Disasters and communities: sociological study of lifestyle and adaptation in coastal Orissa

Abstract

Disasters are a regular phenomena in some places while in others it newlinemay be a rare event. Whatever may be the case those facing such disasters newlineneed to take appropriate action for survival. The need for preparedness is newlineparticularly necessary in those areas where disasters are recurring newlinephenomena. People not only need to deal with the present disaster but also newlineprepare for the next one. The present study starts with this recurring newlinephenomenon, and focuses on how a community adapts and continues to live newlinein a condition of regular and recurring disasters. Their lifestyle is seen newlinethrough various dimensions such as their religion, occupation, political newlinestructure of the community (such as village heads or caste heads), and newlinethrough other actors such as civil society (mostly NGOs). While analysing the newlinerole of civil society another actor would inevitably be in the picture and is newlineconsidered in this study, and that is the Government or the state, whose newlineagencies also affect the lives of people who live with recurring disasters. newlineWe place considerable importance on the concept of community, an newlineintegral part of the study of society, and also a concept often found to be newlinesurrounded by controversies. In this study the community is seen in the newlinecontext of disasters. The study explores whether community is still prevalent, newlineand in what form, tracing and locating its conceptual support from Durkheim, newlineTonnies, Turner and Sumner. By placing the community in the context of newlinedisasters, the role and presence of the community becomes more apparent, newlineand more so its role in minimizing the destructive effects of disasters. newlineThe study was conducted in Orissa, located on the east coast of India. It newlinehas totally 30 districts. It is also one of the poorest states of the country, with newline47.2% people living below the poverty line. In Orissa, disasters in the form of newlineexcessive rains and cyclonic storms strike with periodic regularity, newlineparticularly during each successive monsoon.