SOUVENIR - Environment Protection & Disaster Management in India

SOUVENIR 

Environment Protection & 

Disaster Management in India 

MATURE INDIA 

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Bridging the Gap between Disaster risk reduction and climate 

change adaptation 1 

Climate Change, Extreme Events and Disasters 

Extreme weather events are one of the major risks faced by 

human communities and natural ecosystems. Events such 

as heavy rainfall or meteorological drought in combination 

with human induced factors including development in fragile 

ecosystems, inefficient infrastructure development and lack in implementation 

of efficient disaster management measures at the local level result in disasters 

causing substantial damage to people, natural resources and infrastructure. 

Climate change is likely to aggravate these existing risks by increasing 

the frequency and intensity of current extreme weather events. This 

will lead to new vulnerabilities with differential spatial and socio-economic 

impacts across the country. According to the IPCC's special report on 

extreme events and disasters (2012), extreme and non-extreme weather 

or climate events affect vulnerability to future extreme events by modifying 

resilience, coping capacity, and adaptive capacity. The collective effects 

of disasters at local or sub-national levels can considerably affect 

livelihood options and resources and the capacity of societies and 

communities to prepare for and respond to future disasters. 

Additionally, a changing climate leads to changes in the frequency, 

intensity, spatial extent, duration, and timing of extreme weather 

and climate events, and can result in unprecedented extreme weather 

and climate events (Figure 1). The report clearly says that climate 

model projections indicate more heavy rainfall events and more frequent 

hot days throughout the 21st century in many regions of the world. 

This is likely to have implications for India as well since the probability 

o f c a s u a l t i e s i s m o r e i n d e v e l o p i n g c o u n t r i e s . 

1.The article is based on a background paper that had been written for another 

event written by colleagues from TERI – The Energy and Resources Instituite 

2. IPCC, 2012: Summary for Policymakers. In: Managing the Risks of Extreme 

Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation [Field, C.B., 

V. Barros, T.F. Stocker, D. Qin, D.J. Dokken, K.L. Ebi, M.D. Mastrandrea, 

K.J. Mach, G.-K. Plattner, S.K. Allen, M. Tignor, and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. 

A Special Report of Working Groups I and II of the Intergovernmental 

Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 

a n d N e w Y o r k , N Y , U S A , p p . 1 - 1 9 . 

{1}

Figure 1: Likely effect of changes in temperature 

distribution on extremes. The possible changes 

are (a) effects of a simple shift of the entire 

distribution toward a warmer climate; (b) effects 

of an increase in temperature variability with no 

shift in the mean; (c) effects of an altered shape 

of the distribution, in this example a change in 

asymmetry toward the hotter part of the distribution 

Source: IPCC., 2012 

Climate induced factors although act as drivers for 

disasters but when combined with other physical 

and socio-economic factors can cause substantial 

damage. Climate change is linked to disasters both 

in terms of causing an increase in weather and 

climate hazards as well as inducing increases in 

vulnerabilities of the communities to these hazards 

through ecosystem degradation and impacts on 

natural resources. Owing to factors such as unsustainable resource extraction, 

inadequate policies, and growing climate and environmental change have 

intensified the impacts of these disasters. More extreme weather events in 

future are likely to increase the number and scale of disasters. 

Climate Change And Vulnerability To Disasters: illustrations from the region 

South Asia is rich in its natural resources and has a growing population which 

is largely dependent on natural resources for their livelihood. Economies in 

the region however are exerting immense pressure on the natural resources 

to an extent of irreversible changes. Climate change, extreme events and 

natural disasters coupled with such socio-economic pressure only exacerbate 

the risks further by influencing the stock of the resources per se. So much 

so that the glacier and snow-pack dependent river basins situated in the 

Himalayan region is one of the identified climate change “hotspot” according 

to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007). 

However, climate change will not just increase risk of future disasters by 

impacting the frequency and intensity of natural hazards. It is important to 

note that risk is a function of both hazards and social vulnerability. The IPCC 

offers the summary of vulnerabilities of key sectors in the South Asian region 

which indicates both the degree of vulnerability and the level of confidence 

(Table 1). South Asia is highly vulnerable in all seven sub-sectors, including 

food security, land degradation and human health which translate into 

reduced human well-being and poverty traps. Climate changes will increase 

risks of disasters by altering patterns, frequency and intensity of hazards and 

will also impact on the conditions of vulnerability by affecting health, food 

security, infrastructure and land (Dissanaike, 2008). 

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Therefore, apart from scientific knowledge on patterns of climate determinants 

of natural hazards, assessments of impacts in different hazard scenarios 

of future, there is also a need to identify governance drivers that can facilitate 

reduction of social vulnerabilities. 

Table 1. Summary of vulnerabilities of key sectors in the South Asian region 

Food 

Biodiversity 

Water 

Coastal 

Human 

Settlements 

Land 

and 

Resources 

Ecosystem 

Health 

Degradation 

fibre 

-2/H -2/H -2/H -2/H -2/M -1/M -2/H 

Vulnerability 

Level of Confidence 

-2 High vulnerable VH Very High 

-1 Moderately vulnerable H High 

0 Slightly/ not vulnerable M Medium 

+1 Moderately resilient L Low 

+2 Most resilient VL Very Low 

Source: Dissanaike, 2008 

The region has been witnessing natural calamities. Figure 1 illustrates the 

recent disasters which have occurred in the region. Climate change is likely 

to influence the type, magnitude and frequency of the hazards. 

The following past events demonstrate that the region is already vulnerable 

to risks of disasters from natural hazards. 

