Jhelum and Tawi Flood Recovery Project

The Jhelum and Tawi Flood Recovery Project for India will support the recovery and increase disaster resilience in Project Areas, and increase the capacity of the Project Implementing Entity to respond promptly and effectively to an eligible crisis or emergency. The flood affected region, consists of 22 districts, affecting 12.5 million people. The project involves seven components, including: 1) Reconstruction and strengthening of critical infrastructure; 2) Reconstruction of roads and bridges; 3) Restoration of urban flood management infrastructure; 4) Restoration and strengthening of livelihoods; 5) Strengthening disaster risk management capacity; 6) Contingent Emergency Response; and 7) Implementation Support. The project incorporates lessons learned from ongoing post-disaster recovery projects financed by the Bank in Uttarakhand, Odisha, Bihar, and Andhra Pradesh, as well as worldwide. Some of the lessons incorporated are: technical codes and standards utilized should be resilient to natural hazards; the Disaster Management Act of 2005 paved the way for the creation of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) at the national level, and the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), the latter with a clear mandate for spearheading disaster management efforts in the states; globally, there is evidence that some flood response programs have focused too heavily on rebuilding infrastructure and not enough on better adaptation and preparedness for the future in complementary investments, such as water and flood management, rural finance, early warning communication systems, etc; DRM institutions are frequently overstretched between regular operations and emergencies; and the project also incorporates lessons from the Bogota Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project, which included retrofitting of hospitals.