**5. Loss of capital & vulnerability of livelihood**

*Natural Hazards - Impacts, Adjustments and Resilience*

**4. Nature's revenge or human's mistake?**

*.*

the reasons for the flood in the region, we find a few major human

activities that induce disaster. If we blame nature for this disaster it would be an injustice, not only to nature but also to the people of the area. A sudden release of water by the government of Nepal through dams like Gopiya & Girija is one of the main reasons. The people claim if river water comes slowly in a natural way, it is lesser devastative compared to sudden releases from dams. The rapid flow of water comes only after the collapse of dams or highways or such kinds of big constructions, not by the natural processes of the flood. These unplanned and unmapped developmental projects have made hindrances in the ways of floodwater, therefore the water stuck up to 20–30 feet for many days. Apart from these, sand mining is also a major cause of soil erosion and changes in the direction of

<sup>4</sup> *Super Idea, Sept.2012*. It is a local magazine of the district that covers regional news usually.

<sup>4</sup> *Super Idea, Sept.2012*. It is a local magazine of the district that covers regional news usually.

process are given below:

year 1998 was also the year of flood due to the sudden release of water by Nepal. The year of 2000 multiplied the pain of the region. Gopiya Bairaj of Nepal released water and hundreds of people died and thousands of displaced. In the last few decades, dozens of villages have been physically disappeared and the population is displaced by the flood and many more are under threat of disaster. A few of the examples of the villages that are already collapsed in recent decades or under the

**Collapsed village Year of displacement Number of displaced people**

Khargapur 1968 10,000 Gangapur 1994 4000 Panchadupur 1998 4000 Baharpur 1998 5000 Silauta 2001 7000 Umaraiya 2001 3000 Bhauri Sipahiya 2002 8000 Munsari 2003 4000 Maikapurva 2003 6000 Sansari 2004 2500 Kapraul 2004 4000 Golaganj 2006 8000 Magraul 2007 7000 Pipri 2007 4000 Bansgadhi 2011–2012 6000 Tarapurva 2012 3000 Jarwal Till the date 4000 Kayampur Till the date 3000 Baundi Til the date 3000 Jogapurva Till the date 3000

**72**

Tracing4

*Source: Super Idea, Sept.20124*

The loss of the community of the region can be best understood through the theoretical lens of Piero Bourdieu's 'capital' that he describes as "accumulated, human labor, which can potentially produce different forms of profit" [14]. Further, he classifies it in three sections as cultural, social and economic capital.

**Social capital**: "Social capital is the aggregate of the actual or potential resources which are linked to possession of a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition or in other words, to membership in a group" [14]. The displacement caused by flood displaces and damages not only the physical body of a community but also crushes the social institution and relationships like kinship, lineage that has been a product of centuries-old social interactions and behaviors. One villager Kamlesh Kashyap (Baundi, 35 years old man) asked "earlier we used to marry in our own communities, but now it is not possible, since most of the people of our community have migrated towards other states for their survival. We are left here and staying on the dams or roadside, so how is it possible to get a suitable bride or groom?". The structure of kinship and marriage were such kinds of capital they could face and challenge the problems of daily life through.

**Cultural capital**: cultural capital can exist in three forms as 'embodied state' (mind & body), 'objectified state' such as books, instrument, etc., and 'institutionalized state' like academic qualification etc. [14]. An around seventy years old man Shankar Kashyap of Jogapurva showed me the pity of the loss of cultural capital. "Till ten years ago we used to make our house by the wild bushes, unfortunately, it is not flourishing due to the annual occurrence of flood, so now we purchase it from other areas to build the houses. Similarly, there were several herbal plants that were useful in curing many diseases, and we also used to make domestic products like toys, pots etc. New generations have neither the knowledge of wild herbs-shrubs, plants and bushes nor have the knowledge of making all that thing". Here, we see flood excludes the community along with their traditional knowledge.

**Economic capital**: "economic capital is at the root of all the other types of capital and that these transformed, disguised forms of economic capital, never entirely reducible to that definition, produce their most specific effects only to the extent that they conceal the fact that economic capital is at their root" [14]. Lakshmi Devi (Jogapurva, 50 years old woman) told the pain of her life how she lost her ornaments while flood water entered into the house. "I had some gold & silver made ornaments that I used to keep within the soil of the room so that no one could steal. I had purchased it by savings from my rigorously earned income. It was kept for the days of crisis or ceremony like the daughter's marriage or disease of the family members, but the spate of water entirely wiped out my house along with my ornaments. When floodwater came in, I was in my farmland that is why I could not save all that".

**The vulnerability of livelihood**: the term vulnerability is widely used but is basically a vague term and its meaning varies across the disciplines. However, it may be considered as "vulnerability is an individual or group's reduced capacity to cope with, resist, and recover from the impacts of a natural or human-made hazard"5 . From the lens of the given definition we just look at the story of Sunil (Baundi, 40 years old man) who asked "I had ten bigha farmland in which I used to cultivate crops affluently. Now every year water is stuck in the land so now we are neither able to cultivate in that nor sell since purchasers will give a very little amount of money. Even we are in confusion we should start a business or migrate towards the cities or should continue in risky agriculture. Going to other cities is difficult since I have four small children. Due to the dearth of money, I am not able to provide quality education. We are just trying to alive ourselves…nothing more". The present and the future of the communities of the region is in dark. Several farmers have changed their production of crops. Sukhan (Jogapurva, 45 years old man) told "earlier we used to produce wheat and rice like commercial crops, that was helpful in fulfilling my livelihood issues, but now I am compelled to change my agricultural production, in which there is no benefit and cannot properly fulfill the need of my livelihood. Flood has converted my fertile land into desert, so now I just plant watermelon in my farmland".

Losing all forms of *capital* and displacing from its native places*,* the communities of the area are in the process of just being a gathering of the people or crowds in different cities or nearby places. They are uprooting from its age-old livelihood sources that were sustainable in its nature. Their vulnerability arises grave questions to the policymakers and academicians. What would be the future of such communities in terms of health, education, employment and etc.? What can we expect from such communities in the domain of creativity and productivity, which are the core value of human civilization?