1. Flash floods across Afghanistan 

Eastern Afghanistan frequently experiences grievous flooding in Monsoon 

season. Eastern and south eastern mountainous range of Afghanistan is the 

main areas affected by the flooding. Heavy rainfall has caused a series of 

flash floods across these regions. Kishindih, Sholgara and NahriShai districts 

of Balkh province were seriously affected by the flash flood on 16 April 2013, 

which led to vanishing of almost 1200 homes and claimed 17 lives in an 

initial assessment. In the rural Surobi District 61 people were killed, and 

around 500 mudbrick homes were washed away across more than a dozen 

villages. In the provinces of Khost and Nangarhar, flooding destroyed 50 

houses, thousands of acres of farm land and 

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Tclaimed 24 deaths were reported. In the province of Nuristan at least 60 

homes were destroyed across three districts. On 10 August, at least 22 more 

people killed in the flash flood near Kabul. 

2.Disasters in India 

Natural disasters in India have caused immense damage to life and property. 

Droughts, flash floods, cyclones, avalanches, landslides, and snowstorms 

pose the greatest threats. Flood are the most common natural disaster in 

India during monsoon season and almost every year claims thousands of life, 

economic losses and post flood epidemics and creates issues of relief and 

rehabilitation. It has become a yearly ritual that rivers like the Brahmaputra 

and its tributaries in Assam and Kosi in Bihar often change their course and 

distend their banks during the heavy southwest monsoon and lead to 

inundation of villages and towns. 

From 14th to 17th June 2013 the Indian state of Uttarakhand and adjoining 

areas received very heavy rainfall which was about 375% above normal 

average rainfall during this period. This led to high volume of ice melt in 

Chorabari Glacier and combined with the outburst of snow fed lake 

contributed to high discharge in the Mandakini River and ultimately heavy 

floods in Kedar Shrine, Gobindghat, Rudraprayag district till Haridwar. 

Other parts of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and western Nepal and 

nearby regions received heavy rainfall at the same time. 

The heavy rainfall resulted in intensive flash flood and massive landslides. 

Entire villages and settlements had been wiped out. The month of June is 

favorable for the Char dhamYatra which includes Gangotri, Yamunotri, 

Kedarnath and Badrinath. At the time of this heavy rainfall event more than 

70000 estimated devotees were stuck en-route in various regions because of 

damaged roads and massive traffic jam. Indian Army was called for a rescue 

operation but the bad weather and narrow valley made the rescue operation 

tough. About 556 bodies were found out of which 166 were in highly 

decomposed state during 4th round of search operation. Even the bodies of 

people washed away in this flood were recovered from distant places 

downstream in Bijnor, Allahabad and Bulandshaher 

3.Flood in Pakistan 

The National Disaster Management Authority in Pakistan declared flood of 

2010 as the worst natural disaster in the country's history. About one-fifth of 

Pakistan's total land area was inundated; over 20 million were affected mostly 

by destruction of property, agriculture, livelihood and other infrastructures and 

the death toll was close to 2000. The reason of flood was unprecedented 

monsoon rain leading to flooding of the Indus River, starting in Khyber 

Pakhtunkhwa, spreading South through Punjab, Baluchistan and Sindh. 

{4}

4.Bangladesh Flash Floods 

Flash flood and associated landslide are major disasters in the hilly regions of 

Bangladesh, occurring almost every year. Devastating and extended flash 

flood is a recurrent phenomenon for the north-east region of Bangladesh. 

The extreme flashy character of the rivers and sudden excessive rainfall in 

the region causes frequent flash floods in the north eastern Haor areas. In this 

area, flash flood comes from the very steep uplands adjacent to the region in 

Assam and Meghalaya hill range in India causing immense damage to the 

standing crops, human lives and properties every year. The annual rainfall 

ranges from 2,200 mm along the western boundary to 5,800 mm in the 

north-east corner and even higher in different catchments due to monsoon 

depression. 

Discharge of 3 major basins- Brahmaputra, Ganges and Meghna passes 

through the country. Due to the increasing intensity of rainfall within shorter 

periodsof time the river channels cannot manage the flow of this deluge 

amount of water to Bay of Bengal resulting in sudden flood and associated 

landslide. This floodwater also carries huge amount of sediment originated 

mainly from hill and in due course has deposited on the rivers and canals bed 

and has reduced the discharge capacity of more or less all of the water 

resources system within the Haor area. Apart from physiology, hydrology and 

climatology, the changes in the geomorphology in relation to land use changes 

as well as deforestation, hill cutting and unplanned infrastructural development 

have been influencing flash flood and landslide disaster. 

Vulnerability To Disasters: The Indian context 

India has witnessed huge disasters in the recent past such as flash floods in 

Leh (2010), heavy rainfall in Uttarakhand (2013), drought in Maharashtra 

(2012) and cyclone Aila (2009). The magnitude the impact of the disasters 

can be reflected by the extent of loss and damage which can be induced by 

weather extremes. Moreover, the topography and socio-economic conditions 

of India makes it more vulnerable to various disasters including floods and 

droughts. The vulnerability of India to disasters is evident by the fact that over 

40 million hectares of land area of the country (12% of total land area) is 

prone to floods and river erosion, 68% of the cultivable area is vulnerable to 

drought and about 75% of the coastline is prone to cyclones and tsunamis 

(GoI, 2011) . 

Extreme weather events already appear to affect the Ganges basin more 

frequently and create flooding (Goswami et al., 2006) though indications of 

change in the frequency of droughts are ambiguous (Burke and Brown, 2008). 

It is still uncertain how more local and seasonal shifts will impact livelihoods 

in the mountains and flood plains e.g. water shortage during sowing time. 

Particularly over India, significant warming trend have been observed in the 

past 100 years (Hingane et al., 1985, Kothawale et al. 2010). Various research 

papers and government reports (MoEF, 2010) have indicated an accelerated 

{5}

warming trend in the recent 30 years over most parts of India and although 

theprofile of rainfall have been trendless on India wide scale, several regional 

trends have been reported (Parthasarthy, 1994). Along with an overall increase 

in extreme rainfall events and their intensities in the past 100 year period 

(Sen Roy and Balling, 2004), recent years have also seen an increase of 

frequency and intensity of heavy rainfall events and a decline of low rainfall 

events (Goswami et al., 2006). Hence, there is ample scientific evidence of 

climate change and growing extremes particularly over India. 

