
basic kitchen space and drainage facilities within the house.
There is severe health and stress concern for women to manage
daily activities like cooking and utensil washings, they always
tend to use contaminated water while washing utensils which
causes severe health implications within the household especially for young vulnerable children.
The table 6 demonstrated the detailed extrapolated analysis, for
household sample respondents of slum communities of Ward
66.

10

Vulnerability assessment of children

Children population of Ward 66 is the most vulnerable among
all the demographic categories put together. They are vulnerable from all the fronts be it health, nutrition, education, livelihoods and over all cognitive development. These poor families
of Ward 66 have high fecundity rates which caused high popula- 6.
tion of young children who are vulnerable to climate change
attributes like:
1.

2.

Water and sanitation illness: Children under the age of five

are the main victims (80% of sample respondents) of sanitation-related illnesses (diarrheal disease primarily) because
of their less developed immunity, and because their play
behaviour can bring them into contact with pathogens.
This results also in higher levels of malnutrition and in- 7.
creased vulnerability to other illnesses, with effects for
overall development.
Malaria and other tropical diseases: Warmer average temperatures are expanding areas where many tropical diseases can occur, with children most often the victims, such engulfment of vector borne diseases like malaria and dengue
to new areas makes the demographic population of those
areas vulnerable. In Ward 66 most serious threat is malaria.
Up to 50% of the children population is now considered to
be at risk. Malaria also increases the severity of other diseases, more than doubling overall mortality for young children. Adults in these households generally dont practice
mosquito repellent activities in their household and generally due to stagnant water and improper waste management
these households are more likely vulnerable to deadly vector borne diseases like malaria and dengue.

3.

Heat stress: Young children, along with the

elderly, are at highest risk from heat stress.
Risks for younger children are higher. Children in poor urban slum areas of Ward 66
may be at highest risk
because of the
urban heat-island effect, high levels of congestion and little open-space and vegetation.

4.

Malnutrition: Malnutrition results from food

shortages and interruptions in supplies, and
is also closely tied to unsanitary conditions
and to childrens general state of health. Malnutrition is
rampant among young children of Ward 66. If children are
already undernourished, they are less likely to withstand
the stress of an extreme event. Malnutrition increases vulnerability on every front, and can result in long term physical and mental stunting.

5.

particularly susceptible, and are more likely to experience

serious and long term effects (from burns, broken bones,
head injuries e.g.) because of their size and physiological
immaturity. Here, in Ward 66, 5% of such cases have been
reported.
Quality of care: As conditions become more challenging to
health, so do the burdens faced by caregivers. These problems are seldom faced one at a time risk factors generally
exist in clusters. Overstretched and exhausted caregivers
are more likely to leave children unsupervised and to cut
corners in all the chores that are necessary for healthy living. As per the study there more than 40% cases of lack of
direct quality of care for children.
Respiratory illness: Respiratory illnesses in children, almost
visible more than 40 % of all the children among primary
respondents of Ward 66. A number of factors are involved
here, not all of which are directly affected by climate
change. Childrens vulnerability to respiratory disease may
be related, for instance, to their proximity to traffic, the
level of crowding in
their homes, and the cooking or
heating fuel burned within their homes.

For some children in some places, the added challenges brought

by climate change could contribute to an erosion of both their
mental capacity and their opportunities for learning and growth.
Learning is also dependent on supportive social and physical
environments, and the opportunities to master new skills.
When supportive environments break down, so do opportunities for engagement in purposeful goal directed activities.

For some children in some places, the added challenges brought

by climate change could contribute to an erosion of both their
mental capacity and their opportunities for learning and growth.
Learning is also dependent on supportive social and physical
environments, and the opportunities to master new skills.
When supportive environments break down, so do opportuniInjury: After extreme events, injury rates go up. Children, ties for engagement in purposeful goal directed activities.
because of their size and developmental immaturity, are
11

12

Most of the families are reluctant to send their children to

school, because they feel it is a sort of financial burden and child
doesnt learn much from school and it would be better if children could be engaged in household and other allied livelihood
activities. Handful of families envisages the merit of education.
There are good trends of school drop outs as child progress to
higher classes.
Majority of the children are suffering from Diarrhea, Typhoid
and different form of gastro-intestinal diseases. Malaria is frequent among these children and due to evident climate
change Malaria is no more seasonal, it is occurring throughout
the year. Other reasons may also be attributed for the same
which are mainly rampant solid waste management (SWM)
problems, water contamination; mosquito nets are not being
used and perennial financial crunch among these communities.

