Analysing barriers to humanitarian logistics for distributing relief aid in pre- and post-disaster situations

The purpose of this paper is to analyze key challenges in implementing the relief measures of humanitarian logistics (HL) in the pre- and post-occurrence of the disaster. Analyzing the severity of barriers to humanitarian logistics assists decision-makers and policymakers in reducing societal vulnerability and ensuring efficient allocation of resources in a disastrous environment. An integrated decision-making framework comprising Grey-Delphi and Grey-DEMATEL is employed based on the survey results obtained from various experts and stakeholders in humanitarian logistics. A recent natural calamity that happened in the state of Assam, India, has been selected as a viable case study for the study. Existing barriers to HL have been identified from the prior literature. The factors are further validated by the practitioners and experts in the case context using the Grey-Delphi technique. Further, the causal-prominence relation between HL barriers is revealed by using the Grey-DEMATEL tool. The findings of the study suggest that obsolete IT infrastructure, inconsistent quality monitoring procedures of the relief aids, uncertain and complex geographical conditions, failure of early warning systems, difficulties in last-mile deliveries, and poor coordination among stakeholders serve as critical factors that hinder the efficient functioning of humanitarian logistics in the Indian context. Several managerial and theoretical implications are based on the findings of the study.