India has been experiencing climate variability as evident from the changes 

in climate parameters. The mean annual temperature of India has increased 

at the rate of 0.5°C per 100 year in the last century (1901-2007) with intense 

warming in the last decade (1998-2007). An increasing trend has also been 

observed in the occurrence of extreme events. Data for highest 1-day rainfall 

from the stations across the country for the past 50 years (1951-2007) shows 

that extreme rainfall amounts are increasing at many places. The intensity of 

such events seems to be increasing 1980 onwards. These figures indicate the 

past trends in climate parameters which have implications for natural 

resources and livelihoods3. 

Such trends are likely to continue in the future as well. Although the 

projections for 2030s indicate an increase in overall precipitation by 3 to 7% 

as compared to 1970s but it is the seasonal reduction in rainfall in winter and 

pre-monsoon rainfall which might lead to impacts on some sectors such as 

crop production. Moreover, a reduction in monsoon rainfall is likely in many 

parts of the country which will have major impacts on food security. 

The annual mean air surface temperature is also projected to rise by 1.7 to 

2°C by 2030s. In terms of extreme rainfall events, simulations indicate a 

reduction in the frequency of rainy days for 2030s in many parts of the country 

On the other hand, some of the simulations show an increase in the intensity 

of rainfall events. The model simulations also indicate an intensification of daily 

temperature extremes of the 2030s3. 

3.INCCA: Indian Network for Climate Change Assessment, November 2010, 

MoEF, GOI 

Climate induced factors although act as drivers for disasters but when 

combined with other physical and socio-economic factors can cause substantial 

damage. Climate change is linked to disasters both in terms of causing an 

increase in weather and climate hazards as well as inducing increases in 

vulnerabilities of the communities to these hazards. As seen from above, 

there has been a long history of natural disasters which have occurred in 

India. In the past few years, there has been an increase in losses due to 

disasters from 54 thousand crore rupees (1996-2000) to 86 thousand crore 

rupees (2001-2005)1. More extreme weather events in future are likely to 

ncrease the scale of disasters. 

{6}

Preparing for Disasters: The emerging challenge 

A changing climate not only leads to changes in type, magnitude and frequency 

of extreme climate events (IPCC, 2012) but also makes it challenging to predict 

such events owing to inherent complexity and uncertainty of the climatic system. 

Furthermore, the degrees of impacts of such events also depend on unique 

vulnerabilities and adaptive capacities of varying localities, communities and 

sectors. In the midst of on-going ecosystem changes due to human pressures 

on the services provided by varied ecosystems and future uncertainty, there 

are always scope of surprises-i.e. events outside human expectations and also 

situations where well-intentioned strategies may become maladaptive. 

Thus there is a need for iteration between research, policy making and 

implementation so that there is a continuous learning process to manage 

uncertainty. 

There is an urgent need for integrating planning for climate change adaptation 

(CCA) with disaster risk reduction (DRR) so that there is no duplication of 

efforts, better management of funds and lessons for long term strategies. 

Though there are commitments for finding convergence in international and 

regional policy processes, there are challenges for convergence in practice in 

India. The climate change response planning in the country does not show 

much indication towards such convergence while the de novo institutions of 

disaster management are in a process of finding their fit among existing 

framework for relief and rehabilitation (Varma et al., forthcoming). 

The ongoing process of climate policy and disaster management planning in 

India takes cognizance of the risk of alterations in magnitude and frequency 

of natural hazards in the future and creates scope for capacity building through 

generation and dissemination of scientific information. But this at best, 

addresses the design part of adaptation planning, uncertainties for 

implementation and ensuring desired outcomes remain. Although, processes 

for consultations during policy design or training programs for informed 

decision making exists, they have paid little focus on the dimension of 

communication. Current practices of science-policy communication are 

more expert driven and fail to create space for knowledge 

sharing among communities, development practitioners and institutions of 

lower levels of governance and thus miss out on the root causes of 

vulnerability and elements of adaptive capacity in different contexts. 

There is a need to make long term adaptation planning more grounded 

in order to avoid unanticipated outcomes after implementation 

(APN-TERI, 2014). There is a need to look towards adaptive governance 

approach which seeks to learn from diverse knowledge systems and 

experience, facilitate networking among stakeholders for learning and 

innovation, and leadership to navigate through change. It has the potential 

of guiding planning processes which can produce strategies which are not 

only outcome oriented but also socially acceptable. 

{7}

However, the capacity to opertionalize such a governance approach seems to 

be questionable not only in India but the entire South Asia region 

(Sud et al., forthcoming). 

Current Institutional Set-up in India related to Climate Change and 

Disaster Management 

Since there are substantial risks being posed by climate change, so there is a 

need to address climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction 

efficiently in our policy and planning process. In order to manage and cope 

with the impacts of disasters in India, there is the Disaster Management 

Act of 2005. The Act provides mechanisms for effective management of 

disasters as well as institutional mechanisms for monitoring the implementation 

of disaster management at National, state and district level. It provides for 

the setting up of institutions such as National Disaster Management authority 

NDMA), State Disaster Management authority (SDMA) at state level and 

District Disaster Management authority (DDMA) at district level for better 

management of disasters. It also provides mechanisms for formation of 

National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) for capacity building and 

the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to respond to natural disasters 

which function under the Ministry of Home Affairs. In addition to this, there is 

also the National Crisis Management Committee which functions at the Centre. 

The National Policy on Disaster Management (NPDM) has also been 

formulated and approved by the central government in 2009. 

The policy covers different aspects of disaster management including 

institutional and financial arrangements and mitigation and preparedness. 

It focuses on the areas where action is needed and the institutional 

mechanism to channelize the actions1. In recent years the government's 

framework to address disasters has changed from being relief- centered 

to a more holistic approach involving several aspects of disaster management 

including prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, relief and rehabilitation. 

