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Pathways to
Climate Resilient Livelihoods in the
Himalayan River Basins
August 1–2, 2013
Venue: Hotel Clarion Collection-Qutub, New Delhi 110001
Organized by
Institute of Rural Management Anand, India
In Association with
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Austria
Rural Support Programmes Network, Pakistan
Young Power in Social Action, Bangladesh
Supported by
International Development Research Centre, Canada
Department for International Development, United Kingdom
Institute of Rural Management, Anand-388001, India
January 2014
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PROCEEDINGS
OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
PATHWAYS TO CLIMATE RESILIENT LIVELIHOODS
IN THE HIMALAYAN RIVER BASINS
Edited by:
Abhishek Nair
Pramod K. Singh
K.V. Raju
H.K. Mishra
Chintansinh V. Suratia
Organized by
Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) – India
In Association with
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) – Austria
Rural Support Programmes Network (RSPN) – Pakistan
Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) – Bangladesh
Conference Proceeding 01
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Published by:
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Post Box No. 60
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Printed at: Anand Press, Gamdi, Anand
iii
CONTENTS
AKNOWLEGEMENTS ......................................................................................... VIII
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................... IX
INAUGRAL SESSION ...........................................................................................01
Welcome Address………………………………………………………………………………..02
Jeemol Unni, Director, Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), Gujarat, India.
Introduction to the Conference………………………………………………….......03
Pramod K. Singh, Professor, Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), Gujarat. India.
Keynote Address……………………………………………………………………………….…05
P. S. Ramakrishnan, Emeritus Fellow, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India.
SESSION I: MANIFESTATIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE.................................08
CHAIR
Prof. P. S. Ramakrishnan, Emeritus Fellow, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi,
India.
SPEAKERS
Hydrologic Regimes under Climate Change in Himalayan River Basins…………………………….09
Prof. Vimal Mishra, Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Gandhinagar,
Gujarat, India.
Changing Profile of Water Resources in the Himalayan River Basin…………………………………12
Dr. B R Sharma, Principal Researcher (WR) and Coordinator, International Water
Management Institute (IWMI), New Delhi, India.
Geological Hazards in the Himalayan Ecosystem…………………………………………………………….15
Prof. Saumitra Mukherjee, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India.
Discussion………………..……………………………………………………………………………………………………17
iv
Session II: CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES TO CLIMATE RESILIENT
LIVELIHOODS .......................................................................................................19
CHAIR
Dr. R Gopichandran, Director, Vigyan Prasar, Department of Science and Technology (DST),
Government of India, New Delhi, India
SPEAKERS
Climate Refugees, Conflicts and Adaptations in the River Basins of Bangladesh………………21
Mr. Muhammad Abdur Rahaman, Research Fellow, Young Power in Social Action (YPSA),
Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Resilient Livelihoods for Himalayas…………………………………………………………………………………25
Mr. Jitender Verma, Director, Centre for Sustainable Development (CSD), Sundernagar,
Himachal Pradesh, India.
Technology Interventions for Developing Livelihoods in Indian Himalayas……………………..27
Dr. Lal Singh, Director, Himalayan Research Group (HRG), DST Core Group, Shimla, Himachal
Pradesh, India.
Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies in Indus River Basins…………………………………………………30
Mr. Fazal Ali Saadi, Specialist, Research and Knowledge Management, Rural Support
Programmes Network (RSPN), Islamabad, Pakistan.
Indigenous Knowledge in use disaster risk reduction: A case of Sikkim Himalaya……………32
Dr. Vimal Khawas, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Sikkim University,
Gangtok, Sikkim, India.
Livelihood Opportunities for Marginal Communities in Central Himalayas……………………..34
Dr. P. Dhaila, Director, Central Himalayan Environment Association (CHEA), Nainital,
Uttrakhand, India.
Discussion………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………36
v
Session III: Discussion on Research Issues ..................................................38
CHAIR
Dr. Vimal Mishra, Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Gandhinagar,
Gujarat, India.
SPEAKERS
Models for Himalayan River System……………………………………………………………………………….39
Dr. Gunther Fisher, Senior Researcher, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
(IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria.
Vulnerability and Hazard Assessment and Community Resilience…………………………………..43
Dr. Gopalakrishna Bhat, Chairman, TARU, New Delhi, India.
Engaging Communities in Adapting to Climate Change……………………………………………………47
Dr. Narayanjeet Negi, President, Himalayan Human and Natural Resource Management
Organisation, Himachal Pradesh, India.
Mainstreaming Adaptations and Enhancing Policy Processes………………………………………….48
Dr. Shirish Sinha, Senior Thematic Advisor, Embassy of Switzerland, New Delhi, India.
Discussion………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………50
Session IV: Roadmap for Collaborations ....................................................52
CHAIR
Dr. Gunther Fisher, Senior Researcher, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
(IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria.
SPEAKERS
Research and Policy Uptake: Pathways through Knowledge Management……………………..53
Dr. K N Vajpai, Environment Specialist, Climate Himalaya, Dehradun, Uttrakhand, India.
Missions under the Climate Change Program of DST: Pathways to Collaboration……………55
Dr. Nisha Mendiratta, Director/Scientist 'F', Department of Science and Technology (DST),
New Delhi, India.
Discussion………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………58
vi
Concluding Session...........................................................................................59
Annexures .............................................................................................................60
Conference Schedule .................................................................................................................... 60
List of Participants......................................................................................................................... 62
vii
AKNOWLEGEMENTS
We would like to express our sincere appreciation to all the chairpersons, eminent
speakers, and panelists for sharing their valuable knowledge and perspectives.
We would also like to extend our genuine gratitude to the Collaborative Adaptation
Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA) for funding this conference.
IRMA expresses heartfelt appreciation to member institutions—International Institute
for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Rural Support Programmes Network (RSPN)
and Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) for their active support for making the
conference a success.
We sincerely acknowledge the efforts of its staff members who worked towards
making the conference a success. We thank Ms Indrani Talukdar for editing the
document.
viii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Mountain systems are essential building blocks for long-term sustainable global
development, poverty alleviation, and transition to a green economy. Communities in
the Himalayan river basins need to be empowered and their livelihoods improved
enabling them to take responsibility for the preservation of natural resources and
fulfill their role as mountain stewards. In order to enhance resilience of livelihoods it
is essential to gain a better understanding of the climate-human-environment
interactions and adopt a climate resilient development pathway.
Climate variability and change has been affecting glacier/snow melt water dependent
hydrological systems in densely populated BIG river basins while degrading
livelihoods. It will continue to affect livelihoods in these basins adversely by altering
water resources, impacting farm and non-farm sectors, health, and tourism finally
leading to societal unrest. It is expected to remain a complex phenomenon impacting
livelihoods and triggering the need for adaptation. Though there are issues
pertaining to conducting local-level assessments and modelling the dynamic nature
of climate change, livelihoods and adaptations; community and livelihood based
adaptations being practised showcase strategies that serve in enhancing resilience.
Therefore there is a need to better understand the manifestations of climate change
its implications on livelihoods and design and scale-up sustainable adaptations, this
will enable mainstreaming adaptation into policy processes and legislation.
Collaborative adaptation research is required to aid evidence-based decision-making
by demonstrating scalable adaptations informed by local and scientific knowledge
relevant to stakeholder needs.
The international conference on “Pathways to Climate Resilient Livelihoods in
Himalayan river basins” was targeted at bringing together researchers, practitioners
and policy makers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh to facilitate mutual
learning on climate change and livelihoods in the Brahmaputra, Indus and Ganges
(BIG) river basins. The focus of this mutual learning forum was to generate a pool of
knowledge regarding the manifestation of climate variability and change in the
Himalayan river basins of South Asia. It was also to elicit suggestions regarding the
multi-disciplinary and multi-scalar integrated approach towards enhancing resilience
of livelihoods most vulnerable to climate variability and change. Additionally, the
conference was aimed at building a network of partners to orchestrate collaborative
action research in the Himalayan river basins of South Asia.
The conference was structured into four thematic domains:




Manifestation of climate change
Challenges to livelihoods and strategies for climate resilient development
Research issues
Roadmaps for collaboration
ix
The first session reviewed the implication of climate variability and change in the
Himalayan river basins while highlighting the observed and future trends of climatic
changes and impacts in the region. Manifestations of climate variability and change
included water resources and biophysical systems. The session emphasised the
need to design adaptations aimed at enhancing resilience towards the present and
future climatic regimes. The second session focused on the consequences of climate
variability and change on livelihoods and strategies that enhance the resilience of
livelihoods through a series of case studies.
Research issues were presented in the third session. Issues pertaining to limitations,
uncertainty in techniques, models and tools for analysing the dynamic nature of the
climate-human-environment system were elaborated. Further issues such as data
un-availability, absence of open source information sharing platforms, limitations
occurring in vulnerability and resilience assessments, and the paucity of enabling
mechanisms for uptake of adaptation measures were highlighted.
In the final session, the main challenge was identified as mainstreaming adaptation
concerns into policy measures. Methods to overcome barriers to adaptations,
converting externally available “information,” e.g., research results into “actionoriented knowledge”, and mainstreaming effective adaptations into a policy process
by developing fiscal, non-fiscal, and institutional mechanisms were proposed along
with the need and the opportunities for collaborative adaptation research to provide
an evidence base for guiding policy processes.
x
Inaugural Session
Welcome Address
Jeemol Unni, Director, Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), Gujarat,
India.
Introduction to the Conference
Pramod K. Singh, Associate Professor, Institute of Rural Management Anand
(IRMA), Gujarat. India.
Keynote Address
P. S. Ramakrishnan, Emeritus Fellow, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New
Delhi, India.
1
Welcome Address
Jeemol Unni, Director, Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), Gujarat, India.
Jeemol Unni opened the session with the conference’s deliberations saying that
climate change exacerbations have manifested in the Himalayan river basins. She
highlighted in this context the recent droughts and floods in South Asia. She claimed
that ecology and environment were deteriorating and degrading due to the
manifestations of climate change, extreme events, and development activities. Citing
an example of the disasters she pointed out that globalisation and climate change
could act as a double exposure event further impacting livelihoods. She explained
the need for climate resilient livelihoods and disaster risk reduction strategies in the
Himalayan river basins owing to incremental risks associated with climate change.
2
Introduction to the Conference
Pramod K. Singh, Associate Professor, Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA),
Gujarat, India.
