Human vulnerability to disasters in coastal areas the case of Chellanam

Abstract

Coastal zones are complex ecosystems of dynamic activities, conflicting and complimenting one another. These zones are exposed to different types of natural disasters varying in intensity. Natural disasters in coastal zones pose serious threats to property and human life. Given, the future challenges posed by changing climate, there is a need to understand, vulnerabilities to natural disasters in coastal areas, through a dynamic process. The study is aimed at understanding the vulnerabilities of a place to disasters through a human-nature co-evolutionary framework. Through an empirical case of Chellanam, a coastal village in Kerala, India, the study attempts to understand 1. the role of natural disasters in human-nature co-evolutionary processes 2.the factors that determine human vulnerabilities to natural disasters in coastal regions 3. the role of human perceptions in understanding and responding to disaster situations and 4. the role of institutions and agencies in addressing human vulnerabilities. A parametric study framework is designed to capture the relationship amongphysical systems, social systems and disasters. Qualitative and quantitative tools are used to analyse these parameters, their behavior and influence on human vulnerability to natural disasters. The case demonstrated that interaction between physical systems, socio-economic conditions of the population and human perceptions, bring forth, differential vulnerabilities resulting in micro level pluralities. Due to diverging perspectives on disasters at both micro and macro levels; there is a lack of clarity and coordination among the agencies, which assume roles as regulators of resources, managers of disasters and sustainers of livelihoods. The thesis argues that there is a definite need to integrate disaster management with the planning processes taking into consideration the pluralities of disasters to ensure sustainable development in coastal regions. This is possible only through a human-nature coevolutionary framework. newline