Orissa State Level

8/8/2019 Orissa State Level

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Building climateresilience at state

level:Disaster risk managementand rural livelihoods inOrissa

Merylyn Hedger, Ashok Singha and

Mohan Reddy

Strengthening Climate Resilience Discussion Paper 5


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2 Building climate resilience at state level

Strengthening Climate Resilience (SCR) through Climate Smart Disaster Risk Management is a UK

Department or International Development unded programme that aims to enhance the ability o developingcountry governments and civil society organisations to build the resilience o communities to disasters and

climate change. It is co-ordinated by the Institute o Development Studies (UK), Plan International and

Christian Aid, who are working with a variety o organisations across ten countries (Kenya, Tanzania and Sudan in

East Arica; Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in South Asia and Philippines, Indonesia and Cambodia in South

East Asia). SCR has developed the Climate Smart Disaster Risk Management Approach (see Climate Smart Disaster

Risk Management). I you would like to be involved in SCR meetings or work with the programme to trial the Climate

Smart Disaster Risk Management Approach with your organisation, please either visit the SCR website:

www.csdrm.org or send an e-mail to [email protected]

Acknowledgments

The Orissa case study was possible due to work commissioned by DFID India or the scoping study or the Orissa Cli-

mate Change State Action Plan. The authors would like to thank the DFID Orissa team led by Supriya Pattanayak with

Manoj Sahu or support in Bhubaneswar. Vital discussions were held with N K Sundraya, Peter Reid and Nirinjan Sahu(OSDMA). In addition important insights were gained rom discussions with the WORLP Annual Review Team, Owen

Bennett, Liz Drake, Sudha Menon and Paul Rennie. Field visits were enabled by the Nuapada District Watershed Mis-

sion. We are grateul to Frauke Urban or review comments. Special thanks must go to Virinder Sharma, DFID-India,

who has been nurturing the WORLP programme and climate change action in Orissa and who provided guidance

throughout the work and review comments at the end.

The views expressed in this document are those o the authors and do not necessarily reect the views o DFID, IDS,

Christian Aid or Plan International.

First published by the Institute o Development Studies in September 2010

Institute o Development Studies 2010

All rights reserved. Reproduction, copy, transmission, or translation o any part o this publication may be made only

under the ollowing conditions: with the prior permission of the publisher; or

under the terms set out below.

This publication is copyright, but may be reproduced by any method without ee or teaching or non-prot purposes,

but not or resale. Formal permission is required or all such uses, but normally will be granted immediately. For

copying in any other circumstances, or or re-use in other publications, or or translation or adaptation, prior written

permission must be obtained rom the publisher and a ee may be payable.

Available rom:

Strengthening Climate Resilience

Institute o Development Studies

at the University o Sussex

Brighton BN1 9RE, UKT: +44 (0)1273 606261

[email protected]

www.csdrm.org

Merylyn Hedger is a Research Fellow at the Institute o

Development Studies

Ashok Singha and Mohan Reddy are consultants with CTRAN.

Bhubaneswar-751014, India

T: +91 674 3245544

www.ctranconsulting.com


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Building climate resilience at state level 1

1

Abbreviations 2

Executive Summary 3

1. Explaining the climate smart disaster risk management approach 7

2. Orissa as a case study and the approach 10

2.1 Orissa State Climate Change Action Plan 12

2.2 Approach and Methods 14

3. Assessment of the CSDRM pillars: the work of OSDMA 15

3.1 Pillar One: Tackle changing disaster risks and uncertainties:

Disaster Risk Management: OSDMA 153.2 Pillar Two: Enhancing Adaptive Capacity: Disaster Risk Management 17

3.3 Pillar Three: Addressing Poverty, Vulnerability and their

Causes: Disaster Risk Reduction: OSDMA 20

4. Assessment of the Pillars: WORLP 22

4.1 Pillar One: Tackle changing disaster risks and uncertainties 22

4.2 Pillar Two: Enhance Adaptive Capacity 24

4.3 Pillar Three: Address poverty and vulnerability and their structural causes 25

5. Assessment of Climate Smart Disaster Management approach

from Orissa Case Study 30

5.1 Learning points and recommendations 31

Reerences 32

6. Annex 1: Organogram of OSDMA 35

7. Annex 2: Organogram of WORLP 36

8. Annex 3: List of meeting participants 37

The Climate Smart Disaster Risk Management approach (CSDRM) 38

Contents


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Abbreviations

CBT: Capacity Building Team

CCAP: Climate Change Action Plan

CSDRM : Climate Smart Resilient Development Approach

DFID: UK Department or International Department

DM: District MagistrateDRM: Disaster Risk Management

DRR: Disaster Risk Reduction

GoO: Government o Orissa

HDI: Human Development Index

ICT: Inormation Communication Technology

IEC: Interactive Electronic Communication

IMD: Indian Metrological Department

IPCC: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

LST: Livelihood Support Team

MDGs: Millennium Development Goals

NCAP: National Climate Change Action Plan

NGO: Non-Government Organisation

NREGA: National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

NRM: Natural Resource Management

ODRAF: Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Forces

OGFR: Orissa General Finance Rules

OSDMA: Orissa State Disaster Management Authority

OWDM: Orissa Watershed Development Mission

PIA: Project Implementing Agencies

SHGs: Sel Help Groups

SLA: Sustainable Livelihood Approach

WDT: Watershed Development Teams (WDT)

WORLP: Western Orissa Rural livelihood Program


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Building climate resilience atstate level:

Disaster risk management and rural livelihoods inOrissa

Executive summary

Approach to case study

Due to the vulnerability o Orissa and record o disasters, including the 1999 super-cyclone,

development policy initiatives have been instigated to address poverty, resilience and reduce

impacts o extreme weather events in the State. These have been evolving over time and

an active process is still underway, and are implemented rom State to District to Panchayat

(village) and community level. Orissa thereore is a suitable place or a case study to test the

Climate Smart Resilient Development (CSDRM) approach and consider the extent to which

development programmes in Orissa demonstrate CSDRM (or details see CSDRM approach on

page 38).

There have been considerable investments or a decade by the Government o Orissa (GoO)

and external donors in two particular programmes o activities covering the spectrum

o action required or CSDRM. As there was sucient available material in these two

programmes they were selected or analysis: the Orissa State Disaster Management Authority

(OSDMA) disaster risk management ocused government agency, and the Western Orissa

Rural Livelihood Programme (WORLP) a poverty ocused project supported by DFID

located in the Orissa Watershed Development Mission. Both these have inuenced policy

development at national-level disaster management and watershed management. TheNational Disaster Management Act is based on experience rom Orissa State and its Disaster

Management Authority.

The CSDRM approach (Mitchell et al., 2010a) has been developed through extensive

consultation with practitioners, policymakers and academics concerned about the impact

o climate change on disasters. The CSDRM approach incorporates three pillars: (a) Tackle

changing disaster risks and uncertainties (b) Enhance adaptive capacity and (c) Address

poverty and vulnerability and their structural causes. These three pillars are not mutually

exclusive and include a spectrum o actions that should be considered simultaneously in

programme, project or policy design or evaluation. The actions under each pillar are not

supposed to be treated as a menu but as a prompt to help disaster risk managers ensure they

are not inadvertently making things worse or missing opportunities. An inormation base wasassembled about the programmes or this case study so the approach and each action under

the menu could be applied and assessed.

1. Review o existing inormation: A study o the inormation available at state level, androm the WORLP programme, including a set o 69 working papers produced over 10

years; and the reports and website material o the ODSMA. In addition WORLP has been

subject to regular independent review and monitoring under the DFID system. The

production o the Orissa State level Climate Change Action Plan involved stakeholder

discussions managed by CTRAN (May 2010), and these provided urther insights.

2. Individual meetings with GoO departments and stakeholder organisations: A serieso individual meetings were held with the GoO ocials o the various departments. In

addition, individual meetings were also held with DFID supported programmes that

included WORLP. Selected meetings with individual experts and consulting companies

were also held. Initially individual meetings were held in Bhubaneswar between

November 30, 2009 and December 3, 2009, in connection with the preparation o the


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Orissa State Climate Change Action Plan. In addition urther interviews and eld visits

were undertaken in May 2010 to the WORLP activities in Nuapada District and a short trip

to Kalandi District to explore the management o disaster risk at District level.