Pramod K. Singh’s presentation was on ‘Climate change and livelihoods in the
Himalayan river basins’. He commenced his presentation by providing an overview
of IRMA stating that “IRMA is an institution with a difference; blending management
and development in all endeavours and activities”. Emphasising that the mission of
IRMA was to promote sustainable, equitable, and eco-friendly socio-economic
development of rural people through professional management, he briefed the
audience on the institutions collaborating with IRMA to support adaptations for
enhancing livelihood resilience to climate change. The International Institute for
Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austria; Rural Support Programmes Network
(RSPN), Pakistan; and Young Power in Social Action (YPSA), Bangladesh were the
associate partners for the conference. He then proceeded to set a boundary around
the conference while discussing the following objectives



To generate a pool of knowledge on the subject
To elicit suggestions for framing up research agenda
To identify theme-based potential collaborators
He said it was essential to understand how livelihoods of the locals, residing in the
Himalayan river basins, could be made climate resilient. He also dwelled on the
importance of cross-scale mutual learning forums.
Further, he gave a brief overview of the Himalayan river basin regions based on
district-wise indicators like population density, literacy sex ratio, etc. He spoke about
the various reasons that make the Himalayan river basins a climate hotspot. The
variation in rainfall and increasing temperature normals has impacted flow regimes
and magnitude along with the timing of peak flow and turbidity of water. He
mentioned that the cascading impacts arising from these physical changes occur
mainly on the natural assets of various livelihood sectors. He stressed the need to
combine assessments of livelihood resilience and vulnerability to climate variability
and change for strategising adaptations.
He emphasised that communities in the Himalayan river basins need to be
empowered and their livelihoods improved so that they can take responsibility for the
preservation of natural resources and fulfill their role as mountain stewards. In order
to achieve this objective, it is essential to gain a better understanding of climatehuman-environment interactions and mainstream adaptations for climate resilient
livelihoods through conscientising communities, practitioners, and policymakers. He
further touched upon the limited research on adaptations to climate change in the
Himalayan river basins. Enabling communities for sustainable adaptations to
3
enhance ecosystems services and livelihoods’ resilience remain scantly addressed
and need to be demonstrated for scaling and replication.
He averred that enhancing adaptive capabilities and resilience were imperative and
the way forward is through equity and sustainable development practices. Finally, he
was hopeful that bringing together national and international researchers,
practitioners, and decision makers would provide an opportunity for mutual learning
while generating a pool of knowledge, which may be the stepping stone to scaling
climate-adaptive livelihoods in the Himalayan river basins.
4
Keynote Address
P. S. Ramakrishnan, Emeritus Fellow, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India.
P. S. Ramakrishnan, in his presentation on ‘Manifestations of climate change’,
spoke about the varied dimensions to climate change wielding formidable
implications on ecological and social systems. According to him, a bird’s eye view of
climate change impacts would lead to a misunderstanding of the underlying local
complex issue. The four major highlights of his presentations were:

Manifestation of climate change on biodiversity from sub-specific to landscape
level;

Implications of climate change on food security;

Use of biodiversity as a tool for sustainable development; and

Pathways to reduce conflicts arising from climate change
He mentioned the fact that the Himalayan region exhibits diversity both in terms of
culture and biology. He said that the interconnection between biodiversity and
cultures are mutually supportive. Speaking of services provided by biodiversity he
highlighted the issues regarding the valuation of intangible services, which is always
unrequited.
Ramakrishnan regarded issues pertaining to globalisation and climate change as the
main drivers of global change creating new ecological, economic, political and
social changes. The problem of environmental uncertainties, a complex issue, has
been further exacerbated at the global level by two major phenomena, global change
as an ecological phenomenon (complex interactive ecological events—climate
change linked global warming arising from ‘green-house gas emissions’, biodiversity
depletion linked with land use/land cover changes and biological invasion by alien
species) and ‘globalisation’ of economies that essentially promotes monoculture,
arguing for maximising production by having what is most suited under the given
environmental situation. In other words, dynamic conservation and sustainable
management of biodiversity are a set of complex issues attracting global attention.
Presenting a few statistical details he said more than 45 percent agricultural
communities live in largely deforested rural plains; approximately 30 percent
traditional societies live close to nature in biodiversity rich forested regions, and more
than 75 percent of the population is dependent on natural resources. He believed
sustainable sciences to have a strategic approach encompassing social, economic,
and environmental dimensions while combating the impacts arising from the global
drivers of change.
In the context of the rapidly emerging paradigm in the global climate and economies’
regimes there is an emphasis now on conserving unique ecosystems and
5
biodiversity. According to him, ‘hybrid technologies’ derived by linking hypotheticodeductive process (formal ecological knowledge) and traditional ecological
knowledge (TEK) available with local communities is sure to provide invaluable
insights as regards the conservation of biodiversity. Especially in the context of food
security wherein the mountain-system is often emphasised for highly diversified
socio-ecological systems operating in highly fragile environmental situations.
He stressed the need for recapitulation in terms of where we stand today in our
understanding of TEK. The concept of TEK has been extended to encompass
traditional institutional arrangements in the Indian Himalayan mountains context.
Mountain societies have had as many different ways of traditional institution building
as there exist ethnic groups running into a few hundreds with some still surviving.
This implies that whilst relating science to address societal concerns in the area of
conservation-linked sustainable development the right kind of institutional
arrangements could play a key role in ensuring community participation. Linking
knowledge systems as the basis for sustainable land use management and
sustainable livelihoods of the people is key to addressing not only a range of land
use related sustainability issues but also climate change linked conflicts. He
underscored the fact that mountain communities, with the help of public and private
organisations, should aim at conserving and restoring ‘cultural landscapes’ while
linking them to sustainable management strategies. With external pressures giving
way to rapid deforestation and land degradation and with modern societies trying to
impose a developmental pathway that is often alien to value systems, conflicting
situations have been emerging with cultural landscapes being altered drastically.
Discussing the possible pathways for sustainable land use management with
concerns for natural and human-managed ecosystems he said that one of the
possible ways was to redevelop traditional systems instead of buffering through
sustainable management. Highlighting an example of agricultural development he
said that if we were to consider high input modern agriculture as only one of the
possible pathways for agricultural development we could have at least two more
additional pathways for sustainable agriculture: (a) evolution by incremental change
and (b) restoration through the contour pathway, apart from the auto-route that
symbolises modern agriculture.
The present day systems have to be redeveloped through incremental changes. A
value-based approach is required which may be effected through building by
degrees on the very traditional systems, introducing modern technology inputs (if at
all required) to the barest minimum and effecting restoration through the contour
pathway wherein socially valued and ecologically significant keystone species are
emphasised as opposed to any of the text-book based system models.
A TEK-linked developmental pathway is the key to conserving the cultural
landscapes of communities for ensuring human security. Indeed, there is every
6
possibility of these conflicts being exacerbated through climate change which is
becoming a reality now, he summed up.
At the end of the inaugural session the participants were introduced. Participants
also spoke about the organisations that they are presently associated with and their
mission while stating their work areas.
7
Session – I
Manifestations of Climate Change
CHAIR
Prof. P. S. Ramakrishnan, Emeritus Fellow, Jawaharlal Nehru University
(JNU), New Delhi, India.
SPEAKERS
Hydrologic Regimes under Climate Change in Himalayan River
Basins
Prof. Vimal Mishra, Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT),
Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India.
Changing Profile of Water Resources in the Himalayan River
Basin
Dr. B R Sharma, Principal Researcher (WR) & Coordinator, International
Water Management Institute (IWMI), New Delhi, India.
Geological Hazards in the Himalayan Ecosystem
Prof. Saumitra Mukherjee, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New
Delhi, India.
8
Hydrologic Regimes under Climate Change in
Himalayan River Basins
Prof. Vimal Mishra, Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Gandhinagar,
Gujarat, India.
ABSTRACT
Climate change is expected to influence the hydrologic regimes in the Himalayan
River Basins. In this study downscaled APHRODITE and Princeton datasets are
used to project changes in precipitation and temperature respectively. A major part
of the Himalayan region observed significant warming during the period 1973-2007
in mean annual and winter season temperatures. The Himalayan region is projected
to experience a warming of 1-1.5º C (2010-2039) in the near term climate and 3.5 ºC
in the end term (2070-2099). The mean annual daily precipitation is projected to
increase in the Eastern Himalaya region while it is projected to decline in the western
part. The sub-watersheds that experienced declines in the monsoon season rainfall
and increased warming are particularly at risk for water availability. Under, projected
future climate, frequency of soil moisture drought events is expected to increase in
the Himalayan region, which could impose detrimental impacts on agriculture and
water resources in the region. The projections also suggest substantial declines in
the precipitation in the Indus basin in the 21st century.
Vimal Mishra presented ‘Hydrologic regimes under climate change in India’,
identifying the key challenges to water resources and hydrology. He pointed to a gap
in the understanding of hydrological changes and the influence of climate variability
and climate change on the nature of hydrologic and climatic extremes. The impacts
of climate change on water resources lead to skewed supply with soaring demands.
His presentation covered the observed and projected trends of temperature and
precipitation over the Himalayan river basins. He further discussed two key waterrelated climatic anomalies. The first being drought, it’s observed scenario and future
projection, and the second being the extreme precipitation event of Uttrakhand that
occurred in June, 2013.
Presenting the observed climatic trends over the Himalayan river basin analysed
using APRODITE and Princeton datasets he said heterogeneous trends have been
observed during the monsoon (JJAS) season. A few sub-watersheds experienced
significant decline while a few experienced substantial increases during 1951-2007.
A dominant part of the region observed significant warming during 1973-2007 in
terms of mean annual and winter season temperatures. The sub-watersheds that
experienced decline in the monsoon season and increased warming are particularly
at risk for water availability, he confirmed.
9
Source: IWMI
The multi-model ensemble (from 32 CMIP5 models, RCP4.5) mean projected
change in the mean annual temperature suggests that the Himalayan region has
been projected to experience warming by about 1-1.5 ◦C in the near term (20102039) climate. The region is projected to become warmer by 2.5 ◦C towards the end
of mid-term (2040-2069) and by 3.5 ◦C towards the end of end term (2070-2099)
climate. The mean annual daily precipitation has been projected to increase in the
Eastern Himalayan region and to decline in the Western part (in the Indus basin). In
the near term (2010-2039) the multi-model ensemble mean projection from 32
CMIP5 models suggests a decline in precipitation in most parts of the Indus basin.
