Disasters in India

An Anthropological Insight

Abstract

India, occupying 2.4 % of the geography of the earth and contributing 17.7 % to world population, is itself a subcontinent having possessed features of majority of the climatic zones found in the map of the world and all the landform structures including mountains, rivers, lakes, deserts, vast coastal lands and islands. It is this geomorphologic and climatic exposure of the country that is associated with major disasters in India. In this pretext, this paper is an analytical study based on secondary resources which highlight the vulnerabilities and disaster-prone areas of the country incorporating the dreaded disasters that have struck and devastated millions of lives and properties in different parts of India. It is here that an anthropological linkage has been established in that when disasters strike it’s the human beings who suffer the most and it’s also the humans who are the leading cause for these disasters to occur, for the anthropogenic factors contributed by the ‘anthropos’ in this anthropocene epoch are no less disastrous than the disaster themselves. In this context the major objective of this paper has been to holistically analyze the socio-cultural and politico-economic facets that exacerbate the human sufferings including the loss of precious human and animal lives; the culture loss in the midst of disasters; disaster displacement and migration; break-down of social structure; receding power of people to strike back etc. It concludes with a strong message to the society, especially those in the decisionmaking, to learn the lessons quickly and act accordingly.