Disaster preparedness and earthquake resilient housing in Agustmuni
Student name: Ms Trisanki Saikia
Guide: Dr Nirupam Datta
Year of completion: 2018
Host Organisation: TERI School of Advanced Studies
Abstract: Natural disasters such as earthquakes cause a significant burden on developing economies. Rural areas, in developing nations are even more susceptible due to lack of planning and building codes. The construction of a large number of non-engineered structures in the seismically vulnerable areas makes the rural communities residing there even more vulnerable. Uttarakhand is vulnerable to a number of natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes and landslides. The key to addressing the issue is the successful implementation of a housing or construction scheme which has public support. The study, thus, aims to assess the rural resident‟s preferences for earthquake resilient housing. The focus is to determine the factors that affect willingness to pay for an earthquake resilient house and ascertain the average willingness to pay. This has been done using the Contingent valuation method in which a sample of 304 households was surveyed. The willingness to pay of the individuals was obtained using dichotomous choice contingent valuation with a follow up. Interval data model have been used to model the data collected from the survey. The results show that age, gender, caste, previous disaster experience and people‟s perception about the threat imposed on them by earthquakes is significant in explaining their willingness to pay. The average additional construction cost calculated using the delta method amounts to about Rs.198 per square feet.
Keywords: Disaster Preparedness, Earthquakes, Rural Housing, Uttarakhand, Contingent Valuation.