This knowledge base was used to assess the CSDRM approach in order to understand the way

the selected policy interventions (WORLP and DRR) measured up and also iteratively, what

modications might be applied to the CSDRM.

Current approachees on disaster risk management in Orissa

In respect o disasters in the coastal zone, the state is now well-served by the Orissa State

Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA). The establishment o the Agency was driven by

the 1999 super-cyclone which meant that Orissa switched rom a disaster relie and response

approach to a proactive approach, centred on an agency which can now prepare, plan and

tackle a range o disasters across the state. There is also now a multi-hazard approach to

disaster management. Experience o extreme weather events such as ash oods and heat

waves in recent years has been monitored and new responses devised. The OSDMA is placed

at the centre o policy making. The Authority has the mandate to cover not only cyclones

but all disasters and the entire gamut not only o management but also relie, restoration,

reconstruction and other measures. The State Disaster Management Policy covers most o the

acets o the CSDRM but OSDMA is not charged with tackling poverty directly.

OSDMA coordinates with the line departments involved in reconstruction, with bilateral

and multi-lateral aid agencies, and with UN Agencies, International, National and State-level

NGOs. It also has data and monitoring systems which can identiy trends, or example, in

lightning deaths. All its activities are well disseminated on its website (www.osdma.org).

Having developed successul know-how capacities, preparedness or cyclones across the

state, it is using its capacities to develop responses and preparedness to other extreme

events. Recently it has started campaigns on heat waves and ash ooding.

WORLP was ocused on poverty reduction at the outset, selecting the poorest (including

proportions o scheduled castes and scheduled tribes), rain-ed western Districts which

are some o the poorest in India in which to work. It started rom a sustainable livelihoodapproach (SLA), adding this to traditional watershed management, creating Watershed Plus.

All WORLP activities are well disseminated on its website (www.worlp.com). Key activities

have included:

Natural resource management (NRM) interventions typically aimed at managing andchecking runof rom diferent catchments and reducing the sediment load in water

bodies, with a view to enhancing water resources and improving the productivity o

land which have had marked efects on the groundwater table and improving the

productivity o land.

Empowerment o communities with a range o community-based organisations withalmost 6,000 sel help groups (SHGs) ormed. These groups have been sensitised

to develop norms or unctioning, as well as participatory processes and group

management creating social capital.

Non-reundable grants either or consumption or assets have been available to thosehouseholds that communities regard as very poor, and there is a revolving und or

loans or micro-enterprises.

In the watersheds indicated above where data was maintained by Orissa Watershed

Development Mission (OWDM), water tables were not only maintained but also improved

during October (the rabi season), which was previously a water stress period. People in the

programme area, in particular women, now appear to be better prepared or, and adapted to,

extreme weather events and variability. Vulnerability or the poorest has been reduced, and

their strategies or coping rendered more condent.

There have been close connections with drought management, as WORLPs host institution

OWDM is part o the Department o Agriculture, which has responsibility or droughtmanagement and works with the Indian Metrological Department (IMD). The Agriculture

Department coordinates with the IMD department or the monsoon prediction or pre-


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monsoon planning. Although it was not designed with climate change considerations in

mind, the SLA has been considered as a rational platorm to provide an increased capacity

o people to adapt to elevated levels o climate-induced change and stress and increase

peoples ability to deal with climate change principally drought a slow onset disaster in

DRM terms and outside the work o the OSDMA. However, there are noticeable ash ood

events in WORLP areas so at this point the two approaches SLA and potentially DRR

contribute. Three key weather dimensions have been identied as afecting vulnerability:

Drought and dry-spells at an interval o every 2 years, with a major drought every 5-6years;

High variability o rainall, leaving people with two peak periods o ood stress in theregion;

Flash oods during the rainy season.

Assessment about components of current practice

a. Both programmes have current activities which accord strongly with the

institutional dimensions o the CSDRM in relation to coordination o agencies and partners

and enabling their capacities to innovate. Both programmes have been given priority by

the state government and donor organisations, are resourced to deliver, and given space to

innovate. DRM has been recongured in a proactive mode around a new institution. WORLP

has been a long-term poverty reduction project which has acted as a laboratory or its hostand changed water basin management practices.

b. Both programmes have components that provide crucial know-how, which can be

marshalled or CSDRM. For example OSDMA works with national and international specialist

orecasting agencies to pick up potential cyclone and storm events. WORLP works within

the technology o water basin development, using a variety o land and water management

techniques, to identiy, plan and implement locally workable solutions.

c. Some acets are strong in one programme and weak in another. For example

OSDMA has capacity on public awareness, whilst WORLP ocuses on empowerment and

participation. Establishment o a CSDRM approach thereore should be able to select strong

points rom the best programme and draw these together. In act because rapid andslow onset disasters are institutionalised separately this is unlikely to take place without an

integrated vision.

d. Both programmes sufer rom gaps in knowledge. Neither is systematically assessing

the efects o climate change on disaster risk and uncertainties, so they cannot then apply this

knowledge to tackle the vulnerability and exposure o peoples livelihoods and the physical

environment to changing disaster risks and uncertainties.

e. Both programmes are targeted in specic geographical areas and do not cover the

state as a whole; OSDMSA is ocused on the coastal communities and Districts and WORLP on

Western Orissa, although the practices are now being replicated in ten other Districts.

. It is also clear rom the presentation o the Orissa Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP)

that working rom a state plan basis there is a tendency to perpetuate existing organisational

boundaries and activities and that it will be a challenge to create a seamless approach to

climate change adaptation and disaster risk management, although the new planning

process has created the potential in which this could happen.

Learning points for delivering on the CSDRM in Orissa and elsewhere

There is more than one route in to CSDRM. Both OSDMA and WORLP have a strongpractice rom which to build, but neither delivers everything that is needed. It makes

sense to construct CSDRM out o a range o existing institutions and programmes, which

themselves have taken many years to develop. Full CSDRM will need time to establish

outside a project level: it will need to support the development o adaptive capacity and

social resilience to address diferent aspects o the package o increased risks associatedwith climate change. It will also need to be able to assess these changing risks as more

knowledge becomes available.


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There will also be a need to tackle some constraints associated with the sectoral/departmental organisation o policy and need strong leadership rom above to

tackle departmentalism. Approaches to slow onset disasters (droughts) and rapid

onset disasters (oods and cyclones) are currently institutionalised separately and

mainstreaming climate change within them perpetuates sectoralism. There is a also

need to scale up rom projects, pilots and geographically targeted area, which presents

challenges when diferent programmes need to be integrated across sectors, institutions

and scales. Climate change could provide the driver.

What has worked or emerging CSDRM in Orissa has been bureaucracy-independentagency status or key organisations giving exibility or rapid innovation, but also

providing links into the ocial government structures to provide authority and access to

resources.

When overviewing DRM policy and the Watershed Plus approaches in relation tothe CSDRM approach, the principal gap that arises is the use o tools and methods

to efectively manage the uncertainties related to climate change. This is principally

because there are some signicant uncertainties about climate change in India as a

whole and there has been as yet very little downscaling o global climate scenarios

what has been done is basically conned to the national science institutes. This has

meant that state-level institutions like universities are as yet unable to perorm efective

intermediary roles. Once science capacities are accessible, there are several models ortraining and inormation dissemination to set up coherent and robust systems rom state

to panchayat level, including armers schools, which can deliver access to and manage

unolding knowledge.

Climate change is increasingly seen as relevant to both OSDMA and WORLP andbecoming a driver or development in their activities. Further, the state is developing its

Climate Change Action Plan. This might be a way orward but there is still ragmentation

across sectors in its current drat. Whilst there is recognition that there are cross-cutting

themes, this may lead to complication rather than simplication. A much broader

approach to disasters needs to be dened, which includes climate risks. This would mean

that there would be a drive to integration and linkage across sectors.


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1. Explaining the climate smart disaster risk managementapproach

This work on Orissa is one o three case studies testing the CSRDM approach. The CSDRM

approach has been developed through extensive consultation with more than 500

practitioners, policymakers, scientists and academics drawn rom climate change, disasters

and development communities in 11 at-risk countries in Arica and Asia (Mitchell et al.,

2010a). An initial conceptual ramework or these consultations was developed at an experts

workshop hosted in the UK in February 2010. Climate smart DRM experience on the ground

in ten countries was investigated between April and May 2010 (Bangladesh, India, Nepal,

Sri Lanka, Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan, Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines). Three regional

workshops ofered urther opportunity to rene the approach with leading experts in South

Asia, South East Asia and East Arica. In addition, the SCR programme also commissioned

studies looking at (a) the applications o the concept o resilience to DRM and adaptation

(Bahadur et al., 2010), (b) the convergence between DRM and adaptation in unding, policy

and practice (Mitchell et al., 2010) and (c) the extent to which environmental and low carbon

considerations are included in DRM interventions (Urban et al, 2010b). More intensive

eldwork was conducted in Cambodia (Polack, 2010) and Sri Lanka (Ibrahim, 2010) as well as

this report in India to test the utility and applicability o the emerging approach in diferentlevels and contexts.