The projected changes in precipitation are likely to intensify in the mid-term (20402069) and end term (2070-2099) climate. The projections suggest a substantial
decline of precipitation in the Indus basin in the 21st century. However, downscaled
and biased corrected projections at high resolutions will be more reliable for studying
the impacts and vulnerability associated with water resources and extreme events in
the region.
He pointed out that climate change complicates the issue of food and water security
further. Citing several studies he mentioned that the main cause of the alarming
state of food insecurity in India is attributable to water scarcity (enormous pressure);
the ever-increasing population of India has created a vicious cycle coupled with the
intensifying extraction of water resources to meet increasing food demand.
Discussing a paper by Immerzeel et al. (2010) he said that the future climate change
scenario would lead to decline and shift in the peak flow of rivers of the Himalayan
river basin.
10
According to Mishra, the term drought may refer to meteorological drought
(precipitation well below average) and agricultural drought (low soil moisture).
Projections from multi-model ensembles of change in agricultural drought and
groundwater over the 20th century show declining Soil Moisture Percentile (SMP)
and groundwater resources. On the subject of agricultural droughts he stated that
the decline in monsoon precipitation coupled with increased monsoon temperatures
would translate to a decline in soil moisture during the monsoon season. A decline in
soil moisture may be seen across the mountainous river basin, temperature
increment having enhanced evaporation leading inevitably to reduced soil moisture
and to a higher frequency and intensity of droughts. The absolute number of
droughts has risen over the last 50 years along with the areal extent of extreme
categorical drought. The frequency of meteorological droughts has been projected to
decline and the frequency of agricultural droughts to increase.
Mishra concluded his presentation by discussing the extreme precipitation event of
the Uttrakhand floods and mentioned that the probability of such an event is very
low. Presenting the results of his study he emphasised that heavy rainfall had
occurred for more than 10 continuous days in the Alaknanda watershed causing the
system to reach its tipping point. He mentioned that it was a “rarest of rare event” as
the return period of such an event occurs once in ten thousand years. He summed
up by highlighting the problems related to data unavailability and uncertainty while
dealing with climate models and the extreme importance of understanding the
correct interaction between the hydrological variables.
11
Changing Profile of Water Resources in the
Himalayan River Basin
Dr. B R Sharma, Principal Researcher (WR) and Coordinator, International Water
Management Institute (IWMI), New Delhi, India.
ABSTRACT
Development of societies is shaped to a large extent by their resource base. Water
resources projects provide the basis for regional development with significant direct
and indirect benefits for poor people. Pressures on water resources are growing with
continuous population growth, inefficient groundwater infrastructures and landscape
changes. The problem is compounded with global climate change adversely
affecting the availability of groundwater. Future scenarios show an increasing
temperature in the Ganges and Indus basin with higher precipitation variability.
Managing the increasing demand and competition is a concern for planners and
policy makers. To effectively respond to the effects of climate change, climate
resilient development with water management systems incorporating the priorities of
poor people in a sustainable manner are required. There is a need to strike a
balance between the provisioning, regulatory, cultural and supporting services and
having a multifunctional “green” basin model approach to improve food, livelihood,
and nature. Some of the possible options include installing large-scale aquifer
recharge to make efficient use of the monsoon surplus water, improved and efficient
sharing of the trans-boundary Himalayan Rivers for improved productivity and
resilient agriculture and livelihoods, as well as alleviation of vulnerabilities in this
large but fragile Himalayan river basin.
BR Sharma gave a presentation on the ‘Changing profile of water resources in the
Himalayan river basin’. He discussed the emerging issues on water resources, its
causes, present status, and concluded with recommendations for the private and
public sector institutions regarding water resource planning. These included striking
a balance using a multifunctional “green” model.
Sharma identified climate change as a major driver for changing water resources
apart from groundwater developments and other national river linking projects
(NRLP) that could exercise a larger impact on water supplies. The climate, which
covers the amount and timing of precipitation as well as the glacial dynamics across
the Himalayan river basin, affects water supply. According to Sharma, the seasonal
contribution of glaciers shows greater variability in the Ganges basin compared to
the Indus river basins. In support of his comment he presented the results of average
stream flow simulated for the period 1982–2002. The results of the study concluded
12
that glacial flow occurs predominantly between the months of June and September
while it is almost nil in other months in the Ganges basin. The glaciers’ contribution,
which is year round, is more pronounced between June and September.
Discussing the results of an analysis of future scenarios in the context of
temperature increase in the Ganges basin he said that the impact on annual stream
flow decreases from upstream to downstream. This is because contribution from
rainfall decreases while evapotranspiration increases. The extra flow owed to glacier
melt is highly significant in the Upper Ganges’ basins. As the glaciers' contribution
mainly occurs during the high flow season, the stream flow is logically greater during
that time (May to October) while there is hardly any modification during the lean flow
season. Temperature rise of this nature could increase the frequency of flood events
or amplify their magnitude. Similar trends have been observed for the Indus basin
but of a greater magnitude. He further mentioned that the Brahmaputra has been
widening at an alarming rate. Due to the high rate of erosion the annual average loss
of land amounts to 8,500 ha approximately.
He then proceeded to discuss the groundwater and irrigation developments.
Presenting data on the numbers and location of groundwater structures in the years
1987, 1994, 2001, and 2007 he pointed out that contrary to the national trend tube
wells had declined in absolute numbers in West Bengal and other East Indian states.
Despite a well-connected network of canals in Punjab groundwater remains the main
source of irrigation. He commented that past performances had not been impressive.
According to him, investments of about 50 billion USD in major/medium irrigation
since 1991 had shown no effective increase in the net irrigated area. Discussing the
present scenario of Indian rivers he stated that water scarcity had increased owing to
greater groundwater withdrawal and depletion.
Figure 1: Multifunctional green basin model
13
Pointing to impediments in groundwater development he said that pervasive
groundwater irrigation system was a South Asian phenomenon and the groundwater
boom was a response to the inability of public systems to meet growing water
demands. He commented on the private groundwater explosion saying that it was
undermining, even cannibalising, public water systems. He mentioned that in West
Bengal groundwater is the only source of irrigation the year round; this has
compounded land scarcity making it imperative for farmers to grow 2-3 crops a year
just for survival.
Summing up his presentation he said the major issue of the future concerns
enhancing the productive use of water for multiple growing needs. An effective
response would be the promotion of a climate resilient development pathway with
water management systems incorporating the priorities of poor people in a
sustainable way. There is a need to adopt a multifunctional “green” basin model
approach (figure 1) that strikes a balance between the provisioning, regulatory,
cultural, and supporting services besides ensuring food and livelihood security in the
Himalayan river basin.
14
Geological Hazards in the Himalayan Ecosystem
Prof. Saumitra Mukherjee, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India.
ABSTRACT
The Himalayan range is prone to multiple hazards. Geological hazards in the
Himalayan ecosystem are due to seismicity, fluvial geomorphology, and the
influence of unprecedented climatic changes. The fragility of the region stems mainly
from the evolutionary history of the terrain and highly unstable slopes causing major
mass movement. The frequency and the severity of geological hazards have
increased due to the combined effect of tectonic movements and heavy precipitation
events causing landslides. Anthropogenic activities like tourism are also attributed to
geological hazards. Land use planning in this active seismological region should be
carried out after a detailed spatial analysis. Encouraging local governments to
evaluate and develop a plan with the integration of scientific knowledge to reduce the
risk is crucial.
Saumitra Mukherjee spoke about the ‘Geological hazards in the Himalayan
ecosystem’. He mentioned the Himalayan ecosystem representing diversity in both
its physical and ecological attributes. Pointing out the geomorphology of the
Himalayan region he said that the rocks in the Himalayan system are fragile due to
highly unstable slopes causing major mass movements. The fragility of the region
stems mainly from the evolutionary history of the terrain. He highlighted the need to
manage the geomorphic terrain specific ecosystem while dealing with such a diverse
landscape. It is essential to infer the trend in geological hazards in the Himalayan
ecosystem based on the seismicity and influence of global warming on fluvial
geomorphology.
The geological hazards in the Himalayan ecosystem are also based on
anthropological activities along with climate change. Development of the ecosystem
as a tourist spot has exerted heavy pressure on the system. An early warning of the
trend had been given by the destruction of ecologically significant species including
phytoplankton (diatoms) and Zoobenthos (stone fly) in the upper reaches of some of
the Himalayan rivers. Seismotectonics and changes in river courses were correlated.
As a spatial correlation exists between rapid mass wasting and heavy precipitation,
landslide events are likely to increase owing to climate change. The demarcation of
hazard prone zones is imperative in the region. According to Mukherjee, the
interdisciplinary approaches in use under the GIS environment may be employed for
preparing hazard prone maps of the region.
15
He concluded his presentation by talking about an ongoing project that he and his
team are working on. Sharing some critical findings he said that the role of extra
terrestrial particles i.e. the layer of aerosols present over the Uttrakhand region may
have played a strong role in the disaster occurrence of June 2013.
Source: The third pole
An increasing frequency of disasters attributable to climate change and the resultant
impact on human systems in the Himalayan region are critical, the area being home
to a large proportion of the global population. Underscoring the high seismology of
the region he said that land use planning in the region should be conducted using a
detailed spatial map while keeping a note of the present lineaments and faults.
16
Discussions
Session - I
Following the first session a round of discussions helped highlight issues, findings,
and research demands. The following are the key points that emerged during the
discussion
Issues
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Gaps exist in the knowledge of basic climatology of the region
Unavailability of long-term data in the Himalayan river basins is due to the
complexity of the terrain, hence reliability and consistency of data need to
be checked
The is a need for consistent data generation for long-term monitoring of
climatological changes
It is important to include drivers like population dynamics, socio-economic
development, land use changes apart from climate change when analysing
the changing profile of the Himalayan river basins
There is a need to understand the precise impacts of aerosol on present
climate variability
Findings
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The 2013 Uttrakhand floods are considered rarest of rare events
Agricultural drought is most likely to increase in the Himalayan river basin in
future climate regimes
Irrigation development is low in the Himalayan river basin despite large
investments
Groundwater remains the main source of irrigation in the Himalayan river
basin
Climate is likely to increase water insecurity in the Himalayan river basins in
future
There is a strong correlation between heavy precipitation and landslides
with projected increase of landslides in future climate regimes
The accuracy of CMIP5 models regarding predicting Indian monsoon
season needs further investigation
17
Research Demands
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It is imperative to capture issues pertaining to water availability, its changing
spatial and temporal distribution
It is important to understand how impacts of climate change on water
resources translate as stress on food security.
