Local self-governmental response towards disaster management: An investigation of the experience from the state of Kerala

Pages: 1574-1579
M. M. Rajeev (Department of Social Work, School of Sciences, Central University of Rajasthan, Ajmer, Rajasthan)

Local self-government, because of their proximity to the crisis event and awareness of the social, cultural, and economic milieu of the impacted community, can play a major part in designing, coordinating, also guiding community-based catastrophe relief efforts. An effective local self-governmental response towards disaster response and recovery is critical as it assists the impacted region in recovering from the social, political, and economic impacts at a faster pace. However, the dramatic and tragic events that unfolded soon after the 2004 tsunami once again exposed the fragility of the local, state, and national disaster management system. Research (Comfort, Ko, & Zagorecki, 2004) indicate that inadequate resources, poor communication, and lack of coordination among governmental and non-governmental agencies are some of the most recurring problems for organizational performance in disaster relief efforts. Therefore, the objective of this study is to identify the various social, political, and economic barriers that hindered local self-government’s optimal participation in the disaster relief operations, mainly related to Alappad Panchayat in Kerala following the 2004 tsunami. Also, the study attempts to review the post-disaster activities of the various stakeholders especially PRI’s about the disastrous tidal wave which hit the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu,and Andaman Nicobar Islands. Specifically, the three major underlined research objectives of the study were to: (a) analyze the formal and informal institutional mechanisms that exist for disaster management in the state, (b) examine the problems and obstacles faced by local self-government in actively managing disaster response; and (c) explore possible ways through which local self-government can be optimally involved in disaster response and recovery. The investigator used a purposive sampling method to recruit the required number of respondents for the study. An interview guide prepared which contained questions specifically intended to capture the problems encountered by local self-government in managing the crisis event. In-depth qualitative interviews conducted with 10 participants. The qualitative analysis presented in detail as major themes and the paper concludes that local self-government can play a heightened role in providing and coordinating relief efforts, particularly in natural resource-based communities. Findings imply that, in disaster contexts, development professionals have the potential to assume a leadership role and help empower local communities to respond effectively to disasters.