cant afford the sort of quality of care very much needed for the
same.
Household identified limiting factors which are causing stunted
development in children which are mainly external environment,
lack of financial power and lack of supportive physical and social
environment. Only 5% of household respondent agreed to do
something about this situation and ways to improve it. Children
suffering from heat stress in these slums and ailments could be
further classified as Respiratory Problems= 70 Children, Prickly
Heat= 198 Children, Dehydration= 173 Children, Lethargy=
182 Children, Irritation=169 Children, Loss of Appetite= 178
Children, and Skin Rashes= 103 Children.

Households responded to the question on children as active agents and how they perceive their children when they
will grow up whether they visualize them to be a collateral
(social and economic), how households aspire children to
overcome present scenario and lead a normal like and
households envisage children to grow as a socially responsible and active citizen (education and proper livelihood
security). 68 household respondents agreed to the fact that
they prioritize their children to overcome their present scenario
and lead a healthy and normal life.
Households are assessed for quality of parental supervision and
care with subjected to age group of the children, mainly on
attributes like personal hygiene-sanitation, food-drinking water
provisions and monitoring daily activity of child (schooling, tuitions, play etc.). Households responded accordingly on given set
of choices offered in semi structured interviews and household
level interviews. When a child crosses the age barrier of ten and
more household ceases to give the quality of care given by
them to their children and diminishes them slowly and lately.
Quality of care is very important for children, somehow the level of consistency is not retained as children grow in age and pos- Parents of infants in Ward 66 are not aware of Integrated Child
ture. Parents believe that a child above 12 years is well aware Development Services, but their numbers are slowly accruing.
and can take their own care and needed to be left alone, it occurs due to the fact that there are always financial pressure from
parents to manage day to day activities and sometimes they
13

Vulnerability assessment of women

Majority of the women are suffering or have past testimonial of

vector borne diseases like malaria, dengue etc. Diarrhoea, intestinal disease and hepatitis are found in large numbers among
them, this could be attributed to the fact that they basically rely
on contaminated sources of water for drinking, washing and
cleaning purposes.

Climate change is definitely not gender neutral and its repercussion is definitely critical for women because of excessive physical labour, inconsistency in health factors, lack of financial liberty, lack of decision making power in the household and always
being treated as secondary and tertiary when it comes to priority rankings of household members.
More than 45% of women are found to be anemic and quite a
few also suffer from diseases like tuberculosis, low blood presTotal number of women interviewed is 256 including direct and
sure, kidney stones and tumours of various kinds.
indirect respondents. Among them 115 of women are under
weight and severely mal nourished.

Education profile of women in Ward 66 is really in bad shape,

majority of them are illiterate , just literate and have schooling
between Classes I to V. Schooling is accruing for young girl child
within the community, parents of these children are motivated
to send their wards to school and encourage them not to drop
from their schools.

Heat stress effect during summers are quite evident from the
figures, due to extreme temperature during the summers these women suffer from various health causalities like prickly
heat, breathing problems, dehydration, lethargy and loss of appetite. During summers, health wise these women are more
vulnerable during any other season throughout the year, and
thus make them target to anticipated disease like malaria, dengue, diarrhoea and others.

14

Activity control profile of these women respondents projects a

clear picture how they spend their entire day doing different
activities viz household activities, reproductive activities, water
collection, collection of food items, social activities, and employment related engagement and personal timeouts. On household
activities sample respondent women spend average of 3.46
hours per day which basically covers cleaning of house, maintenance of house, cooking and domestic help. For collecting water
these women spend around 1.66 hours a day and for collecting
food items they spend around 1.36 hours. Table 19 defines an
elaborate picture of various involved activity control profiles
represented by these women.

Access control profile of these women respondents as per Table

20 clearly demonstrates that women do not have equal foot
hold when compared to men in the household. Women do not
have direct access over important decision making power with in
the family; priority is not given to them on selected food items
like fish, eggs, meat when being evaluated by their male counter
parts. And women do not get assistance from men to support
them in household work.

