Assessment of spatio-economic aspects of flood disaster for resilience building

Abstract

Disasters are single-handedly responsible for hindering any nation’s growth. Being a multi-disaster prone region, the North-eastern part of India suffers due to economic backwardness and being geographically isolated. This has further magnified the impact of disasters as well as caused hindrance in achieving overall development. Being resource rich but regularly affected by floods from Brahmaputra and its tributaries, the state of Assam continues to suffer economic losses annually. Assam represents relatively high concentrations of agricultural productivity with paddy, tea being the major crops of the region. Nearly 40% of the total area of Assam is flood prone which also means that those are the areas of intensive agricultural production and development. For the study, one of the north-eastern most district of Assam-Dibrugarh has been selected. It has experienced highest flood events, more than any other place in India. With annual flooding events becoming more devasting coupled with climate change impacts, it adds to the economic burden on this agriculture intensive region. The aim of the study was to assess the spatio-economic aspects at the block level for resilience building. The first objective was to understand the existing framework and the process. For understanding impact of disasters, various frameworks were studied. The second objective was to investigate the spatio-economic aspect for flood disaster. In order to understand this aspect, it is also essential to examine ‘how’ and ‘why’ of flood disasters as well as livelihood opportunities present there, thus making some areas are economically advantaged while others continue to remain disadvantaged. The study brought out the links between people and place for which primary survey helped in understanding the livelihood opportunities with the region and the spatial distribution of economic activities. The third objective of the research was to assess the critical infrastructure which supports economic activities for which damage assessment was also looked into. Critical infrastructure assessed were roads, bridges, markets, rural electrification, telecommunication network coverage. The spatial attributes related to critical infrastructure was identified and spatially mapped for better decision making. This part was in tandem with the second objective and based on the stakeholder consultation and primary survey. The fourth objective was to propose policy interventions for resilience building. Three types of measures were looked at- short term, medium term and long term measures, not only in the disaster management process but also in the local and regional planning process. The spatial linkages will be explored for the plan preparation process. In order to integrate spatial planning policy, it is important to look at regional plans in tandem with local area plans and village level plans in order to create catalysing conditions for overall development. Spatio-Economic attributes are often linked with the spatial concentration of economic activities with respect to a region’s growth and development. While the spatial aspects shed light on the geographical location, the economic aspects highlight the lucrativeness of a region. As the research intends to assess the spatio economic aspect of flood disasters. For the study, Dibrugarh West block has been identified for further examination based on geographical and disaster proneness. The study intends to understand the dynamics of Spatio-Economic aspects for building Resilience towards flood disasters while making Disaster Management plans for any flood disaster-prone region. This research intends to bring spatial, environmental, and economic linkages to the forefront of the disaster management process for plan preparation. The study highlights on the importance of integration of data, institutions, infrastructure and spatio-economic dynamics in order to ‘adapt’, ‘learn’ and ‘transform’ for building Resilience.