Professional Documents
Culture Documents
16 - Chapter 6
16 - Chapter 6
6.1. Introduction
The assessment of disaster impact involves preparing estimates of the economic value of loss, cost
of reconstruction, and the expenses for disaster mitigation measures in future (Petrucci 2012). It
covers direct, indirect, and intangible loss and its impact on environment and society. It was
mentioned in the last chapter that the loss and destruction caused by flood vary with factors like
season and timing of floods, location of damaged on the embankment and walking roads, location
of river encroachment, status and condition of the drainage system, existing livelihood dependency,
and prior experience of flood. The loss and destruction due to floods directly affects livelihood and
income generating activities of people (see figure 6.1; 6.2). However, the factors causing flood
disaster do not lead to crisis of livelihood at every affected place.
Figure 6.1
Impact on Livelihood
Flood that occurs during summer is more destructive than that occurs in the rainy season (see table
6.1). Though loss and destruction by flood is less during the monsoon, it severely affects income
generating activities of some villagers. Many villagers plan for their income generating activities
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before the monsoon starts. They take the Dadan41 (advance money for labour work) from
contractors and boat owners before the season begins. It is difficult for them to get non-agricultural
work during monsoon in their village without prior contract. If somebody leaves the job, then only
there is a possibility for others to get that job.
Table 6.1
Relation between Season of Flood and Destruction of Livelihood
Season (with Types of Characteristics Types of Loss Measures for Livelihood
Bengali Natural of Flood Water Reduction of Loss Activities
Months) Hazards and Recovery
Summer Storm/ Heavy salt Increased Dhoyani during the Matir kaaj
(Baisakh to cyclone, content salt content monsoon, (earthworks),
mid-Asard) heavy in submerged dependency on pre monsoon
rain soil which is alternative migration
harmful for livelihood, Dadan
cultivation (But there is no loss
of expenses for
cultivation)
Rainy (Mid Heavy Less salt content Loss of seed Dhoyani after flood Preparation
Asard to mid rain, bed, loss of and Possibility of of seedbed,
Bhadra) strong plantations, cultivation Cultivation
high tides and loss of Fishing
Dadan
Autumn Storm, Less salt content Loss of crop Wait till monsoon Fishing and
(mid Bhadra heavy and money for Dhoyani Migration
to Kartik) rain, spent for its
strong cultivation
high tides
Winter Storm High salt Loss of Rabi -- Fishing,
(Agrahayan content crop Migration,
to Magh) Daily wage
Spring Strom High salt -- Wait till monsoon Daily wage,
(Falgun to content Migration
Chaitra)
Source: Field Notes
The impact of flood varies with the timing of flood. Flood that occurs at night is more destructive
than daytime. It becomes severe during spring tide due to increased tidal height. The average height
of tide is almost the same throughout the year, except it increases during the flood season (i.e.,
41
Dadan: Agricultural labourers take money (Dadon) from landowning families prior to monsoon season.
The ‘dadan’ provides assurance to the labourers to get job from a particular landowner during the cultivation
and harvest. Dadan is also a security deposit for landowners to get labourers during the cultivation and
harvest.
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August to October). Often, strong tidal waves sap and breach the earthen embankment and cause
saline water floods. Though saline water flood destroys the existing livelihoods, it also creates new
sources of livelihood that include brackish water fish and crab. These new livelihood sources are
not equally distributed and not all the people have equal access it. The present chapter explores the
impact of loss and destruction caused by floods on livelihood and income generating activities of
people in Sundarban region.
Figure 6.2
Understanding of Loss of Livelihood and its Experience
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came out from their home, the walking road was already flooded. Strong tidal wave
washed away his son while they were crossing the crevices. His wife requested him to
find their son, but he refused to go back to avoid the loss of other family members.
Luckily, his son found a safe place and came back to join the family later. (Source: Field
Notes, on 10-05-2010 at Hatkhola)
Due to their physical conditions, elderly villagers are unable to adjust to the changed conditions
during flood and after flood. During floods, the highest number of loss of life is among children
and the elderly, as they easily fall sick due to the wet conditions, severe shortage of food, loss of
immunity, and food poisoning.