5. Climate change vulnerability and adaptation

measures
Infrastructural vulnerability is indeed visible throughout Ward
66, as in majority of the houses dont have concrete house,
proper roofs and adequate drainage facilities. The situation is
indeed critical as more than 60% of the sample household respondents believed that their house is vulnerable to climate
change effects like extreme weather conditions and abrupt
changes. Table 22 demonstrates that even ventilation and age
of construction of houses of sample household respondents are

not good and living inside them has its own multiplier effect of
anticipated risks.

Communities living in Mazdurpara and Azad Mohalla have the

most rickety infrastructural setups. Majority of these houses are
non-concrete and buildings are very much close to each other.
Communities indeed face exquisite hardship due to every
seasonal vagary. During summer communities living in buildings and on roof tops suffer a lot because of extreme temperature effect in their house. Water is acutely short in supply during these days and majority of the time household members of
these communities spend time at ground floor or a floor below
which is at least having less heating effect relative to roof top
communities. The families which live in roof tops have this
dual burden, they need to pay more to the water vendor and
during summer their house becomes almost inhabitable. Families in ground floor and middle floor do not get adequate sunWomen respondents of Ward 66 reported that only a few of
light and proper ventilation of air. Building communities are realthem have the eligibility to move during extreme events like
ly very jam-packed and space conflicts are very much common
floods, cyclone and heavy rainfall. Some of them are being aland predominant among neighbours. The drainage facilities in
lowed to move during emergency (medical, financial, family and
building communities are found to be collapsing and need imsocial). And very few respondents have agreed to the fact they
mediate attention, but the inhabitants in these buildings are
are allowed to move by their family members in search of better
very much reluctant to rectify and modify changes because they
livelihoods opportunities.
perceive it is the duty of the promoter of the building to take
15
account of these attributes.

As per Table 25, it is evident the waste generated by each

household is basically divided into solid waste and liquid waste,
under solid waste there are kitchen garbage, polythene/plastics,
papers and others. 99.50% households reported that they have
polythene and paper garbage and 64% reported that they have
water related waste. In Table 26, the waste related problem
intensifies during rainy seasons and summers. The local atmosphere becomes pungent and this situation amplifies breeding
grounds for mosquitos, flies and other vectors.
In Table 23, it is noticed that primary sample respondents go for
some sort of adaptive measures mainly in monsoon and winter
seasons. Household employs plastics to cover roof ceilings, window panes and doors to avoid rain water inside their house during rainy season and in winter they blanket all possible open
spaces in the house and heat up the house to avoid cold temperature. Most of them dont have requisite monetary back-up and
motivation to incur permanent positive modification within the
house. In summers communities dont follow specific adaptation
and coping measures.

As per Table 27 it is evident that more than 90% of the respondent households dispose waste in nearby proximity of
the house. The disposal pattern covers major delivery channels like disposing waste on designated alleys or lanes or in
between two buildings, disposing waste in identified landfill
areas by the community, disposing waste through proper collection of garbage vans etc.
Solid Waste Management (SWM) both at household level and
community level is severely lacking in these areas, literally
waste could be seen everywhere and anywhere. Local playing
fields have been converted into landfills and waste disposal
could be seen between buildings and alleys of Ward 66.
Here, 111 sample household respondents which account more
than 55% of the sample do not follow systematic waste management segregation at the household level.

16

Drinking water sources are very scarce for the urban slum communities in Ward 66. There are water mafias who exploit these
ordeals and make a complete business out of it. People actually
buy water from them at prices ranging from INR 6 INR 15
depending on where a family lives-whether near or distant from
the water source or whether on roof tops of buildings. These
local water mafias create an unhealthy atmosphere in water
queues and cause conflicts. Common people generally avoid
such commotion and are thus compelled to fall for these water

mafias.

Food security
Climate change threatens peoples access to food as they become socioeconomically susceptible.
Displaced people living in urban slums are in search of better
and secure life. But urban slums located mostly in low lying environmentally hazardous area coupled with inadequate facilities
like food, shelter, sanitation, health care make their life even
worse. Growing number of people in urban slums over the recent past creates extra pressure on existing systems and challenge to government development activities like slum development and poverty reduction strategy.
The study framework will depict socioeconomic condition of
slum dwellers of primary respondents of Ward 66 and their consumption pattern, while it has been found that majority of them
cant afford nutritious food which is expensive to them. Climate
change will increase poverty and worsen food security. Urban
poverty will increase if environmentally displaced people keep
moving to city, while slum is their potential target for habitation.
Such people create pressure on limited natural resources like
land, water. Also, the poor are often compelled to live in environmentally hazardous area like low lying flood prone area occupying swamps, natural lakes. Poor living conditions and unsanitary environment have been substantiated in the elements
of food security. The other essential element of food security is
biological utilization of food emphasizing environmental sanitation, clean water, and adequate diet. Availability does not ensure food security at specific level like household or individual
level. Household or individuals access to food and more specifically, to absorb diet properly lead to food security. Measurement of food security is an integration of many factors like agroecological, environmental, socio-economic, political and biological factors. The concept is generalized into three main aspects
like:

