**1. Introduction**

*We do not see our hand in what happens, so we call certain events melancholy accidents when they are the inevitabilities of our projects (Stanley Cavell)1 .*

India, a country of rivers and is a big centre of the flood. It is a regular and the most destructive disaster in India. The earliest evidence of devastative flood dates back to the flood of the Indus Valley Civilization that sabotaged the great civilization. In independent India, the first major flood was recorded in 1953, and following the flood's impact first national policy on the disaster was set up in the year of 1954. Notably, India accounts for 1/5th of the global lives' loss, and around 30 million people are evacuated every year. The area vulnerable to flood is more than 40 million hectares, and the average area affected is 8 million hectares2 . Whatever the disastrous flood has done vandalisation should not be measured only in economic terms; however, from 2011 to 2016, INR 144665.79 crore has been estimated as the total damage in the country. In 1953, total damage around INR 52.40 crore had been reported,

<sup>1</sup> Ted [1]. *Acts of God: The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in America*. Oxford University Press, New York.

<sup>2</sup> *Flood: Trends & social Impacts in Indian Context*. https://www.ssvk.org/koshi/analytical\_articles/joshi. pdf Accessed: 19.09.2020

while in the year of 2016 it reached to INR 57291.098 crore. The most vulnerable states to flood are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, Gujrat, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam account for 17 percent of India's geographical area but disproportionately account for 43–52 percent of all flood-prone areas of the country [2].

Iwasaki [3] has reported that, these floods or cyclones severely squeezed people's livelihood. It affects the traditional economic base of the family that changes the family's main source of income [4]. Sina et al. [5] mentioned that, displacement due to flood is a major challenge of restoring the livelihood which needs timely assessment in building resilience in livelihoods. The aid packages are usually short-term fulfill of the needs of the victims but rarely focus the long-term revival of their livelihoods. The current institutional mechanisms are lagging behind the large-scale post-disaster reconstruction [6]. These frequent occurrence of floods have caused a blow to the livelihood resilience of the poor and marginalized sections [7]. The severity of the disaster can be reduced with the help of local and national commitments [3] along with the intervention of livelihood diversification programs in the flood affected area [3]. Along with this, social cohesion is playing a pivotal role for restoring the livelihood of disaster-displaced people [8].

Bahraich (part of eastern Uttar Pradesh) is one of the districts which have been under the regular influence of flood for decades, but in recent years, an alarming increase in the devastation can be visited in the region. It has serious repercussions, such as displacement, migration, poverty, hunger, unemployment, diseases, and many more issues. People are compelled to accept the tragedy of their life and trying to compromise themselves with the unfortunate socio-economic condition.