Impacts on Loss of Skill, Knowledge, and Innovation: Traditional skills, knowledge, and practices
remain unused as people migrate to find alternative source of livelihood. Therefore, traditional
sources of livelihood are threatened (see figure 6.3). The farmers gradually gain experience for
cultivating particular types of crops. They share their knowledge with others and get monetary
benefit. Sometimes, farmers also barter crops and vegetables in return of their service. However,
once they lose their agricultural land, they become daily wage laborers and they do not utilize their
knowledge. Similarly, many oarsmen of country boat cannot use their knowledge after they settle
in interior parts of the village.
Figure 6.3
Practice and Production
Expertise
Knowledge and • Reduction of flood impacts
innovation (desalinization)
• Livelihood opportunity
(Farmers, oarsman, fishermen,
fisheries, net makers)
Impact on Arts, and Craft: Wood and clay based art is the source of livelihood for many villagers.
After flood, the demand for their goods reduces drastically and this causes economic crisis for
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them. Nevertheless, many artists practice their art as a subsidiary source of income and avoid
migration in search of alternative source of livelihood (see figure 6.4).
Jatra42 (open theatre) is very popular in villages. Actors take part in Jatra for their own emotional
and intellectual satisfaction and due to their attachment and commitment with the art. Though
actors are dependent on agriculture and daily wage work for their livelihood, acting provides an
extra source of income. However, flood-affected villagers remain busy with their daily
requirements and hardly get time for acting at night. Many Jatra groups have stopped their
activities and many clubs have closed down after chronic floods in the village. There is crisis of
actors, lack of investment, and reduced demand of Jatra in flood-affected areas.
Figure 6.4
Loss of Cultural Activities
Many clay artists (Patua43) have been practicing their art since last two generations in Sundarban.
These artists do not belong to Karmakar or Kumbhakar44 caste. Many of them migrate to make
42
Jatra: ‘Jatra’ means journey. Originally it comes from Sanskrit word Yatra. Jatra is a form of folk theatre in
Bengal. It is a form of a open theatre popular in Orissa, Bihar, Assam, Tripura, and other places where
Bengali speaking people live in the Indian sub-continent. Jatra is a musical theatre, which flourished during
the Bhakti movement in Bengal (1476-1534 AD). Initially, religious stories were enacted in Jatra, but the
stories become secular and mixed with socio-political issues with changing socio-political phenomena.
Though Jatra was initially rural-centric, it entered into the unban culture during Bengal Renaissance and
Indian theatre movement. The language of the plays is very simple and it reaches the heterogeneous
communities. Male actors mainly dominated Jatra and they even played female roles. Later female actors too
joined. Presently, a large number of professional Jatra companies are based in Chitpur, Kolkata. Jatra season
starts after Durga Puja (October) and continues until monsoon (July). The Jatra is similar to other Indian folk
theatre form like the Nautanki of Uttar Pradesh, the Tamasha of Maharashtra and the Bhavai of Gujarat.
43
Patua: The word ‘Patua’ comes from the Bengali word of ‘Pota’ which means engraver. The Patua
community in West Bengal is renowned for making and painting idols of Hindu god and goddess. They are
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clay idols. The season for clay art works starts from early August and lasts until the end of January.
The main reasons for artists to engage in idol making are low investment and good profits. The
place of migration of these artists depends on their capability of investment in the pottery. In most
cases, they migrate along with their wives and children, who help them in their work. They work
individually or as employees of private pottery-owners depending on availability of space,
distance, and customers. Artists earn a good amount of money during festival season and many of
them have taken it up as a subsidiary source of earning. Making idols of Gods and Goddess for
village temple is the matter of honor for them, but they cannot make idols in village after flood,
because affected villagers cut their budget for celebrating festivals.