Why now?

Climate change is afecting the requency and severity o some natural hazards, is increasing

peoples vulnerability and exposure, and is creating greater uncertainty (see Box 1).

Box 1: What are the impacts o climate change on disaster risk?

Climate Change is

1. Increasing the requency and severity o some, but not all, hazards

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) concluded that the requencyand severity o hot and cold extremes and heavy precipitation events is increasing and

this trend will continue. At the moment no clear patterns are seen with tropical cyclones.

Condence in understanding or projecting changes in hazards and extreme events depends

on the type o extreme event, as well as on the region and season.

2. Increasing peoples vulnerability and exposure to regularly experienced shocks andstresses

Climate change is decreasing crop yields, increasing water scarcity, leading to a loss o

biodiversity and natural assets provided by ecosystems, causing new patterns o disease and

increasing respiratory illnesses, and possibly has become one o the triggers o migration

and new patterns o conict. These trends are projected to worsen (IPCC, 2007). This means

vulnerability is increasing and disaster losses may increase even without any discernable

increase in the severity or requency o hazards.

3. Increasing uncertainty and unexpected events

The complexity o the physical and human system and their interactions dictate that

scientic models about uture climate change impacts remain uncertain. Accordingly, the

inability to predict the exact magnitude or timing o extreme climate-related events means

that people must be prepared or the unexpected, whether related to the type or severity o

the hazard or in the way in which the human system responds to it.

As the trend o natural disasters increases, business-as-usual disaster risk management1 will

become increasingly inefective i the impacts o climate change on disaster risk are not takeninto account by organisations and in policy and practice.

1The SCR programme uses the

term disaster risk management

as it describes the ull range o

management responses reducing,

transerring, sharing and managing

residual risk.


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Currently, with the Mid-Term Review o the Hyogo Framework or Action and the Millennium

Development Goals Summit, the international community is recognising the need to

integrate their practice to be more efective. The rationale or the CSDRM approach rests on

the relationship o climate change to disaster risks. Ignoring the impacts o climate change

on disaster risk threatens the efectiveness o policies, programmes and projects designed to

manage these risks, and in certain circumstances, can increase the vulnerability and exposure

o intended beneciaries. CSDRM is:

an integrated social development and disaster risk management approach that aims

simultaneously to tackle changing disaster risks, enhance adaptive capacity, address

poverty, exposure, vulnerability and their structural causes and promote environmentally

sustainable development in a changing climate.

CSDRM (see page 38) provides a guide to strategic planning, programme development

and policy making and should be used to assess the efectiveness o existing DRM policies,

projects and programmes in the context o a changing climate. It is a tool to help cross-

check DRM interventions or their responsiveness to current and uture climate variability. It

contains three pillars2 o action:

Tackle Changing Disaster Risk and UncertaintiesPillar One supports the priority areas o the HFA, highlighting the importance o collaboration

between multiple actors. It calls or improved inormation on risks by conducting detailed

risk assessments which recognises the value o multiple sources o knowledge. It highlights

the importance o increasing access to inormation by all stakeholders through education,

early warning and the media while oregrounding measures to understand and address

vulnerability and the conditions creating risks. The CSDRM approach treats climate change

as a key consideration and attempts to insert climate change into the most critical, climate-

sensitive elements o the HFA.

Enhance Adaptive Capacity

Adaptive capacity reers to our ability to manage change sustainably by strengthening

resilience3

. Promoting adaptive capacity means that institutions and networks learn and useknowledge and experience and create exibility in problem solving (Schefer et al., 2000;

Berkes et al., 2003). The key characteristics which enhance adaptive capacity have been

identied as: promoting diversity; creating exible, efective institutions; accepting non-

equilibrium; adopting multi-level perspectives; integrating uncertainty; ensuring community

involvement; promoting learning; advocating or equity; recognising the importance o

social values and structures and working towards preparedness, planning and readiness4.

Enhancing adaptive capacity is a key strategy or managing increasing uncertainty associated

with a changing climate and allows people and organisations to respond to shocks and

unexpected events more efectively. The CSDRM approach weaves together many o the

characteristics o adaptive capacity highlighted above and ofers guidance on how to

consider these in a practical way.

Address Poverty, Vulnerability and their Structural Causes

Pillar Three is strongly inuenced by the pressure and release model (Wisner et al., 2004)

and longstanding research that attributes the causes o disasters to ailures in development

(e.g. Bankof et al., 2003). Wisner et als model treats root causes, dynamic pressures, unsae

conditions and hazards as all contributing to disaster risk. Root causes underscore the

importance o access to power, structures and resources. A lack o skills and institutions (i.e.

markets, press reedom) coupled with macro orces, such as urbanisation and population

growth, contribute to vulnerability.

The CSDRM approach recognises the complexities and interdependencies o any one

interventions and thus promotes the inter-relation o the three pillars. Guiding questions that

supplement the actions depicted on page 38 are examples that are intended to stimulate

discussion, planning and action in a specic context. The CSDRM approach needs to betailored to local realities and specic challenges.

2The three pillars are ounded

on established concepts o

vulnerability and disaster risk (e.g.

Wisner et al., 2004) and resilience,

adaptive capacity and uncertainty

(e.g. Holling, 1973; Folke, 2006).3 The term resilience is increasingly

used in climate change and

disaster discourses and in policies

and programming related to these

issues. It has become common to

describe the intersection between

these two elds and those opoverty and development as

climate resilient development.

The SCR programme recognises

the diculty in operationalising

the concept o resilience and its

multiple meanings and as such has

chosen to ocus on more tangible

and practical dimensions o

adaptive capacity. Carpenter et al.

(2001) highlight that little attention

has been paid to the operational

indicators o resilience.4For more details on the

ten characteristics see SCR

Discussion Paper 1 The resilience

renaissance? Unpacking o

resilience or tackling climatechange and disasters by Aditya

V. Bahadur, Maggie Ibrahim, and

Thomas Tanner.


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In order to ensure a CSDRM approach in any project, programme or policy, managers

should seek to integrate actions rom each o the pillars, rather than ocusing on just one.

No single CSDRM intervention could possibly integrate every element or try to tackle

all the drivers o poverty or vulnerability. Nonetheless, actions across the three pillars

provide a way o reassuring those managing disasters risks that they are not accentuating

poverty or vulnerability or creating new risks. Naturally there are limits to what disaster risk

managers can achieve alone, so the CSDRM approach highlights the importance o working

in partnership with development and climate change stakeholders to ensure DRM and

development outcomes are more robust to changing contexts.

Who is the CSDRM approach for?

The CSDRM approach is designed or those responsible or managing disaster risks at

regional, national, sub-national or community levels. It has been developed through

extensive consultation with policymakers and practitioners working at each o these scales.

Feedback suggests that the CSDRM approach can be used or strategic planning and as

part o programme and project design5. It can also be used to evaluate the efectiveness

o existing initiatives as part o monitoring and evaluation processes. The approach has not

been designed as a manual or a checklist against which to rate DRM interventions. Rather

it is intended to prompt in-depth reviews and assessment to inorm decision-making. The

CSDRM can be linked to specialised guides on how to implement action points included inthe approach such as vulnerability and capacity assessments (CARE, 2008) or Climate Change

Inormation or Efective Adaptation: a practitioners manual (Postdam Institute or Climate

Impact Research and GTZ, 2009).

The approach that was adopted to testing this approach in Orissa is outlined in section 3 and

4.

5Climate smart language may

not appeal in particular cultural

or organisational contexts, it is

acceptable to replace smart with

savvy, compatible, integrated,

resilient or sensitive; options that

have been suggested at national

and regional meetings.