Additionally, multilateral agencies also contribute in efforts towards disaster 

management which also include community based disaster risk management 

initiatives 

{8}

Figure 2: Legal Institutional Framework of Disaster management in India under 

the Disaster Management Act of 2005. Source: Ministry of Home Affairs, GoI 

Apart from the institutional mechanisms in place to address disasters, India 

has taken a number of initiatives to respond to the challenges of climate 

change. In 2008, a committee chaired by the Prime Minister called Prime 

Minister's Council on Climate Change was formulated to coordinate national 

action for assessment, adaptation and mitigation of climate change. In the 

same year, India released its National Action Plan on Climate Change 

(NAPCC). Under the NAPCC, there are eight missions to address focal 

areas such as water, agriculture and sustainable habitat. As part of this plan, 

each of the states are mandated to develop their respective State Action 

Plan on Climate Change (SAPCCs) to deal with specific challenges at the 

local level in each of the states. At the state level, the Government of India 

has also allocated funds for strengthening disaster management institutions, 

capacity building and response mechanisms5. 

State Level Programmes for strengthening disaster management in India, 

Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India 

Although there are policies and institutional mechanisms existing to deal with 

the impacts of extreme weather events and disasters still there are gaps which 

exist in the current regime and there is a need for enhanced efforts of private 

sector. 

References 

1. Goswami, B. N., Venugopal, V., Sengupta, D., Madhusoodanan, M. S. and 

Xavier Prince, K., (2006), Increasing trend of extreme rainevents over India in 

a warming environment. Science, 314, 1442–1445. 

2. Hingane, L. S., Rupa Kumar, K. and Ramana Murthy, Bh. V., (1985) Long-term 

trends of surface air temperature in India. J. Climatol., 5, 521–528. 

3. INCCA: Indian Network for Climate Change Assessment, November 2010, 

MoEF, GOI 

4. IPCC, 2007. Climate Change, 2007: The Physical Science Basis. 

Inter-governmental Panel for Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, 

Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK. 

5.IPCC, 2012: Summary for Policymakers. In: Managing the Risks of Extreme 

Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation [Field, C.B., V. 

Barros, T.F. Stocker, D. Qin, D.J. Dokken, K.L. Ebi, M.D. Mastrandrea, K.J. Mach, 

G.-K. Plattner, S.K. Allen, M. Tignor, and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. A Special Report 

of Working Groups I and II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 

Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, and New York, NY, USA, pp. 1-19 

6.Kothawale, D.R., Munot, A.A., Krishna Kumar, K. (2010). Surface Air 

Temperature Variability over India during 1901-2007, and its Association with 

ENSO. Climate Research, No. 42, June 2010, 89- 104, doi: 10.3354/cr00857 

{9}

7. MoEF (2010). Climate Change and India: A 4x4 Assessment. Indian Network 

for Climate Change Assessment Report 2. Ministry of Environment & Forests, 

Government of India. 

8. Parthasarathy, B., Munot, A. A. and Kothawale, D. R., (1994), All India monthly 

and seasonal rainfall series 1871–1993.Theor. Appl. Climatol., 49, 217–224 

9.State Level Programmes for strengthening disaster management in India, 

Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India 

10. Sud, R., Mishra, A, A., Varma, N and Bhadwal, S. Adaptation policy and 

practice in densely populated glacier-fed river basins of South Asia: a systematic 

review. Journal of Regional Environmental Change (forthcoming) 

11. Varma, N., Kelkar, U., Bhardwaj, S., Singh, P. and Mishra, A.2014. Climate, 

Disasters and Development-Testing the waters for adaptive governance in India. 

Vision-Journal of Business Perspective. Special issue on governance and public 

policy (forthcoming) 

12. Private Sector Activities in Disaster Risk Reduction 

(UNISDR), http://www.unisdr.org/2006/ppew/PPP-bestpractices.pdf 

13. ONGC HSE Initiatives, Fpr more details see: 

http://www.ongcindia.com/wps/wcm/connect/ongcindia/Home/Initiatives/HSE/ 

14. World Bank. For details see: 

(http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/ 

EXTURBANDEVELOPMENT/EXTDISMGMT/0,,contentMDK:20296273~ 

menuPK:1242068~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:341015,00.html) 

{10}

Climate change, Extreme Events and Infrastructure Safety in South Asia 

Abstract 

Dr. Anil Kumar Gupta 

Head, Division of Policy Planning, 

Coordinator of Technical Advisory, 

National Institute of Disaster Management, New Delhi 110002 India 

Email: envirosafe2007@gmail.com 

South Asia is undergoing a transform in infrastructure advances, in public, 

private or industrial settings. However, impact of climate change on disasters 

and extreme events as witnessed by the events in recent past, affected severely 

a range of infrastructure resulting into economic losses and social challenges. 

Large portions comprising mountains, coastal and other fragile or sensitive 

ecologies in the region intensify damage risks. Trend in urbanization, city 

development and industrial-commercial advances and their increasing 

vulnerability to extreme events call for special attention. Water and climate 

related disasters, like floods, cyclones, droughts, other extremes like hailstorm, 

heat wave, cold wave, etc. and their impacts on infrastructure safety and 

functioning have devastating implication for economic, social and environmental 

sustainability. The integrated risk management approach for climate resilient 

and disaster safer infrastructure involves structural and non-structural 

interventions. This will include improving EIA and natural hazard risk 

assessment process, landscape and land-use concerns, understanding interrelated 

vulnerability of infrastructure systems, setting and maintaining structural 

and design standards, sharing of data and knowledge for capacity building and 

planning decisions. 

1. CLIMATE CHANGE AND EXTREME EVENT DISASTERS IN SOUTH ASIA 

South Asia occupies about 5 per cent of the world's land mass, but is home to 

about 20 per cent of the world's population. Population is expected to rise to 

about 25 per cent by 2025 (UNEP, 2009). By 2050, region's population is likely to 

exceed from the current level of 1.5 billion to 2.2 billion. South Asia is the most 

densely populated, and also the most disaster prone geographical region in the 

world. 

