Navigating the intricate challenge of floods and droughts

For centuries, India has grappled with the regular occurrence of floods and droughts. Floods and droughts, among the most concrete and devastating outcomes of the climate crisis, are now increasingly affecting communities worldwide. The shifting climate is causing more moisture to be trapped in the atmosphere, leading to more intense storms, heavy rainfall, and prolonged dry spells. This global alteration of the hydrological cycle means that regions around the world are experiencing longer and more powerful episodes of flooding and drought.

The toll in terms of human suffering and economic losses is truly staggering. The present-day predicaments are markedly different in scale. The monsoon has grown erratic and capricious, resulting in extreme rainfall on the one hand and abrupt droughts on the other. Alarmingly, India's drought-prone regions have expanded by 57 percent since 1997, while instances of heavy rainfall have surged by nearly 85 percent since 2012. This shift can have profound and lasting repercussions, impacting multiple generations. Thus, it is of utmost importance that societies adjust, and governments prioritise, expedite, and expand their response strategies over the next decade.

Throughout history, societies have grappled with the challenge of preparing for and addressing floods and droughts—two contrasting hydrological extremes that can afflict a single country concurrently. In some places, individuals are confronting these hazards to an unprecedented degree within their lifetimes. Virtually no region or nation is exempt from anticipating heightened difficulties in managing these extremes in the years ahead.

Importantly, droughts and floods don't have to turn into catastrophes. How society handles these climatic extremes will determine the outcome. While national administrations frequently handle them in silos, a paradigm shift in how catastrophic occurrences are handled overall is required. To lessen the risks and repercussions, a multi-sectoral strategy is necessary because it is a complex problem.

The EPIC Response Report was produced by the World Bank and Deltares, a research organisation located in the Netherlands, with assistance from the World Meteorological Organization and the Global Water Partnership, in light of the pressing need to keep up with the changing climate. The report emphasises how crucial it is to handle both floods and droughts simultaneously as components of the same hydroclimatic spectrum and offers a fresh viewpoint for improved risk management - the EPIC Response framework (Enable, Plan, Invest, Control).

It emphasises the need to see floods and droughts as two opposite extremes of the same spectrum and the importance of involving all segments of society in the response, including the public and private sectors, local and state governments, academic institutions, and civil society.

According to Veena Khanduri, Executive Secretary and Country Coordinator, India Water Partnership, "In India, the national and state governments deal with floods and droughts as per a specific context without encompassing the interlinkages between these two extreme climate-induced events." Anupam Mishra, Director, Commercial & HRD, WAPCOS Limited, stated in his welcome address, "The occurrence of disasters has increased substantially in the recent past, with high intensity and rapidly increasing in the subsequent years, which have devastating effects."

Floods, riverbank erosion, and invasion of riverine areas are the main challenges in Assam, where the great Brahmaputra flows. The Assam Integrated River Basin Management Program, which is funded by the World Bank, is piloting the EPIC framework in India's flood-prone state of Assam. This allows different agencies to evaluate the quality of their flood and drought protection programs, pinpoint areas where collaboration can be improved, and track advancement over time with the use of the EPIC response tool. The program aims to lessen Assam's population's susceptibility to climate-related catastrophes and assist the state in developing its sizable water resources in an integrated and sustainable manner.   

Setting the stage for the workshop, A.B. Pandya, Secretary General, International Commission on Irrigation & Drainage, noted that the Ganga canal was constructed 150 years ago to address the famine of 1858 and that droughts and floods have always been a part of the hydrological system.

Sumila Guliyani, South Asia Water Practice Manager, World Bank, New Delhi, cited the example of Tamil Nadu, where the World Bank collaborated with the state government to implement the  Chennai City Partnership: Sustainable Urban Services Program to help strengthen institutions, improve the financial health of service agencies, and drive significant improvements in the quality of four key urban services — water supply and sewerage, mobility, health, and solid waste management.

Floods and droughts are one of the most important concerns of our day, said Kushvinder Vohra, Chairman of the Central Water Commission, during his keynote speech. Therefore, he stressed, it is essential to develop structural and non-structural solutions that are climate resilient for efficient water governance. He also emphasised the significance of open data and hydrometeorological modelling in addressing hydroclimatological concerns.

Ana Nunez Sanchez, Expert Advisor, Resilience Department, Deltares, also gave a presentation during the session on the recently created EPIC Response Assessment Methodology (ERAM) tool that is currently being tested in Assam. The tool is a decision support system that enables multiple agencies to evaluate the state of their hydro-climatic risk management systems, pinpoint areas where program elements can be strengthened, determine how collaboration can be improved, and monitor development over time. The findings can help with policy discussions to create a shared awareness of the state of their programs, as well as the obstacles and chances for improving flood and drought risk management systems, she said.

More than 70% of the land is vulnerable to flooding in Bihar, where several rivers rush down from the mountains of Nepal, bringing heavy amounts of silt. Furthermore, 28 of Bihar's 38 districts experience either droughts or floods every year, and occasionally both. Pravin Kumar from the Bihar State Disaster Management Authority (BSDMA) gave a brief overview of the complicated situation in Bihar and discussed their mandate to create disaster management policy, establish guidelines, approve plans across departments, coordinate implementation of plans, recommend funding for mitigation measures, and evaluate measures taken. He said that the ERAM tool and the EPIC Response Framework will be helpful in evaluating these actions.

The full report can be accessed here