Adaptation Research Alliance (ARA)

Focus group discussions

This document presents the insights shared during the learning and sharing sessions conducted by Shanta Memorial Rehabilitation Centre, where the project team engaged with Women with Disabilities and local SHG members to understand their experiences of relocation, environmental stresses, and adaptation strategies.
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  • April 25, 2026
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Prof. Asha Hans with local SHG participants of Bagapatia FGD

Summary

The report describes three Focus Group Discussions with Women with Disabilities (WwDs) and local SHG members in Kaitha and Bagapatia, Odisha, focusing on experiences of relocation from coastal erosion, problems faced during shifting, and challenges in the new settlement at Bagapatia.

It explains that Bagapatia is a relocation colony for households from Satavaya washed away by the sea, where many have faced multiple displacements, loss of farmland, psychological trauma, difficulties in receiving grants, poor infrastructure, unsafe water, and crocodile‑infested riverbanks.

Participants shared self‑adaptation strategies such as migration to Kerala, poultry and goat rearing supported by RCDC, and shifting gender roles due to male out‑migration. The article also presents case studies of WwDs—Jharana Dalei, Archana Sahani, Binodini Bhuiyan, Mamata Mandal, and Tuniya Nayak—highlighting their personal struggles with disability, loss of livelihood, housing challenges, lack of education facilities, and aspirations to rebuild their lives through small businesses, tailoring, grocery shops, or poultry farming.

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