The process of erosion of landmass has been taking place over a long time. It was first seen during
the mid 20th century and increased in the late 20th century (see table 6.3, 6.4). As a result,
landowners from riverside hamlets slowly lose their land and most of them become landless and
homeless as well. Once the affected families lose their lands, they have to give up dependence on
agricultural land as their traditional livelihood. Most of the affected villagers take up alternative
livelihood options due to this reason.
The market value of the agricultural land in flood-affected hamlets goes down because of the
increased vulnerability of river encroachment. Sometimes, nobody is willing to buy the land and
market from these hamlets value of the land becomes zero. The devaluation of land thus becomes
the economic loss of the landowner. Using the land for non-agricultural activities prevents the
devaluation of land; sometimes the market value of land remains constant because of this
mainly Hindu but there are some Muslim Patuas too. As the making idols of god and goddess were
commercialized, people from other castes also started making the idols during the festival season.
44
Karmakar or Kumbhakar is a lower caste community in West Bengal.
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possibility. Increasing purchasing capacities of the migrant villagers to buy the land also help
maintain value of land. Though river-encroached land is valueless, some farmers continue to pay
tax on the land to order to get compensation in future. Fishermen who use the land for catching or
drying fish have to pay a certain amount of money to land owner. The devaluation of land helps
landless villagers to buy land at a cheaper rate, which they use to construct homes despite
vulnerability such human to river encroachment.
Table 6.3
Loss of Landmass
Name of the Island Loss of Landmass in sq. km.
1986 1996 2009
Sagar 4.191 2.818 1.711
Jambu island 1.696 1.104 0.202
Mausuni island 0.572 0.510 0.100
Namkhana island 1.771 1.758 0.993
Louthian island, Dakshin 0.543 1.84 1.214
Surendranagar, and Dhanchi
Haliday and its adjacent island 0.299 0.349 0.003
Bulchery and Kalas 1.521 1.605 0.376
Dalhausi and Bhangaduri island 0.826 0.777 0.540
Total 11.419 10.501 5.145
Source: Hazra et al. 2002
Table 6.4
Changing Population in Submerged Villages in Sundarban
Land ownership is an important parameter to understand the impact of loss of land. The landless
families were distributed the vested agricultural land45 after abolition of the landlord system.
45
Vested agricultural land: As per the West Bengal Land Reform Act 1955, a Rayat cannot hold more than
‘ceiling area’ (it is 2.5 standard hectare for a unmarried rayat, 5.00 standard hectare for five member family
and it should not be exceed 7.00 standard hectare for more than five member family). The land exceed that
the ‘ceiling area’ is identified as illegally occupied land or vested land. These lands are distributed to poor
people and given right to cultivate.
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Therefore, many villagers hold Rayat46 land and many hold Patta47. The price of the Patta land is
lesser than Rayat land, so landless villagers of flood-affected hamlets prefer to purchase the Patta
land. Farmers cannot sell Patta land, so the owner hands over the ownership to the landless
families at cheaper rate. Many sharecroppers in the flood-affected hamlet stop giving the share to
the landowner and cultivate permanently. Therefore, it becomes complex to understand who
actually loses the land.
Impact of Loss of Land on Aquaculture and Availability of Fish: Aquaculture is one of the
important livelihood activities, which includes aquaculture in fresh water as well as in brackish
water. Brackish water aquaculture is more popular due to the chronic saline water inundation.
Brackish water aquaculture is carried out in areas adjacent to embankments and on riverbanks by
removing mangrove trees and constructing dykes parallel to embankment. Brackish water
aquaculture is mainly tide-fed and commercial. There are facilities and opportunity to increase the
production of fish in saline water fishery but they are not availed because of rapid land erosion.
Farmers engage in fresh water pisciculture for self-consumption as well as commercial purpose.
These piscicultures are very close to embankment and are connected by small pockets or Chauko to
ponds. Fresh water fish cannot survive after saline water inundation and brackish water fishes48 are
pushed out of the pond after inundation. Despite the risks, villagers engage in fresh water fishery. It
is easy to recover the loss of carp species after floods, but local fish species are not easy to recover
because seeds of these fish species are hardly available in research centres. Fresh water shrimp is
cultivated for commercial purposes in some ponds. So, if commercial pisciculture is affected
owners suffer huge monetary loss.
