Erar Tari Pilot

Background of the community

Assam, a northeastern state of India, faces devastating annual floods, submerging 39.58% of its land. Among the worst-hit areas is Erartari, a village in Barpeta’s Pakabetbari Block, home to around 600 Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe households. Primarily dependent on agriculture and fishing, residents endure months of inundation from June to August, leading to land loss, damaged assets, and income disruption. Floods severely impact their daily lives, causing displacement and limiting access to essentials like food, water, healthcare, and sanitation. Despite their resilience, inadequate relief efforts leave them struggling to rebuild and recover year after year

Status of implementation

Project DEFY, in partnership with Sanjog, launched DISPECS in Assam’s Erartari village. Since October, the team has lived with residents, identifying key challenges through a participatory approach:

By co-creating solutions, DISPECS is empowering the community to build resilience and improve their quality of life.

Access to clean drinking water – The community is building arsenic water filters.

By co-creating solutions, DISPECS is empowering the community to build resilience and improve their quality of life.

Access to menstrual hygiene – Locals are producing reusable cloth pads for sustainability.

Access to nutritious food – Families are cultivating mushrooms for better nutrition.

Next steps

Expanding Community Involvement

The program will actively engage youth and men, ensuring a comprehensive approach to addressing Erartari’s challenges.

Collaborative Problem-Solving

Using a participatory and democratic approach, the team will work alongside residents to identify urgent issues and co-create effective, community-driven solutions.

Timeline for implementation

Detailed weekly plan
Logistics for team
Understanding the community
Introduction to community
Secure financial resources for implementation

Hiring Program Fellow
Trust building with community
Vulnerability Assessment
Incentive Contextualisation assessment

Create structure for volunteers
Partnerships completed
Sign Social Agreement
Fellows trained
Micro-validation (testing segments)
Build cadence with community

Mid-point check-in for implementation
Course correction is carried out, if needed
DISPECS Core team exits

Transfer of ownership of program to the community
Midline Survey
Post disaster Rehabilitation

Endline survey

Community recruitment
Procure initial tools and materials
Minor re-iterations in program

Segment initialisation begins for all the segments

Set-up the disaster response council and begin training on protocols

Project Closure by organising a Festival

Timeline for implementation

Detailed weekly plan
Logistics for team
Understanding the community
Introduction to community
Secure financial resources for implementation

Hiring Program Fellow
Trust building with community
Vulnerability Assessment
Incentive Contextualisation assessment

Community recruitment
Procure initial tools and materials
Minor re-iterations in program

Create structure for volunteers
Partnerships completed
Sign Social Agreement
Fellows trained
Micro-validation (testing segments)
Build cadence with community

Segment initialisation begins for all the segments

Mid-point check-in for implementation
Course correction is carried out, if needed
DISPECS Core team exits

Set-up the disaster response council and begin training on protocols

Transfer of ownership of program to the community
Midline Survey
Post disaster Rehabilitation

Project Closure by organising a Festival

Endline survey

Join Us in Strengthening Disaster Resilience

Passionate about disaster resilience? Working with vulnerable communities? Let’s collaborate! Email us at dispecs@projectdefy.org to make a meaningful impact together.