International Journal of Farm Sciences

Vulnerability is understood as a function of three important components viz exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity which in turn are influenced by a range of biophysical and socio-economic factors. So to assess the vulnerability of low hills of Himachal Pradesh, the present study was conducted in Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh as it had shown the impacts of climate change in the last three decades. For the selection of 120 respondents, the multistage random sampling technique was employed in three selected blocks (Bamson, Nadaun, and Bijhari) of the district. The results of the analysis of vulnerability index revealed that Hamirpur district was the most vulnerable and Lahaul and Spiti was the least vulnerable district during 2007. The exposure component played an important role in ranking the Hamirpur district in the first position by contributing to 55.30 per cent followed by sensitivity (35.69%) and adaptive capacity (9.01%). However the Una district was found the most vulnerable district to climate change during 2017. The sensitivity and exposure indicators were found the highest contributors towards its vulnerability which accounted for 28.59 and 59.58 per cent. Amongst the blocks, Hamirpur block was found as the most vulnerable and Nadaun was the least vulnerable block during 2007. The sensitivity played an important role in ranking Hamirpur block at the first position by contributing to the tune of 43.30 per cent followed by exposure (27.26%) and adaptive capacity (29.44%). However Bijhari was found as the most vulnerable block and Bamson was the least during 2017. The results have led to the conclusion that there was a great need to enhance the adaptive capacity of the people of Hamirpur district on a sustainable basis by creating better facilities for water harvesting structures and other infrastructures to reduce the stress on natural resources.