| Abstract: | The mountainous topography of Himachal Pradesh has made rural communities face repeated natural disasters, which are threatening to neutralise the sustainable benefits obtained by the development programs. There is a need to establish localised resilience as disasters have the capacity to put vulnerable families in poverty traps. This paper proposes research on how Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in rural India, which are the local governments, can be coordinated with District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs) to enhance disaster preparedness and disaster mitigation impacts on multidimensional poverty in Himachal Pradesh. The analysis can clarify the policies by relying on policy frameworks, case studies, and recent empirical evidence to determine how empowered local governance can increase the effectiveness of disaster response and help to alleviate poverty. It has also been shown that active involvement of PRI in the planning and coordination process, as envisaged by the disaster management framework in India, results in an increase in community preparedness and less human and economic losses. However, there are still some practical gaps, as poor resources and capacities exist at the grassroots level, which prevent the best possible PRI and DDMA cooperation. The study highlights the need for strengthening local institutions through training, inclusive planning, e.g. Gram Panchayat Disaster Management Plans and linking of poverty alleviation programmes with risk reduction. Coordination of PRI and DDMA is capable of protecting the benefits of development, speeding up recovery, and eventually enhancing multidimensional poverty indicators in the high-risk districts. It has been suggested that community-based resilience should be incorporated into institutional disaster governance frameworks, and hence, resilience in rural areas of Himachal Pradesh should be localised towards sustainable development. |
