The tenacity and perseverance of the people who refused to bring Kerala to a halt during the two successive floods and the stories behind how the State is building a more resilient future have been brought out by the World Bank in a podcast series Kaalavastha.
Through six episodes and following multiple protagonists on the State’s journey for a Nava Keralam , behind-the-scenes perspectives of communities, government, scientists, diaspora, World Bank staff, and even the cultural voice have been projected.
The World Bank-supported First Resilient Kerala Program had set in motion some of the fundamental reforms needed for deeper resilience and recovery efforts as well as its Rebuild Kerala Development Programme roadmap. The podcast has come at a time when preparations are on for the Second Resilient Kerala Development Policy Operation that aims to further deepen reforms of the first World Bank programme.
The episodes introduce listeners to the history of the State’s relationship with its environment and climate, the role geography and landscape played in the floods of 2018 and 2019, the immense community-driven response, how Rebuild Kerala Initiative rose to the task, and how such overhauls of systems are implemented.
How impacted local livelihoods are building back better is included in the podcast and it ends with a retrospective on disaster response and decentralisation in the case of the floods and the COVID-19 pandemic.
It Starts with a Drought, If a River Doesn’t Flood, It is’nt a River, Two Flows, Taking People Along, Fabric, Folklore and Fish, and Kaalavastha are the episodes. Kaalavastha has released all the six episodes bi-weekly by this month.
Researched, written and produced by Radhika Viswanathan and Samyuktha Varma, Erwick D’souza has composed music. Narration is by Radhika Viswanathan.
