IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/nathaz/v121y2025i1d10.1007_s11069-024-06847-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing livelihood vulnerability of rural communities in the wake of recurrent tropical flood hazards in India

Author

Listed:
  • Aznarul Islam

    (Aliah University)

  • Susmita Ghosh

    (Aliah University)

  • Mohan Sarkar

    (Indian Institute of Technology Bombay)

Abstract

Tropical riverine floods have escalated their frequency and magnitude causing individual and community-level livelihood vulnerability, especially in the rural areas. Livelihood vulnerability induces social vulnerability in a community in the face of recurrent floods. Thus, while measuring livelihood vulnerability, the non-technocratic factors were emphasized. The livelihood vulnerability index (LVI) devised by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007 is a widely accepted livelihood vulnerability framework that is applied in the present study to reveal the nature of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity of rural communities. The study measures 36 parameters based mainly on the primary field survey of 2382 households in the Mayurakshi River Basin (India) along with district census reports, annual flood reports, satellite images and topographical maps. The result depicts that Kandi is the most exposed community development block (score: 0.591) owing to low-lying topography and drainage congestion, with a greater adaptive capacity (score: 0.480) on account of the receipt of higher foreign remittances. Thus, floods could not escalate the livelihood vulnerability due to the rural communities’ higher adaptive capacity. However, the nature of the LVI is primarily determined by the flood hazards, as shown by the close clustering of LVI and exposure using principal component analysis. The hierarchical cluster analysis depicts that the northern part of the study area, characterized by the lower flood hazards, is distinctly separated from the southern part in terms of the LVI. The one-way ANOVA also found significant differences (p