Water management plans should be based on strategies generated using
various models, frameworks, and tools and they should aim for an equitable
and sustainable distribution of resources
Improvement in water resource planning is required by striking a balance
using a multifunctional “green” model.
Hybrid technologies’ derived by linking formal ecological knowledge and
traditional ecological knowledge available with local communities will provide
invaluable insights for conservation of natural resources
18
Session - II
Challenges and Strategies to Climate Resilient
Livelihoods
CHAIR
Dr. R Gopichandran, Director, Vigyan Prasar, Department of Science and
Technology (DST), Government of India, New Delhi, India
SPEAKERS
Climate Refugees, Conflicts and Adaptations in the River Basins
of Bangladesh
Mr. Muhammad Abdur Rahaman, Research Fellow, Young Power in Social
Action (YPSA), Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Resilient Livelihoods for Himalayas
Mr. Jitender Verma, Director, Centre for Sustainable Development (CSD),
Sundernagar, Himachal Pradesh, India.
Technology Interventions for Developing Livelihoods in Indian
Himalayas
Dr. Lal Singh, Director, Himalayan Research Group (HRG), DST Core Group,
Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India.
Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies in Indus River Basins
Mr. Fazal Ali Saadi, Specialist, Research and Knowledge Management, Rural
Support Programmes Network (RSPN), Islamabad, Pakistan.
19
Indigenous Knowledge in use disaster risk reduction: A case
of Sikkim Himalaya
Dr. Vimal Khawas, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Sikkim
University, Gangtok, Sikkim, India.
Livelihood Opportunities for Marginal Communities in Central
Himalayas
Dr. P. Dhaila, Director, Central Himalayan Environment Association (CHEA),
Nainital, Uttrakhand, India.
20
Climate Refugees, Conflicts and Adaptations in the River
Basins of Bangladesh
Mr. Muhammad Abdur Rahaman, Research Fellow, Young Power in Social Action (YPSA),
Chittagong, Bangladesh.
ABSTRACT
Climate change is observed as a challenge to human security. Impacts of climate
change lead to differentiated access and reduced availability of resources leading to
conflicts. Bangladesh is among the countries most vulnerable to the impact of
climate variability and change. Extreme events like sea-level rise, cyclones, flooding
and riverbank erosion have resulted in the loss of homes, land and property and
leading to migration and conflicts. Climate change adaptation measures in sectors
including agriculture, fisheries, water, health, and natural resources are currently
practiced in Bangladesh to minimise climate change induced conflicts and
displacement. A study undertaken by the Young Power in Social Action has been
focussing on identifying problems faced by climate-displaced communities. The
study was undertaken in nine districts of Bangladesh. It is estimated that more than
200 million people may be displaced permanently from their traditional habitats due
to cyclones, tidal surge, and riverbank erosion combined with high saline water
intrusion in Bangladesh. It has been observed that climate change does not directly
displace people in Bangladesh but produces adverse situations exacerbating current
vulnerabilities making it difficult for people to survive where they are, hence people
migrate. Problems faced by climate-displaced communities are in relation to
resettlement and rehabilitation. In their resettlement destinations they are neither
respected, nor protected, creating a loss of identity and triggering conflicts, thereby,
raising security threats. There is a need to provide rehabilitation to climate refugees
in a manner that provides a base to preserve their cultural identity.
Muhammad Abdur Rahaman made a presentation on ‘Climate refugees, conflicts
and adaptations in the river basins of Bangladesh’. Introducing his organisation
Young Power in Social Action (YPSA), Bangladesh he mentioned the thematic areas
on which the YPSA has been working. The organisation works in seven areas
namely health, economic development, human rights, education, disaster risk
reduction and emergency management, environment and biodiversity, and
knowledge management. He mentioned six hotspots of climate refugees in
Bangladesh including the Island Upazilas of Bay of Bengal, the Char lands of tidal
rivers, the Farakka barrage impact zone, the drought prone areas of North Bengal
embracing the Barind Tract, the salinity prone costal belt, and flood prone basins.
21
The presentation highlighted a study conducted in nine districts of Bangladesh
(Rajshahi, Bogra, Sirajgonj, Netrokona, Mymensingh, Kishorgonj, Khulna,
Patuakhali, Bagerhat) with the aim of documenting climate-induced displacement
trends and opportunities for the indigenous population through planned adaptations.
According to the study impacts of climate change vary across Agro Ecological Zones
(AEZ). For instance, in zone AEZ 4–Karatoya-Bangali floodplain the recurring
climatic hazards include drought, floods, cold spells, mist, and hail. In the AEZ 11
higher Ganges floodplain risks occur in the form of water logging in low agricultural
land while long duration floods, river erosion, storm/tornado, tidal surge, and siltation
reduces the river’s depth and increases the frequency and intensity of floods, heavy
rainfall, arsenic in groundwater, scarcity of drinking water, heavy fog, and attacks
from rats and pests in the crop fields. While in the AEZ 12-lower Ganges river
floodplain river erosion, floods due to siltation of rivers, and unplanned road networks
increased the exposure to flooding, storm it has also led to rat attacks in agricultural
fields, arsenic in drinking water, salinity, loss of fish species, and skin diseases. In
the AEZ 16-middle Meghna river floodplain flooding is very common. Besides, there
have been major hazards occurring in the form of river erosion, tremendous siltation
on the riverbed, arsenic contamination in groundwater, and vector-borne diseases. In
the AEZ 17-lower Meghna river floodplain some common hazards include river
flooding, riverbank erosion, vector-borne diseases, arsenic contamination in
groundwater, among others.
These climate-related hazards have resulted in climate-induced displacement. It is
estimated that more than 200 million people may be displaced permanently from
their traditional habitats due to cyclones, tidal surge, and riverbank erosion combined
with high saline water intrusion in Bangladesh. He emphasised that climate change
does not directly displace people or cause them to move out but produces adverse
situations and exacerbates current vulnerabilities making it difficult for people to
survive where they are, hence people migrate. Modelling studies stipulate that
around 1 million people in Bangladesh will be directly affected by sea level rise by
2050; this includes loss of habitat, agricultural land, soil fertility, and ecosystem
services. If sea level rise occurs at a rate higher than predicted without coastal
polders being strengthened at the same time, six to eight million people are likely to
be at the risk of displacement by 2050.
Giving an estimate he said that around 6 million climate refugees have been living in
the exposed locations of Bangladesh. The poorest people living in the extremely
exposed locations of the coastal belt and the mainland river basins of Bangladesh
will be the first to become climate refugees in the coming years. In 2007 and 2009
the houses, land, and properties of 2,462,789 people (32 percent) of 7,693,331
inhabitants were destroyed by repeated cyclones and rising tides in five coastal
districts. Of these, 1,568,980 (64 percent) have been languishing with local climate
refugees on the remaining embankments or higher ground in the exposed zones;
675,113 (27 percent) are squatters or internal climate refugees in cities including
22
Dhaka while 218,656 inhabitants have crossed international borders as global
climate refugees. Climate displaced people are usually poor and marginal who
undergo maximum suffering in the context of human rights, housing, land and
property rights, livelihoods etc. They are not respected, protected, and fulfilled
triggering conflicts and raising security threats in their resettlement destinations.
Proper governance and proactive policies, plus the role of the state are crucial for
mitigating migration and conflicts.
Source: YPSA
Rahaman recommended some adaptation practices that have proven effective in
Bangladesh. These include mini-ponds as drought coping mechanisms coupled with
mango cultivation, maize cultivation, crop diversification, plantation of flood tolerant
trees, rainwater harvesting, composting for natural fertilisers, and reducing soil
moisture content. Off-farm and non-farm activities were suggested for acclimatising
to climate change impacts. Initiatives taken up in Bangladesh for mitigating and
adapting to climate change were briefly discussed. He mentioned the government’s
initiative in terms of creating a “Climate Change Cell” under the Comprehensive
Disaster Management Program with the co-ordination of the Ministry of Environment
and Forests (MoEF). The MoEF has also provided a climate change trust fund to
address the impacts of climate change. Besides, Bangladesh has achieved
alternative membership of the UNFCCC’s ‘Adaptation Fund’.
23
Concluding his presentation he gave some recommendations both at national and
international levels. At the national level he suggested the need to adopt an equalitybased programming framework while protecting people’s access to and control over
natural resources for creating a sustainable future. At the international level, he
suggested the speeding-up of international actions on climate change adaptation
resources and mitigation actions with support in the development of long-term
localised planning for climate change adaptation. These would address the
underlying causes that increase the risk of climate change and enhance resilience of
vulnerable populations.
24
Resilient Livelihoods for the Himalayas
Mr. Jitender Verma, Director, Centre for Sustainable Development (CSD), Sundernagar,
Himachal Pradesh, India.
ABSTRACT
The Himalayan Mountains form the water tower of South Asia nurturing forests,
feeding perennial rivers, providing water for irrigation, and hydropower. They foster
biodiversity and offer a base for multiple livelihoods. Farming practices, livestock,
and forest produce have been the main source of livelihood for people living in the
Himalayas. In this study adaptations that enhance livelihood resilience to climate
change have been discussed followed by current issues and recommendations.
Some adaptations for climate resilient livelihoods include diversified farming
practices such as vegetables, medicinal plants, organic farming, horticulture and
drought resistant traditional crops. Technologies used in the Himalayas, as
adaptation measures against climate change, include greenhouses, sprinklers, micro
irrigation, and high value crops. The main issue of rural livelihoods is the lack of local
human capital. There is a need for developing an institutional mechanism to promote
and popularise entrepreneurship initiatives among the young people and develop
policies and framework to enhance capacities of farmers to add value to various
types of farm produce by processing, marketing, branding, and transportation.
Supporting areas like rural finance, entrepreneurship development, crop
diversification, and community/co-operative farming creates livelihood opportunities.
Jitender Verma started his presentation by providing geographical details of the
Himalayas. The Himalayan range passes through the nations of India, Pakistan,
Afghanistan, China, Bhutan, and Nepal with the total area covering 3.4 million sq.km
of which 115,000 sq. km come under protected areas (these locations are protected
because of their recognised natural, ecological, and/or cultural values). The
Himalayas are very rich in plant biodiversity boasting a lineup of some 1000 plant
species of which 3160 are endemic. There exist about 980 species of birds, 300
species of mammals, 175 species of reptiles, 105 species of amphibians, and 270
species of fish in the Himalayas. Farming practices, livestock, and forest produce
have been the main source of livelihood for people living in the Himalayas.