46
Rayat: As per the West Bengal Land Reform Act 1955, a person or an institution who holds the land
bellow ‘ceiling area’ for any purpose is called Rayat. The rayats are not permitted to dig and making the
bricks and tiles but it is purchable and can be used as mortgage. These holdings or lands of the rayat are also
called Rayat agricultural land.
47
Patta: Bargadar means a person under the system known as Barga, Adhi or Bhag activities cultivate the
land of another person on condition of sharing the produced crop to that person mainly Zamindar. These
socio-economically and politically deprived Bargadars were forced to live in fear of eviction by the
landlords. ‘Operation Barga’ of West Bengal Government provided legal rights of security tenure to the
Bargadar to continue cultivation for longer period. The legal certificate of these land is called as Patta and
these land are locally called as Patta land.
48
There are some brackish water fish species which survive into fresh water.
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Saline water floods destroy freely available local fish, tortoise, and other aquatic species, which
affect the income opportunity of villagers. This loss reduces the consumption of freely available
fishes resulting in lack of protein in diets of villagers. Most of the villagers buy available small size
saline water fishes or simply cannot afford to buy any fish.
Families maintain big fish for a long time, even if they do not engage in commercial aquaculture.
The big fishes are an important asset for the family that provides good economic benefits. Hence,
loss of big fish is severe economic loss for the affected families. Therefore, villagers from the
frequently flood-affected hamlets do not maintain big fish to avoid the risk of loss. Many local
species of fishes disappear for a long time after flood. The impact of loss of fish becomes severe
during the river encroachment, as it causes permanent loss of fish production and income
generation in the affected villages. Villagers who work as labourers and night guards in
commercial aquaculture enterprises become jobless after floods.
Impact of Damage to Fresh Water Sources: The impact of loss of access to fresh water depends
on the water sources and their utilization. The impact of loss of non-availability of fresh water is
severe during the summer season because tube wells are the only source of fresh water. Limited
supply of fresh water affects domestic activities. Generally, women are responsible for collecting
safe drinking water and they face severe difficulties in finding it after floods. The severity crisis of
fresh water mainly depends on the distance between alternative sources of fresh water and the
affected hamlets. There are a good numbers of tube wells in flood-affected hamlets, but increased
demand of fresh water keeps them occupied. In such situations villagers are forced to wash clothes,
take bath using saline water, and use fresh water only for the final wash. Villagers use saline water
for domestic use due to high level of demand on tube wells and their distance from their houses,
though use of saline water is unhygienic, and results in the outbreak of communicable water-borne
diseases. People also start drinking less water after floods, and this affects their health. Elderly
villagers claim that they used to drink saline water mixed with tamarind during the early phases of
settlement. Brackish water and salt water is not safe for drinking because it causes dehydration.
Safe drinking water must have less than 250mg of salt per liter of water (Ibaraki 2007).
Impact of Damage to Ponds: Pond is the lifeline of the village because it supplies fresh water for
all types of domestic end uses. Many a times, villagers are able to save the ponds during flood and
some owners allow others to use the pond, but the problem starts when people misuse or overuse.
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Therefore, many owners do not allow affected families to use from their ponds water. Using the
pond for generating livelihoods depends on the size and storage capacity of the pond.
Villagers could get the ponds on short-term lease. Farmers use the pond water for producing fish or
cultivating red chili and Boro paddy49. Floodwater pollutes the fresh water, and fresh water fishes
die and brackish water fishes escape due to floods. This results in loss for the villagers who take the
ponds on lease. Though there is loss of agricultural production and fresh water fish, after the floods
the owner can use the same pond for brackish water fish for short period. The loss is compensated
to some extent by brackish water fish production.
The distance of drainage channel from the ponds is an important factor attending the extent of loss.
Not all ponds are connected with the drainage channels to drain saline water after flood.
