Across the Complete Disaster Management Cycle
Joti Foundation is a youth-led, women-led disaster resilience non-profit organisation focused on saving lives, strengthening communities and building resilience across Prevention and Mitigation, Preparedness, Response and Recovery. Guided by the belief that every minute matters during a disaster, JF works to empower and equip local youth to become first responders capable of delivering timely rescue and relief starting from the critical 24 hours after a disaster.
Frontline Emergency Response Across India
Loading an inflatable rescue boat bound for cut-off border villages in Punjab.
Families moving belongings to higher ground through a flooded lane in Punjab.
Assessing house-by-house needs so relief reaches the families worst hit.
Wading chest-deep through floodwaters in Upper Assam to reach submerged village homesteads.
Navigating surging floodwaters by boat to deliver emergency food supplies and hygiene kits in Bihar.
Youth volunteer responders distributing clean drinking water and rations in cut-off areas.
Community-Centred Recovery in Upper Assam
In Upper Assam’s Sivasagar district, Joti Foundation mounted a community-centred flood response, supporting families as they moved from prolonged displacement towards return and recovery. Working alongside local volunteers, community representatives and government authorities, we supplied over 100,000 litres of safe drinking water and provided food, household essentials, shelter and hygiene items to 2,450 families.
Across 11 villages, our teams also supported the cleaning of homes and public spaces and promoted hygiene practices to help families restore safer living conditions. Assistance prioritised households facing the greatest unmet needs, including women managing households alone, older people, persons with disabilities and families who had lost their homes and essential belongings. Community participation helped guide the response, keeping assistance grounded in local priorities and the dignity of those receiving it.
Responsible relief shaped both how assistance reached families and what it left behind. Mobile water purification units reduced dependence on packaged drinking water, providing a community-scale solution while limiting plastic waste. Coordination with the Public Health Engineering Department supported water-quality testing, while local volunteers helped reach families facing barriers to access. Alongside relief delivery, plastic waste was collected, segregated and channelled for recycling in coordination with local authorities and communities.
Response Impact in Sivasagar
- 100,000+ L
- Safe Drinking Water
- 2,450
- Families Supported
- 11
- Villages Reached
- Zero Plastic
- Waste Segregated & Recycled
Wading chest-deep through floodwaters in Upper Assam, keeping essentials above the waterline.
Residents waiting on rooftops of a flooded market row as floodwater surges through the streets.
Consulting village leadership in Sivasagar to prioritise female-headed households and vulnerable families.
Relief delivery prioritising female-headed households, elderly individuals, and displaced families.
Emergency shelter supplies and tarpaulins distributed to restore safer living conditions.
Floodwaters standing deep inside village homes in Sivasagar district.
Anticipatory Action & Relief in Munger and Khagaria
In Bihar, our intervention began with anticipatory action, deploying teams and local volunteers to Munger and Khagaria after forecasts indicated rising flood risk. Communities were supported with early warnings, safer evacuation, movement of livestock, protection of essential documents and identification of vulnerable households.
As flooding intensified, the response transitioned to humanitarian assistance, reaching 500 affected families with essential food supplies, hygiene kits and hygiene promotion, shelter support, 8 villages with safe drinking water through a mobile purification unit and the cleaning of contaminated handpumps.
By connecting early action with timely relief, the intervention helped families prepare before the crisis, remain safer during the floods and take their first steps towards recovery with dignity.
Key Operational Metrics
- Early Warning
- Anticipatory Forecast Action
- 500
- Affected Families Reached
- 8 Villages
- Supplied with Pure Water
- Handpumps
- Cleaned & Disinfected
Relief teams navigating floodwaters by boat to deliver emergency food supplies and hygiene kits in Bihar.
Community relief camp established in flooded Bihar, connecting families with immediate shelter and nourishment.
Families carrying food supplies and hygiene kits back to their homes as flood levels stabilise.
One of the Worst Humanitarian Crises in the Indo-Pak Border Belt
Floodwater cut off villages along the border, submerging farmland that families depend on for the year ahead. Joti Foundation responded in the first hours and stayed for the months that followed.
