Civil Society, Community, Disaster and State Responses: A Critical Study on Ockhi Cyclone 2017, Floods in 2018 and 2019 in Kerala, India

Purpose Civil society is often defined as an umbrella term and an inclusive concept. Many civil society formations occur in the context of natural calamities. Natural calamities force people to question the established norms and practices and are likely to be aligned with new collectives and movements. Such a new collective often acquires the character of a civil society movement and positions itself against the government and the dominant narrative of the causes of natural hazards. Recently, three natural hazards occurred in Kerala, a state of India, as the Ockhi Cyclone in 2017 and floods in 2018 and 2019, which led sizeable civil Society collectives to demand better relief and rescue and look at the root causes of flood disasters from a hazard perspective. On the other hand, the government and ruling political parties build counter-movements to counter civil society resistance and opposition to take full ownership of risk management. Methodology The paper’s research design evolved out of continuous engagement with the community affected by the disasters from 2017 to 2019. Interviews with the flood-affected people in the study area, key informants who are involved in the relief and rehabilitation, newspaper reports on floods and cyclones, and other published sources such as state disaster management authority’s published documents are used for this paper. Interaction with fishers, flood victims, journalists, bureaucrats, and civil society activists over the period helped frame the research method. Findings The state and ruling parties are not happy with civil society’s articulation of the root causes of disasters, risks, and vulnerabilities. This civil society may not be able to challenge the state, and the state has the authority to overrule such articulations of risk and dictate the public perception of risks.