Planning for fishing communities in hazard prone coastal areas: a case of Visakhapatnam

Abstract

In a subcontinent like India, there are different type of climatic conditions, culture and traditions. Likewise, there are also different types of hazards leading to disasters. The most frequent hazards are the earthquakes, cyclones, floods, tsunamis, droughts, landslides. Of these hazards, earthquakes, floods and landslides are frequent in the northern region of the country. Cyclones, tsunamis, floods and droughts are frequent in the southern region of India. The coastal belt of India is affected by cyclones and tsunamis. Visakhapatnam is a coastal district of Andhra Pradesh, a major industrial district, generating a maximum share of economy of the state. It has one of the important ports/harbours in India. Large quantum of exports and imports are being handled in the Visakhapatnam port. It is also having a naval base command guarding the coast of Bay of Bengal. In Visakhapatnam district, there are 40 fishermen villages as per Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Regional Plan- 2021. There are 16,182 hutments and 90,420 people living in all of these fishing villages. Out of the 40 villages, Pedda Jalaripeta is the biggest village having a population of 24,000 and 3,000 households. So, in this research, Pedda Jalaripeta fishing village is selected as the study area. In the year 2014, a super cyclone named HudHud made landfall and caused a terrific disaster in the coastal area of the Northern Andhra Pradesh (Vishakhapatnam, Vijayanagaram and Srikakulam) leaving the region vulnerable and making it a high risk zone for cyclones. It was ranked as the third worst cyclone occurred since the past century. Coastal area of north Andhra Pradesh was devastated with loss of vegetation and huge property loss, even though the death toll came out to be 35 persons only. In Vishakhapatnam district, the fishing communities were affected the most than any other community.