He said that agriculture covers less than 10 percent of the total land because of its
uneven geomorphologic features and extreme winters. People also practice mixed
cropping patterns to get maximum possible yields from limited available land and are
also involved in cattle rearing and pastoral activities. The natural resources available
in the area are managed and used by the community. He discussed the changes in
25
geographical features and technological advancements that have been embraced to
address these issues.
He mentioned that climate change has affected agriculture, biodiversity, and forests.
He also mentioned that factors including decreasing dependence on farm and
forests for livelihoods, institutionalisation of natural resources, commercial use of
resources, introduction of high yielding crops (wheat, corn, rice, and apple), and the
dependence on external markets for selling and buying products have also played an
important role in changing the socio-economic scenario. He emphasised that the
highest migration has been observed in the states of Uttrakhand and Himachal
Pradesh from where about 36 percent of the total population has migrated due to
declining agricultural productivity and aspiration for higher monetary incomes.
Further in his presentation, he highlighted the present day adaptation measures
geared at enhancing livelihood resilience to climate change. According to him, pest
invasion of crops has gone up due to climate change over the past few years. In
response, diversified farming practices have been acting as adaptation measures.
Diversified farming practices include vegetables, medicinal plants, organic farming,
high value crop, horticulture fruit diversity, and drought resistant traditional crops.
Citing an example from Himachal Pradesh—2011–12—the value of fruits is about
INR 21,000,000, which is more than 50% of the total horticultural value of the state.
He mentioned the technologies employed in the Himalayas as adaptation measures
against climatic change that include greenhouse, sprinklers, micro irrigation,
watershed management, high value crops, etc. He also discussed a few mitigation
measures to combat poverty by promoting industries that include food processing,
niche marketing, branding, eco-tourism, and art and craft.
He stated that some sectors needed training to develop their socio-economic status
and boost education in the Himalayas. Training includes technical skills,
management skills, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship. He emphasised the
need to strengthen village co-operatives, cottage industries, rural finance, rural
management institutes, local knowledge, and rural infrastructure (health, education).
Finally, he mentioned six main components leading to improved rural livelihood.
These include skill development, co-operatives, non-farm activities, value addition,
technical innovation, and entrepreneurship.
26
Technology Interventions for Livelihood Development in
the Indian Himalayas
Dr. Lal Singh, Director, Himalayan Research Group (HRG), DST Core Group, Shimla, Himachal
Pradesh, India.
ABSTRACT
The Himalayan natural resources generate a plethora of goods and services
including carbon sink, perennial water, hydro energy, minerals, soil and nutrients.
Livelihoods of majority of the people and communities are heavily dependent on
natural resources and agriculture. The development of technology-based
developmental strategies is essential to Himalayan river basins. Adoption of
appropriate technologies in cross-cutting sectors like agriculture, drinking water,
environmental sanitation, renewable energy and rainwater harvesting with the idea of
creating climate resilient livelihood will improve the quality of life. The Himalayan
Research Group (HRG) undertakes the initiatives of simplification of technology in
core areas like agriculture and allied activities to generate livelihood and enterprises
through effective communication and the use of local material and resources to
reduce the initial cost. Simplifications in technologies facilitated easy adoption and
were the main innovations that resulted in the sustainability of these programmes
over the years. It is imperative to support and promote the synchronisation of
modern technologies with traditional and indigenous knowledge for sustainable rural
development resulting in the efficient use of existing resources and diversification of
activities leading to rural enterprises.
Lal Singh from the Himalayan Research Group (HRG), DST, addressed various
climate change related issues in the Himalayan mountain ecosystems. He
emphasised the need for climate resilient livelihood strategies and presented
adaptation interventions conducted by the HRG in the region. Singh stated that
livelihood strategies resilient to climate change should address the current
challenges and develop the capacity to adapt to future projected change. During his
presentation he discussed adaptation strategies like micro-financing/ insurance,
vermi-composting, and fodder and silage development that are supported by the
Himalayan Research Group.
According to Singh information deficit regarding planning and management is the
main challenge faced by the communities, making them vulnerable. He also
highlighted the function of adaptive capacities including access to services like credit
and savings to diversify livelihoods of communities that helps them to cope during
crisis. He said that specific needs of women and vulnerable sections should be
27
prioritised through empowerment while providing knowledge and the means for
adaptation.
He accentuated the need for strengthening community groups, which also helps in
scaling up and implementing science and technology based activities and
enterprises that increase livelihood opportunities. It also helps to put into practice the
effective trading services of farmers’ produce. He mentioned some HRG-supported
livelihood strategies that serve to enhance adaptive capacity including fodder
development, silage, household tourism, and handicraft yielding optimum returns.
Singh highlighted the HRG initiative in the context of providing support to community
building and training. The HRG has organised 24 women saving groups (WSGs),
belonging to 271 households, aiming to start new avenues of earning with minimal
interest with the krishi credit card (KCC) scheme supporting the purpose. He also
pointed to the effectiveness of these SHGs lying in the members’ saving money and
giving each other loans. All 24 WSGs are linked to the Punjab National Bank; their
savings (as of 31-01-2013) amount to INR 312,893. He also mentioned HRG’s
intervention in the fodder and silage development for livestock rearing. Various
training camps have been organised for members of WSGs regarding information
about fodder and silage practices. Fodder and silage development helps reduce
fodder wastage by 40-70% through fodder cutters and improved stall-feeding. Silage
development enhances fodder nutrition; leading to augmented milk yields and milk
fat content. Improved varieties of grass and silage increase the health and fertility of
cattle. They also help reduce fire hazards with the storage of dry fodder in
households decreasing.
The HRG has also developed a business model for button mushroom cultivation,
which was established in 2002 in six districts within the state of Himachal Pradesh
with financial linkages in the midst of the Punjab National Bank. Various suppliers of
commodities including wheat straw and chicken manure, local women cultivators,
youth, vegetable vendors, and transporters are involved in this model in Punjab. The
HRG has also developed a business model for Chirayita (Swertia perennis)
cultivation embracing different stages, post harvest management, and marketing.
Chirayita is a medicinal plant indigenous to the temperate Himalayas. So far, a yield
of 3693 Kg has been harvested by a total of 540 farmers. A return of INR 705,300 is
gained from Chirayita production. Additionally, a return of INR 314,190 is gained
from Chirayita seed production.
Singh further discussed the vermi-composting technology, an agro-ecological
intervention at the level of family and rural village farming that is simple and costeffective. It is primarily used for composting in agricultural fields. The surplus amount
of compost is sold in the market to generate cash for the WSGs. The sale of vermicompost has generated revenues worth INR 679,000. He emphasised that the overconstruction of resorts, hotels, and guest houses has been causing suffering to the
Himalayan mountain systems owing to the resource intensive nature of the tourism
industry. The overwhelming share of tourism revenue flows outside the region by-
28
passing local people. Household inmates, especially women and girls, are trained in
hospitality with a standard code of conduct to avoid conflict and undue associations.
Household-based business enterprises like home stay, agro-tourism, and highland
trekking provide direct employment to locals in the valley enabling livelihood security.
Scientific information on traditional crops, agricultural practices, cattle rearing, living
and culture along with the local involvement of people is collated and provided to the
registered households and tribal community at large to sustain activity and tourism
enterprise on a long-term basis. The initiative restricts the construction of costintensive unplanned concrete guesthouses on fragile hill slopes and on limited
agricultural land in the valley. The locals also generate revenues from various
agricultural products and handicrafts.
Singh later touched upon the HRG’s initiative to promote the use of solar energy for
space and water heating to reduce fuel wood consumption. Fabrication of solar
retrofitting by local artisans with local material generates local employment and
establishes rural enterprise. This has diminished challenges vis-à-vis the womenenergy nexus while empowering women through solar energy use in domestic
requirements to improve their quality of life via effective reduction in firewood
consumption.
Summing up his presentation he said the HRG has been working in the Himalayan
region to help communities secure livelihoods by enhancing their capacities. He
emphasised that the capacity of mountain communities should be augmented
through technology development, rural advancement, and information dissemination
for adapting to climate change impacts. There is an urgent need to develop newer
technology based interventions and to replicate them in the region to enhance
livelihood security.
29
Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies in Indus River Basins
Mr. Fazal Ali Saadi, Specialist, Research and Knowledge Management, Rural Support
Programmes Network (RSPN), Islamabad, Pakistan.
ABSTRACT
Declining reservoir storage capacity by 30% over the last 30 years, increased water
logging, salinisation of irrigated lands and unplanned urbanisation has increased
exposure of disasters to a larger population. The floods of 2010 in Indus Basins have
affected the lives and livelihood of people. Livelihood entitlements such as
agricultural crops, and livestock and house structures have been left damaged. The
floods of 2010 called for the need of comprehensive policies to deal with the issue of
reducing disaster risks in Pakistan. In this regard the research carried out by Rural
Support Programmes Network documented relief and recovery work during the Indus
Floods of 2010 to instill lessons for better preparedness against future extreme
events in the Indus basin. The study areas extended from the high mountains (in
Chitral), piedmont area at the confluence of Indus and Kabul rivers (Charsadda),
plains (Dadu), and the Thar Desert (Mithi).The study emphasised that micro
hydropower projects in Chitral have played a critical role in the communities’ ability to
diversify livelihoods and decrease dependence on ecosystem-based sources of
production. Sanitation facilities in Charsada seem to be the key differential between
well-recovered communities. In Dadu, titles to agricultural land provided the main
difference between people who recovered relatively early. People who had access
to hand pumps and groundwater, financial services, and better health facilities
tended to recover faster across the board. On the other hand, households with a
higher ratio of women members were the slowest to recover due to the latter’s
inability to participate in the relief and rehabilitation activities in a conservative
culture.
Fazal Ali Saadi’s presentation highlighted the management system in the Indus
basins with regard to floods and the ways in which policy deals with disaster events.
He also stated some of the key lessons learnt from the floods in Pakistan and the
limitations and challenges of working with the Indus River system.