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2. Orissa as a case study and the approach

Orissa has long been prone to disasters: recurring droughts, ood and cyclones are regular

eatures in the state and have had a crippling efect on the economy. In 1999 a severe cyclone

ollowed by a super severe cyclone lashed the entire coast o Orissa causing large scale loss

o lie6. Whilst the extent to which climate change will exacerbate oods and droughts is

not yet ully understood one thing is clear their requency and intensity will increase, notdiminish. Cyclones may intensiy. Temperature increase is underway and causing heat stress.

Further, diferent topographical areas in Orissa are requently vulnerable to diferent kinds o

natural disasters oods, droughts and cyclones. Environmental degradation (deorestation,

coastal vegetation/wetlands loss and soil erosion) has compounded the impact o the natural

disasters that are striking new areas.

Orissa is part o Poorest India and has the highest incidence o poverty7 despite recent

improvements. Latest gures show that 57 per cent are living below the poverty line8 and

almost 90 per cent o the poor live in rural areas. Poverty is signicantly worse in the western

and southern districts o the state linked to agriculture with more than two-thirds o the

population employed in the sector. Most people are subsistence armers and many practice

sharecropping. Productivity is low; the poorest scraping together a living on marginal lands9

.

The Human Development Index (HDI) o the state increased rom 0.27 in 1981 to 0.40 in 2001,

which was a rise o around 51 per cent. O Orissas 40 million people10, about 16 per cent live

in urban areas. In total, 22 per cent o the population comprises Scheduled Tribes (against the

all-India percentage o 8 per cent) and 16.5 per cent Scheduled Castes (about the same as the

all-India percentage).

Orissa continues to be of-track on all the MDGs. IMR rates, despite an impressive decline

rom 2001 to 2006, continue to be among the highest in the country. Institutional births

are still low at below 40 per cent11. Trends are closest to the target in education (including

gender equality) and tackling inectious diseases. The rate o literacy has increased by 14 per

cent since 1990 and the number o drop-outs in schools has decreased in ten years rom 1.27

million to 0.2 million.

Specic weather and disaster background

Orissa has been called the disaster capital o India. Cyclones are the big catastrophic events.

The cyclone zones are also prone to tidal surge afecting the coastal districts. Flood during

the rainy seasons occurs without ail every year. The coastal districts o the state, as well as

other districts which have the major rivers owing across it and have large reservoirs, are

prone to such hazards. Damage to river embankments are also caused due to ooding. Most

o the western districts o the state are prone to drought every year and thus belong to the

high-risk category. Erratic rainall and under-utilisation o water resources are the main cause

or such calamities. Between 1965-2009 it has been repeatedly hit by various disasters such

as cyclones (6), oods (17), droughts (19) and heatwaves. Climate change has increased the

intensity and range o disasters and reportedly, more areas within the State have becomevulnerable to disasters.

Orissa current problems

In Orissa, over 80 per cent o annual rainall occurs during the monsoon period, average

1,400 mm, with an average o 70 rainy days. The State experiences either heavy ood or

drought every alternate year due to disproportionate distribution o rainall. In recent years,

wide uctuation in climate has been observed and irregular rainall causing both oods

and droughts is a major concern12. The impact o drought on armers has been deleterious

in some areas. Floods in 1980, 1982, 2001 and 2003 were particularly severe but there have

been notable ood events in each o the past 4 years. For example, in 2009, 1,451 villages

in 15 districts were afected, 13,000 houses were lost or damaged, over 60,000 people were

evacuated and accommodated in 80 camps13. Saline water ingression has been observed in

some coastal districts. There are also major pollution and water quality issues emerging as

industrialisation and urbanisation proceed in the State. Increased disaster intensity interacts

with low resilience to compound problems o ood security, water security and livelihood

6OSDMA State Disaster

Management Policy 20057National Statistical Survey8Suresh Tendulkar committee9DFID case sheet mainstreaming

the livelihoods agenda10Census o India projected

population 200811Statistics or 2004-05 (BPL) and

2006 (others) taken rom the Orissa

Budget 2008-2009, quoting the GoI

Economic Survey 2007-2008

12Orissa State o the EnvironmentReport 2006, State Pollution

Control Board, Orissa13www.OSDMA.org


13/41


security in the State, and is leading to poor health conditions14.

Policy interventions assessed

Due to its vulnerability and record o disasters, development policy initiatives have been

instigated and are constantly evolving to address poverty and resilience and reduce impacts

o extreme weather events. These have been evolving over time and are implemented rom

state to district to panchayat and community level. Two pivotal interventions were selected

or assessment covering the spectrum o activities required or CSDRM. These have been

supported by the State Government and donor agencies over a period o time: the Western

Orissa Rural Livelihood Programme (WORLP) and the Orissa State Disaster Management

Authority (OSDMA) whose establishment was driven by the 1999 super- cyclone15. Both

these have inuenced policy development at national level on water shed management

and disaster management. The National Disaster Management Act and institution is based on

experience rom Orissa State and its Disaster Management Authority.

Orissa State Disaster Mitigation Authority (OSDMA) was set up by the Government o

Orissa as an autonomous organisation in the atermath o the super-cyclone in 1999. It was

registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 as a non-prot making and charitable

institution. The Department o Revenue is the administrative department o OSDMA.

Subsequently, the name o the Authority was changed rom Orissa State Disaster MitigationAuthority to Orissa State Disaster Management Authority The Authority has the mandate not

only to take up the mitigation activities but also the relie, restoration, reconstruction and

other measures. These activities cover the entire gamut o disaster management including

preparedness activities.

The Government o Orissa is implementing the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) programme

in 16 disaster-prone districts in order to reduce the vulnerabilities in two phases rom 2002-

08 with the support o the Government o India (Ministry o Home Afairs) and the United

Nations Development Programme (UNDP, supported by DFID). The Community Based

Disaster Preparedness (CBDP) programme is being implemented in ten blocks o seven

coastal districts on a pilot basis. The overall goal o the programme is Sustainable Reduction

in Disaster risk in some o the most hazard-prone districts. The disaster management plansstart rom the village/ward level and are consolidated through similar planning at the

panchayat, block, district and urban local bodies levels in the selected districts. A cadre

o village volunteers has been created to carry out the village based natural disaster risk

management programmes.

Orissa implements in the order o ten diferent watershed programmes or projects in the

state, including the Western Orissa Rural Livelihood Programme (WORLP). The Western

Orissa Rural Livelihoods Project (WORLP), unded by DFID and implemented by the State

Governments Orissa Watershed Development Mission, was set up in 2000 with the aim

o reducing poverty by making the livelihoods o rural people in the project area more

sustainable. WORLP is a partnership between the Department or International Development

(DFID), UK and the Government o Orissa (GoO). The project was inaugurated by the Chie

Minister o Orissa in August 2000 at a cost o Rs 230 crores (GBP 32.75 million). WORLP was

designed to cover 870 villages in 290 watersheds o 29 blocks in our o the poorest districts

o Orissa, where human development indicators are comparable to sub-Saharan Arica.

WORLP is unique in its design and approach and has less o the technical connes o other,

previous watershed programmes. Watershed Plus is a term which was coined during the

design o this project, and reers to the additional ocus on peoples livelihoods which was

introduced.

Planning for adaptation to climate change in India

For India as a whole, the Government has decided that climate change may alter the

distribution and quality o Indias natural resources and adversely afect the livelihood o its

people. India may ace a major threat because o projected changes in climate as its economy

is closely tied to its natural resource base and climate sensitive-sectors16.

The Government has a vision to create a prosperous but not wasteul society, and economy

14Powerpoint rom Management

Support Team 2009, Orissa

Department o Health15Super-cyclone magnitude is

about 6 times greater than normal

cyclones with speeds around 120

knots (140 mph; 220 km/h) where

as normal cyclone speeds around

3447 knots (3954 mph; 6387

km/h).16For a uller context about

responsibilities or policy relating

to DRR and climate change

in India see Strengthening

Climate Resilience in DisasterRisk Management Governance

Mapping India (Christian Aid,

2010).


