263
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Rukhsana et al. (eds.), Habitat, Ecology and Ekistics, Advances in Asian
Human-Environmental Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49115-4_15
Chapter 15
Drought-Induced Human Mobility
in Purulia District of West Bengal
Shrinwantu Raha and Shasanka Kumar Gayen
15.1 Introduction
Drought is considered one of the most adverse, harsh, and damaging natural disasters in terms of socioeconomic implication, social mobility, migration, conflicts,
and ecological impacts (Gill 2008; Fan 2009) which are detrimental to the society
and life. Drought is commonly defined as the water availability below normal (Fan
2009). For agriculture and other natural resource-dependent households in the
developing world, drought is an important negative shock that can undermine livelihoods and well-being without the use of various coping strategies (Gray and Mueller
2012). Historical, qualitative, and ancestral documents indicate that population and
mobility have a common response to drought as falling agricultural production
pushes households and individuals to seek new opportunities elsewhere.
Despite a high level of interest in environment-induced migration, a small number of studies have been successfully done in this arena. Migration is a demographic
process which can be associated with environmental hazards in several ways, and it
is considered as the primary responses to a natural disaster (Paul 2005) and environmental hazards (Adamo 2010). Munshi (2003) found migration as an adaptive strategy in drought-prone regions of Africa.
There is increasing evidence that climate change will affect West Bengal, and
especially drought will affect Purulia, and this will be one of the most challenging
issues for future development particularly in drier portions or blocks (Khan et al.
2011). According to (Gidwani and Sivaramakrishnan 2003) drought affects the agricultural production and natural resource utilization. This phenomena leads to poverty especially for the Bankura which extensively depends on the rainfed agricultural
S. Raha (*) · S. K. Gayen
Department of Geography, Coochbehar Panchanan Barma University,
Cooch Behar, West Bengal, India
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Rukhsana et al. (eds.), Habitat, Ecology and Ekistics, Advances in Asian
Human-Environmental Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49115-4_15
Chapter 15
Drought-Induced Human Mobility
in Purulia District of West Bengal
Shrinwantu Raha and Shasanka Kumar Gayen
15.1 Introduction
Drought is considered one of the most adverse, harsh, and damaging natural disasters in terms of socioeconomic implication, social mobility, migration, conflicts,
and ecological impacts (Gill 2008; Fan 2009) which are detrimental to the society
and life. Drought is commonly defined as the water availability below normal (Fan
2009). For agriculture and other natural resource-dependent households in the
developing world, drought is an important negative shock that can undermine livelihoods and well-being without the use of various coping strategies (Gray and Mueller
2012). Historical, qualitative, and ancestral documents indicate that population and
mobility have a common response to drought as falling agricultural production
pushes households and individuals to seek new opportunities elsewhere.
Despite a high level of interest in environment-induced migration, a small number of studies have been successfully done in this arena. Migration is a demographic
process which can be associated with environmental hazards in several ways, and it
is considered as the primary responses to a natural disaster (Paul 2005) and environmental hazards (Adamo 2010). Munshi (2003) found migration as an adaptive strategy in drought-prone regions of Africa.
There is increasing evidence that climate change will affect West Bengal, and
especially drought will affect Purulia, and this will be one of the most challenging
issues for future development particularly in drier portions or blocks (Khan et al.
2011). According to (Gidwani and Sivaramakrishnan 2003) drought affects the agricultural production and natural resource utilization. This phenomena leads to poverty especially for the Bankura which extensively depends on the rainfed agricultural
S. Raha (*) · S. K. Gayen
Department of Geography, Coochbehar Panchanan Barma University,
Cooch Behar, West Bengal, India