Giving a broad overview of the Indus river basin he said that the existing
management infrastructure of the Indus basin includes three major storage
reservoirs, 19 barrages, 12 inter-river canals, 45 independent command canals, and
143 large dams at 15-metre heights and above. The major challenges in these
basins constitute a declining reservoir storage capacity by 30 percent over the last
30 years due to sedimentation and poor maintenance, increased water logging, and
30
salinisation of irrigated lands. Urbanisation leading to increased water demand for
domestic and industrial purposes is another major challenge giving way to poor
resource governance. Because of these reasons Pakistan stands among the waterstressed countries and is prone to climate change impacts such as increased
frequency of warm spells and heat waves, increased monsoonal variability,
accelerated recession of glaciers in the Karakorum and Hindukush Himalayas, and
food insecurity due to reduced agricultural productivity.
He presented some of the key lessons learnt from the 2010 floods. He stated that
while the floods were not unprecedented their magnitude and the damages wreaked
in their wake can only be understood subsequent to an estimate of the damages.
Blockage in the lateral flow drainage appears to be an important contributor to
extended flooding and water logging. The significance of social protection for climate
change resilience was also highlighted during the presentation. The advent of micro
hydropower projects in Chitral has played a critical role in the communities’ ability to
diversify livelihoods and decrease dependence on ecosystem-based sources of
production. Sanitation facilities in Charsada seem to be the key differential between
well-recovered and less recovered communities. In Dadu, titles to agricultural land
provided the main difference between people who recovered relatively early. People
who had access to hand pumps and groundwater, financial services, and better
health facilities tended to recover faster across the board. On the other hand,
households with a higher ratio of women members were the slowest to recover due
to the latter’s inability to participate in the relief and rehabilitation activities in a
conservative culture. The floods have equally affected the people and livelihood
sources including agricultural crops and livestock, and house structures. But
recovery has been faster for house structures compared to livelihood sources of
agriculture and livestock. Response programmes may focus more on rehabilitation of
livelihoods and they may explore options with insurance companies in the context of
micro-insurance for livestock and crops.
Some of the key limitations in overcoming these challenges in policies are
attributable to overlapping laws and institutional jurisdiction. No enforceable laws
exist for establishing functional linkages with existing ministries, departments,
commissions, and authorities responsible for disaster response. More importantly,
there are no roadmaps for incorporating community-based disaster management
and no arrangement exists for taking communities’ views.
Concluding his presentation Saadi mentioned that the role of social protection
measures could create a big impact on disaster-affected regions if implemented
properly. Research is not only required at local or community levels but also at the
policy level owing to government-level institutions existing in a state of disarray after
the 18th amendment of the constitution in Pakistan and it is imperative that attention
be given to them.
31
Indigenous Knowledge in Disaster Risk Reduction in
Sikkim Himalayan
Dr. Vimal Khawas, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Sikkim University,
Gangtok, Sikkim, India.
ABSTRACT
Traditional knowledge is developed from experience gained over centuries and
adapted to the local culture and environment and is transmitted orally from
generation to generation. The Himalayan region with 34 global biodiversity hotspots
and home to over 150 million people has a vast unexploited storehouse of traditional
knowledge. This vital knowledge base is often ignored due to lack of recognition and
importance and is being eroded with time. There has been increasing recognition of
the importance and usefulness of traditional knowledge in adaptation and disaster
risk reduction. Documentation of the application of various traditional knowledge
bases, in management of disaster risk will add to the growing body of traditional
knowledge. There is a need for systematic documentation of traditional knowledge in
climate change research and integrating it with scientific knowledge for sustainable
adaptation and disaster risk reduction strategies. Strategies practised by indigenous
communities are mitigative including terrace farming (Bari khet), grazing cattle on
barren lands and practicing traditional watershed activities (Padhera). Preventive
measures include building temporary fuel wood storage structures during floods,
plantation of fodder trees for better livestock management, and storing food grain in
traditional earthen container (Dhikuti) to ensure survival during rainfall months.
Vimal Khawas, in his presentation, explored the importance of traditional knowledge
in the context of climate change. The presentation opened with Khawas defining
indigenous knowledge vis-à-vis age old refined methods and practices, developed by
previous generations, from an advanced understanding of the local environment.
This knowledge is geared towards saving their belongings and lives from future
natural disasters. Referring to knowledge, innovations, and practices of indigenous/
local communities he gave a broad overview of the Himalayas. He mentioned that
the Himalayan system is ecologically fragile and the dynamics of change in the entire
region is inextricably intertwined with factors including climate, geology, fauna, flora,
water resources, etc. The region having undergone various types of geoenvironmental/ geomorphic processes is prone to natural hazards.
Differentiating between hazards and disasters he mentioned that these hazards
often assume the form of disasters due to the region’s inherent nature, climatic
conditions, and lack of adequate disaster preparedness mechanisms leading to
32
widespread catastrophes and human insecurities. In the context of climatic shifts and
resultant damage he reiterated the significance of traditional knowledge bases. The
latter, owing to the paucity of due recognition and importance, has been eroded over
time. To overcome this situation, he suggested systematically documenting the
traditional knowledge bases and integrating them with mainstream scientific
knowledge. Holistic documentation of the application of various traditional knowledge
bases in the management of disaster risk would add to the growing body of
traditional knowledge and its role is crucial. It will significantly contribute to the
evolving framework of integrating traditional knowledge with that of scientific
knowledge and pave the way for a comprehensive framework of disaster risk
reduction.
Citing the demographics of Darjeeling – Sikkim Himalaya, Khawas presented the
measures taken in this region to resist climate change. He divided these measures
into two categories- preventive and mitigative measures and adaptation measures.
Under preventive and mitigative measures he highlighted the practice of tree/fodder
plantation like Uttis (Alnusnepalensis), Malata (Mallotusphilipensis), Bamboo
(Bambusanutan), Dendrocalamushamiltoni, Dendrocalamussikkimensis), Shimali
(Vitexnutens), Amliso (Thysanolaena maxima) in and around the vulnerable areas.
Terrace farming, also known as barikhet, is rampant in the region. Cattle are
encouraged to graze on barren land in order to be able to survive in times of drought
on dry fodder. People have made traditional stone walls to protect vulnerable areas
from floods, while practising watershed management, also known as Dhara and
Padhera locally.
Within adaptive measures he cited examples of community practices including
building indigenous fuel-wood storage and flash flood management for times of
crisis. Local residents have started a system of livestock management and fodder
management by planting fodder trees increasingly. People are now storing food in
traditional containers like Dhikuti, Bhakari, and Bhar to make it last longer while
ensuring survival during the rains. The community has developed alternate forms of
energy to light up houses including traditional emergency lights to meet power
deficits.
He concluded the presentation saying that traditional knowledge alone is not enough
for tackling the escalating intensity and frequency of varied natural disasters.
Integration of traditional knowledge with scientific and technological knowledge is
vital for comprehensive disaster risk reduction in the region.
33
Livelihood Opportunities for Marginal Communities in
Central Himalayas
Dr. P. Dhaila, Director, Central Himalayan Environment Association (CHEA), Nainital,
Uttrakhand, India.
ABSTRACT
Natural resources are most vital in Uttrakhand in terms of providing fuel wood,
fodder, biomass, and other major and minor forest produces. Management of natural
resources is crucial for supporting livelihoods, particularly among marginal
communities. Over the last few decades the natural resources have been shrinking
due to indiscriminate extraction coupled with large-scale habitat losses affecting
livelihoods of people who are socio-economically poor and belong to backward
classes. Lack of a cohesive approach in development initiatives warrants the need
for integrated natural resource management to support livelihoods. A project
undertaken by the Central Himalayan Environment Association (CHEA) has
diversified livelihood opportunities by increasing bamboo and ringal cultivation
through ecosystem conservation and watershed development activities. The
plantation of species and their conversion into quality products has led to new
avenues for the cottage industries and entrepreneurship which has increased
aspiration for better livelihoods. This intervention has also contributed to mitigating
climate change and increasing the community’s adaptive capacities by providing
alternative sources of livelihood and enhanced ecosystem services.
P. Dhaila, during his presentation, gave an overview of research activities carried out
at the Central Himalayan Environment Association (CHEA). He stated that natural
resources are most vital in Uttrakhand in terms of providing fuel wood, fodder,
biomass, and other major and minor forest produce. Bamboo and ringal
(Arundineriafalcata) are some of the potential resources available in different villages
and adjoining forests of the state of Uttrakhand. Ringal grows on steep mountain
slopes, within temperate zones, at an elevation of 1800–2400m in the Garhwal and
Kumaon hills. It is distributed over 66,000 hectares at elevations between 1800–
2500 metres. The state has over 450 artisan villages that depend on these resources
as their major livelihoods. Bamboo is grown within a 1,394 km2 area across 13
districts of Uttrakhand. The gross commercial bamboo standing stock is estimated at
45,000 m3 in the state. Natural bamboo resources have shrunk over decades due to
their indiscriminate extraction coupled with large-scale habitat loss owed to
development activities and environmental degradation. The people of the village who
practice the craft are socio-economically poor. However, due to limitations of rules,
raw material availability, and awareness regarding trying new products traditional
34
occupation is threatened as it does not yield enough money to support the
craftsmen’s livelihood. Capacity enhancement of the rural population via cultural
industries is crucial in order to augment livelihoods.
He mentioned that during the pilot action research programme, the organisation
undertook a community initiative using a participatory approach in two villages of the
Nainital district in Uttrakhand. During the pilot phase of the project six bamboo
species i.e. Dendrocalmusasper, Dendrocalamusstrictus, Bambusabalcooa, and
Dendrocalamushemiltonii
and
Phyllostachyusnigra
along
with
ringal
(Arundineriafalcata) were grown in community forests and individual land. These
community forests are, in turn, managed and governed by Van Panchayats. A 12.5hectare area has been successfully demonstrated through project intervention. The
species are well-established with a survival rate of above 80 percent due to scientific
extraction and transplanting of ringal. Such interventions have led to enhanced
livelihoods.
Highlighting achievements he said the artisan community has been lately showing its
willingness to plant appropriate species of bamboo in agricultural and fallow land,
especially in terraces along with ringal. Veteran and experienced community
members, along with 20 enthusiastic youths and women, have come forward to
execute the outcome in these two pilot villages. The plantation of species and their
conversion into quality articles has led to new avenues for the cottage industry and
entrepreneurship, encouraging aspiration. The success of this pilot may be assessed
through indicators like community receptiveness to intervention and the new variety
of bamboo, which is also under cultivation.
He concluded his presentation by saying that the pilot had been successful and
extended in 30 villages of Uttrakhand to ensure livelihoods of the deprived artisan
community and biodiversity conservation in fragile mountain areas that are vital for
supporting the downstream rivers.