14/41


that is sel-sustaining: maintaining a high growth rate to increase living standards is vital or

the vast majority o the people and to reduce their vulnerability to climate change. The vision

aims to achieve national growth objectives by enhancing ecological sustainability leading to

urther mitigation o greenhouse gas emissions. (NCCP, 2008)

The Indian Prime Minister has urged each State Government to create their own state level

action plan consistent with the strategies in the National Plan (18-08-09). The Government

recognises that to deal with the challenge o climate change there is a need to act on several

ronts simultaneously. Eight National Missions orm the core o the National Action Plan,

which will promote understanding o climate change, adaptation and mitigation, energy

eciency and natural resource conservation. The priority National Missions are:

1. Solar energy

2. Enhanced energy eciency

3. Sustainable habitat

4. Conserving water

5. Sustaining the Himalayan ecosystem

6. A Green India

7. Sustainable agriculture

8. Strategic knowledge platorm or climate change.

The National Action Plan has been prepared under the guidance and direction o Prime

Ministers Council on Climate Change. Some o the national strategies and programmes are

already part o current action, although it is known that they may need a change direction

and accelerated implementation. The Missions are being institutionalised by their respective

Ministries and it is clear that several will involve action at state level, a process which is

beginning to get underway.

Disaster management nds a brie reerence in the NAPCC, not as a Mission, but as an

additional initiative integrated with the governments 11th Five Year Plan. It can also be noted

that climate change is only mentioned briey in the National Policy on Disaster Management

as providing one actor in increasing vulnerability. It is however possible to identiy inter-

related policies in the NAPCC. For example, the National Mission on strategic knowledge isexpected to develop accurate weather indices and better prediction o extreme events, early

warning systems that can enhance preparedness. One o the potential linkages o national

policy to state policy or the CSDRM is through the Mission on Sustainable Agriculture. This

mission osters adaptation in the agriculture sector by propagating varieties tolerant to

extreme weather conditions.

There are several national and state-level policies across a range o sectors like agriculture,

water, orest, health, housing, resettlement and rehabilitation that have the potential o

integrating climate change and disaster risk reduction. This intermeshing o national,

state and sub-state level policies takes place through the existing national and state-

level institutions as well as local authorities. For example national government may moot

mandatory rainwater harvesting or solar water heater usage or large residential complexes,

but the state has to enact and amend rules to implement this.

2.1 Orissa state climate change action plan

Orissa is the rst State in country to produce a State Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP).

This move is a response to the particular pressing issues in Orissa and also direction rom

national policy. In addition to the disaster experiences outlined above there are also energy

and development issues around the climate change agenda. There has been high growth

in the metal and mineral sectors which has put pressure on the environment both due to

land use change and degradation o orest area. Rapid urbanisation and industrialisation

have resulted in high congestion in transport and scarcity o water and electricity. There is

recognition that climate change has the potential to derail the current growth strategy and

deepen poverty in Orissa. The underlying rationale or the CCAP is to lead Orissa to move

towards a carbon-conscious, climate resilient development path.

In the rst instance a scoping study was commissioned by DFID-India to support the


15/41


Government o Orissa17. The CCAP was prepared ollowing presentation o the ndings o

this scoping study. The GoO established a High Level Co-Ordination Committee headed by

the Chie Secretary with Principal Secretary Forest and Environment acting as its convenor

to steer preparation o the CCAP. The GoO established 11 working groups to cover the

diferent sectors, drawn rom departments to deliberate on various actions that would help

in reducing the impact o climate change in the state. The groups had multiple consultations

with experts and ocials and identied 287 priority actions in 11 sectors some are adaptive

and some are related to mitigation. Five stakeholder consultations were organized with about

500 people participating and sharing their point o view, helping government to nalise the

action plan. The drat Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) 2010-2015 was published on 5th

June 201018. Then the drat report was shared with stakeholders and is currently on the web

to invite more comments rom the wider stake-holding community.

The main eature o the Climate Change Action Plan is the high commitment o the state to

the process, with the attention coming rom the highest echelons o the administration. The

Climate Change Action Plan has projected a budget o Rs 17,000 crores in diferent sectors

in adaptation, mitigation, knowledge building and policy reorm. A new Orissa Climate

Change Agency is to be established during the rst year o implementation with inormation,

advisory, supervisory and coordinating role on climate change issues. This Agency will be

a single-window contact or dealing with the Government o India and external undingagencies in issues relating to climate change.

The CCAP is the blue print or the next ve years or reducing risk rom climate change. In

total the Drat Climate Change Action plan validated the 287 priority actions in 11 sectors:

Sectors No o priority actions deliberated

Agriculture 37

Coastal Disaster 9

Energy 42

Fishery 14

Forestry 13

Health 10Industry 60

Mining 42

Transport 19

Urban 21

Water 20

Total 287

The total climate budget is expected to be around Rs 17,000 crores or ve years. This

compares to spending in OSDMA o 1,300 crores over ve years, and 230 crores or WORLP

over ten years.

The CCAP ramework could create the enabling environment to drive orwards the

comprehensive approach to disasters which the CSDRM approach can rame. Because

the OSDMA and WORLP cover two programmes with diferent geographical oci and are

ocused on diferent aspects o disasters slow onset disasters (drought) under the WORLP

interventions and rapid onset disasters (oods, cyclone, quakes) under the OSDMA, both

with quite distinct types o activities they are not yet related within the state rameworks.

OSDMA and WORLP staf contributed to the development o the CCAP but to diferent

sectors. In act the recent Orissa Climate Change Action Plan creates distinct priorities under

agriculture, water, basin development, rural development, and places disasters within a

coastal context but recognises these are all cross-cutting.

The Orissa CCAP has several priority actions in coastal and shery sectors which are relevant

to the CSDRM, including scenario development, modelling, mainstreaming elements o

disaster management policy at the district level (e.g. preparedness or heat wave, ashoods, etc.) It can be noted that the priority actions in agricultures sector has drawn heavily

rom experience o WORLP. The CCAP, or example, reers to the need or capacity building o

17Hedger and Vaideeswaran, 201018For the Orissa Climate Change

Action Plan see: http://www.orissa.

gov.in//orest&environment//

ActionPlan//CAP_Report_Drat.pd

accessed 18/7/10


16/41


communities to adapt to climate change and better management o climate risks. Similarly

the shery and animal resource sectors key priorities include early disease warning system,

analysis o climate change impacts on aquatic resources and promotion o hardy breeds in

the livestock sector.

Coastal and disaster management budgets run into Rs 1,300 crores in ve years and ocuses

on investment in inrastructure, capacity building and enhancing knowledge base about

climate events. Some o these actions will be implemented through the OSDMA and regular

line departments and some also with the help o the NGOs.

2.2 Approaches and Methods

The case study has been undertaken by IDS and Ctran Consulting and is a development rom

previous work on the scoping study or the Orissa Climate Change Action Plan by IDS, and the

close involvement o Ctran Consulting, in Orissa state policy issues over 10 years, including

responsibility or the stakeholder consultations and currently nalising the CCAP. The purpose

o assembling the database was to provide material which could be used to assess which o

the CSDRM pillars were operative in Orissa. To ll gaps, and understand the dynamics o the

policy processes involved, interviews were held with key inormants at state level. Further

assessment o the interactions o state and district level policy was made through interviewsin Kalahandi district. The stages o the study are listed below.

(i) Review o existing inormation: A study o the inormation available at state level, and rom

the WORLP programme, including a set o 69 working papers produced over 10 years and a

large number o other material such as newsletters and annual reports; and the newsletters,

reports and website material o the ODSMA. The production o the Climate Change Action

Plan involved stakeholder discussions managed by CTRAN (May 2010), which provided

urther insights.

(ii) Individual meetings with GoO departments and stakeholder organisations: A series o

individual meetings were held with the GoO ocials o the various departments. In addition,

individual meetings were also held with DFID programmes that included WORLP. Selectedmeetings with individual experts and consulting companies were also held. A rst set o

individual meetings were held in Bhubaneswar between November 30, 2009 and December

3, 2009, in connection with the preparation o the Orissa State Action Plan. In addition urther

interviews were undertaken in May 2010 with interviews, and eld visits to the WORLP

activities in Nuapada District and a short trip to Kalandi District to explore the management

o Disaster Risk Reduction at district level. A ull list o meetings held is included in the Annex.

(iii) Analysis and assessment o the current policy interventions (WORLP and DRR) in relation

to the SCR approach to identiy strengths, gaps and implications or interventions elsewhere.

Each acet o the three pillars (see page 38) was considered separately or OSDMA (section

3) and WORLP (section 4). I there was no obvious coverage this has been indicated. The

assessment was undertaken in a qualitative way with expert judgement.


