Resettlement and Disaster Risk Creation

Disasters have become a common point of reference to legitimise urban housing resettlements. Often, these resettlements are in the periphery disconnecting and pushing the urban poor outside the city. Using the case of the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 (20 years ago), this presentation traces recovery journeys of tsunami affected and relocated people and places it within the housing capitalism discourse in India. The aim is to unpack how after 20 years, recovery continues to e an illusion while risk creation has materialised in the resettlement of the urban poor. Using interviews, participatory mapping and focus groups, this paper traces how recovery is placed within a cycle of recurring disasters from floods to the pandemic to ongoing heatwaves. People impacted by disasters cope with recovery primarily through the concept of self-recovery. Yet, various actors ignore long term consequences of disaster risk reduction, recovery and how risk creation unfolds within ongoing recovery for different vulnerable groups. The paper places this discussion within an ongoing urbanisation that excludes the poor. Further, the analysis presents a new understanding of recovery taking into account the necessary conversations on climate change.