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Challenges:

Seasonal flooding is a perpetual challenge for the people of Cambodia, a country consistently ranked as one of the most vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters. Floods in 2013 covered almost half the country and affected nearly 1.7 million people. More than 50 people lost their lives and hundreds of thousands more were left homeless. Research from BBC Media Trust following the incident stated that “more than a third [of people] received no information about the event that had affected them and three-quarters of those who did only received information during or after the event.” With rising sea levels and climate change, the prospect of higher levels of inundation from floods is real and imminent danger.

Solution

In 2016, Development Innovations partnered with People In Need(PIN), and the DAI Maker Lab to develop and test a low-cost sonar stream gauge, or flood warning tool prototype, called the Tepmachcha (meaning mermaid in ancient Hindu stories popular in Cambodia).

This pilot project had two goals - 1) to develop a viable open source design suitable for scaling to other key locations around Cambodia to establish a national flood information network, and 2) to introduce the principle of open source hardware for development to stakeholders in Cambodia and build some basic skillsets for participating practitioners.

Tepmachcha is a small, inexpensive sonar measuring device which can be hung from a line above a river or stream, e.g bridges, and the sonar will detect when the water level rises. When a flood condition is detected, Tepmachcha triggers a call with a voice recording via the RapidPro interactive voice response (IVR) system. It also records water levels at regular intervals for later analysis of flooding patterns or to inform more complex hydrological analysis. PIN is integrating the sensors into their larger Early Warning System project for the National Committee for Disaster Management. Cambodians can register for this free service by calling 1294 from anywhere in the country and registering their number and location. In the event of a natural disaster, the National Committee for Disaster Management has been trained to send out audio messages to people in the affected areas warning them of potential risks. The system uses voice messages rather than text messages in order to include all Cambodians, regardless of any literacy issues.

PIN works in coordination with the Royal Government of Cambodia’s NCDM, and have registered more than 70,000 users across the most flood-prone provinces in the country to date, and is working on plans to expand nationwide.

Watch this video to hear from one of the users of the system from Kampot province.