Flood Resilience, Social Capital and Livelihood: A Study of Few Selected Villages of Labpur Block of West Bengal

Rural communities face many crises due to flood. Among the rural community, the poor and the low income group people are the most vulnerable to flood. In contemporary literatures, community resilience is a key factor for understand the flood hazard management. In studying the resilience, social capital is a significant contributor for the analysis of disaster preparedness among the people who faces shocks and difficulties due to flood. During crisis, it is the critical role of social network and relation which enhances the coping and adaptability strategy among the people affected by flood. This paper aims to evaluate few selected villages of Labpur block of West Bengal to explore the role of household resilience and social capital with respect to flood risk management and mitigation. Household resilience and social capital were measured based on household survey using five point Likert scale and Factor analysis. The study finally concludes that food security, income generation and learning new techniques for livelihood transformation, neighborhood attachment with food and money are some of the important factors of resilience for disaster response and recovery.