Suggested Citation

  • Aznarul Islam & Susmita Ghosh & Mohan Sarkar, 2025. "Assessing livelihood vulnerability of rural communities in the wake of recurrent tropical flood hazards in India," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 121(1), pages 677-704, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:121:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s11069-024-06847-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11069-024-06847-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11069-024-06847-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11069-024-06847-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Hutton & C. Haque, 2003. "Patterns of Coping and Adaptation Among Erosion-Induced Displacees in Bangladesh: Implications for Hazard Analysis and Mitigation," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 29(3), pages 405-421, July.
    2. Portia Adade Williams & Olivier Crespo & Mumuni Abu, 2020. "Assessing vulnerability of horticultural smallholders’ to climate variability in Ghana: applying the livelihood vulnerability approach," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 2321-2342, March.
    3. Stephen A. Rhoades, 1993. "The Herfindahl-Hirschman index," Federal Reserve Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), issue Mar, pages 188-189.
    4. Alexander Fekete & Marion Damm & Jörn Birkmann, 2010. "Scales as a challenge for vulnerability assessment," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 55(3), pages 729-747, December.
    5. Cheng-Wu Chen & Chun-Pin Tseng & Wen-Ko Hsu & Wei-Ling Chiang, 2012. "A novel strategy to determine the insurance and risk control plan for natural disaster risk management," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 64(2), pages 1391-1403, November.
    6. Susmita Ghosh & Md. Mofizul Hoque & Aznarul Islam & Suman Deb Barman & Sadik Mahammad & Abdur Rahman & Nishith Kumar Maji, 2023. "Characterizing floods and reviewing flood management strategies for better community resilience in a tropical river basin, India," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 115(2), pages 1799-1832, January.
    7. Aznarul Islam & Susmita Ghosh, 2021. "Economic transformation in the wake of flood: a case of the lower stretch of the Mayurakshi River Basin, India," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(10), pages 15550-15590, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Md. Islam & Md. Malak & M. Islam, 2013. "Community-based disaster risk and vulnerability models of a coastal municipality in Bangladesh," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 69(3), pages 2083-2103, December.
    2. Maxmillan Martin & Yi hyun Kang & Motasim Billah & Tasneem Siddiqui & Richard Black & Dominic Kniveton, 2017. "Climate-influenced migration in Bangladesh: The need for a policy realignment," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 35, pages 357-379, October.
    3. Yao-feng Zhang & Hong-ye Duan & Zhi-lin Geng, 2017. "Evolutionary Mechanism of Frangibility in Social Consensus System Based on Negative Emotions Spread," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2017, pages 1-8, June.
    4. Heinen, Eva & Chatterjee, Kiron, 2015. "The same mode again? An exploration of mode choice variability in Great Britain using the National Travel Survey," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 266-282.
    5. Liu, Yan & Wang, Siqin & Xie, Bin, 2019. "Evaluating the effects of public transport fare policy change together with built and non-built environment features on ridership: The case in South East Queensland, Australia," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 78-89.
    6. Khushalani, Jaya & Ozcan, Yasar A., 2017. "Are hospitals producing quality care efficiently? An analysis using Dynamic Network Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 15-23.
    7. Lorena Mitrione & George Tanewski & Jacqueline Birt, 2014. "The relevance to firm valuation of research and development expenditure in the Australian health-care industry," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 39(3), pages 425-452, August.
    8. Gallego-Losada, María-Jesús & Montero-Navarro, Antonio & García-Abajo, Elisa & Gallego-Losada, Rocío, 2023. "Digital financial inclusion. Visualizing the academic literature," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    9. Fernando deLlano-Paz & Juan José Cartelle-Barros & Paulino Martínez-Fernández, 2024. "Application of modern portfolio theory to the European electricity mix: an assessment of environmentally optimal scenarios," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(6), pages 15001-15029, June.
    10. Youchung Kwon & Bo Kyung Kim, 2024. "When we unite, not divide: status homophily, group average status, and group performance in the Korean film industry," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(1), pages 9-31, February.
    11. Gritsenko, Daria & Efimova, Elena, 2020. "Is there Arctic resource curse? Evidence from the Russian Arctic regions," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    12. Stefan Kienberger & Thomas Blaschke & Rukhe Zaidi, 2013. "A framework for spatio-temporal scales and concepts from different disciplines: the ‘vulnerability cube’," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 68(3), pages 1343-1369, September.
    13. Odeck, James & Høyem, Harald, 2021. "The impact of competitive tendering on operational costs and market concentration in public transport: The Norwegian car ferry services," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    14. Ho-Chun Herbert Chang & Brooke Harrington & Feng Fu & Daniel Rockmore, 2023. "Complex Systems of Secrecy: The Offshore Networks of Oligarchs," Papers 2303.03371, arXiv.org.
    15. Ralph Lasage & Sanne Muis & Carolina S. E. Sardella & Michiel A. Van Drunen & Peter H. Verburg & Jeroen C. J. H. Aerts, 2015. "A Stepwise, Participatory Approach to Design and Implement Community Based Adaptation to Drought in the Peruvian Andes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-32, February.
    16. M. Rezaul Islam, 2018. "Climate Change, Natural Disasters and Socioeconomic Livelihood Vulnerabilities: Migration Decision Among the Char Land People in Bangladesh," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 575-593, April.
    17. Ravi Kashyap, 2024. "The Concentration Risk Indicator: Raising the Bar for Financial Stability and Portfolio Performance Measurement," Papers 2408.07271, arXiv.org.
    18. Stefano Basilico & Holger Graf, 2023. "Bridging technologies in the regional knowledge space: measurement and evolution," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 1085-1124, September.
    19. Itziar González Tánago & Julia Urquijo & Veit Blauhut & Fermín Villarroya & Lucia De Stefano, 2016. "Learning from experience: a systematic review of assessments of vulnerability to drought," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 80(2), pages 951-973, January.
    20. Mery Biswas & Adrija Raha, 2024. "Assessment of flood hazard along the N-S section of North Bengal plains, India," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 120(3), pages 2333-2348, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:121:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s11069-024-06847-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.