Assessing flood vulnerability on livelihood of the local community: a case from Southern Bagmati corridor of Nepal

Abstract

Flood is one of the prominent hazards in terai region of Nepal. The people living at the bank of the river are more vulnerable to floods. The study was objectively conducted to assess vulnerability from floods on livelihood of riverine households & communities living at up-stream, mid-stream and down-stream at Bagmati river of Sarlahi and Rautahat district of Nepal. About 25% sample size, focus group discussion & key informant's interview were surveyed & carried out through random sampling. A pre-tested semi-questionnaire and check list was prepared & used to collect the socio-demographic profile, livelihood strategies, social networks, financial aspects, physical structure and facilities, health, food, water, forest and natural disasters and climate variability. The duration of study was from July 2019 to December 2020. Collected data were analyzed to calculate the indexed value and vulnerability index using Haln et al.,1 and IPCC2 for comparing the components of flood vulnerability from livelihood aspects. A multi-dimensional integrated flood risk assessment framework, Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) developed by Haln et al.1 and LVI-IPCC, was adopted to quantify household-level flood vulnerability. Results showed that flood vulnerability was higher in downstream/lower belt (with highest LVI value 0.528), followed by Middle belt with medium LVI value 0.506. The least vulnerable is upper belt which has low LVI value 0.323. A significant correlation was observed between contributing factors: vulnerability, contributing factors-exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. Gradation of flood vulnerability found as significantly different. The multivariate analysis recommended that households’ having better preparedness and mitigation measures was influenced by their ability to responds to floods vulnerability. The empirical approach and analysis of this study could be used to reduce vulnerability, enhance adaptive capacity and lower the risk of sensitivity in another region.