The difficulties encountered by slum-dwellers illustrate the living conditions during flooding. The major reported problems were related to the lack of environmental cleanliness (smell of bad water, dirty water with human waste floating everywhere, spread of cockroaches, rats and snakes). Further problems resulted from the restriction of movement, in particular for women and IYCs, such as difficulty to use latrines and to travel to work. Finally participants faced issues due to a decrease in food security and an increase in domestic burden (e.g., food collection and preparation, washing clothes, and child care). All usual domestic tasks became extremely difficult to carry out and took 2 to 3 times longer compared to the normal time because of the restriction of movement and the non-availability of cooking gas.
During flooding, the decrease in food security resulted from the combined effect of lack of access to food and limited availability of food in the market. The household resources also declined and limited the purchasing power. This was essentially due to the inability of the income generators to work; especially the rickshaw-pullers who could not work due to the roads being inundated with flood waters. One mother reported on her husband who is a rickshaw-puller, ‗He works half day. Sometimes he cannot work because of water.‘ Food quantity and quality were affected too. Slum-dwellers reported eating 50% less food than usual, and a limited diet (potatoes, rice, and dry food). They suffered from hunger and ate once a day. A mother narrated, ‗Apa, the cooked dal was so transparent (diluted)! We could wash our hands in it.‘ Another mother recounted, ‗People could not bring food to the market. So the price was high. We bought half KG of rice instead of one.‘
4.5.3.2 Breastfeeding practices during flooding: „I had no breastmilk!‟
Breastfeeding mothers reported a decrease and cessation of maternal milk supply as they ate less in quantity and a limited variety of food. A mother recounted, ‗During flood I ate less fish and vegetables. That‘s why I had less breast milk‘. The options for replacement of maternal milk were limited or non existent. Liquid suji or diluted powdered milk was given as replacement when the mother could afford it. A mother explained, ‗When the baby could not suck I understood then [that I had no more milk].‘ She added further that she could not afford providing any replacement food for her baby.
4.5.3.3 Complementary feeding practices during flooding: „We cannot afford special food…children eat what we eat‟
A deterioration in complementary feeding occurred during flooding. Mothers and alternate caregivers did not have the money nor the time due to an increase in domestic burden to cook complementary foods for their children (Table 4-5). Mothers had difficulties in food preparation, as cooking stoves were either under water or gas lines were disconnected. They often had to cook with a matir chula (clay stove) on top of their bed which was time consuming and costly due to the price of wood. A mother reported, ‗Apa, if we cook one day then we couldn‘t cook another day. There was no wood (lakri). We tried to find leaves and branches (lata
pata) on the road and cooked with those. Most of time we ate dry food. Kitchen
was a bit far away. It was difficult. I felt disgusted to go over dirty water. There were small animals (rats) and insects in the water.‘ Dry foods such as puffed rice (muri), flattened rice (chira) and unrefined sugar (gur) were provided by relief organisations to vulnerable households. Most participants reported eating dry food once or twice a day.
As a result, IYCs ate the same meal as the rest of the family; this was either too spicy or did not have the appropriate nutritional density and value. One mother narrated, ‗We provide the baby what we eat.‘ When asked how it affected the baby‘s health, she answered, ‗The baby becomes thin (sukae jae).‘ Participants perceived that during flooding the IYCs lost weight, became thin and suffered from poor health (sastho kharap hoe jeto). They also reported more morbidity episodes, e.g., diarrhoea, scabies, acute respiratory infection, fever and cold (patla pai
kanna, chulkani, shash tontrer prodaho, jor, tanda laga). Recovery from such
episodes usually took 1 to 4 months after the flood as reported by the mothers.
Table 4-5: Everyday life of Sumi, a garment factory woman during normal time versus flooding time28
Normal time 5:00 - Wake up
5:00 – 7:00 – Hygiene, preparation of family food for breakfast and lunch, breakfast
7:30 - Travel to work
8:00 – 13:00 – Work at the factory
13:00 - Lunch time (at the factory or at home if close by) 14:00 – 20:00 – Work at the factory (until 22:00 if overtime) 20:00 – Stop at the market to buy one day supply of food
20:30 – Return home and start cooking 21:30 - 22:00 – Dinner
22:00 – 24:00 – Visit neighbours or watch TV at a neighbours‘ home. Flooding time compared to normal time
5:00 - Wake up
5:00 – 7:00 – Difficult to go to the latrine (the path and the latrine are under flood water; the alternative is to defecate into flood water within the home), impossible to cook (gas lines are disconnected), eat dry food for breakfast (mother eats last - whatever is left after her husband and children eat)
7:00 – 13:00 – Stay at home (impossible to go to work because of flood water), cook on a matir chula for several hours (cooking is done on the bed as flood water is in the house), watch that children don‘t fall in the water, search for clean water (the usual water supply is polluted), wood for cooking and food (usual market often does not exist anymore due to flood water; the household relies mainly on food distribution by relief organizations)
13:00 - Lunch time (eat rice and dal, or dry food, or nothing)
14:00 – 20:00 – Stay at home, wash clothes on the bed, search for water, wood, food
21:30 - 22:00 – Dinner (eat remaining food from lunch time, or dry food, or nothing)