35
Discussions
Session - II
The points highlighted after the second session are as follows:
Issues








Lack of mechanisms to make communities aware of climate change
implications on livelihoods
Lack of processes for transferring knowledge and demonstrating the use of
technology to the end-users
Need of institutional integration for broad participation
Need for adaptation and resilient tools and frameworks for local-level
assessments
Need for frameworks that facilitate the designing of gender-just adaptation
Need to document traditional knowledge and create a compendium of
positive case initiatives for easy access
Need to develop mechanisms to deal with dysfunctional traditional
techniques
Need to cover existing gaps in knowledge regarding climate-induced
conflicts
Findings






Traditional knowledge and practices are effective while dealing with nearterm climate change in the Himalayan river basins
Ecological conversation led technology based interventions have proven
effective in enhancing livelihood resilience in the Himalayan river basins
An amalgam of traditional and scientific knowledge could prove effective in
anticipatory adaptations
Manifestation of climate change in Brahmaputra leading to influx of climate
refugees
Improving current capacities through sustainable management strategies
serve as planned adaptations
Enhancement in sustainable tourism practices is recommended
36
Research Demands







Institutional and financial mechanisms need to be identified for enhancing
the resilience of local communities
Village institutions need to be strengthened to deal with issues pertaining to
climate change
It is important to understand preparedness and level of acceptance of
communities to receive climate information and knowledge
Training and community awareness programs for creating climate resilient
livelihood are needed
Adaptation options should be output specific while aiming for long-term
security instead of short-term relief
It is necessary to understand the implications of power shifting from the
communities to the bureaucrats on resource management
Bottom-up approach is required for implementation and policy formulation
37
Session - III
Discussion on Research Issues
CHAIR
Dr. Vimal Mishra, Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT),
Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India.
SPEAKERS
Models for Himalayan River System
Dr. Gunther Fisher, Senior Researcher, International Institute for Applied
Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria.
Vulnerability and Hazard Assessment and Community Resilience
Dr. Gopalakrishna Bhat, Chairman, TARU, New Delhi, India.
Engaging Communities in Adapting to Climate Change
Mr. Narayanjeet Negi, President, Himalayan Human and Natural Resource
Management Organization, Himachal Pradesh, India
Mainstreaming Adaptations and Enhancing Policy Processes
Dr. Shirish Sinha, Senior Thematic Advisor, Embassy of Switzerland, New
Delhi, India.
38
Models for Himalayan River System
Dr. Gunther Fisher, Senior Researcher, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
(IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria.
ABSTRACT
Populations in the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra river basins of South Asia are
heavily dependent on water resources originating in the Himalayas. It is expected
that climate change would adversely affect hydrological regimes in the Himalayan
glacio-fluvial system. It is imperative to model future potential climate change
impacts on livelihoods of vulnerable communities, assess the effectiveness of
existing practices, and formulate adaptation strategies for climate resilient
development. An Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) is needed to project changes
in climate and impacts in the Himalayan River basin for the century to help aid
development planning. IAM seeks to integrate representative concentration
pathways (RCPs) with socio-economic pathways (SSPs) and other hydrological
models. This paper provides a multi-model framework for assessing future water
scenarios in the light of climate change and globalisation. This framework combines
RCPs, SSPs, land use, and land use change scenarios with water resource models
and water demand models. This integrated model projects future water supply,
quality, use and requirements to aid decision-making.
Gunther Fisher began his presentation by introducing the International Institute for
Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). He mentioned the current thematic areas on
which the institute has been working. These include energy and climate change,
food and water, poverty, and equity. His presentation highlighted the importance of
using multi-modal assessments by linking biophysical variables to socio-economic
pathways.
He outlined the key features of the new IPCC parallel approach used in the fifth
assessment report (AR5) for scenario generation. He highlighted the need, policy
assumption, and the climate dimension of the new scenario matrix approach. The
parallel process aims to develop scenarios ensuring better integration between
socio-economic driving forces, changes in the climate system, and the vulnerability
of natural and human systems. The new scenarios take alternative futures in global
greenhouse gas and aerosol concentrations as their starting point. These socalled representative concentration pathways (RCPs) may be used in parallel by
Earth System Models (ESMs) and by Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs)
communities.
39
Defining RCPs and Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSPs) he said that RCPs are
a set of four-greenhouse gas concentration (not emissions) trajectories developed
for the climate modelling community as a basis for long-term and near-term
modelling experiments. The RCPs and SSPs are being adopted at macro level by
the IPCC but may also be developed at the meso and micro levels. The SSP’s
process is an effort by the scientific community to develop the next generation of
global socio-economic scenarios to be used in both emission mitigation analyses
and for impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability studies. The SSPs are macro-level
indicators of the possible state of the society in the trajectory of this century.
Presently the scientific community is working with five SSPs while key drivers have
been identified that include population, urbanisation, and GDP levels. The new
scenario’s base is defined along two dimensions in order to explore uncertainty in
the context of socio-economic challenges to mitigation and adaptation.
Fisher further presented some of the results of the population projections in India for
three different SSP scenarios (figure 2). In terms of the absolute number of people
that will exist in 2050 a large difference exists between the SSP’s projections and the
characteristics of the population.
Figure 2: Population projections for India
Various global water resource hydrological models such as Variable Infiltration and
Capacity (VIC) and WaterGAP that deal with hydrological regimes and human
interactions may be deployed for the Himalayan river basins. These models could be
linked to socio-economic pathways as along with technological advancement for the
complete realisation of a scenario. Fisher presented an example to show that
scenarios’ matrices may be developed based on RCPs and SSPs using the water
models.
Discussing his current work he said that the IIASA in its Water Futures Initiative
plans to integrate a water modelling element with the climate change and socio-
40
economic development scenario (figure 3). It also aims at providing the land use
change scenario while highlighting demand and availability in four sectors –
domestic, agriculture, energy, and industry – while looking for solutions to adapt
water management solutions using the governance mechanism.
Figure 3: Multi-model water futures assessment
He mentioned the importance and effectiveness of multi-model and spatially detailed
assessments while highlighting the need for spatially detailed analysis in order to
capture the heterogeneity of the biophysical and social aspects. FAO and IIASA
have developed a spatial analysis system enabling rational land use planning known
as the Global Agro Ecological Zone (GAEZ) model. This model runs on the basis of
an inventory of land resources and evaluation of biophysical limitations and
production potentials of land, which could be used for the Himalayan river basins.
The Agro Ecological Zone (AEZ) analysis yields knowledge of the current and future
production potentials of land; it helps identify land and water limitations while
providing insights into the current yield and production gaps and their causes. The
AEZ is applied to climate, land use, and development studies.
41
Source: REUTERS
He concluded saying that it was important to make a distinction between the models’
accuracy and precision. Global models’ predictions are accurate with low precision.
On the contrary, local models are highly precise but the accuracy is not as high as
that of global models. Summing up his presentation he said that scenario
development is a way of dealing with future uncertainty.
42
Vulnerability and Hazard Assessment and Community
Resilience
Dr. Gopalakrishna Bhat, Chairman, TARU, New Delhi, India.
ABSTRACT
Changes in climate have manifested in several forms of risks and hazards.
However, there is a debate over the rate of change, which varies spatially and is
highly uncertain. Impacts vary from production systems being affected to
repercussions on the availability of natural resources. To understand and gauge
these changes pragmatic vulnerability assessments are needed. Several elements
including livelihoods, incomes, assets and resource characteristics, infrastructure
status determine the vulnerability at regional scales. Here a scenario-based
approach is employed to understand vulnerability for the year 2030, which is scale
dependent i.e. from household to regions to nation level. Vulnerability projections for
2030 including small and marginal farmers are likely to increase despite outmigration and shift to non-farm livelihoods. Per capita water resources are likely to
worsen. Cropping patterns will exhibit changes in the context of horticulture, GM
crops, and contract farming arrangements.
Bhat, during his presentation on ‘Vulnerability and hazard assessment and
community resilience’, highlighted climate risks, hazards and assessing vulnerability
and resilience. During his presentation the need for adaptation tools was
emphasised. He mentioned three major climate change related transformations that
mainly affect the livelihoods in the Himalayan river basins. These are: snow,
precipitation events dominated by extreme patterns, and temperature rise. He
discussed the degree to which these occurrences have exacerbated the vulnerability
of people living in the Himalayan river basins. He claimed that changes in intensity of
precipitation have been causing mudslides, exposing roads to melt water, and
disturbing the fragile sediment balance. Extreme rainfall events lead to flash floods
while erosion of the valley fills and triggers landslides. In the middle Ganges the
water supply is at risk impacting the agricultural produce. Rising instances of crop
loss too has been reported along with extreme floods beyond currently known
scales, especially from snow to rainfall transforming environments upstream.
Groundwater decline is known to augment the cost of irrigation. Besides, there are
issues related to arsenic concentration, unknowns due to variability across years,
and crop viability (especially winter crops). Also, some vector borne diseases are
likely to turn endemic year-long in the plains. Other impacts observed in the Shiwalik
ranges include a rising frequency of forest fires, adversely-affected horticulture
crops, and distributional changes in species’ composition.
43
Presenting business as usual (BAU) 2030 scenarios he pointed out that population
growth will remain high (666 million and 613 million in central and western Gangetic
plains respectively) while the proportion of small and marginal farmers is likely to
increase despite out-migration and shift to non-farm livelihood options. With per
capita water resources already low the situation is likely to worsen. Cropping
patterns will exhibit changes in the context of horticulture, GM crops, and contract
farming arrangements.
Alongside, crop insurance may become popular but
coverage of climate risks will remain questionable. Lastly, joblessness is likely to rise
creating an expanding pool of informal work for the poor. Emphasising on the BAU
scenario 2030, he further argued that climatic variability and change are going to roll
out over these human-induced changes. He also spoke of the three types of climatic
hazards as characterised by the Tyndall centre: discrete recurrent hazards,
continuous hazards, and discrete singular hazards. Hazards contribute to the
disruption of the system and human activities.
He proceeded to identify the challenges that make hazard assessment in the
mountains difficult. Primarily, spatial resolution of models (tens of kilometres at best)
and large uncertainties in the model lead to challenges. Downscaling may be
unreliable due to terrain effects. The spatial scales of hazards (e.g. cloudbursts) are
too small for assessment while understanding rainfall and temperature trends
requires very high resolution monitoring systems. While presenting rural challenges,
he explained, spatial diversity in biophysical conditions is low. He emphasised that
upstream hydrological studies were necessary for facilitating the understanding of
hazards like floods. Anthropogenic modifications such as reservoirs, roads, bridges,
and embankments further complicate hazard assessments. Demographic diversity
with a population expected to cross 612 million by 2030 (93 percent of the Indian
part of the Indo-Gangetic basin population) with a very high exposure to climate
change impacts lead to a deadlock.