The Asia/Pacific region accounted for 91% of the world's total death and 49% of 

the world's total damage due to natural disasters in the last century. The 

frequency of weather-related disasters and the damage they cause are both on 

the rise. Since 1980, available data indicates weather-related disasters have 

increased by 233 per cent (CRED, 2012). Extreme weather events like heavy 

rainfall resulting into floods, wind – cyclone and storms, drought, and events of 

heat wave, cold wave, thunders, etc. damage infrastructure depending upon 

extent and intensity. Since the decades of the 1950's, the annual direct losses 

from natural catastrophes have increased from $3.9 billion to $40 billion a year 

by the 1990's (IPCC 2001). Of this annual total of $40 billion, approximately $9.6 

{11}

illion of direct damage occurred to infrastructure. It is, therefore, important to 

incorporate planning for the uncertainties of weather-related events into 

infrastructure management, at the country and the local level. Rising 

temperature of globe is causing extreme weather events resulting in various 

disasters. Climate change is expected to act as a 'risk multiplier', interacting with 

other trends. 

South Asia recorded 128 natural disaster events between 2006 and 2008, 93% 

of which were of hydro-meteorological origin including 86 incidences of flooding 

were reported. India had by far the highest number of disaster events, but 

flooding in Bangladesh claimed most lives. In fact, South Asia is the most 

exposed region in the world to flooding and highly exposed to cyclones. Of the 

world's total population exposed to floods each year, 64 percent of them are in 

this region. Furthermore, within the developing world, it is the second most 

exposed region to cyclones (The World Bank, 2012). These extreme event 

disasters pose growing risks to development. 

2. INFRASTRUCTURE GROWTH – NEED OF SAFETY AND RESILIENCE 

South Asia is facing serious brunt of climate change in form of hydrometeorological 

extreme event leading to disasters, along growing complexities 

of livelihood, food and health related challenges, migration and, thus, place 

major obstacles on the road to environmentally sustainable and inclusive 

growth. Infrastructure systems and resources, especially of critical amenities 

and supplies, seek special attention for their sustainability and safety in the wake 

of disaster risk reduction. Thus, infrastructure resilience is expected to be a 

central agenda of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in 

developing countries, especially in South Asia. 

The term "infrastructure" usually refers to physical assets in a wider range, 

including housing, communications, emergency services, energy, 

manufacturing, food, health, education, civil protection, transport, water, waste 

or sewage management. Buildings, from private households to schools or 

industrial installations, are the most common type of infrastructure and the basis 

for human settlement. In addition, network infrastructure is crucial for the 

functioning of today's economy and society, notably infrastructure for energy 

(e.g. grids, power stations, pipelines), transport (fixed assets such as roads, 

railways or airports), ICT (e.g. data cables) and water (e.g. water supply 

pipelines, reservoirs, waste water treatment facilities). According to the report 

“Reducing Poverty by Closing South Asia's Infrastructure Gap” (Andres et al 

2013), South Asian countries will have to invest as much as $2.5 trillion on 

transport, electricity, water supply and sanitation, solid waste management, 

telecommunications, and irrigation to bridge its infrastructure gap. 

Cities are especially prone to impacts of extreme weather events, due to the 

concentration of population, physical assets, and socio-economic activities. 

Cities play an essential role in providing infrastructure to citizens. Many climate 

impacts are accelerated or accentuated in built up areas which can create 

unique microclimates in terms of temperatures, wind and precipitation (e.g. 

urban heat island effect). Urban sprawl and an unbroken trend to soil sealing can 

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have additional negative externalities, for instance a lack of flood areas (EC 

2013). The functioning of infrastructure in mountainous areas can be 

increasingly threatened by an increased frequency and intensity of natural 

hazards (such as landslides, rock falls or floods). Apart from the physical 

destruction of (or damage to) infrastructure in risk zones, in particular water 

cycles are expected to change significantly (e.g. increasing/decreasing water 

availability for hydropower generators, depending on local and regional 

conditions). 

When infrastructure fails during a natural disaster, it can interrupt vital services, 

magnifying the need for well-functioning systems beforehand (Chang, 2009). 

For example, power failures may disrupt water supply and transport during 

cyclone. Damaged roads can hamper the swift transport of people to safer 

areas, provision of life-saving medicines and supplies to hospitals, and timely 

distribution of emergency relief (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 

IPCC, 2012). Making infrastructure resilient to natural disasters is a daunting 

challenge, not least because of the vast area of coverage that includes transport, 

electricity, water supply and sanitation, and buildings and other structures. 

Resilience refers to a system's ability to anticipate, absorb, and recover from a 

hazardous event in a timely and efficient manner (IPCC, 2012). 

A series of urban flooding incidences like Mumbai flood of 2005 and following 

episodes in Surat, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Islamabad, Dhaka, Bangalore, 

Ahmadabad, Delhi, and many more locations in South Asia, affected public and 

private infrastructure especially housing, transport, communication, health and 

businesses including industry and manufacturing, to varying intensity. Recent 

floods in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014 have caused an immediate loss between 

Rupees 54 to 57 billion, well exceeding 10 % of the state's GDP with heavy 

damages to trade, hotels, restaurants, horticulture and handicraft besides 

throwing completely out of gear basic infrastructure of power, railways and 

communication, initial estimates (by ASSOCHAM). Super cyclone of 1999 is 

known to have dismantled all long gains of infrastructure development besides 

causing huge loss of lives. Though the loss of human lives have been greatly 

averted in the recent cyclones Phaillin and Hudhud, devastations to livelihood 

and other aspects of development has been enormous and difficult to document. 

Impact on all types and levels of infrastructure systems has been so diverse on 

size, extent and temporal scales to make their delineation much complex. The 

cases of Uttarakhand flood of 2013 and Kashmir flood 2014 have witnessed 

diverse and severe disruption of critical infrastructure systems including 

transport, communication, hospitals, bridges, etc. and jeopardized the society 

and economy of the region. 