Water collection is of paramount important for the slum communities, sample respondents agreed to the fact that energy
and health implications are most important concern for water
collection, because the individuals have to go nearly 500 metres
1 Kilo Metre and it takes more than 1 hour for each case. In
Table 29, attributes like long distance and time investments are
also listed as important contributors. In Table 30, its quite evident that power cuts are frequent during summers and thus 1. Availability of food , 2. Access to food, 3. Utilization of food
the demand for water as a resource for the communities inAvailability of food is examined through sufficient supply of food
creases.
to satisfy domestic need. Food availability is determined by
supply and demand oriented approach while supply of food is
integrated with domestic production, imports (public, private, food aid) and changes in national stock. But the issue of
food aid in food availability is often being questioned. Also,
it is found that availability of food cannot often measure
what people actually obtained. In this case access to food
depicts peoples purchasing power to buy food. Poverty is
one of the main obstacles affecting peoples purchasing power with in the communities of Ward 66 urban slum dwellers.

17

Access to food is not only enough in food security, while utiliza tion of food guarantees ones capacity to absorb and utilize nutrients in food consumed. Utilization of food is determined
through caring practices, eating habits, hygiene, access to
health and sanitary facilities.
Assessment of food security is a complex phenomenon as it is
interrelated with many factors. The research reveals second
and third elements of food security in terms of living conditions
of slum dwellers of Ward 66 through the field survey under taken.
A set of indicators is used to analyze living conditions and the
situation of food security of urban poor living in these slums.
Socio-economic factors including income, expenditure and education influence food habit and knowledge about hygiene. Socio-economic factors entail individuals ability to have adequate
and nutritious food as well as water treatment practice for safe
drinking water. Environmental sanitation is characterized by
households latrine type and waste disposal system, while children are easy victim of unhygienic environment. Following
Chart 3 depicts conceptual framework of assessing food security
integrating inter-related factors.

From above two tables it is quite clear that expenditure of

households on food item requirements is in fact primary and
majority of women do not receive equal allocation of food
items.

The expenditure and consumption patterns of have been thoroughly analyzed for primary sample respondents.

18

Table 33 reveals that there is indeed severe lack of diversity of

nutritive food items for these households which participated in
the study. The lack of good diversity could be reasoned for lack
of availability of good nourishing food, lack of awareness and
major contributing limiting factor is lack of financial power to
opt for diversified basic food choices. Malnutrition and malnourishment could be seen among young children and women
of slum dwellers of Ward 66 and indeed needs immediate attention.

The area of the house considered in Table 35, is very important nearly 46 number of house hold have living areas between 200-250 sq feet and any house having area bigger than
that usually converts them into working space. Hence, among
slum respondents of Ward 66, area inside the house influence
the household members to go for additional livelihood activities inside the house premises be it leather work or flip flop
strap cutting work.
In Table 36, we can clearly see that majority of the sample
respondent opted for the bulbs, tubes and kerosene lamps as
their primary source of lighting
Energy consumption
The energy consumption pattern among sample household respondents is listed in Table 34, 92% of sample respondents have
some sort of electric connection in place and rest 8% dont have
any form of electricity. Nearly, 83% of the household respondent
employs Kerosene as fuel to cook and lightening source. 29.50%
use wood and 21% charcoal for fuel purpose. 15% are extremely
poor they use wood residues, saw dusts and even plastics to
supplement their fuel source.

In Table 37, we can observe that majority of the sample respondents opted for community meter and paying less than INR
300 per month.

19

In Table 38, we can observe that majority of the sample respondents opted for Kerosene and are paying about INR 764
per month. For all the energy sources, consumption tends to
increase during winters.
In Table 39, we can observe that 184 sample respondents have
electrified connection and rest of them have over lapping
sources the figures represented in this specific table is purely
cumulative in nature.
In Table 40, we can observe that there is a definite shift from
sample households respondents when it comes to heating water
and the very same trend quantified in cold months.

