COMPREHENDING LANDSLIDES FROM THE LOCALS OF LANDSLIDE VULNERABLE VILLAGES: A GENERAL FIELD OBSERVATIONShikha SubbaAbstract Local knowledge refers to the relationship that people have developed with their surrounding over the time. In the literature, local knowledge is referred to as the indigenous knowledge, âtraditional knowledgeâ, âfolk knowledgeâ, âfolk scienceâ, and âcitizen scienceâ etc. Local knowledge is dynamic and is always changing through experimentation and socio economic changes over the time (Dekens, 2007). However, it is important to know how local people view and interact with their surrounding environment, whether their local understanding and knowledge helps them to respond with the dynamic changes in their environment including the disasters preparedness. The strategies adopted by the people for Disaster Risk Reduction largely depend upon the resources available to them. The decisions taken for adopting strategies are on the basis of social cohesion, solidarity and mutual support among the people. The strategies can be either long term or short term. The short term strategies deal with the crisis of short period whereas the long term strategies are adoptive strategies for leading permanent and sustainable solutions to the problems. This paper is developed from the evidences that are collected from the field survey from the some of the severe landslide zone of Sikkim-Darjeeling Himalayan region. The study focuses on the social memory of the landslide victims and its impact, how people have developed their idea about landslide disasters and their way of dealing with it. |