Role of Traditional and Indigenous Knowledge in Disaster Management

Abstract

Human civilization is coping with disasters since time immemorial. In olden days, the disaster management was based on indigenous know-how and traditional prudence and was passed on from one generation to another. In the present era, the magnitude of disasters has magnified and requires proper planning and mitigation strategies. The present techno savvy disaster management and mitigation strategies are more or less universal and somehow fails to incorporate intricate details of probable disaster hit areas and many a times prove to be inadequate in dealing with the situation. Contrary to this, the traditional and primitive disaster management strategies are area-bound and consider every possible detail during the formulation of mitigation strategies. In this context, it will not be inappropriate to revive the traditional methods of disaster management. The blend of modern and traditional indigenous disaster management techniques and mitigation strategies can of great help in coping with disasters. Thus, the objective of this paper is to investigate the relevance of traditional indigenous know-how in the management of disasters such as drought, earthquake, lightening, tsunami, cyclones, etc., and to assess the effectiveness of the collective application of modern and traditional techniques to deal with disasters. The study reveals that the indigenous disaster management technologies are based on age-old observation and wisdom and are milieu specific. It implies that an universal disaster management technique cannot be applicable to everywhere and need be framed keeping in view the local physical and social morphology. The study is be based on in-depth literature review and secondary data.