3. REDUCING INFRASTRUCTURE VULNERABILITY TO CLIMATIC HAZARDS 

The discourse on resilience is increasingly framing thinking about sustainable 

futures in the context of natural disasters and climate change. The issue has 

developed as a fusion of ideas from several bodies of literature - engineering, 

ecosystem stability, behavioral sciences, disaster risk reduction, vulnerabilities 

to hazards, and urban and regional development. Consequently, resilience 

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spans a spectrum of disciplines and goes beyond the emphasis of conventional 

engineering systems on the capacity to control and absorb external shocks. 

Across the region, over 70% of its 1.5 billion people live in poverty, the vast 

majority in rural, agricultural areas. South Asia also has the biggest urban 

slum population in the world, many of which are regularly exposed to natural 

disasters. Both urban and rural poor are exposed to a multitude of disasters. 

Development or mal-development has resulted in greater exposure of the 

populations to hazards instead of improving community level resilience. South 

Asia's much celebrated economic growth rates have not prevented the 

accumulation of disaster risks. This multi-layer vulnerability calls for safer and 

resilient infrastructure growth in urban, rural and industrial settings in the 

countries of South Asia and, therefore, shall require an integrated approach 

incorporating structural and technology centric measures and non-structural 

interventions like risk sensitive land-use and landscape based planning, 

climate hazard knowledge integration into investment decisions, ecosystem 

based and natural infrastructure sustainability, risk communication and 

capacity building. 

Over the past 40 years, the total infrastructure spending in the region has 

increased exponentially, with gross fixed capital formation being approximately 

50 times greater in 2010 than it was in 1970. As a result, cities today have 

highly concentrated and highly valued productive assets exposed, along with 

significant amounts of public and private infrastructure that are not resilient to 

hazard events despite increased levels of development (The World Bank, 

2012). Infrastructure encompasses an increasingly interconnected network of 

high-value assets with long operational lifetimes. Existing stock of bridges, 

roads and power stations is already vulnerable to today's extreme weather. 

Climate change impacts are known to further increase these vulnerabilities, by 

affecting supply, access to resources, operations, patterns of demand and 

socio-economic and ecological sustainability. Key challenges in promoting 

climate resilient and disaster safe infrastructure has been outlines as following 

(DEFRA, 2011). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Facilitation of adaptive infrastructure by the Governments 

Climate change adaptation and infrastructure resilience integration to (a) 

economic regulatory models and (b) planning system for nationally 

significant infrastructure. 

To reduce the risk that climate change impacts present to infrastructure 

interdependencies, increasing the vulnerability of infrastructure sectors, 

To increase the adaptive capacity in infrastructure companies and others 

(e.g. investors) to enable robust and cost effective climate change 

adaptation decisions, 

Access by industry to specific climate information and research through 

better information sharing, disclosure of risk and evidence, 

Monitoring of progress in adapting national infrastructure to climate change, 

and 

To realise on potential economic opportunities that adapting national 

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infrastructure to climate change presents. 

However, governments in isolation can neither aim nor achieve the complex 

and tedious objectives of achieving disaster safety and climate resilience in 

infrastructure. Action by investors, owners and operators, and the engineering 

and construction sectors is essential in implementing mitigation of climatic and 

disaster risk to infrastructure. Potential actions may include the following: 

 

 

 

Infrastructure owners to consider climate resilience of their existing 

infrastructure assets and adjusting maintenance regimes. 

Investors to consider (i) impacts of climate change in the design, building 

and operation of all new infrastructure assets, and (ii) include climate 

change impacts as part of 'due diligence' as a way of reducing exposure to 

climate risk to new infrastructure assets, and 

Regulators to treat disaster safety and long-term climate resilience of 

infrastructures and systems consistently across the different economic 

regulatory frameworks, i.e. balancing risk exposure, structural safety, 

redundancy, disaster resilience and long-term sustainability against narrow 

concerns of efficiency. 

In the modern times aiming at efficient and networked infrastructure, there are 

strong interdependencies within and between different infrastructures, for 

example, in the energy, ICT, transport and water sectors. Each sector depends 

on the other sectors' resilience and it is essential that these interdependencies 

are both understood and managed to improve the resilience of infrastructure. 

The critical aspects of water infrastructure system resiliency planning need to 

take into account the hazardous conditions by anticipating the impacts and 

subsequently taking necessary measures to minimize consequences, and also 

prevent the disruption of other infrastructure systems (e.g., electrical 

infrastructure) by understanding and dealing with the critical interdependencies. 

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3.1 Structural safety in design and development 

Structural measures may include, for example, flood control systems, protective 

embankments, seawall rehabilitation, and retrofitting of buildings. Public 

infrastructure, such as schools, roads, and hospitals, is often built according to 

standard design templates (ADB, 2013). These can be adjusted to reflect sitespecific 

considerations, including the local hazard environment, to increase their 

resilience to disasters. Post-disaster construction can also consider upgrading 

the infrastructure rather than merely restoring it to pre-disaster levels 

(Independent Evaluation Department, IED, 2006). Following are some examples 

of structural interventions in housing, roads, energy and water-sanitation sectors 

for their resilience against risk of extreme event disasters in South Asia. 

Housing: Shelters built using disaster-resistant construction techniques are not 

only safer, but they also provide decision-makers with an option for future 

construction choices. Temporary shelters built to standards to withstand extreme 

events, could later be used as housing for the poor. In flood-prone areas, raising 

houses above flood levels—by putting a blend of modern technology and 

traditional knowhow at local level can save such structures. 

Roads: Measures to reduce the risk to roads of erosion from extreme waves may 

include constructing earth levee banks with rip-rap protection and installing 

larger drains and additional culverts to accommodate heavier runoff (ADB, 

2010). 

Energy: Engineering measures to improve resilience may include more robust 

designs, safe temperature and humidity limits for power generation plants and 

their components, higher wind and seismic stresses, multiple transmission 

routes, and system improvements to improve supply-side efficiency. Retrofitting 

high-risk power infrastructure for protecting against storms, flooding, and 

increased temperature and salinity may be undertaken (ADB 2012). 