Neighboring landowners allow affected farmers to drain stagnant water, through their agricultural
land during the rainy season. But nobody gives permission for drainage of saline water during the
summer. This is because of the risk of salinization of their lands.
Though fresh water is required for domestic purposes, it is equally if not more important for Paan
Baruj (betel vine)50 owners. Though a betel leaf plant is more resistant to salinity than other plants,
it requires lot of fresh water to clean the layer of silt and wash the plant after flood. Villagers are
often able to save their betel vine, but not the pond. Though they save the betel vine, they cannot
produce betel leaves because of the loss of water. Therefore, betel vine owners immediately
remove saline water from their pond after flood and fill those ponds with fresh water purchased
from the non-affected hamlets.
Impact of Damage to Canal: Originally, canals were part of estuary, which are converted into
canal by closing the mouths of the estuary. Therefore, if the canal has connection with river, the
49
Boro Paddy: The Bengali word ‘Boro’ is derived from Sanskrit word ‘Borob’. This means paddy
cultivation in low laying areas after the harvest of Kharif paddy. Boro paddy is cultivated during November
to May by the support of supplementary irrigation facilities from residual water sources after the monsoon.
Boro paddy is mainly cultivated moisture areas of West Bengal, Orissia, Assam, Bihar and coastal and delta
region. As the productivity is high, farmers get ample amount of paddy during the rabi season.
50
Paan Baruj: The word ‘Paan’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Pana’. This means ‘feather, leaf’. The
Paan or betel leaf is an evergreen creeper used as mild stimulator with areca nut and tobacco; it also has
medicinal value. Paan is cultivated in South and South-East Asia. In Bengali, betel vine is called as Paan
Baruj or Baruj. Paan Baruj is a specific type of plantation garden made of bamboo sticks and shaded by
paddy straw and coconut leaves. The plants grow up with the support of sticks and protected by strong wind
and direct sunshine.
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water becomes saline. Fresh water canals are main sources of irrigation and fresh water fish
species. Ponds dry up due to overuse of water during the summer season, but water in canals
remains where local fish species, plants, algae and other living bodies nurture. Most of these canals
are public property and villagers use these properties for getting free fish, water hyacinth (used as
fodders), and for conducting other income generation activities. Loss of canal water ends
agricultural activities during the summer season, and villagers migrate in search of jobs.
If there is agricultural production then a group of villagers earn livelihood by participating in the
production and distribution process (see figure 6.6). Whether villagers have agricultural land or not
are directly and indirectly dependent on cultivation, harvest, trading, and process of agricultural
crops (see figure 6.7). Therefore, the impact of loss of agriculture is multidimensional.
Landowners suffer loss of agricultural livelihood because of their high dependency on land.
Dependency on landowners for their livelihoods equally affects landless and agricultural labourers.
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Landowners think that ‘Jaar Aaj O Nai Tar Kaal O Nai’ (there is nothing to lose tomorrow, if you
do not have anything to lose today) and they consider themselves to be the most affected even
compared with landless villagers.
Figure 6.6
People Dependents on Production of Food Grains
• Farmers
• Agricultural labourers (male and female
labour groups)
People dependent • Fertilizer traders
on food grain • Food grain traders (grain collectors and grain
production stockiest)
• Owners of power tiller and tractor
• Owners of the pump sets
• Rickshaw pullers
• Husking machine owners
• Rice traders
• Trader of paddy straw
Source: Field Notes
Generally, landless families seasonally migrate in search for job during the post-cultivation season,
but the migration becomes permanent after flood. This is mainly because of unavailability of
agricultural labour work in the village. The women from these families also earn money by being
involved in subsidiary agricultural activities, but the loss of subsidiary agricultural activities
reduces the total earning of their families.
