Exploring Indian post-disaster temporary housing strategy through a comparative review

Abstract

Purpose Natural disasters not only cause dilapidated buildings and damaged infrastructure but also delay crucial aid for those affected in the event of a disaster and post-disaster recovery. An institutionally well-managed post-disaster housing strategy provides opportunities for physical and mental healing of its occupant. The time requires occupiers to remain in the temporary housing varies with circumstances. This paper aims to review post-disaster housing scenarios in India in comparison to two Asian cases from Indonesia and Japan. The study focuses on understanding Indian post-disaster housing strategies through a comparative review. Design/methodology/approach The research selects coastal cities of Tamil Nadu state, where the post-disaster temporary shelter and rehabilitation was planned and implemented after the Tsunami in 2004. The Tsunami created havoc in Nagapattinam and Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu. Nagapattinam district reported 6,051 fatalities and many more homeless people. After the Tsunami, the government took measures to supply safe, secured and on-site shelter provisions. Surprisingly, many such shelters were never occupied. In many instances, people actually preferred to spend years in a temporary shelter rather occupying government housing. This paper evaluates such events and investigates India’s post-disaster shelter strategy against the derived best practices. This study is based on the sequential/logical reasoning and understanding of the facts. Discussions and findings from this study can be further generalised into a comprehensive policy discussion. Findings The paper finds that the manner of planning and design of post-disaster housing programmes influence medium- to long-term recovery of its occupant. A certain element of trade-off between implementation and quality of habitation results into compromises to achieving the desired outcome. When faced with socio-political, economic and financial constraints, the decision-makers are required to make trade-offs in deciding the manner and quantum of allocating resources. Coordination among these agencies is troublesome. It is true for all countries and there is no distinct answer to it. Public consultation and community participation in long-term rehabilitation are crucial to meet the aspiration of the local people. Originality/value The paper contributes in discussing a comparison of post-disaster housing rehabilitation between India and the two cases from Indonesia and Japan. As a review paper, the objective is to highlight the synthesis and overall understanding of post-disaster housing strategies from two cases and compare it with India.

Social media in aid of post disaster management

“…According to previous studies, an owned house is a determinant of general living condition (Biswas, 2019), and is one of the major activities in post-disaster management that is receiving little to no attention from academic scholars (Rahmayati, 2016). Citing Barakat (2003), Félix et al (2013) argued that a house is essential for the well-being of an individual.…”

A Review of Temporary Housing Management Modeling: Trends in Design Strategies, Optimization Models, and Decision-Making Methods

“…The procedures in temporary housing design, deployment, and management influence the occupant's success in recovering [26]. In theory, the supplier of temporary housing seeks to provide the most cost-effective unit that sufficiently increases occupant wellbeing and reduces the displacement duration.…”

“…The temporary housing consisted of cost-effective tenting inside barracks to provide safety and security. While tents helped reduce costs and the use of barracks mitigated security issues, occupants were still concerned about safety and security [26].…”

“…A tent is inexpensive, easily constructed, and flexible in placement; however, there are safety (e.g., no rigid walls or locking mechanism) and wellbeing concerns (e.g., sanitation and privacy). In comparison, the costlier manufactured trailer provides increased security and wellbeing with the rigid walls, locking exits, and private living quarters (e.g., a kitchen and bathroom) [26]. -Dilemma two involves the site selection for temporary housing.…”

Fit for purpose? Lessons from transitional shelter provision for internally displaced persons in urban informal settlements in Brazil

“…They include the arrival of IDPs into urban areas immediately following a disaster and people being displaced because of new urban infrastructure, violence and/or loss of income (Zetter, 2012;Suvatne and Crawford, 2010). While slow disaster response, poor construction planning, adhoc decision-making, haphazard recovery, poor quality, material wastage, environmental damage, and cost and time overruns are common problems in building shelter after disaster (Biswas, 2019), housing reconstruction projects frequently face challenges, such as lack of community participation, relocations, fraud, corruptions and waste of project funds and ignoring local needs/culture (Sadiqi et al, 2017).…”