Water Supply and Sanitation: Access to hygienic water and sanitation facilities is 

vital for communities to cope with disasters. Providing elevated tube-wells and 

flood-proof latrines has ensured year-round safe water and hygienic sanitation in 

the flood-prone (Department for International Development, 2010). Where 

impounding reservoirs exist, increasing the size of the impounding reservoir or 

relocating the water intake point further upstream may be measures to boost the 

resilience of the water-supply system (ADB 2011). 

The challenge is to build new ones and rebuild stronger by retrofitting existing 

structures to better withstand natural hazards. Moreover, facilities that are 

essential for an effective disaster response need to be connected with failsafe 

networks. Hospitals, for example, must be sited and built for disaster-resilience, 

assured of uninterrupted power supply, have a network of secure access routes, 

and safe water and sanitation. 

For enabling an environment of structural safety, appropriate building and design 

codes, material safety guides and relevant technological knowhow are crucial. 

Industrial infrastructure resilience to climate change and safety against extreme 

disasters need to begin with multilayer assessment of risk composed with those 

of technological failures, human or operational errors, safety system reliability 

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and the interface with natural hazard risks. 

However, it is equally important to apply structural and engineering means to 

prevent or control hazard events from becoming a disaster, for example, dams, 

embankments or levees to prevent to reduce flooding downstream. Coastal sea 

walls and dykes are coastal protection examples. Other types of structural 

interventions will include engineering and construction measures of stabilizing 

vulnerable land and slopes, riverbanks, and protecting ecosystems and services 

of reducing disaster risks. 

3.2 Non-structural measures of infrastructure safety and resilience 

Investments in resilience will be far-reaching if they are integrated into 

development through policies, strategies, plans, and ground level 

implementation programs. Although certain recurrent disasters are foreseeable 

for many countries, their risks are not always considered in making operational 

strategies and action programs. Disaster risk assessment and hazard mapping 

provide an initial step to informing investment decisions. Risk reduction, in 

addition, must have a central role in the sustainable development strategy of 

disaster-prone countries (IEG, 2011). Investing in natural solutions to protect 

infrastructure has a large potential (EC, 2013). The location of an infrastructure, 

together with the adaptive capacity of local businesses, governments and 

communities, usually determines an asset's climate sensitivity and vulnerability 

(EC, 2013). Some key aspects of non-structural measures are following: 

Enabling institutional frameworks and sustained commitment: Institutional 

frameworks - policy, legal, and regulatory and sustained commitment are 

essential to ensure direction, coordination, and accountability in resilience 

efforts, and must translate into actual resource allocations. Governments in the 

region have revised disaster management related policies and adopted 

institutional and legal framework for disaster risk management. Effective action 

requires strong partnerships among governments, development partners, the 

private sector, civil society, and local communities. Demands for greater 

resilience are reinforced when coalitions of academic institutions, scientific 

bodies, the media, and advocacy organizations push strongly for it. The 

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and the Strategic Environmental 

Assessment (SEA) can be appropriate instruments to mainstream adaptation, 

helping to improve the climate resilience of infrastructure. 

Ecosystem-based disaster risk management complements engineering 

measures: Healthy ecosystems provide natural barriers and buffers against 

many hazards. Mangroves, for example, dissipate the energy and size of waves 

during storms, reducing loss of life and property. It has been past experience with 

cyclone disasters that mangrove-buffered areas remained relatively unharmed, 

while the investment to rehabilitate and protect mangroves has saved big 

expenses in sea-dyke maintenance (Reid, 2011). Re-vegetation and 

reforestation of unstable slopes has helped reduce soil erosion and contributed 

to road stability (ADB, 2010). Wetland restoration program are known to 

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econnect lakes to the river and rehabilitated wetlands to store floodwaters, 

boosting flood prevention (UNISDR, 2012). 

Maintenance: Governments in developing countries tend to borrow to rebuild 

but, quite often, make inadequate provision for maintenance, which is essential 

for long-term sustainability. Budget constraints and a lack of “maintenance 

culture” within institutions partly explain this (IED, 1997). The adequate 

maintenance and sound asset management to reduce risks from subsequent 

disasters should complement facility restoration (IED, 1996). Levels of past 

maintenance, the state of repair of facilities, and vulnerability to disasters are all 

linked (IED, 2007). Adequate maintenance is also crucial for schools and other 

community facilities that double as evacuation centers during disasters. 

Maintenance funding for infrastructure could be increased by raising budget 

appropriations for this purpose, by setting aside a portion of development partner 

support for subsequent maintenance purposes or, where appropriate, by 

drawing on user fees, tariffs, and other mechanisms (ADB, 2013). 

Financial measures of resilience and safety: Financing the adaptation of 

existing and the climate-resilient construction of new infrastructure is a major 

challenge. The infrastructure investment gap can be bridged by integrating the 

efforts of both the public and the private sector, including institutional investors. 

Public-private partnership structures (PPP) are emerging as popular models for 

funding infrastructure investment. Companies are increasingly expected to 

ensure the resilience of physical assets, and for planning the responses to 

maintain business as usual. Insurance plays a central role in handling climate 

risks related to infrastructure and physical assets. Countries in South Asia, 

however, have generally lagged behind other regions in disaster risk financing 

and in developing regulatory support to enable stable and solvent risk transfer 

markets to serve governments, businesses, and homeowners. 

Regional and International Cooperation: Many of the weather related 

disasters, for example, floods in Nepal, India, Pakistan or Bangladesh, have 

trans-boundary implications as such episodes in the past involved more than one 

country in terms of extent of effect or causes, mitigation or preparedness. 

