Socio-Economic Losses of Flood and Household’s Coping Strategies: Evidence from Flood Prone District of Pakistan

Pakistan is a developing country with excessive natural hazards. Flooding is the most devastating natural hazard in Pakistan. Pakistan has been witnessing the floods since its inception but the severity and occurrence of these floods have increased in recent years. Floods affect the households according to their vulnerability and capacity to deal with these shocks. The study seeks to understand the coping mechanism adopted by households and underlying factors which influenced the adaption of these mechanisms to recover from the floods of September, 2014. Furthermore, losses owing to these floods also have been analysed. A case study in twelve villages of district Chiniot, Punjab, has been conducted to understand the coping mechanisms of flood sufferers. Households have mainly relied upon three types of strategies: borrowings from informal sector, assets disposal and governmental cash grants. Results of Logit and Tobit model show that shock and demographic factors are major players which influence the adaption of these strategies. Only two types of losses have been reported by floods victims: loss of standing crops and damages to dwellings. Governmental flood warnings and cash grants have played a laudable role in mitigating the deleterious effects of floods. However, findings show that distribution mechanism of government cash grants lacks transparency and merit.