Vulnerability and risk in the context of flood-related disasters: A district-level study of Bihar, India

Abstract

This study explores the vulnerability and risk of people exposed to flood-related disasters and analyses their coping strategies. The study is based on Bihar, India, one of the poorest, most populated states. The state is surrounded by several rivers, which often breach embankments and change their channels causing significant damage to poor agriculture-dependent rural households. Secondary data on loss and damage due to floods in Bihar are analyzed at the first stage. Further, damage to houses, crop loss, livestock loss, livelihood loss, diseases faced, food availability, funding needs as well as other socio-economic issues are investigated through primary data collected from 700 flood-affected households. The study used descriptive research and derive that a damaged house is the most important flood risk, followed by crop loss among the surveyed households. No flood-related deaths are reported and households ranked livestock loss as a less important risk along with loss of livelihood, although it is found that household members migrate to overcome the loss of their income and savings after the flood. Food and fulfillment of necessities including shelter are the most important funding needs. Households depend on financial transfers and borrow from money lenders as well as relatives to overcome their losses. Children in the flood-affected regions face a shortage of food and their education is impacted due to school damage and waterlogging. The policymakers, along with ex-post measures like distributing food and providing monetary compensation, could also focus on ex-ante measures like generating alternative livelihood opportunities and developing better infrastructure in remote flood-affected regions, including better roads and schools as well as hospitals.