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This study indicates that due to the paucity of sustainable employment opportunities locally during disasters, migration
becomes a key coping mechanism for rural people. Other studies have shown that migration is a common phenomenon
after natural disasters, with youth migration being the most commonplace (Mishra and Mishra, 2010; Jülich, 2011;
Vivekananda et al., 2014; Patnaik et al., 2016). Migration was also described as a new phenomenon over the past two
decades by participants in our study and was not prevalent earlier. Migration of the youth to urban cities and other states
has also impacted the social fabric of the society because older adults are left behind to fend for themselves in the villages.
However, the establishment of SRCCs in Nuapada has been one of the most successful government programs and has
enabled the continuation of education for children of drought-affected people who migrate.
Other useful government programs/schemes highlighted by the community include an Early Warning System, PDS,
MCRCs, SCRCs, and pucca houses provided under the Indira Awas Yojana. According to government participants, the
Odisha government has also initiated pro-climatic policies and adaptation strategies for agriculture (e.g., flood- and
drought-resilient crops); however, its implications need to be seen on a large scale. Some of the concerns raised by
community participants were that the government was not proactive in the implementation of water-related efforts,
irrigation, and awareness-generation relating to agriculture and insurance. The study points out that government schemes
need to be scaled up with proper monitoring mechanisms put in place so that the communities can be made more disaster
resilient in the process.
This study has some limitations. As disasters affected the selected areas over different points in time, the accuracy and
precision of the information provided could have been affected, especially as some of the community members would
have relocated, died, or forgotten certain vital events (particularly the incident of cyclone, as it is not frequent).

5. Conclusions
This study highlighted that multiple disasters have ravaged Odisha, particularly affecting poor, small and marginal farmers,
sharecroppers, vendors, children, and the older population and women (due to their weaker adaptive capacities and lack
of resources), and jeopardized government measures. The study has further enhanced our understanding of the ways, in
which droughts, floods, cyclones, and heatwaves have challenged people’s resilience. It suggests that while there has
been an improvement both at the community level (e.g., social capital) and the government response (e.g., early warning
systems) to the disasters over the past two decades, a lot more needs to be done on the resilience front. Government
response to natural disasters requires a proactive and sustainable approach aiming at reducing people’s vulnerabilities.
Such a response will improve the adaptive capacity of the community, making it more resilient, and contributing to
achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and reducing poverty over the longer run. Measures also need to be
taken for livelihood regeneration and the creation of alternate employment opportunities that are sustainable. Mechanisms
need to be strengthened in developing a social capital approach in the context of resilience to all disasters, and the
community needs to be engaged in devising policies and programs related to disasters and resilience at the local level.
Furthermore, research and advocacy are required to highlight these issues both at the local and global levels.
Acknowledgment

This paper was written as part of the Peter J. Donaldson (PJD) Fund of the Population Council. The views expressed herein
are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the PJD Fund of the Population
Council. The funders had no role in study design, data collection, and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the
manuscript. The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge insightful comments from Karen Hardee, Jessie Pinchoff,
Paul Hewett, and other colleagues from the Population Council on the earlier versions of the research briefs. The author
is grateful to the participants in Odisha for sharing their experiences.
Authors’ Contributions

Conceived and designed: Sangram Kishor Patel. Review of literature: Sangram Kishor Patel, Bincy Mathew, and Ankit
Nanda. Contributed to tools/materials/data collection: Sangram Kishor Patel, Biswajit Mohanty and Niranjan Saggurti.
Analyzed the data: Sangram Kishor Patel, Bincy Mathew, and Biswajit Mohanty. Drafted and wrote the manuscript:
Sangram Kishor Patel, Bincy Mathew, Ankit Nanda, Biswajit Mohanty, and Niranjan Saggurti.

Conflicts of Interest
No conflicts of interest were reported by the authors.

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