Disaster and Livelihood of the Affected Population: Case Study of June 2013 Disaster in Rudraprayag District of Uttarakhand

Abstract

Economic impact of disaster and utilisation pattern of the relief is assessed though semi-structured questionnaire and focused discussions in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand in India that was devastated by floods in June, 2013. It is observed that in the absence of risk transfer tools the disaster affected population, particularly those engaged in petty business and representing weaker sections of the society, find it hard to replenish their productive assets lost in the disaster due to (i) the relief amount being significantly less than market value of lost assets, (ii) limited savings, (iii) relief amount spent on non-productive household purposes owing to reduced income in the post-disaster phase, and (iv) poor assess to institutional financing. The state is therefore advised to initiate an organised scheme with the involvement of financial institutions to facilitate replenishment of productive assets lost in disaster incidences rather than providing cash relief, and ensure insurance of the assets so created as the voluntary adoption of risk transfer tools is unlikely to come by soon.