17/41


3. Assessment o the CSDRM pillars: the work o OSDMA

3.1 Pillar one: Tackle changing disaster risks and uncertainties: disaster risk management:

OSDMA

1A STRENGTHEN COLLABORATION AND INTEGRATION BETWEEN DIVERSE STAKEHOLDERS

WORKING ON DISASTERS, CLIMATE AND DEVELOPMENT

The ormal structure o an integrated system on disaster risk management at all scales ogovernance has been driven by national level. Institution building in India has been given

momentum rom events, so the process started ater the super-cyclone was accelerated with

experience o the 2004 tsunami. A Disaster Management Bill was tabled in Parliament in 2005.

This bill enacted structures at all levels national, state, district and block levels to prepare

and reduce the efects o the disaster. Climate change was cited as one actor increasing

vulnerability, but the system did not aim to integrate climate change. It is not clear to what

extent the DRM system is operational state-wide and guidance manuals are ollowed. The

ocus so ar has been on the coastal zone.

Beore national legislation, Orissa had established OSDMA as an autonomous nodal agency

under the Revenue and Disaster Department o GoO. This Department comprises the

Directorate and Resettlement and Rehabilitation (ocused on resettlement associated with

industrial and mining projects), the Special Relie Commissioner, the Board o Revenue, land

records as well as OSDMA. The direct connection between revenue and disasters is due to the

work o the Special Relie Organisation (SRO), which comes under the Commissioner. The SRO

was created in 1965 or a relie and rescue operation during and ater occurrence o various

natural calamities19. Its scope has been widened, principally though the OSDMA. The Special

Relie Organisation however, has ultimately has the responsibility or dealing with disasters.

This means OSDMA is not burdened with ull responsibilities or operational matters. The

Special Relie Commissioner has a wide range o powers to help deal with emergencies

and can requisition services o ocers, and vehicles. The activities extend to the 11 natural

calamities prescribed by the GoI: drought, cyclone, ood, re, earthquake, hailstorm,

tsunami, cloud burst, landslide, avalanche, and pest attack. Functions are to provide unds

and supervise relie and rescue, to remain in preparedness to meet contingencies, undertakerepair and rehabilitation work. The key proactive unction is to undertake long-term

measures by coordinating the activities o diferent department to minimise the impact o

natural calamities and human casualties. The State Government is reimbursed by the GoI or

payments out o the National Calamity Contingency Fund.

Stated principles o Disaster Management Policy in Orissa (2005) cover most o the tenets

o the CSDRM approach, the main exceptions being about direct approaches to poverty

reduction and their structural causes, and that climate change is not addressed directly

the ocus is on disasters. The stated ocus o policy is on total risk management and

vulnerability reduction by strengthening the physical inrastructure as well as the bio-

physical, psychological, social and economic status o the people and increasing their disaster

resilience

20

.

OSDMA has authority to coordinate with the line departments involved in DRR, relie

and reconstruction, with bilateral and multi-lateral aid agencies, and with UN Agencies,

international, national and state-level NGOs. OSDMA is placed at the centre o state policy

making with the mandate to cover all disasters and management o relie, restoration,

reconstruction and other measures. It has played a key role in coordinating with various line

ministries like Environment, Agriculture, Panchayati Raj, Human Resource Development,

Urban Development, and Rural Development to integrate DRR into some o the ongoing

agship programmes such as JNNURM, IAY, SSA and NREGA. But DRR is yet not mainstreamed

in to all the development projects.

It does not have operational responsibilities or actions, but it mobilizes and prepares those

who do: the complex delivery systems at district level under the District Natural CalamityCommittee headed by the DM (District Magistrate) and other members rom NGOs Elected

Representatives and the Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Forces (ODRAF). OSDMA has also been

19www.orissa.gov.in/revenue/

index.htm accessed 18/7/1020OSDMA State Disaster

Management Policy 2005


18/41


at the hub o several externally unded projects on DRR.

OSDMA has only a core proessional staf o 25 with 32 support staf and basically works

through a network including ODRAF action orces, which can be activated as needed (5

bases with 500 staf ). District administrations initiate the process o handling o disasters

by constituting various committees at diferent levels to prepare and plan or the disaster

management through a system ailure scenario.

Their work is ramed by Relie Code guidelines and DDMPs to provide guidance to the

ministries, departments and state authorities or the preparation o their detailed DM plans.

These guidelines call or a proactive, participatory, well-structured, ailsae, multi-disciplinary

and multi-sector approach at various levels. The District Disaster Management Plan contains

protocol or line o command in disaster management and budgetary provisions or

emergency procurement in the case o disaster occurrence.

1B PERIODICALLY ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON CURRENT AND FUTURE

DISASTER RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

Until the publication o the drat CCAP in March 2010, climate change had been identied ad

hoc, as potentially increasing the number o disasters the state has to deal with, but there is

not yet a coherent system. For example, the Annual Report o the Special Relie Commissioner2008-9 links experience o extreme weather event in the state with an erratic geo-climate

situation21. With heat waves and oods which have allen outside the range o historic

experience in the past decade or so, there is a general recognition amongst senior decision

makers rom interviews undertaken that climate change is an issue which needs addressing

and emphasises the need or an efective DRM.

One major problem at state level is the act that there are major gaps on inormation about

climate change, and the management o uncertainty associated with available data. These

data gaps originate rom national level, but there is also a need to set up coherent and robust

systems rom state to Panchayat level which can deliver access to and manage unolding

knowledge. The principal gap that arises is the use o tools and methods to efectively

manage the uncertainties related to climate change.

This is principally because there are some signicant uncertainties about climate change in

India as a whole and there has been, as yet, very little downscaling o global climate scenarios

what has been done is basically conned to the national science institutes. This has meant

that state level institutions like universities are yet unable to perorm efective intermediary

roles. Once science capacities are accessible, there are several models or training and

inormation dissemination available, or example, armers schools. The CCAP will be able to

provide a bridging mechanism or this to happen.

For weather data the State Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, was established in 1975.

There are 18 departmental/part-time observatories under its control to record the weather

in Orissa and 131 rain gauge stations. This is the probably the only climate data aggregated

at the decentralised level. However, visits to some o these locations have shown that rain

gauges hardly work.

Decadal changes in weather pattern are determined based on the rainall and temperature

data (diurnal and seasonal) gathered rom one metrological station rom each meteorological

region is chosen or a detailed study e.g. Balasore, Bhubaneswar, Gopalpur, Jharsuguda,

Titlagarh and Phulbani. Apart rom that the data rom IMD is used or prediction. There exists

no systematic prediction system to aid crop planning relating to weather orecast.

Based on the deliberations in the climate change action planning process, the state

agriculture department has started integrating the climate consideration in the khari

planning. It has introduced weather based crop insurance with an initial allocation o Rs 100

crores. It uses 25 years rainall data and advance weather incidence protocol and the maincrop paddy is covered under this scheme.

21http://www.orissa.gov.in/

disaster/src/ANNUAL_REP_04-

05/2008-09/Natural_

Calamities_2008-09.pd


19/41


1C INTEGRATE KNOWLEDGE OF CHANGING RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES INTO PLANNING,

POLICY AND PROGRAMME DESIGN TO REDUCE THE VULNERABILITY AND EXPOSURE OF

PEOPLES LIVES AND LIVELIHOODS

As there is no ormal assessment o climate risk as such, this dimension to the approach is

covered by other sections.

1D INCREASE ACCESS OF ALL STAKEHOLDERS TO INFORMATION AND SUPPORT SERVICES

CONCERNING CHANGING DISASTER RISKS, UNCERTAINTIES AND BROADER CLIMATE IMPACTS

Orissa has been building public awareness in the coastal zone about disasters, principally

cyclone and ooding, and people should prepare. Obviously with communication abilities

tuned to train people to respond to early warning systems or cyclones, there is considerable

know-how about communication reaching out to the last Mile Connectivity22.

Training has been ocused on the 16 Districts (155 blocks and 23,600 villages) in the UNDP

supported project (see section 2). Disaster Management Committees have been ormed in all

the blocks and members o Panchayati Raj institutions have been trained at various levels. In

addition there are various ormal educational and proessional training packages developed

with students in the XI grade studying DM.

OSDMA has tried to make the communication systems linking the state, district, block, grampanchayat as ail-sae as possible. Simultaneously, there are alternative standby systems o

communication to ensure that there is no breakdown o communication during extreme

events. Educating or making the community aware o the various warning levels and what

response is required core to the OSDMA awareness programmes. Application o Inormation

Communication Technology (ICT ) in early warning systems, evacuation planning and

execution, and rapid damage assessment has been promoted by OSDMA with satellite

phones. A dedicated civil VHF network has been created and HAM radio systems deployed or

the early warning systems in the disaster prone area.