20

6. Climate change dynamics-qualitative aspects

Seasonal Calendar:

This part of the report will look into different thematic tools employed during focussed group discussion (FGD) to capture comprehensive insights on communitys perception on impacts o f
climate change and various aspects of climate change induced
vulnerabilities related to their daily life. The study employed five
climate change qualitative research finding tools as per CBA
frame work CARE INTERNATIONAL which is as follows:

Objectives

Hazard Mapping

Seasonal Calendar

Historical Timeline

Vulnerability Matrix

Venn Diagrams

Hazard Mapping:

1. To identify periods of stress, hazards, diseases, hunger, debt,

vulnerability, etc.
2. To understand livelihoods and coping strategies.
3. To analyze changes in seasonal activities.
4.

To evaluate use of climate information for planning.

Communicating climate change

Discussing trends or changes in the frequency of events is an
excellent opportunity to validate community observations that
are in line with climate data. Focusing the discussion on the
future can help in understanding community aspirations and
extent of planning for the future. It also presents an opening to
facilitate communication of available information on predicted
future trends.

Objectives
Learning and discussion
1. To become familiar with the community and to see how the
1. Communities and CBO swasta sevikas have identified implace is perceived by different groups within the community
portant attributes like periods of food scarcity and water scarci2. To identify important livelihoods resources in the communi- ty.
ty, and who has access and control over them and to identify
2. Community members successfully identified during what time
areas and resources at risk from climate hazards
of year their children are getting sick and what sort of preventive
3. To analyze changes in hazards and planning for risk reduction. measures could be taken up.
Learning and discussion

3.

Community members mutually agreed that frequencies of

events are being common to them as a unit.

1. Communities and CBOs swasta sevikas have identified important hazards like fire, heavy rainfall, waste, scattered solid Historical Timeline:
waste, water contamination, stagnant water and gambling as
Objectives
important hazards that community is facing at present.

2. Community members fears and agreed to the fact rampant 1. To get an insight into past hazards, changes in their nature,
gambling and drug addiction is taking a heavy toll on their life intensity and behaviour
and engulfing positivity in present and in future.
2. To make people aware of trends and changes over time & to
3. Community members mutually agreed that poorest of them evaluate extent of risk analysis, planning and investment for the
future
are most vulnerable to these hazards and need safety baskets.
4. Community members agree that heavy torrential rains break Learning and discussion
down their infrastructure of house and deeply affect their liveli- 1. Communities and CBO swasta sevikas have identified imhoods because majority of them get paid on daily basis.
portant chronological events which results in complete transfor5. Community members mutually agree to the fact that they mation of the area- it started with establishment of cluster
need to inculcate thrift or savings to make them secure in times leather industries and which further attracted many migrants
workforce in search of better livelihood opportunities.
of emergency.
6. Drinking water is a perennial problem and needs a sustaina- 2. Community members have identified the year when waste
management problem in Ward 66 got rampant it happened durble solution within the community setup.
ing the year 1992-93.The area which is Ward 66 today was a wet
7. Diseases in children needed to bring down, especially those land earlier and now converted into a full fledge habitable slum
which can be controlled.
areas since 1983.Community members successfully identified
years when slum area of Mazdurpara got entirely burned in the
21
year 2007.

Vulnerability Matrix:

the hygiene condition is really bad.

Objectives

Table 45, clearly shows that 92% of the households use soaps
and detergents for cleaning and bathing for all family members.

1. To determine the hazards that have the most serious impact

on important livelihoods resources
2. To determine which livelihoods resources are most vulnerable and to identify coping strategies for the same.
Learning and discussion
1. Communities and CBOs swasta sevikas have identified vulnerable areas like food resource, children going to school, mother and child welfare, household income, health of women and
children etc. and its linkages with hazards like human diseases,
heavy rainfall, fire, summer heat etc. and how both the factors
influences each other.
2. Community members have identified summer heat; rainfall
and fire are most hazardous event which can cause a topsy-turvy
event in their basic survival.
Venn Diagram:
Objectives
1. To understand which institutions are most important to communities
2. To analyse engagement of different groups in local planning
processes
3. To evaluate access to services and availability of social safety
nets
Learning and discussion
1.

Community members have identified ICDS, World Vision,

CINI ASHA, KMC which help them to carry out developmental related programmes within the community.

