Change in Housing Structure to Cope with Natural Hazards: A Statistical Analysis from Indian Sundarban
Deltas are always being favourite destination for human due to rich biodiversity and abundant resources yet at the same time; they are highly vulnerable to the impacts of natural hazards. Despite their proneness to hazards, coastal people make relentless efforts to cope with severe impacts through age-old indigenous knowledge and practices. Dwelling structures are directly being influenced by extreme events. The purpose of this study is to assess the association between natural hazards and housing pattern to combat extreme consequences in the islands of Indian Sundarban Delta (ISD). The western boundary of the ISD is the major focus of this study specifically Sagar, Ghoramara and Mousani Islands which are prone to regular occurrence of erosion, cyclone, storm surges, saline water inundation and flooding. This study attempts to estimate the influence of particular hazard on the housing structure by means of multinomial regression using collected primary survey data from randomly selected households within these islands. The result suggests that seawater ingression often collapses the mud wall of the coastal houses and houses having thatched roof are vulnerable to cyclonic storms. The survey findings show that finished materials are preferable for roofs to that for wall and floor to protect houses form the cyclonic storm. The result further suggests that mud is commonly used for wall and floor due to easy availability from river, creeks, and ponds. Comparatively Sagar Island has lowest percentage of kachcha houses than other two islands which can be explained by the fact that Sagar has a better infrastructural setup. Given the importance of delta regions as centre of attraction for diverse anthropocentric activities, this study also tries to offer a number of concrete policy recommendations to reduce housing vulnerability from natural hazards.