Various innovative programmes like Integrating disability in community-based disaster risk

reduction and response have been taken by the authority. As well as detailed and continuous

interactive electronic communication (IEC) activities designed to create awareness amongpeople through dedicated radio and print media. In remote areas NGO and traditional olk

artists have been engaged to create awareness among the communities. OSDMA also shares

inormation regularly with stakeholders in the orm o books, documents and other IEC

materials. Special IEC programmes have been designed or schools in the high-risk areas. It

has brought out a compilation comprising submissions made by sub-groups ormed by the

Government o Orissa to look into multiple hazards acing the state.

OSDMA efectively links knowledge, technology by specialist institutions and civil societies,

with grassroots experience, organisational capacity, participatory management skills, and

community-based initiatives to generate awareness about disaster reduction. People in the

coastal region are responding to the Community Based Disaster Management Plans and also

regular mock drills are undertaken to ensure better preparedness. Special attention is paid

to the vulnerability o disadvantaged groups like women, children, elders, physically and

mentally challenged, and other marginalised groups. OSDMA has also brought out a booklet

on women, which highlights the suferings o women during disasters and their role in

prevention, preparedness and mitigation in association with Care India.

All its activities are well disseminated on its website (www.osdma.org). Having developed

successul know-how capacities, preparedness or cyclones across the state, it is using its

capacities to develop responses and preparedness to other extreme events. Recently it has

started campaigns on heat waves and ash ooding with NGOs and published adverts.

3.2 Pillar Two: Enhance adaptive capacity: disaster risk management

2A STRENGTHEN THE ABILITY OF PEOPLE, ORGANISATIONS AND NETWORKS TO EXPERIMENT

AND INNOVATE

In part 1a o this section, there was detail provided on how the national and stategovernments created the space or the development o OSDMA as an independent

autonomous nodal agency. What has worked or emerging CSDRM in Orissa has been

22See The Response OSDMA

annual newsletter page 2 October

2009


20/41


bureaucracy-independent agency status or the key organisations like OSDMA, giving

exibility or rapid innovation, but also providing links into the ocial government structures

to provide authority and access to resources. The space or innovation provided to OSDMA

has in turn enabled it to support change amongst the agencies with which it works, notably

NGOs. Overall it has started to link up knowledge and technology o specialist institutions,

to civil society with grassroots experience, organisational capacity, and participatory

management skills.

OSDMA has established coordination among government departments, state headquarters

and district administration, and had the developmental space to create stronger institutional

coordination with NGOs. It also developed its own database on NGO initiatives and held

regular consultations with NGOs which has ensured quick and ecient response to oods.

NGO initiatives to strengthen community- based disaster preparedness, which involve mock

drills, training, contingency planning, and the ormation o village task orces, have enabled

people to better cope with oods. Close collaboration between NGOs enabled OSDMA to

assess capacity building needs and prepare action plans, and helped NGOs to receive support

rom the government in carrying out rehabilitation activities in cyclone-hit areas. NGO

involvement is also necessary or efective livelihood integration into disaster preparedness,

as adaptation tools in many livelihood programmes are implemented through NGOs at the

block level.

Ater the cyclone many international and local NGOs (such as the Red Cross, Concern World

Wide) became involved specically ocusing on providing humanitarian aid and advocacy

to disaster victims. More than 300 Local NGOs have also played an active role in emergency

response, relie and rehabilitation such as the Harsha Trust. This collaboration between

Government and NGOs, on initiatives in disaster response, mitigation and reduction, has

been vital or transparency and efectiveness. There is always a strong co-relationship needed

between GoO-NGO or successul project implementation.

Even though NGOs are seen as key stakeholders in the DM process rom the top, they

themselves still sense they are seen as outsiders in the present political-bureaucratic

environment in Orissa. Field discussions in Kalahandi revealed that the unctioning othe District Natural Calamity Committee is o concern or NGOs due to their nominal

representation in the overall process. However, more recently, some proactiveness rom both

sides (the new generation o NGOs like Harsha Trust and some departments) have helped in

better implementation o certain programmes.

There are strong top-down drivers in managing climate risks in view o the responsibilities

or human lie. Even the multi-hazard planning that envisages signicant local input

or customised plans or the area is prepared mechanically. The plan when done at a

decentralised level takes token inputs rom the NGOs. The ocials cite NGOs vested interest

to be the problem to include the in planning and the NGOs blame the ocial reticence to

be driven by resource available than the actual requirement o the people and also tardy

implementation.

It should also be noted that there are some nancial auditing implications o OSDMAs

independent status. Most o the departments under the Government o Orissa are guided

by the procurement rules o the Government called Orissa General Finance Rules (OGFR).

This rule, which is quite archaic in nature, does not work during emergencies. The Finance

Department also has provisions and exibility rom some discretionary grant unds and relie

unds rom the state to address micro-scale events. Large-scale events are mostly unded

through the National Calamity Relie Fund and in the absence o any reasonable criteria it has

been a charge/counter-charge and tug-o-war between the centre and state on quantum o

release. The allocations are also mired by political preerences. Apart rom this both MP-LAD

and MLA-LAD unds are available to take adaptive, mitigative and emergency response.

OSDMA is registered under the Society Act 1860 as a nancially autonomous, non-protableand charitable organization. The Authority has introduced an operation manual containing

administrative and nancial powers delegated to the Managing Director and Chairman


21/41


with various rules and procedures or smooth unctioning o nancial activities. This manual

has been approved by the World Bank on the concurrence o Finance Department and

Accountant General o India. All the nancial transactions o Externally Aided Project Works

(EAP) unded by the World Bank and other unding agencies have been computerised in

Tally accounting sotware since 1 April 2003. This works on the principle o a double entry

system o book keeping and aligns the chart o accounts as per the requirement o the World

Bank and other unding agencies with online cheque printing acility. This system seems to

be working well23.

2B PROMOTE REGULAR LEARNING AND REFLECTION TO IMPROVE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF

POLICIES AND PRACTICES

Several o the points raised in 1D are also relevant to this section.

Probably the best example o the ormal reective and learning mode o OSDMA is the

national workshop on heat waves which was convened by OSDMA in March 2006 in

Bhubaneswar or national and state policymakers, experts and NGOs. This was prompted by

the 1998 event when over 2,000 people lost their lives in the State. The event was opened

by GoO Ministers and ocials and convened by national science experts on heat waves

and weather data in the state and was specically linked to climate change. A report was

published o the workshop proceedings.

OSDMA has data and monitoring system on a range o disasters, which can identiy trends,

or example, in lightning deaths (an increase in which has been linked to climate change).

Records o disasters and how they were tackled, such as oods, are all recorded on its website.

Having developed know-how and preparedness or cyclones across the state, OSDMA is using

its capacities to develop responses and preparedness to other extreme events. Recently it

has started campaigns on heat waves and ash ooding. OSDMA is constantly improving its

knowledge base. In 2009 OSDMA conducted hazard risk assessment and vulnerability analysis

(HRVA) and came up with a Composite Risk Atlas or the entire state this however only uses

historic data to estimate the disaster occurrence requency in a particular block.

At the district level, District Disaster Management Committee monitors pre- and post-disaster

management planning. In the block H.Q. the Block-level Disaster Management Committee

is responsible or monitoring o the Block Disaster Management Plan or eciently handling

natural calamities and disaster.

In terms o ormal monitoring and evaluation, no external overviews o the work o OSDMA

have been undertaken. OSDMA is judged within the state system in the annual report by

classic DRR indicators: the number o reconstruction works undertaken (embankments,

roads, water supply, schools rebuilt) ater major disasters such as oods; the number o

preparedness measures such as multi-purpose cyclone shelters it has created; its progress

on improving communication o warnings o disasters through radio systems; and other

aspects such as the equipment and training provided to the Rapid Action Forces listed.

However capacity building activities are another indication o progress and policy planning

initiatives, such as the creation o a GIS system. The Orissa State Disaster Management

policy 2005, suggested taking risk reduction indicators as one o the monitoring indices or

developmental activities.

