Household Vulnerability to Flood Disasters among Tharu Community, Western Nepal

Til Prasad Pangali Sharma, Jiahua Zhang (), Narendra Raj Khanal, Pashupati Nepal, Bishnu Prasad Pangali Sharma, Lkhagvadorj Nanzad and Yograj Gautam
Additional contact information
Til Prasad Pangali Sharma: Key Laboratory of Digital Earth Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, China
Jiahua Zhang: Key Laboratory of Digital Earth Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, China
Narendra Raj Khanal: Central Department of Geography, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu 44613, Nepal
Pashupati Nepal: Central Department of Geography, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu 44613, Nepal
Bishnu Prasad Pangali Sharma: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Lkhagvadorj Nanzad: Key Laboratory of Digital Earth Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, China
Yograj Gautam: Department of Geography, University of Bergen, P.O. Box 78005020 Bergen, Norway

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 19, 1-19

Abstract: Monsoon floods are frequent in the Tarai region of Nepal and claim thousands of lives and substantial numbers of properties every year. Certain human activities are more affected than others in the case of the same hazard. This study analyzes vulnerability to flooding among Tharu households. Data were collected by employing household surveys, group discussions, and key informant interviews in the Thapapur Village Development Committee (VDC) of Kailali district, western Tarai, Nepal. The analysis presented in this study is based on the theory that underpins the pressure and release (PAR) and access models. The results show that Tharu people are the major inhabitants in the study area and they prefer to live within their community; many ex-bonded laborers (marginalized people) choose this location for residence. Human causalities have been reduced in recent years due to easy access to cell phones, which has facilitated effective flood warnings with suitable lead times, but agriculture production loss and other losses are still high. Agricultural land is not only an important natural asset but is also considered a financial asset due to its high price and private ownership. The study concludes that subsistence agriculture-based households with small landholding sizes and less income diversification are highly vulnerable to flooding. Improper resettlement of ex-bonded laborers and land fragmentation due to separation of family members are the most prominent factors resulting in small landholdings. The results can guide government authorities to develop proper flood management strategies for the people living in the lowlands (particularly the Tarai region) of Nepal.

Keywords: flood risk; social vulnerability; PAR approach; adaptation strategies; Tharu ethnic group (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/19/12386/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/19/12386/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:19:p:12386-:d:928879

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().