The vulnerability of women in the Baghjan disaster

A disaster is an occurrence disrupting the normal conditions of existence and causing a level of suffering that exceeds the capacity of adjustment of the affected community Before, during and in the aftermath of disasters, human beings perpetuate social patterns of discrimination, and these entrenched patterns cause certain groups of people to suffer more than others (Singh, 2009). Disasters indeed disproportionately affect disenfranchised communities. It is a well-accepted phenomenon that a community or category’s vulnerability to a disaster mostly depends on the pre-existing condition of the community/category. Women who on most of the occasions have less and limited assets and being chronically deprived of certain rights are expected to be the most affected during a disaster. The fact that women have a reduced decision-making power than men cannot be seen in isolation with the effect of any disaster on women. There is a general lack of research on sex and gender differences in vulnerability to and impact of disasters. The limited information available from small scale studies suggests that there is a pattern of gender differentiation at all levels of the disaster process: exposure to risk, risk perception, preparedness, response, physical impact, psychological impact, recovery and reconstruction

When it comes to the region of North East, which rarely gets focus or mention in the Mainland Indian narratives, debates/discourses with regards to the rights of the indigenous communities within the legal and academic community are hard to find. One of the prime examples is the latest incident in Baghjan. There was a series of outrage from the Mainland Indian liberal as well as conservative class to ban consumption and selling of dog meat ban in Nagaland, however, no such attention from these sections was noticed when it comes to speaking up for the marginalised indigenous communities affected by the disaster in Baghjan. 

At a time during the pandemic when there seems to be a false dichotomy between saving lives and saving livelihood already established, the women affected in the Baghjan incident needs special care and focus from the government as well as from people and organisations demanding rights of the people affected.

Coming back to the Baghjan incident

On 27th of May, 2020 an Oil India Limited gas well, the BGR 5, faced a blowout which spewed hydrocarbons across a huge radius raining the adjoining villages with associated condensate. The blowout caught fire on the 9th of June, 2020 when well control experts from M/S Alert Disaster Control had arrived at the scene to begin work on capping the well. The gas well is located within the Baghjan Oil Field and the villages nearby to the well are surrounded by Moran Muttack indigenous communities. The location of the well is close to an eco-sensitive zone Dibru Saikhowa National Park and Maguri Motapang Beel. 

The gas leakage followed by the blowout has resulted in smoke, smell, and aftershock tremors that have reportedly affected both human life and biodiversity of the region. As Baghjan continues even after a month of the blowout, the emission of smoke and smell continuous to contaminate the environment. The Maguri-Motapung wetland towards the south and the Dibru Saikhowa National Park towards the normal have reported damage at various levels. The risk factors are very alarming that endanger health in the present and leaves us with multiple unanswered questions for the future.

Also read: India needs a Strategic Shift in its Policy on Quality to achieve ‘self-reliance’

Tracing the Vulnerability of women (Health)

Gender has implications for health across a person's life course. The biological differences, the power relations created by social construction raise more chaos during unpleasant situations.  The Baghjan disaster gives us a picture even griever with the pandemic and flood at the backdrop. With the onset of the Baghjan leakage and later inferno, the people of the area were rescued and shifted. According to various sources, between 7000 to 11000 people are surviving the pandemic and flood in Baghjan in various relief camps. This displacement has resulted in overcrowding which is a high-risk ground for COVID. The lack of adequate space, food, sanitation, and hygiene are some of the major issues reported. The lack of security and privacy for women are some important concerns. The heterogeneous age composition of gender in the rescued population raises questions around women of adolescence, pregnant and lactating mothers. Centred in relief camps the pregnant women and lactating mothers are away from the institutional services. The services and relief that are offered to sustain and survive during the period have not met the needs of these groups. The reproductive and sexual health of women is at higher risk during disasters. The sharing of confined common spaces results in various communicable diseases. Risk of menstrual hygiene, Urinary Tract Infections, Reproductive Tract Infections gets higher among women of reproductive age groups (Bhattacharjee 2019), (Madhuri 2016). A complex emergency imposed on an already weak health system multiples the risk of reproductive and child health. We can only imagine the plight of these groups keeping in mind the given statistics of MMR, IMR, and Anaemia of Assam (As per the National Family Health Survey NFHS-4, 36% of women in Assam had a Body Mass Index below normal, Anaemia was prevalent in 72% of pregnant women and 69% women who were not pregnant. The Sample Registration Survey and the infant mortality rate in Assam was the second-worst in the country at 44 deaths in 2017).

Pre-Covid19 status quo

Even before the pandemic, and even before the economic crisis hit India with virulence, the country had a healthcare system that was undoubtedly among the worst in the world; and this was so notwithstanding the hullabaloo about India being an “emerging economic superpower India’s health system focuses largely on the reproductive health of women with little thought given to other health needs of women . Every year a large number of women have to die in non-maternal causes In times of crisis like Baghjan, along with the world witnessing a pandemic situation, even reproductive health care takes a backseat and this neglect of reproductive and other health needs of women may exponentially increase. There may be many implications as and when access to health care facilities is significantly reduced. By health care facility, one should not reduce it itself to district hospitals or the big private hospitals that we notice in big cities like Guwahati. Anganwadi Centres and ASHAs play a major role in ensuring the health rights of women. 

Important concerns

Food and nutritional security are a major concern in relief camps, especially during the pandemic lockdown as major supply chains are disrupted. Nutritional status of children, pregnant and lactating women are seen to deteriorate in relief camps.Lack of drinking water, adequate and quality food are reasons for immunity compromised communicable diseases, increases the risk of premorbid conditions, and endangers child and maternal health. In Assam, the health care of women and nutrition was already inadequate. And the worst was to happen a incident like Baghjan amidst the pandemic. The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) shows that approximately 36% of women in Assam had a Body mass index (BMI) that was below normal and 8% were obese. Anaemia was prevalent in 72% of pregnant women and 69% of women who were not pregnant.

According to Krause (2015), sexual and gendered violence in the relief camps is a continuation of violence from private to public spaces and not manifestations of unfavourable situations. The destruction and loss caused by blowout have shaken the life of people in Baghjan with loss of shelter, livestock, and employment causing a severe effect on the well-being of the community. The trauma manifolds with the deterioration of living conditions in the relief camps as well and their demands being unmet so far. The chaos resulted due to limited resources, unmet demands and poor supply raises disturbance may result in violent situations. The emotional and mental trauma that affects the long term well-being of an individual increases the risk of future physical and mental health conditions. The stress of living in desperate conditions with an uncertain future in many occasions may lead to gendered violence against immediate family members. The coronavirus pandemic has pushed displaced women and girls at heightened risk of gender-based violence (UNHRC 2020).

Going forward

There is an urgent need of the district administration as well as relevant authorities to keep track of sex-disaggregated data on the long-term health consequences of the disaster. Civil societies and activists’ groups also should keep a strong eye on the same. At the local level, there should be proper documentation of the health outcomes of the disaster through a holistic framework with gender as an important factor. With time it will be known how the gender relations of the people effected in Baghjan influence the copying mechanism to the disaster (only if enough attention is being given by the state).

About the authors

Aniruddha Bora - Studied MA in Social Work in Children and Families and currently Working With Public Health Resource Network, Odisha

Shilpi Sikha Das - Pursuing PHD in Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health, JNU

Opinions expressed are that of the writers

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