Some urther points about NGO activities are relevant in addition to those made in section

2A OSDMA has developed its own database on NGO initiatives or disaster response and

preparedness and held regular consultations with them or sharing inormation, problems,

and plan uture courses o action. This unique innovative and participatory approach made

it possible to handle the 2001 oods efectively. The 2001 oods were an acid test or this

process, which the government and NGOs successully passed. Emergency coordination

among government departments, state headquarters and district administration, along with

NGOs, ensured quick and ecient response to oods. This was made possible due to severalsteps taken by government and NGOs.

23Personal communication Ctran

Consulting


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NGO initiatives to strengthen community-based disaster preparedness, which involved

training, contingency planning, and ormation o village task orces, enabled people to better

cope with oods. Closer collaboration between NGOs and OSDMA enabled OSDMA to assess

capacity building needs, identiy problems, and prepare action plans or strengthening

disaster reduction measures, and helped NGOs to receive support rom the government in

carrying out rehabilitation activities in cyclone-hit areas.

2C ENSURE POLICIES AND PRACTICES TO TACKLE CHANGING DISASTER RISK ARE FLEXIBLE,

INTEGRATED ACROSS SECTORS AND SCALE AND HAVE REGULAR FEEDBACK LOOPS

There is no obvious additional material to include covering this section.

2D USE TOOLS AND METHODS TO PLAN FOR UNCERTAINTY AND UNEXPECTED EVENTS

Planning or uncertainty and unexpected events, currently is related to climate variability and

not climate change. However, since the major new extreme events o the 1998 heat wave,

the 1999 cyclone, the 2004 tsunami, and the 2008 oods, there is now a disaster mindset that

anything can happen:

The geo-climatic conditions o Orissa induce occurrences o natural calamities like ood,

cyclone, re, hailstorm, drought, lightning, heat wave, earthquake and tsunami. Flood

cyclone, hailstorm re and heat wave are more requent and intense bringing misery to the

lives o people24.

As indicated in 2B OSDMA has data and monitoring systems that can identiy trends. The

short-term reactive inormation on cyclones and oods in Orissa, are monitored with the

help o land based, ocean-based and space-based observational systems which include

conventional meteorological observations, reports rom ships, observations rom ocean data

buoys, coastal radar (conventional and Doppler) and national and international satellites

(geo-stationary METSAT, INSAT, OCEANSAT and MEGHATROPIQUES), algorithm development,

timely product generation, and updated terrain/land use mapping, etc. OSDMA runs early

warning system based on 48 hours o advanced weather orecasting rom IMD. This system

worked well in the recent oods in 2001 but more robust research is needed to handle

climate induced challenges like tornados and heavy rain alls.

Land-based systems are linked in to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) with 48

hours o advanced weather orecasting (see this section in the WORLP analysis regarding

drought inormation). These systems work on short-time rames and have not actored in the

additional risks rom climate change or uture planning.

3.3 Pillar Three: Address poverty and vulnerability and their structural causes: disaster risk

reduction and OSDMA

3A PROMOTE MORE SOCIALLY JUST AND EQUITABLE ECONOMIC SYSTEMS

This is the aim o national and state policy and cannot be assessed here.

3B FORGE PARTNERSHIPS TO ENSURE THE RIGHTS AND ENTITLEMENTS OF PEOPLE TO ACCESS

BASIC SERVICES, PRODUCTIVE ASSETS AND COMMON PROPERTY RESOURCES

Protocols based on the potential disturbances are an important step towards the

development o plans or the management o disasters. These have been documented

in relie code guidelines and DDMPs to provide guidance to the ministries, departments

and state authorities or the preparation o their detailed DM plans. These guidelines call

or a proactive, participatory, well-structured, ailsae, multi-disciplinary and multi-sector

approach at various levels. The district disaster management plan contains protocol or line o

command in disaster management and budgetary provisions or emergency procurement in

the case o disaster breakout.

Micro-level disaster management planning is carried out by the Gaon Panchayat Disaster

Management Committee. This committee is supported by respective block oces in their

area o jurisdiction. At village level, the village headman is instructed to initiate the process o

constituting the village-level committees and is supported by the PRIs members and NGOsvolunteers in the development o a community contingency plan. This way local knowledge

is integrated in to the overall planning. Indigenous knowledge about weather orecasting has

24Special Relie Commissioner.

Annual Report 2008-9 page 1


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not been systematically integrated into the planning process. However, these systems are not

ully operative throughout the state so ar there are 16 District Level Disaster Management

Planning Committees, which reach out to 155 Block Level Disaster Management Planning

Committees and 22,000 Village Level Disaster Management Committees.

The ollowing activities are supposed to take place:

Training o trainers and orientation on Block and Panchayat Disaster Management Plans; Formation o Block and Gram Panchayat Disaster Management Committees, working

plans, training o task orces;

Selection and training o volunteers rom each village in CBDP and mitigation andcommunity;

Contingency planning (preparedness and mitigation measures); Hazard vulnerability and resources mapping discussion, ormulation o CCP and approval

by the villages Palli Sabha;

Formation and training o village response groups/task orces; Finalisation and approval o the GP and Block; Disaster management plans; Mock drills, plan implementation and social mobilization at various levels.

However systematic implementation varies rom district to district.

3C EMPOWER COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES TO INFLUENCE THE DECISIONS OF

NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS, NGOS, INTERNATIONAL AND PRIVATE SECTOR ORGANISATIONS

AND TO PROMOTE ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY

See comments under sections 1D and 2A.

3D PROMOTE ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AND CLIMATE SMART DEVELOPMENT

Poverty reduction is the responsibility o departments such as Rural Development and

Agriculture and not directly within the remit o the Revenue and Disaster Department o

GoO where OSDMA is located. The direct connection between revenue and disasters is

due to the work o the Special Relie Organisation created in 1965 or a relie and rescue

operation during and ater occurrence o various natural calamities which as responsibility

or dispensing compensation payments or the impacts o disasters. Nevertheless, because othe concern that the poor are afected most by natural disasters, the State Government does

provide ex gratia payments to amilies or deaths caused by heat stroke or lightning although

these are not ocially national calamities unded by the national government although it

argues or them to become so.

Due to the procedures o its donor agencies such as the World Bank, OSDMA has

incorporated environmental and social risk assessment25. OSDMA only works indirectly on

poverty but does help to ensure that the social protection payments due in the time o

disasters do get paid out, and also uses schemes such as NREGA to get ood protection works

undertaken. OSDMA has taken some steps recently to link livelihood support into disaster

management through the NREGA programme by restoring natural bufers like rivers, lakes

and others. OSDMA could however setup more dedicated mechanisms to ensure that new

projects involving development and related programs adhere to creation o disaster-resilient

livelihoods.

25World Bank- National Cyclone

Risk Mitigation Project 2005


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4. Assessment o the pillars: WORLP

Inormation on the Western Orissa Rural Livelihood Programme (WORLP) used here derives

rom the range o documentation produced in the programme. One major source has been

the Working Paper 69, Synthesis Report, the Efects o Climate Change in WORLP, produced

by the Consultants team to the OWDM rom inputs by Dr Satyanarayan, Dr Bhabani Das,

Mr Ashok Singha and Ms Lopamudra (WORLP, 2009a) reerred to as WORLP WP69 and inaddition, a short policy brie: Climate Change Adaptation in Western Orissa (WORLP, 2009b).

4.1 Pillar One: Tackle changing disaster risk and uncertainties

1A STRENGTHEN COLLABORATION AND INTEGRATION BETWEEN DIVERSE STAKEHOLDERS

WORKING ON DISASTERS, CLIMATE AND DEVELOPMENT

The Western Orissa Rural Livelihood Programme (WORLP) was not constructed as a Climate

Smart Disaster Risk Management approach ormally at the outset, though it was ocused on

Districts in Orissa that were known to experience slow onset disasters. WORLP has been a

long-term DFID supported project located within the Orissa Watershed Development Mission

(OWDM), itsel part o the State Department o Agriculture.

With increased awareness o climate change, the work o the programme has been assessed

with a climate change lens26. It was hypothesised that WORLP would have increased the

capacity o people to adapt to increased levels o climate-induced change and stress. Due

to the monitoring and evaluation ramework o WORLP, there has been documentation

o the coping mechanisms and adaptation practices which have been adopted by local

communities in WORLP areas in response to increased climate-induced vulnerability.

WORLP has developed a large number o partnerships during its operation principally

with state government institutes, research organisations and training organisations with

specialities in crops, agriculture, water, and rural developm

Documents

Orissa State Level