ANIL GUPTA

A systemic review of State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) of three project states in India, viz., Uttarakhand (Hilly, multi-hazard), Odisha (Coastal, multi-hazard) and Uttar Pradesh (Riverine, Flood & Multi-Hazard), envisaging variation in terms of their strategic approach and content given the diversity in their socioeconomic , environmental and development contexts, has been carried out. It looked at the extent to which the provisions of the SAPCCs can be implemented at district, sub-district or local level (municipal, Panchayat/village by utilizing the framework of the Climate-Smart District level Disaster Management Plan (DDMP), district's departmental plans, and the issues of readiness for their implementation through ground action. An innovative exercise of 'Qualitative Coding System' has been undertaken to showcase the effectiveness of Climate Smart DDMP in implementing SAPCC. Key Points • The current implementation mechanisms of SAPCCs are practically non-existent below the state level. Neither there is a legal provision (such as the DDMPs that are mandated by a National Disaster Management Act (2005) nor the district level administration/departments or local bodies-Urban local bodies, Village Panchayats) have yet to come up with their climate action plans. Considering this, potential effectiveness of a Climate-Smart District Disaster Management Plan (Puri district of Odisha) prepared under the CDKN supported project (executed by GEAG, ISET, SDMA and DDMAs) has been assessed for meeting the objectives of SAPCC implementation. • DDMPs are implemented by the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) through their line departments (involving local government agencies) which are close to ground realities on nature and diversity of impacts resulting from different climatic disasters and extremes events on land, lives, property, ecosystem and resources of the people. In addition, the DDMP has established a mechanism for inter-department/inter-agency coordination-not only to respond to climate induced disaster but also to identify the vulnerability and risk to climate change, identify and implement mitigation actions and facilitate in capacity building of the key stakeholders. These features can greatly augment the capacity of states to implement SAPCCs by matching them with a bottom-up facilitation network. This includes the fact that they vertically integrate all units of government from village and cities to national level. • In strategic hierarchy, the SAPCCs are between the national policy (NAPCC – with Eight National Missions and National Disaster Management Plan) and the ground level implementation of proposed actions and programmes at lowest administrative levels-district and local levels (Urban Local Bodies, Gram Panchayats). Thus, the implementation of SAPCCs at local level can be significantly bolstered by engaging with institutional, financial and monitoring mechanisms as envisaged in these Climate-Smart DDMPs (for example, Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, Puri in Odisha and Almora in Uttarakhand). • An innovative exercise of 'Qualitative Coding System' has been undertaken as a tool for assessing effectiveness of climate smart DDMP in implementing SAPCC. Therefore, an enabling framework that is backed by relevant policy and financial provisions is the need of the hour for actualising the implementation of SAPCCs using the provisions of DDMP.

India's Prime Minister opened his long experience including of dealing with major disasters by outlining an Agenda 10 on Disaster Risk Management, during the 7th Asian Ministerial Conference (first after Sendai Framework) in November 2016. Disaster risk, much talked but less understood, particularly how hazards proceed into disaster, is still a valid question to explore, as evident from Priority 1 of Sendai Framework of Disaster Risk Reduction, i.e., 'Understanding Disaster Risk'. The paradigm shift, now second one – to disaster risk management, encompassing climate resilience factors and sustainable development focused, therefore, calls for an honest introspection of the journey and efforts at country level and to delineate a prudent roadmap for attaining the goals of three major agreements to which India is signatory to, viz. SFDRR, Paris Climate Agreement and SDGs. Asian Ministerial Conference Inaugural speech of the Prime Minister delineated the framework for simple and practical roadmap for achieving sustainable development through DRM. The linkages of DRM Agenda 10 of the Indian Prime Minister have been analyzed in this paper to delineate some of the key principles and actions for implementation, and to envisage the concerns of three international policies at the same time, in the light of lessons drawn from three studies on climate resilient disaster management and developmental planning undertaken in Odisha, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.