Pammi Kumari
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, 247667, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India. & Supaul College of Engineering, 852131, Supaul, Bihar, India.

Sneha Singh
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, 247667, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India.

DOI https://doi.org/10.33889/IJMEMS.2026.11.5.078

  ;

Abstract

This paper aims to identify, analyze, and prioritize the key supply chain facilitators, their associated motivators, and the relief aids that enable an agile, responsive and resilient Humanitarian Supply Chain (HSC) for flood relief, using Bihar (India) as a case study. A novel three-level decision hierarchy is proposed, consisting of supply chain facilitators as criteria, their associated motivators as sub-criteria, and relief aids as alternatives. A mixed-method approach is employed involving a comprehensive literature review, expert evaluations, and multi-criteria decision-making techniques of Best-Worst Method (BWM) and Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). Healthcare aids, followed by water and sanitation aids, and food aids are found as most critical humanitarian relief items during floods and should be prioritized, in that order, in emergency response operations. At the system level, quick response time and reduction of deprivation cost emerge as the most critical facilitators of HSC agility. These can be operationalized through motivators, namely, ensuring the availability of high-quality relief items, utilizing optimized transshipment and distribution routes, implementing effective reverse logistics, and reducing overall lead time. The study offers actionable insights for policymakers and practitioners to design and operate agile, resilient, and effective flood relief HSC; thereby mitigating the adverse impacts of flood disasters. This is the first study that conducts systematic research on HSC for flood relief in India, and first-ever study that identifies the key facilitators, motivators and relief aids for flood relief HSC. Another novel contribution is the study of flood relief in Bihar, which has been rarely done despite the state’s chronic vulnerability.

Keywords- Facilitators of humanitarian supply chain, Bihar’s flood relief supply chain, Relief aids, Best-Worst Method (BWM), Technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS).

Citation

Kumari, P., & Singh, S. (2026). Integrated Framework of Key Facilitators, Motivators and Relief Aids for Flood Resilient Humanitarian Supply Chain. International Journal of Mathematical, Engineering and Management Sciences, 11(5), 1955-1985. https://doi.org/10.33889/IJMEMS.2026.11.5.078.