Exploring the Potentials of Community Participation in Landslide Risk Reduction: A Case Study of Dumsi Pakha in the District of Kalimpong, West Bengal

The local communities play a crucial role in addressing the immediate needs, during and after a disaster. Community involvement and participation has thus become increasingly important in the disaster mitigation process. Despite the importance of community involvement in risk reduction, the biggest obstacle in any hazard-prone area is the absence of local readiness toward preparedness for disaster prevention and recovery. This chapter therefore investigates the impact or lack of community involvement and participation in the disaster mitigation process by taking the case study of Dumsi Pakha—a small compact village in the district of Kalimpong. Trapped between two sizeable natural drains (jhoras) and lacking any proper drainage infrastructure, Dumsi Pakha is vulnerable to significant erosion and slope instability resulting in landslides. A multiple regression model was used to analyze the interplay between socio-economic factors, disaster preparedness and mitigation measures like following updates regarding disaster-related information, participation in awareness programs, neighborhood relationship and community participation. The results show that while socio-economic factors are important, they share a weak correlation with disaster mitigation measures. Gender is a significant factor influencing community participation where females are notably more active in following landslide-related updates and participating in landslide-related awareness programs. In addition, there is a positive correlation between higher educational attainment and active participation in disaster mitigation measures indicating that education is a key driving force in enhancing disaster awareness and community involvement.