Resilience of inland fishers against nature's fury: A study on effect of extremely severe cyclone Fani on socio-economy and livelihood of fisher households in Odisha, India

Abstract

The extremely severe cyclonic storm, Fani, the strongest tropical cyclone to hit India in 20 years, caused a landfall in the Bay of Bengal coast of Odisha, India in May 2019 and considerably impacted the lives and livelihoods of fisher families. The present study was based on primary data collected from 150 fishers' households located around Debi River, Mahanadi Estuary and Chilika Lagoon in Odisha. Twenty four per cent of the respondents reported severe damages to their kachha houses, while 43% respondent reported loss of fishing nets due to this extreme cyclonic event. Around 37% of the fishing boats were severely damaged. The household items and stored agricultural produce were also damaged. The damages were much less in Mahanadi Estuary and northern sector of Chilika Lagoon due to reduced intensity of the storm. The study further found that overall the resilience of the fisher households was poor. Six out of 12 indicators of resilience were in ‘crisis’ category while only four were in ‘desirable’ category. The Government needs to consider providing quick assistance to the fishers keeping in view the loss of livelihood; besides, special initiatives are necessary to be planned to enhance the resilience of the fisher households for such unforeseen events which have become regular occurrences in the east coast of Bay of Bengal.