Water, sanitation and hygiene

During the course of the study it was clear to the study team,
that water, sanitation and hygiene are important thematic interventions which needed concrete evaluations. The disease occurrence in the area is solely because of three cross cutting thematic attributes. Table 41 represents different quantities of water required by communities for household purposes. Among
sample respondents, 55% of them avail the services of nearby
pond** for washing and bathing. Table 42, provides a complete
illustration for the same.
Table 43 illustrates that 88.50% of the sample respondents do
not undertake any filtration methods and only 7% of them boil
water that too because of young children in their household.
Table 44 illustrates that 37 households use Kaccha individual
latrines and 69 Pacca individual latrines. For those households
using community based latrines majority of them reported that22

7. Identified climate induced vulnerabilities and coping strategies

Table 47 throws some light on coping mechanism used by sample respondents against vector borne diseases, it has been
found that those households which focus on savings and
thrift mobilization are better-off family wise be it education

Table 46 gives a clear picture of average monthly income of the

sample respondents, but majority of them specifically in Mazdurpara is below INR 3,000. Nearly, 40% of these households are
in perpetual debts and settling long term credits.
Chart 10 gives a clear picture of how 66 households are involved in thrift and savings, which gives them a safety blanket
during the time of emergency and crisis. 134 households have
no access to savings and they are in perpetual engulfment of
debts and loans.

of children, health of children, better adaptability and more

prosperity.
Chart 11 shows how a tiny section of community of Ward 66
believes in the merit of rain water harvesting and practice the
same. Climate change coping strategies are definitely not
standalone they are cross cutting and juxtaposing, important
attributes like thrift mobilization, diversifications of livelihoods for better income, rain water harvesting, good mosquito prevention, water filtration etc. are series of good practices
under the umbrella of community based climate change coping mechanisms.

8. Education assessment, gender relation and dynamics

In Table 48, we can see that 21.14% of the sample respondents are illiterate and 28.11% of the sample respondents are
school drop outs have education between classes I and V. The
respondents effectively comprehends that value of education
will definitely bring in a positive change in their lifestyle.
There will be distribution of power, more equity and more happiness. Education will definitely enhance the overall capacity of
livelihood earning and economic benefits with in the household.
There is one perception study that has been carried out about
the importance of educating a girl child in the household. Participants involved in the study mutually agreed with the series of
perceived benefits of
23

educating a girl child. The simple awareness and education eve

for the adults will open the flood gate s of developmental enterprising within the family. While there is an increasing trend of
women participating in meetings and community activities,
women in general have little influence or power over decisionmaking processes. However, in the slums women have greater
voice and fewer inhibitions to speak up in meetings compared
to women in the rural setup. Chart 12 clearly demonstrates the
perceived benefits of active women participation in any community work related to slum development.

9. Mother and child heath dynamics in changing context

There are around 176 mothers in the assessment study and
some of them are noble mothers, overall children development
largely depends upon individual capacity of mother to take initiatives when it comes for childs health, education, hygiene and
recreation. Children are more attached to their mother in these
slum areas than their fathers because they spend majority of
the time with their mother and accompany them to whatever
she does. Awareness level of mother with respect to childs
health and development is very important considering
limited household resource and limited income, slum
mother faces this impossible situation to raise their children in todays expensive world. Government child integrated services are available and mother of all ages, caste
and religious beliefs must avail these services so that their
child can avail a better healthy life. These integrated child
services covers childrens health and other important
attributes related to nutritional development. And where
about awareness of these extended services can bring a
sea of change difference in the mother and childs life of
these slum dwellers.

24

3. Identify decision makers in the household. Involve and work

with mother-in-laws, to promote younger women's participation.