Lessons learned and case studies of successful interventions and/or failures can 

serve as examples for other countries of the region due to sharing common 

geography, ecological and atmospheric settings besides sharing common 

regional economy. In order to improve risk communication and vulnerability 

assessment of infrastructure and other assets to various disasters, sharing of 

knowledge and information including expertise in the countries is a basic need of 

cooperation in area of disaster management and sustainable development. 

International cooperation with inter-governmental, multi-lateral and bilateral 

agencies, can work with national institutions to help improve hazard-risk 

vulnerability assessment at regional level, besides evolving cooperation not only 

in response and relief but more intensely and effectively in risk reduction and 

installing safety against disaster risks of extreme weather events. A regional 

catastrophe risk insurance facility can provide short-term liquidity to 

governments to better respond to emergency needs arising from extreme event 

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4.EPILOGUE 

Making infrastructure resilient calls for engineering and non-engineering 

measures that take into account the links between built and natural environments 

and among institutional frameworks. Careful consideration of development 

goals, prevailing situations, resources, and opportunities is needed to push the 

resilience agenda forward. Given the multifaceted dimensions of resilience, 

coordinated action from various sectors and stakeholders is imperative for 

achieving a safer future. Over the past 40 years, the total infrastructure spending 

in South Asia region has increased exponentially, with gross fixed capital 

formation being approximately 50 times greater in 2010 than it was in 1970 (The 

World Bank, 2012). South Asia is a region where most countries have already 

spelt out their adaptation needs and their capacity to absorb technology to 

support these, besides installing a legal and institutional setup for disaster 

management and risk reduction. 

Many countries in the region are also taking a serious view of reducing disaster 

risk and some countries including Bangladesh, India and the Maldives have 

assigned the subject to important frontline ministries. Countries, for example 

India, have recently worked out a disaster mitigation fund, besides the national 

and state level disaster response funds. Careful consideration of development 

goals, prevailing situations, resources, and opportunities is needed to push the 

resilience agenda forward. Given the multifaceted dimensions of resilience, 

coordinated action from various sectors and stakeholders is imperative for 

achieving a safer future (ADB, 2013). 

Infrastructure safety has to be envisaged by triple protection, i.e., (i) reducing the 

risk of hazard events, (ii) reducing susceptibility of physical infrastructure, and (iii) 

avoiding risk of damage by inherent safety in design, material and process with 

system's resilience, under the overall framework of inter-dependencies. Thus, 

limiting exposure and risk by effective land-use will also consider landscape 

ecology, structural measures of mitigation, safety systems and adequate 

implementation of suitable regulations, codes or guidelines, auditing, and 

enhanced capacity building to enable necessary and timely actions. Climate 

knowledge and awareness builds fundamental to stakeholder's and investor's 

willingness to participate in the process, and therefore, cooperation with 

international, national and local actors, agencies would be critically important. 

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4.Rererences 

1. Andres. L., D. Biller and M.H. Dappe (2013). Reducing Poverty by Closing 

South Asia's Infrastructure Gap. The World Bank and Australian Aid. 

2. Asian Development Bank (2010). Climate-Proofing Timor-Leste's Roads. 

The Knowledge Showcases. Manila: ADB. 

3. Asian Development Bank (2011). Adapting to Climate Change: Strengthening 

the Climate Resilience of the Water Sector Infrastructure in Khulna, 

Bangladesh. ADB, Manila. 

4. Asian Development Bank (2012). Climate Risk and Adaptation in the Power 

Sector. ADB, Manila. 

5. Asian Development Bank (2013). Investing in Resilience: Ensuring a Disaster- 

Resistant Future. Manila: ADB. 

6. Chang, S. (2009). Infrastructure Resilience to Disasters. The Bridge. Volume 

39 (4). 

7. CRED (2012). Disaster Database. Centre for Research on Epidemiology of 

Disasters, Brussels, Belgium. 

8. Department for International Development (United Kingdom) and Practical 

Action Bangladesh (2010). Elements of Disaster Resilience – Lessons 

from Bangladesh. Dhaka. 

9. Department of Food and Rural Affairs (2011). Climate Resilient Infrastructure: 

Preparing for a Changing Climate. Cm 8065, ID: 2426381- 05/11. 

www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climate/sectors/infrastructure-companies 

/Government of United Kingdom. 

10. European Commission (2013). Adapting Infrastructure to Climate Change. 

Commission Staff Working Document. SWD 137 Final, EU Strategy on 

Adaptation to Climate Change. 16.4.2013 Brussels, Communication from 

Commission to European Parliament, The Council, The Economic and 

Social Committee, and the Committee of the Regions. 

11. Independent Evaluation Department (1996). Project Performance Audit Report 

on the Flood Damage Restoration Project in Pakistan. ADB, Manila. 

12. Independent Evaluation Department (2007). Project Performance Evaluation 

Report on the Flood Emergency Rehabilitation Project in Kyrgyz. 

ADB, Manila. 

13. Independent Evaluation Department. (1997). Impact Evaluation of Bank 

Operations in the Road Sector in the Philippines. ADB, Manila. 

14. Independent Evaluation Group (2006). Hazards of Nature, Risks to Development. 

World Bank, Washington DC. 

15. Independent Evaluation Group (2011). Annual Report – Result and Performance 

of the World Bank Group. The World Bank, Geneva. 

16. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2012. Managing the Risks of 

Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation. 

A Special Report of Working Groups I and II of IPCC. Cambridge: 

Cambridge University Press. 

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16. IPCC (2001). IPCC Third Assessment Report. Inter-governmental Panel on 

Climate Change, Geneva, Switzerland. 

17. Reid, H. (2011). Improving the Evidence for Ecosystem-Based Adaptation. 

International Institute for Environment and Development, London. 

18. United Nations Environment Programme (2009). South Asia Environment 

Outlook Report. UNEP, SAARC and Development Alternatives. 

UNEP Nairobi, Kenya 

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19. World Bank. 2012. Disaster Risk Management in South Asia: A Regional 

Overview. Washington, DC. P106. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/ 

handle/10986/13218 

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SOUVENIR - Environment Protection & Disaster Management in India

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