Figure 6.7
Impact of Loss of Agricultural Production
Impact of Loss of Red Chili Production: Red chili is an important commercial Rabi crop in this
region and many farmers cultivate chilies by taking land on lease. Loss of red chili production also
affects financial transaction among the cultivators, traders, and private moneylenders (see figure
6.8). Farmers are directly involved in the cultivation, while others villagers also work in the
production process and earn livelihoods. Plucking red chili is an important livelihood activity for
women, children, and elderly people. There is a symbiotic relationship between cultivators and
labourers. As the farmers cannot finish the work individually, they provide an opportunity to
labourers to earn money. Women work part-time during the mornings and afternoon because many
of them remain busy in catching Meen (tiger prawn seeds) during the same season. Labourers get
wage as per the amount of red chili they pluck. Some of the labourers have land, but all land pieces
are not suitable for chili cultivation. Therefore, they prefer plucking red chilies, which fulfills their
requirement of chilies. Some of them also stock dry red chili and sell it during off-season. Small
cultivators do not hire labourers and they help each other, but big cultivators are fully dependent on
labourers. The symbiotic relationship among the farmers and workers helped both to earn their
livelihood. Plucking red chili is a small income generating activity during the Rabi season; but
summer flood destroys the production and both landowners and agricultural labourers lose their
livelihood.
Figure 6.8
Impact of Loss of Red Chili
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Impact of Loss of Pulses: Producing pulses is an important source of income; the pulses produced
are Khesari (Grass pea) and Mung beans. Apart from being a source of livelihoods, producing
pulses also takes care of a family’s need for dietary protein. Labourers working for production
barter their wage for raw pulses and they rarely have to buy pulses from the market. Loss of pulses
crops leads to protein deficiencies and loss of income for the labourers and farmers. If they buy
pulses from the market, they buy Khesari or sometimes lentil because it is cheap. As the price of
small fishes is equal to that of pulses, they prefer to buy fish. Pulses are not the major food items
for villagers. They eat pulses if they get it as wage for their labour, so loss in production means the
shortage in protein supply to the family diet.
Impact of Loss of Agriculture on Daily Wage Labourers: Four types of villagers are dependent on
agriculture. The following is brief discussion on how they are affected due to floods.
(i) Big landowners, who hire labourers for cultivation. They may also engage in others non-
agricultural income generating activities, but such villagers with large land ownership are very less
in number after the abolition of the landlord system.
(ii) Medium land owning farmers, are those who work on their own lands and cultivate by taking
help from agricultural labourers, but they do not work on others’. This type of farmers have multi
agricultural activities that give them enough income. The profit from agricultural production is
sufficient for them to satisfy earn their livelihood needs and to pay wages to the labourers. These
farmers may also have non-agricultural activities as support for livelihood.
(iii) Small landowning farmers, work in their own fields as well as on others’ field. They are the
main work force in the village and are involved in diverse livelihood activities. The livelihoods of
these people are dependent on the availability of resources, right to use these resources, and
capability to use these resources. They work as daily wage labourers, migrant workers, mesons,
carpenters, fishermen, rickshaw pullers, local traders, and are also involved in local politics.
Though these farmers have alternative livelihood activities, agriculture is their major activity,
which provides them food and income. Male and female members of these families are the main
labour force and sometimes children and elders help them with livelihoods and income generating
activities.
(iv) The number of labourers who do not have agricultural land. They take land on lease during the
Rabi crop season from landholding farmers and start production. The main purpose of taking land
on lease is to produce food grains and commercial crops by using labour force from their home.
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The main characteristic of these farmers is that the male members of the family frequently migrate
in search of jobs and female members engage in livelihood activities in the village.
Thus, big and medium land owning families are job providers and small land owning families and
landless farmers are the job seekers in the village. Irrespective of the land’s size, commercial
agricultural activities require labour from other families. The destruction of agricultural crops
affects the existing agricultural activities and medium land owning families join the existing labour
force at reduced wage rates.
The daily wage labourers in riverside hamlets are more in numbers as compared to those in the
interior parts of the village. River encroachment directly reduces land holding in river side hamlets
making a large number villagers landless. The lack of alternative livelihood options or inability to
undertake alternative livelihood activities force them to work as daily wage labourers in the village
or in the neighboring villages.
