ADAPTIVE STRATEGIES FOR RESPONDING TO FLOODS AND DROUGHTS IN SOUTH ASIA Marcus Moench and Ajaya Dixit EDITORS Contributors and their Institutions Sara Ahmed Sanjay Chaturvedi and Eva Saroch Shashikant Chopde and Ajaya Dixit and Dipak Gyawali Independent Consultant Indian Ocean Research Group, Sudhir Sharma Institute for Social and Environmental Chandigarh Winrock International-India Transition-Nepal Madhukar Upadhya and Manohar Singh Rathore Marcus Moench Tariq Rehman and Shiraj A. Wajih Ram Kumar Sharma Institute of Development Srinivas Mudrakartha Institute for Social and Environmental Gorakhpur Environmental Action Nepal Water Conservation Studies, Jaipur VIKSAT, Ahmedabad Transition-International Group, Gorakhpur Foundation, Kathmandu ADAPTIVE STRATEGIES FOR RESPONDING TO FLOODS AND DROUGHTS IN SOUTH ASIA Marcus Moench and Ajaya Dixit EDITORS Contributors and their Institutions Sara Ahmed Sanjay Chaturvedi and Eva Saroch Shashikant Chopde and Ajaya Dixit and Dipak Gyawali Independent Consultant Indian Ocean Research Group, Sudhir Sharma Institute for Social and Environmental Chandigarh Winrock International-India Transition-Nepal Marcus Moench Madhukar Upadhya and Manohar Singh Rathore Institute for Social and Tariq Rehman and Shiraj A. Wajih Ram Kumar Sharma Institute of Development Srinivas Mudrakartha Environmental Transition- Gorakhpur Environmental Action Nepal Water Conservation Studies, Jaipur VIKSAT, Ahmedabad International Group, Gorakhpur Foundation, Kathmandu © Copyright, 2004 Institute for Social and Environmental Transition, International, Boulder Institute for Social and Environmental Transition, Nepal No part of this publication may be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission. This project was supported by the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) and the U.S. State Department through a co-operative agreement with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The views expressed in this report are those of the author alone and do not reflect those of the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, the U.S. State Department or any other organization supporting the work. ISBN: 99946-30-05-9 First Edition: 1000 June, 2004. Published by: The Institute for Social and Environmental Transition, International, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A. and the Institute for Social and Environmental Transition, Nepal DESIGN AND TYPESETTING Format Graphic Studio, Kathmandu, Nepal. PRINTED AT Format Printing Press, Kathmandu, Nepal. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Numerous organisations and individuals contributed in a substantive way to the successful completion of this project. The core group of research partners included (in alphabetical order): Sara Ahmed Independent Consultant, Sanjay Chaturvedi Indian Ocean Research Group-Chandigarh, Shashikant Chopde and Sudhir Sharma Winrock International-India, Ajaya Dixit Institute for Social and Environmental Transition-Nepal, Dipak Gyawali Institute for Social and Environmental Transition-Nepal, Marcus Moench Institute for Social and Environmental Transition-International, Srinivas Mudrakartha VIKSAT-Ahmedabad, Manohar S. Rathore Institute of Development Studies-Jaipur, Tariq Rehman and Shiraj A. Wajih of Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group-Gorakhpur, Eva Saroch Indian Ocean Research Group-Chandigarh and Ram Kumar Sharma and Madhukar Upadhya Nepal Water Conservation Foundation-Kathmandu. Sonam Bennet-Vasseux of the Institute for Social and Environmental Transition (ISET) made substantive contributions to the project through extensive literature searches and analysis of the data collected. The study immensely benefited from the input of Krishna Gurung and his team of Abhiyan Sewa Kendra of the Rohini basin. Krishna Adhikary and his crew of Rural Service Organisation in Bagmati basin Rautahat, helped complete the fieldwork in the Bagmati basin. Bibek Maurya, Prasanna Pradhan, Shradha Upadhyaya and Sudhir Bajimaya provided assistance in analysing the data from Nepal. We thank Niti Sharma, Khalid Hussain, Archana Srivastava, Jaipal Singh, Rajesh Singh, Parasnath, Dattatraiynath Gupta, Om Prakas, Ram Ashrey Prajapati, Tulika Anand and Khalid Jamal for their help in completing the study in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Beyond these core partners, the project drew heavily on insights generated through earlier projects on local water management that were supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Canada. The Local Water Management Project helped to create many of the intellectual foundations for the current project and also enabled development of the network of organisations involved. Our studies on adaptation also drew on projects addressing global groundwater problems being undertaken by ISET in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and projects on Community Management of Groundwater and Artificial Recharge that are being undertaken by many of the partners in collaboration with the British Geological Survey. Format Graphic Studio in Kathmandu did the layout and design of this book. In addition to the primary editors, the production of this book benefited from hard work by Elisabeth Caspari and Sonam Bennett- Vasseux at ISET Boulder and Kanchan Dixit, Shiva Bisangkhe, Pratibha Sarojini Manaen, Geeta Bhomi and Sunita Munankarmi at Nepal Water Conservation Foundation, Nepal. We express thanks to Perry K. Thapa of Rato Bangla School Kathmandu for her support. Himal Media is thanked for the photographs of the floods used in the cover and inside. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) and the US State Department financed this project through a cooperative agreement with USAID. CONTENTS Executive Summary i-viii Introduction 1-9 PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES 6 METHODOLOGY 8 The Meaning of Adaptive Strategies 11-19 KEY ELEMENTS IN OUR DEFINITION 12 CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS OF ADAPTIVE CAPACITY AND LIVELIHOOD RESILIENCE 12 CONTRASTS WITH CONVENTIONAL APPROACHES 19 The Context: Patterns of Change and Continuity in South Asia 21-83 TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE PROCESSES 22 Peri-Urbanisation in India 22 Demographic, Economic and Social Elements of Change 23 Changing Livelihood Systems 27 The Changing Nature of Community 30 Rural-Urban Interlinkages in Nepal 33 Transformative Change in Water Resources and Climate 35 Water Resources 35 Climate 37 The Implications of Transformative Change in Water and Climate 37 THE INSTITUTIONAL LANDSCAPE: THE HISTORY OF GOVERNMENT AND NGO ACTION 40 Nepal’s Flood and Drought Policy 40 Organisations 44 Policies of the Indian government regarding drought mitigation 47 History 47 The Current Approach: Integrated Watershed Management 51 Government Responses to Floods in India 55 Colonial Perceptions and Policies 55 Post-Colonial Institutional and Policy Landscapes: Continuity and Change 57 State Responses to Floods: Perspectives from Bihar 60 Village perspectives 64 Government Flood and Drought Response Synthesis 64 Responses to Floods and Droughts by NGOs 67 Asset Building and Watershed Development Programmes in Drought Mitigation 68 Floods: NGO Involvement in Relief and Longer-term Mitigation 77 LINKS TO EMERGING DEBATES OVER DEVELOPMENT AND DISASTER MITIGATION 80 Case Studies 85-171 DROUGHTS 86 Gujarat 86 Description of the Area 86 Drought-related Trends During 1999-2003 88 Methods 88 The Impacts of Drought 89 Local perceptions regarding the cause of drought 99 Adaptation, Issues and Observations 100 Rajasthan 106 Characteristics of the Region 106 Methodology 107 Impact of Drought 108 Adaptation and Coping Strategies 109 Summary 116 CASE STUDIES OF FLOODS 117 Nepal: the Rohini and the Bagmati 117 Methodology 117 Occupation 121 Flood Events 124 Difficulties Associated with Flood 125 Coping During and After Floods 127 Post Flooding 129 Factors Influencing Adaptive Capacity 130 India: Bagmati, Rohini and Rapti 135 Methodology 135 Basic Profile of the Areas 136 The Study Sites 136 Flood Frequency and Ethno-history of Flooding 140 Impacts of Flooding 142 Key Strategies for Adaptation 151 Conclusions 157 SUMMARY OF INSIGHTS FROM CASE STUDIES AND REVIEWS 158 Key Factors Contributing to Adaptation and Coping Capacity 160 Income Diversification and Migration 161 Transport and Access to Markets 163 Flood and Drought Adapted Infrastructure 164 Communication Systems 165 Social Institutions and Networks 166 Income and Physical Assets 168 Domestic Water Supply 169 Points of Entry and Leverage 173-185 TRANSLATING CONCEPTS INTO PRACTICE 176 Catalyzing Complementary Forms of Investment 176 Catalyzing Processes that Foster Resilience and Adaptation 178 Pilot Activities that Test Implementation Approaches and Promote Learning 180 Build a Scientific Understanding of the Natural and Social Processes 181 KEY ISSUE AREAS 182 Migration and Urban-Rural Interlinkages 182 Understanding Cross-border Flows 183 Documenting Adaptive Capacity and the Changing Nature of Vulnerability 184 Humanitarian Issue Areas 184 Bibliography 187-191 Annex 193-214 ANNEX I: CLIMATE CHANGE IN SOUTH ASIA 194 Anticipated Climatic Changes in South Asia 194 Floods and Droughts 197 Droughts 197 Floods 198 Conclusions 199 BIBLIOGRAPHY 200 ANNEX II: SPECIFIC IMPLICATIONS FOR DISASTER MITIGATION AND RELIEF PROGRAMMES 203 ANNEX III: SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS AT THE DIALOGUE ON ADAPTATION, NEW DELHI 205 Adaptation and Governance 205 Understanding Vulnerability 208 Infrastructure 209 Economic and Social Inter-linkages 211 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Flood-Affected Area in India 3 Figure 2: Impact of Flooding: Financial Losses per Hectare in India 3 Figure 3: Population Distribution