Overpopulation and Its Association with Natural Disasters: A Case Study of Indian Tsunami, 2004

Introduction

Over the last few decades India’s population has grown exponentially and reached over a billion (1.25 billion) being the second most populous country in the world just behind China. It is expected to overtake China by 2050 (Shubhi, 2014). Such a rapidly growing population exerts enormous pressure on the resources as it requires food, cloth, shelter among other basic needs. In addition to overcrowding in cities and towns this population aggravates pollution of water, air and soil. In order to feed this rapidly growing population, provide habitable spaces, recreational areas, meeting the demands of wood there is indiscriminate destruction of pristine and environmentally sensitive areas such as coasts, hills, river’s flood plains, forests etc. Such a severe environmental degradation makes the nation prone to natural disasters in form of floods, droughts, cyclones, storms, tsunami etc. Across the globe natural disasters have been on a rise in recent decades. Particularly the Asia Pacific region has experienced the most damaging disasters. As per the emergency database (EM-DAT) countries in the region such as Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar, Philippines and Vietnam are more prone to this risk. According to an ADB (Asian Development Bank) study population density is a significant factor which increases hydro-meteorological natural disasters (floods, storms). According to a regression analysis within a model of disaster risk determination almost a one per cent increase in population density is associated with a 1.2 per cent to 1.8 per cent increase in the frequency of intense hydro-meteorological disasters. Hence, densely populated nations, like India, are more likely to incur over 100 deaths or have over 1,000 people affected when disaster hits their shore (Thomass et al, 2013). A tsunami causes maximum death and destruction India being prone to such hazards due to overpopulation needs to focus on experiences and lessons learnt from previous tsunami to minimize the extent of damage caused.

The present chapter discusses ‘tsunami’ which occurred in 2004 along the Indian coastline with special emphasis on the livelihood of people affected and the management measures taken by the government to rehabilitate the victims. Further, management measures based on the present analysis for coping with such future disasters have been recommended.