Daily wage labour work is the most diverse source of income. The availability of job and
employability depends on the physical capability and expertise the person has. Earthwork is easily
available in the villages and most of the labour force is engaged in this job. Even though there is
loss of income after floods, opportunity for labour work increases during the reconstruction phase.
Due to mass migration after flood, sometimes there is scarcity of labour as well. In such scenario,
female labourers are engaged to finish urgent work.
Impact on Fishing: Rapid land erosion and river encroachment creates pressure on the livelihood
of villagers near the riverside hamlets. As a result, some of the affected villagers engage in fishing
to meet the livelihood needs. Fishing requires prior experience, expertise, and fishing equipments;
so all affected villagers cannot opt for this. Though fishing is not directly affected due to river
encroachment or floods, rapid river erosion forces fishermen to find alternative sites for fishing and
as a harbour.
A large number of villagers take up fishing as an alternative source of livelihood after floods, as a
result, shallow water fishing is affected. Profit in shallow water fishing depends largely on the
market price of fish. Villagers who are fully dependent on fishing have to continue to catch fish
even after market price go down. Increase in number of villagers depending on fishing after flood
causes increased pressure on livelihood of the fishermen and also reduces the catching area and
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forces them to go to high in risky areas for catching fish. Loss of boats and fishing nets due to
strong tidal waves is very common during the flood. It is difficult for many fishermen to repair
their boats and buy new net, so they have to look for alternative livelihood options.
Most of the economically weaker families lose their houses because of their locations and the
materials used for construction (Kaitilla and Yambui 1996; Mileti and Gailus 2005:497). Disaster
also causes shortage of decent and good house (Kaitilla and Yambui 1996). Destruction of house is
a social as well as an economic loss. The low height of houses in Sundarban makes them
vulnerable to destruction during floods.
The loss and destruction of houses during flood causes temporary and permanent homelessness.
River encroachment causes permanent loss of both the house and land. Affected villagers get
support to construct temporary shelter at a safe place; but the families near the shelter may or may
not allow them to stay for long time. These landless villagers do not find alternative places to stay
and keep on shifting. Many of them live on the embankment or on roadside for many years because
of their incapability to buy land at safer place for constructing a house. Despite being enlisted for
Indira Awas Yojona, they cannot construct their houses because of unavailability of land. The
villagers in the interior parts also lose their house due to floodwater that remains stagnant for long
time. However, they go back to their place and reconstruct the house again once the water recedes.
The destruction of house also causes loss of earning, as the male members of the affected families
do not go out for jobs before making proper house for the family (see figure 6.9). Sometime,
female members of the family do not allow male members to go out during flood. Villagers lose
earning during floods as those who have migrated come back home. This is illustrated by the
following case:
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Case: Madhu Jana (33yrs old, Gobordhanpur) has lost his house during cyclone-Aila, 2009,
and presently he has been staying at the roadside. This year he had to build a house with
Jawes Pillars and go out to look for livelihood. He could not afford to wait for government
support because he has a three months old son, seven years old daughter and elderly
mother. (Source: Field notes on 09-07-2011)
Villagers construct houses by spending their life’s savings and use external support to improve
quality of their houses. If flood destroys their house, it causes big loss.
Figure 6.9
Impact of Loss of House
Impact of Loss of Food Stocks on Livelihood: The landowning families process paddy to get rice
to consume in entire year and stock it for the future. Processing paddy into rice has two benefits:
(a) farmers get good return by selling rice as compared to paddy, and (b) husk is used for fodder.
During off-season, they sell the extra rice to get good return. The loss of stocked rice causes loss of
food and of earning (see figure 6.10). The poor families hardly store rice for the whole year. They
buy rice as per their requirement for a day or week and therefore, for them the loss of stock
happens rarely.
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Villagers also stock dry red chili to get good income during off-season; so loss of this stock causes
the loss of income. The impact of loss of red chili stock on farmers and workers are different
because workers collect red chili in lieu of their wage. Therefore, loss of red chili stock becomes
the loss of wage and loss of extra earning opportunities. There are also traders who are involved in
trading of red chili throughout the year, but they stop their business after flood.
