Impact of climate change induced hazards on the livelihood of marginalized coastal dwellers of West Bengal, India

Abstract

The tropical coastal regions are severely vulnerable to climate change and associated hazards, having a major impact on global hydrological cycle from the last three decades, with subsequent enhancement of hazards. Tidal inundations and the saline water intrusions are responsible for the disaster in coastal areas of West Bengal making people susceptible to livelihood hazards by affecting the agricultural land resources which transform into saline land resulting in joblessness and income reduction. Storm Surge and cyclonic high-speed wind break the weak river embankments, resulting in inundations. So, the aim of the study is to unfold the effect of inundation due to super cyclone Amphan and Yash on the livelihood of the rural people, in Ramnagar I & II Blocks, of Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India. NDVI during the years 2000, 2010 and 2022 reveal a decline in the values, ranging from -0.54 to +0.7 in 2000, -0.239 to +0.55 in 2010, and -0.16 to +0.51 in 2022, showing a gradual reduction in agricultural productivity during 2000 to 2022. Notably, the most pronounced changes in NDVI values occur between the coastline and 25 to 30 kilometers inland, an area where soil salinity has had a detrimental impact on the land. NDVI values have steadily decreased from 2000 to 2022, indicating reduced agricultural productivity. Agricultural land has decreased by 62.36%, while water proportions increased by 71.2% and rural settlements decreased by 37.64% due to water inundations during the period 2010 to 2022. Likewise, 6% of the respondents became jobless during post-disaster phase.

Keywords

• Climate Change
• Livelihood
• Geospatial
• Saline water intrusion
• Tidal inundation

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