A Review of Disaster and Development Interface: Performance of Critical Infrastructure during Kerala Floods (2018)

Considering the importance of vital infrastructural facilities in determining a region's socioeconomic well-being, the present paper aims at outlining the vital relationship between the disasters and development by analyzing damage patterns to the infrastructural systems of Kerala, India, as a result of the 2018 floods.

To conduct this study a snowball approach was adopted to select related research articles. Furthermore, secondary data has been collected from Kerala State Disaster Management, State Government of Kerala, Relief Web, Prevention Web, National Institute of Disaster Management, BMTPC and other major Institutions.

The study revealed that Kerala floods-2018 was one such episode of a record-breaking cascade. During these floods, an excess of 42% downpour during the monsoon season resulted in unprecedented inundation causing about 477 fatalities. About 12.47 lakh people were stranded, and around USD 36.71 million in infrastructure was lost. Huge losses and disruptions to essential infrastructure and services that are susceptible and exposed (such as WASH, power, transportation, telecommunication, health, and education, etc.), disturbing the developmental gains of the State, were reported. A range of mitigation measures to safeguard such crucial facilities, such as interventions in early warning systems, involvement of the local government and communities in the planning and implementation process, and emergency response management, etc. have been proposed for the region's integrated, holistic, and comprehensive disaster management.