There are families with elderly couple who are totally dependent on agricultural production and
they earn their livelihood by selling crops, vegetables, and fish in the market. Nevertheless, they do
not have anything to sell to get their food and other materials after floods. They start using their
monthly interest from fixed deposit, as they do not have any alternatives. They continue to
withdraw money every month for their survival and even lose their deposit.
Figure 6.10
Impact of Loss of Food Stock
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pullers used to go out for earning money before purchasing the rickshaw, but once they bought a
rickshaw, they stopped migration.
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their roofs. Thatched houses require special construction skill, which is not known to carpenters
who are expert in making roofs of pan-tiles.
Traditionally, the first type of money lending business is practiced in the village, but the landless
flood-affected villagers prefer the second type. However, often the villagers of flood-affected area
do not have anything to mortgage because saline water affected land is valueless to the lenders. In
such cases, villagers mortgage precious metals and utensils. The private money lending business
increases after flood because of the increased requirement of loan by the affected villagers for
purchasing food grains, repairing and making new houses, and managing expenses to migrate.
Affected villagers often lose their resources and household materials that are mortgaged before.
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Impacts on Hindu Priests: The few Brahmin families settled in Sundarban perform their
traditional caste based social profession. It is the local landlord who brought them from other
districts. They gave permission to continue their traditional livelihood activities and practicing
astrology. Often, Brahmin became the royal priest of the temple built by the local landlord. They
also were given land for farming. Though the Brahmin families have agricultural land, they rarely
engage in farming. Usually, they hire labourers to do the agricultural work. When the agricultural
activity is stopped due to chronic floods in the village, the flood-affected villagers stop inviting
priests to perform social festivals. As a result, Brahmin families have lose their traditional source of
earning. These families then started fishing for livelihoods and villagers accepted their engagement
in these new activities, which are not usually done by Brahmins families.
Impact on Barbers: Presently, barbers have commercialized their traditional livelihood activities
by setting up shops with modern equipments in the market. They also modified their services as per
the requirement of villagers. They find safer places close to their sources of income depending on
the number of customers. Increased migration of villagers reduces the number of customers, which
affects total earning of the barbers and hence, they work in multiple places to earn adequate
income.
6.4. Discussion
Most of the villagers are directly and indirectly dependent on agricultural lands and cultivation for
their livelihoods. There are non-agriculture based livelihoods, but they need special skills and
technical knowhow. Sometimes, socio-cultural status of people also provides traditional sources of
income. Though access to livelihoods resources and their ownership explain the vulnerability and
capability of people (Chambers 1989; Kumar et el. 2009), dependence on these sources of
livelihood is important for understanding the level of vulnerability. Most of the poor families have
low agricultural land holding and limited access to natural resource. Daily survival of these people
is highly dependent on agricultural lands and other informal sources of livelihoods. Therefore,
impact of disaster is not only dependent on access to sources of livelihoods but also on the level of
dependency on these sources of livelihoods. Most of the villagers depend on multiple sources of
livelihoods which include agriculture, agricultural labour work, rickshaw pulling, earthwork, daily
wage labour work, and seasonal migration. Those who depend only on one source of livelihood,
face difficulties after to losing their sole sources of livelihood. As the villagers are highly
dependent on natural resources, they become vulnerable to disaster because of their limited ability
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to manage the situation (Flint and Luloff 2005:399). Therefore, farming families of Sundarban in
chronic flood-affected villages are unable cope with crisis of livelihood.
Impact of flood on land owning families is not static. The impacts of chronic flood on these
families cause reduction of their dependency on land. Though these families are able to access
agricultural land, they have limited agricultural production to cope with disaster. As a result,
chronic floods and river encroachment aggravate their vulnerability. The overall finding in this
regard is that the disadvantaged groups of villagers are highly vulnerable to the loss of livelihood
sources, but this does not mean that all people in disadvantaged communities are vulnerable to
disaster (Zahran et al. 2008). It mainly depends on the livelihood strategies and their capabilities to
reduce the impact of disaster.
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