10. Recommendations
Capacity building

1. Provide household solid waste management awareness

4. Working abreast with men in tandem to make climate change
training, follow-up support and refresher trainings for both
project more efficient and effective.
partner organizations and communities.
5. Promote participation by linking it with benefits that women
2. Review solid waste management awareness training content
and families can have access to by participating.
and include approaches that explore how both men and women
can address gender issues together; an understanding of what 6. Increase transfer and sharing of knowledge, information and
skills between men and women and within women. Promote a
the benefits of participation are.
circle of learning through groups, whereby women who
3. Support the development of advocacy skills of local commuattendmeetings must report back to the other women who
nities, community based organizations, federations and, associcould not attend and provide an update.
ations that are committed to gender equality and working in
7. Follow-up support - maintain open communication between
the development of mother and child health.
ICDS, govt. nodal agencies like KMC & partners and communities
4. Target women for training and capacity building, which is
to address and respond to issues that are identified and emerge.
essential for sustainability of WATSAN and basic hygiene initiatives, especially in technical and managerial roles to ensure
their involvement in decision-making process (e.g. leadership,
management, public speaking).
4. Provide project training to interested candidates who show
willingness to use acquired skills, experience and knowledge.
5. Provide localized training modules on energy consumption
(like fuel usage whether Kerosene, Wood or Charcoal) and internalizing the community members through this training.
6. Provide localized trainings on rain water harvesting measures.
7. Opportunity to create special groups within the community
that will vigilance after localized cleanliness factors like stagnation of water, KMCs work within the community like spraying
DDTs, and proper linkages with Integrated Child Development
Services.
8. Provide context-specific approach to address Mother and
Child Health development issues. For example, in the Mazdurpara, the orientation and training could be given to motherin-laws and daughter-in-laws together and husbands and wives
together.
Behaviour change
1. Identify key social change agents in the community and local
level that have influence and are sensitive to gender and social
inclusion. Identify leaders and change makers, and provide Climate Change Programme relevant trainings and advocacy
trainings to these individuals who can advocate for change in
the community.
2. Initiate an advocacy and awareness raising campaign before
initiating project on gender and climate change issues and importance of involving both men and women in project activities.
25

11. Conclusions

4.

Respecting childrens capacities; supporting their active involvement: The chance to solve problems, contribute, take
action, is a potent protective force for children in adversity.
But the contribution of children and young people is also a
potential community asset too seldom tapped in the process of development and adaptation. There are numerous
precedents for effective action in this area in disaster risk
reduction, preparedness and rebuilding.

Climate Change impacts and its associated community based

adaptation measures should not be considered as standalone
activity. It must be given a wide array of different linear and
nonlinear development activities put together like watsan,
mother and child health, solid waste management, energy consumption and food security. Climate change aspects actually
cross cutting in all the above mentioned thematic developmenAddressing these concerns for children may appear to be an
tal areas and thus needs a proper integration.
unworkable burden in the face of so many other compelling
Special reference- Implications for adaptation
priorities. Fortunately, this is not a zero sum game. There are
In seeking to reduce vulnerability and enhance resilience in the strong synergies between what children need and the adaptaface of various hazards and risks, how can the multiplicity of tions required to reduce or respond to more general risks. For
useful measures to protect childrens
concerns and other relevant stake-holders for children of differ- instance, the most
ent ages be adequately represented without completely over- health are also fundamental in reducing risks from potential diswhelming any agenda and address the issue in a much for plausi- asters like adequate drainage, waste removal, and proper
ble way. In every aspect of adaptation protection, prepara- sanitation. Supporting adults so that they are better able to adtion, relief and rebuilding, and at every level of response (house dress their childrens needs also leaves them better equipped to
hold, community, local government, NGO, international agen- work collaboratively on reducing risks, preparing for disasters,
and rebuilding their lives after a crisis. If these attributes are
cies etc.) some basic concerns need to be taken into account.
taken proper care and planned interventions are carried out
These must be based on adequate knowledge of childrens lives
there is indeed a scope of sustainable solution where childs
and experience, and the challenges faced by their caregivers
basic development could be synchronized with effective adaptaand parents; and they must be integrated into planning, decision
tion and coping strategies.
-making and action, not treated as add-ons after the fact.
1.

Ensuring childrens optimal health and nutrition conditions:

Ensuring childrens health through preventive care and environmental health measures is a potent form of disaster
risk reduction. Food aid and supports for health are vital
after crises, but when health is already compromised by
malnutrition or illness, children are more likely to suffer
long term damage from extreme events and worsening
conditions, and also to be a drain on the family capacity to
cope.

2.

Strengthening families capacity to cope or adapt: All adaptive measures should ideally enhance the capacity of
households to come through periods of shock with minimal
upset. But coping may take on broader meaning where
children are concerned, and will include the capacity to
manage hardship without compromising the overall wellbeing of their children.

3.

