Social Capital for Natural Disaster Preparedness and Response: A Study on two Communities from Sundarbans of India | |
| Author | Sanyal, Saswata |
| Call Number | AIT Diss. no.DM-17-03 |
| Subject(s) | Natural disasters--India--Sundarbans Social capital--India--Sundarbans |
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation and Management, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Dissertation; no. DM-17-03 |
| Abstract | Disasters have been on the rise and have caused havoc across the world. For the communities living in hazardous areas other than structural risk reduction, it is important to develop nonstructural measures too. Therefore, consideration of social aspects is one of the most important links in managing disasters at the community level. Social capital is a resource, which is embedded in every community. It has been observed that social capital has a role to play in different stages of disaster risk management cycle. Therefore, this study reviews how social capital can contribute in the context of disaster preparedness and response, presenting results drawn from the field study in the Sundarbans, India, impacted frequently by tropical cyclones and tidal surges. The study area consists of two communities: Gosaba and Basanti. Gosaba is an island, and Basanti is connected to the mainland by road. Both the study areas were devastated by the last major disaster, Cyclone Aila in 2009. The study is based on both quantitative and qualitative data, based on a field survey. Data was collected through a questionnaire survey of 396 households, nine key informant interviews, four focused group discussions, field observations and secondary sources. This survey was conducted in July-October 2014. This study looked at the comparative perspective, with one study being an island and the other being connected to the mainland. For this purpose, social capital, preparedness and response indices were prepared using Principal Component Analysis, so that the scores of the households can be compared and the indices can be correlated. The findings reflect that even with the absence of proper institutions these two communities have survived in the harsh environment. Social capital was found to be more prominent in Gosaba, the island community because of the common historical background of the settlement, living in isolation, similar culture, and presence of groups like youth clubs that acted as de-facto community centres. On the other hand, in the case of Basanti, the social capital was found to be lower according to the social capital index than Gosaba. This can be attributed to the fact that the area is connected to the mainland by road, and there has been a constant influx of people from outside, this has result is changing the original dynamics in the community. There were fewer memberships in groups and group activities in Basanti. However, social capital helped both the communities immensely, starting from passing to indigenous knowledge and skills for risk reduction, to preparing for impending disasters at the community level by helping out each other to safeguard the houses, repairing the weaker sections of the embankment and planting mangroves for the common good of the whole society and assisting the people with special needs and others in distress in the preparedness phase. The study also points out that in both the study areas the existing bonding and relationship among community members and their linkages with people outside the community helped them immensely in the response phase. Social capital present in both the communities helped in the passing of early warning information, in evacuation within the island, volunteers helping from adjoining areas helping out in response activities, getting relief from outside, helped in acquiring information regarding government relief and search and rescue in the response phase. This kind of social support generated by social capital among the community members and the experience of living in adversities is essential for the survival of the community in such harsh conditions. But unfortunately, this potential role of social capital is often overlooked or not understood by the policymakers. Social capital can be used to complement the activities carried out by the disaster management institutions to reduce risk by giving these activities a more participatory approach and getting the inputs from the community. The efficiency and the effectiveness of activities can be influenced positively by the use of the traditional structure of the community rather than creating new ones. Thus, appropriate consideration should be given by the policymakers and practitioners towards using social capital in the futur. |
| Year | 2017 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Dissertation; no. DM-17-03 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation and Management (DM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Routray, Jayant K.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Ahmad, Mokbul Morshed ;Grunbuhel, Clemens ;Pal, Indrejit; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Asian Institute of Technology Fellowship; |
| Degree | Thesis (Ph.D) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2017 |