The Scale of the Crisis
- Border Villages Affected
- 20
- People Directly Affected
- 13,000+
- Acres of Farmland Submerged
- 10,000
- Households Damaged
- 3,309
- Homes Fully Destroyed
- 140
What We Did
- People Reached
- 25,000+
- Days Continuous Rescue
- 25+
- Relief Kits
- 4,500+
- Children Back to School
- 3,430
- Families — Sanitation
- 3,000+
- Evacuated (Elderly & Livestock)
- 1,000+
- Villages Sanitised
- 20
- Medical Camps
- 4
Ground Operations in Action
Responders forming human supply chains to wade through floodwaters with relief sacks.
Navigating deep water with rescue boat backup to deliver immediate food rations.
Local youth first responders evacuating vulnerable children to safe dry ground.
Volunteer teams distributing household essentials door-to-door in Punjab flood zones.
50+ trained volunteers deployed across flooded border villages using motor rafts, reaching households that no other responder could get to.
Build Back Better
Relief ends when the water recedes. Recovery is the longer work of rebuilding homes, land and schooling so the next flood does less damage than the last one.
Homes Rebuilt
Flood-resilient shelters with elevated plinths, improved drainage, safe kitchens and sanitation units — settling around 320 individuals.
Schools Reopened
Classrooms restored from silt, playgrounds cleared and solar lights installed — 3,430 children back to learning.
Homes Assessed
Full structural assessment of flood-damaged homes to identify families for reconstruction under Phase 1 and Phase 2.
Acres Restored
Farmland reclaimed through dewatering and desilting, then re-sown for the next season — 20,000+ individuals benefitted.
Villages — WASH Support
Bleaching powder and sanitisation drives across every affected village, with volunteers engaged in rescue, health and recovery.
Volunteers Mobilised
Community mobilisation and equitable distribution of resources, fostering long-term resilience in border communities.
Cold Wave 2026
Acting ahead of a forecast hazard costs a fraction of responding after it. Before the coldest weeks of the year, we worked with border villages in Fazilka to get warnings and insulation to the households least able to withstand them.
Stakeholder Consultation & Social Mobilisation
Village Sarpanches, ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, school teachers and community leaders engaged across 10 villages.
Early Warning Dissemination Groups
10 EWIDGs formed, one per village, to receive IMD alerts and pass cold wave warnings on to every household.
1,958 Individuals in Awareness Sessions
19 sessions covering cold wave risks, insulation techniques, safe heating, layered clothing and protection of the elderly and children.
Insulation Support Kits for 10 Vulnerable Households
Bubble insulation sheets, canvas tarpaulins, green shade nets and mink blankets for the most economically vulnerable.
Where We Work
Over the next decade, JF will prioritise intensive work in four disaster-prone focus regions. In parallel, JF will undertake preparedness interventions in additional states, with the flexibility to elevate these states to focus areas as needs and capacities evolve.
Five Strategic Goals
Local Disaster Response Systems
Establish and sustain at least 1,000 local Youth Response Units (YRUs), 400 Circle Quick Response Teams (CQRTs) and 2,000 Village Disaster Management Committees (VDMCs) across the disaster-prone districts in India by 2036.
Timely Search, Rescue and Relief
By 2036, ensure that all JF-supported districts have trained youth response units capable of delivering life-saving rescue and relief within the first 24 hours of a disaster through a national network of YRUs (approximately 5,000 youth).
Climate-Resilient Communities
By 2036, build resilient communities in at least 50 disaster-prone districts by implementing programmes across all four phases of the Disaster Management Cycle: Prevention and Mitigation, Preparedness, Response and Recovery.
Disaster Management Policies and Systems
Assist policymakers in refining Disaster Management policies annually by bringing grassroots lessons and innovations to the decision-making table.
Strategic Partnerships and Resource Mobilisation
By 2036, establish strategic partnerships with government agencies, CSR partners, philanthropic institutions, national and international foundations and communities to mobilise sustainable resources that strengthen JF's long-term impact and institutional resilience.