Maintaining and restoring childrens routines, their networks and their activities: Children rely on daily routines
and activities as a context for stability and optimal development. Other functions, more critical to survival, will inevitably be prioritized (food, health, livelihoods), but in the
course of addressing these, it is important not to compromise childrens spaces, activities, networks and opportunities for gaining competence.
26

Framework for Pro-Poor Asset Adaptation to urban Climate

Change in Cities and Climate Change Responding to an Urgent
Action Aid International. 2006. Unjust Waters: Climate Change, Agenda, eds. D Moser, Caroline and Satterthwaite, David. 2010.
Flooding and Protection of Poor Urban Communities: Experiences from Six African Cities.
Toward Pro- Poor Adaptation to Climate Change in the Urban

12. Reference

Centers of Low and Middle Income Countries in Social DimenAngel, S. 1983. Land Tenure for the Urban Poor in land for sions of Climate Change Equity and Vulnerability in A Warming
Housing the Poor, eds. S. Angel, R.W. Archer, S. Tanphiphat and World, eds. R. Mearns and A. Norton (pp. 231- 258). WashingE.A. Wegelin. Singapore:
ton, DC: World Bank.
Select Books.
Bartlett, Sheridan. 2008. Climate Change and Urban Children:
Impacts and Implications for Adaptation in Low- and Middleincome Countries. International Institute for Environment and
Development
(IIED).
http://www.iied.org/pubs/
pdfs/10556IIED.pdf

Ndugwa, Robert Peter and Eliya M. Zulu. 2008. Child Morbidity

and Care-seeking in Nairobi Slum Settlements: The Role of Environmental and Socioeconomic Factors. Journal of Child Health
Care.

OBrien, K. and Leichenko, R. 2007. Human Security, Vulnerability and Sustainable Adaptation. UNDP Occasional Paper for the
Bull-Kamanga and others. 2003. From Everyday Hazards to UNDP Human Development Report.
Disasters: The Accumulation of Risk in Urban Areas. Environment and Urbanization, vol 15, no 1, pp 193-203.
Razzazz, O.1993. Examining Property Rights and Investments in
Informal Settlements: The Case of Jordan. Land Economics
Child In Need Institute. 2011. Annual Programme Reports, Rajib.
2011. CINI ASHA Programme, www.ciniindia.org.
Roy, A. 2005. Urban Informality: Towards an Epistemology of
Planning. Journal of the American Planning Association, 71(2),
Community Based Adaptation Exchange. 2011. Website: http:// 147-158.
community.eldis.org/cbax/Field, Erica. 2005. Property Rights
and Investment in Urban Slums. Journal of the European Eco- Satterthwaite, David. 2011. What Role for Low income Communomic Association 3(23), 279-290.
nities in Urban Areas in Disaster Risk Reduction? Part of the
Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction. http://
www.preventionweb.net/english/hyogo/gar/2011/en/
Gilbert, Alan. 2002. On the Mysteries of Capital and the Myths bgdocs/Satterthwaite_2011.pdf.
of De Soto. IDPR 24.
Sida. 2007. Climate Change from an Urban Perspective. Urban
Handzic, K. 2010. Is Legalized Land Tenure Necessary in Slum Issue Paper. Stockholm: Sida. http://www.sida.se/sida/jsp/
Upgrading? Learning from Rios Land Tenure Policies in the Fave- sida.jspd=118&a=33730&language=en_US&searchWords=climat
la Bairro Program. Habitat International 34 (1) (2010), pp. 11 e%20change%20 from%20an%20urban%20perspective
17
West Bengal Government Report. 2007-2010. Kolkata EnvironHardoy, Jorgelina and Pandiella, Gustavo. 2009. Urban Poverty ment Improvement Programme Reports, KMC and KMA (p.19).
and Vulnerability to Climate Change in Latin America. Environ- Kolkata: India.
ment and Urbanization 21:203
ICLEI. 2011. Adapting Cities to Climate Change and the Urban Worlld Bank. 2010. Social Dimensions of Climate Change Equity
poor: Experiences of the German Development Cooperation in and Vulnerability in a Warming World, eds. R. Mearns and A.
Bangladesh. Resilient Cities Congress Session B2 description.
Norton. (p.19).Washington DC: World Bank.
http://resilient-cities.iclei.org/bonn2011/program/
friday-3-june-2011/b2-adapting-cities-to-climatechange-and-the
-urban-poor/.
Klineberg, Eric. 2002. Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of
Disaster. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Moser, Caroline. 2011. A Conceptual and Operational
27