Speaking on urban challenges he mentioned that the linkages between
infrastructure, lifeline services, and health are not often understood. Climate induced
health hazard assessment has to look beyond just health implications and must
include rural-urban linkages along with infrastructure-health linkages. Secondly,
urban areas pose the additional challenge of a large and increasingly exposed
population; growing gaps between infrastructure and lifeline services and diseases.
Keeping other factors in mind he underlined the need to understand vulnerability by
prioritising elements including livelihoods, incomes, assets at household level, and
resource characteristics along with infrastructure status determining vulnerability
along regional scales. In this context vulnerability assessment should be scale
dependent, i.e. from small scale to large scale and scenario-based approaches
would be required in such assessments. Most importantly, indicators need to be
contextualised, as far as possible; but this could lead to non-comparability. Defining
scope is essential for maintaining consistency in the choice of proxies and scale.
Continuing with this line of argument he underlined the merit of the spatial
44
vulnerability analysis method, i.e. from urban community to city-level analysis. This
could be carried through ground-based rapid surveys, homogenous neighbourhood
maps, community household surveys, and community-level vulnerability
assessments and aggregated data may be analysed for deriving adaptation options.
Source: Reuters
Bhat concluded his presentation by providing a multi-stage resilience assessment
approach. He emphasised that a multi-faceted approach at various scales is
required. A multi-faceted approach can help engage decision-making that looks at
issues in a holistic manner, recognising the interconnection between different facets
of resilience. The approach under discussion involves triple loop learning in which
existing interventions lead to enhanced and improved actions (figure 4). Further
praxis helps redefine the frame of reference. This process contributes towards
providing a new context and is explained through an example in the following figure.
45
Figure 4: Conceptualizing resilience: Triple loop learning approach
According to Bhat, factors controlling resilience would include anticipatory culture,
real time information, forecasts, and knowledge capital for managing change,
diversified livelihoods and migration-related incomes (and marketable skills),
redundant infrastructure—especially in high uncertainty environments (abundance of
redundancy-water, electricity, road network examples)—decision-making systems,
households to community-level continuum and consistency (groundwater
management), built-in safe failure mechanisms, knowledge capital and innovation,
community cohesion ( especially in managing resources), negotiating with markets
(SMF groups, padashekaram, Andhra Pradesh farmer managed groundwater
systems), and building on coping to improve resilience in rural areas. Alongside rural
areas urban areas too have their controlling factors for resilience. Factors like
anticipatory culture and control over resources, decentralised management systems
starting from household to colony to city levels, and access to knowledge like
forecasting networks act as significant measures.
46
Engaging Communities in Adapting to Climate Change
Mr. Narayanjeet Negi, President, Himalayan Human and Natural Resource Management
Organization, Himachal Pradesh, India
Narayanjeet Negi’s presentation on ‘Engaging communities in adapting to climate
change’ examined the current status of community involvement on climate change
adaptation and identified key strategies for further adaptation. He discussed ways of
engaging the region’s most vulnerable communities when addressing adaptation
needs.
Highlighting the impacts of climate change, he said that studies in Ladakh and
Uttrakhand have reported considerable loss in the ecosystem’s health and economy.
Climate change has led to widespread flooding, drought and glacial runoff in the
Himalayas, which is the largest source of fresh water in northern India and provides
more than half the water in the Himalayan rivers. These rivers are important to
livelihoods of many different social groups.
Climate change and its related hazards have been affecting livelihoods of people.
Livelihoods being a key determinant of adaptive capacity and vulnerability to climaterelated stress it is necessary to develop adaptations that are climate resilient. The
engagement of all key stakeholders is essential while designing adaptation
strategies, he stressed. Facilitating engagement of individuals for climate change
adaptation in the form of co-operatives, collectives, and self help groups is essential
while providing training to build adaptive capabilities. Increasing awareness by
providing relevant climate information in a comprehensive manner using an
appreciative inquiry approach would enable communities to adapt better. Solutions
include prohibiting deforestation, increasing afforestation, stimulating tourist
awareness regarding non-pollution, and creating awareness amongst locals. These
approaches will help adapt to the impacts of climate change enhancing resilience of
communities and ecosystem. He concluded by saying that livelihood resources were
needed to build the long-term adaptive capacity of locals. There is a need to develop
and strengthen the institutions for creating awareness and generating participation.
47
Mainstreaming Adaptations and Enhancing Policy
Processes
Dr. Shirish Sinha, Senior Thematic Advisor, Embassy of Switzerland, New Delhi, India.
ABSTRACT
Adaptation presents us with a ‘complex problem’ that cannot be solved by
technology and science alone. It results from interactions of cultural, ecological, and
economic phenomena with no endpoint solutions involving tradeoffs and multiple
options. Addressing adaptation does not sit conveniently within any one discipline or
institution, making it difficult to position responsibility. Adaptation is not just an
environmental issue but also part of socio-economic growth and development. An
evolving understanding of vulnerabilities, impacts, and adaptation theory and
learning by practice is required. There is a need to move away from research
assessments that generate information for producing action which, in turn, moves
towards action to mainstream adaptation. To enable mainstreaming adaptation into
policy processes there is a need to showcase scalable, replicable, and sustainable
adaptation interventions while engaging with decision-makers through policy
dialoging forums.
Sirish Sinha commenced his presentation by focusing on the challenges to
adaptation and the ways to mainstream it. He highlighted the need to move away
from research assessments that generate information for producing action while
moving towards action to mainstream adaptation in order to overcome the havoc of
erratic climatic shifts. This can be done by recognising adaptation as an essential
response to changing climates and for addressing existing climate variability and
extremes.
He mentioned that there are challenges in attaining the parameters of adaptation.
Referring to adaptation as a ‘complex problem’ that cannot be solved by technology
and science alone he said that it results from interactions involving cultural,
ecological, and economic phenomena. With no endpoint solutions as to trade-offs
and multiple options, addressing adaptation does not sit conveniently within any one
discipline or organisation making it difficult to position responsibility. Since adaptation
is not just an environmental issue but also part of socio-economic growth and
development an evolving understanding of vulnerabilities, impacts, and adaptation
theory and learning by practice is required. Compounding the challenge he
underlined the uncertainty that is seen as a barrier to action (framing) rather than as
a means of informing policy and decisions (providers and end-users).This may be
made possible via the integration of a top down approach and bottom up approach
48
(figure 5). The bottom up approach would list the challenges related to social
vulnerability along with physical vulnerability.
Figure 5: Top down and bottom up approach to climate adaptation policy
Sinha, concluding his presentation, discussed India’s climate policy and the 12th Five
Year plan. He mentioned that such policy platforms help towards mainstreaming
adaptation into the development process since the mandate of these projects focus
on low-emission growth strategies, adaptation to climate impacts in key sectors, and
strengthening climate science. Furthermore, he added that the adaptation
mechanism in the Himalayan river basins is expected to develop with the successful
implementation of State Level Action Plans on Climate Change and the National
Action Plan for Climate Change.
49
Discussions
Section - III
The points that emerged during the discussions are as follows:
Issues





There is an absence of open information sharing of the research findings of
projects under execution in the region
There are research gaps in conceptualising resilience in the context of
climate change and livelihoods
There are no developments in climate governance framework in the
Himalayan river basins region
There are substantial limitations in conducting marco-level vulnerability
assessments which do not capture dynamics in the human-biophysical
interaction space
There is lack of enabling mechanisms for the uptake of adaptation
measures
Findings



Scale selection is crucial when dealing with this large region
The IPCC parallel approach may be used to model scenarios for Himalayan
river basins
Uptake of climate information into management processes by end users is a
matter of concerns
Research Demands





There is a need to provide relevant climate information in a comprehensible
manner to facilitate adaptations within communities Climate information and
climate forecasts should aid the decision-making or policy processes
There is a need to mobilise research and analytical capacity for conducting
investigations with the help of climate data and trim the associated
uncertainty
There is an urgent need to enhance governance frameworks in the
Himalayan river basins for climate focus development
There is a need to combine assessments of livelihood resilience and
vulnerability to climate variability and change in order to forge differentiated
strategies for adaptations
It is essential to develop fiscal, non-fiscal, and institutional mechanism for
developing good adaptation practice.
50
Session - IV
Roadmap for Collaborations
CHAIR
Dr. Gunther Fisher, Senior Researcher, International Institute for Applied
Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria.
SPEAKERS
Research and Policy Uptake: Pathways through Knowledge
Management
Dr. K N Vajpai, Environment Specialist, Climate Himalaya, Dehradun,
Uttrakhand, India.
Missions under the Climate Change Program of DST: Pathways to
Collaboration
Dr. Nisha Mendiratta, Director/Scientist 'F', Department of Science and
Technology (DST), New Delhi, India.
51
Research and Policy Uptake: Pathways through
Knowledge Management
Dr. K N Vajpai, Environment Specialist, Climate Himalaya, Dehradun, Uttrakhand, India.
ABSTRACT
Over 200 million people are dependent on water resources provided by the
Himalayas. About 70 million are directly dependent on the Himalayas as it is a
source of agriculture and food security. A key challenge in the region is global
climate change that poses a threat to the mountain hydrological system altering
precipitation, snow-cover patterns, and glaciers further affecting downstream
populations. All this has resulted in reduced water availability, loss of bio-diversity,
loss of agricultural productivity, and glacial mass. It is felt that there are knowledge
gaps and a lack of understanding on various issues pertaining to climate change and
the Himalayan Mountains. Lack of shared understanding and actions are to blame
for the regional problems. Despite substantial financial investments the results are
deficient in terms of making a difference due to inadequate planning, poor
implementation, and lack of knowledge outreach actions. This study provides a case
of Climate Himalaya and its efforts in terms of reducing the knowledge gap and
mainstreaming adaptation through knowledge management. In order to reduce the
knowledge gap Climate Himalaya has created a repository of over 5000 articles and
300 publications on the Himalayan ecosystem. To mainstream adaptation into policy
processes Climate Himalaya has launched the Mountain Voices initiative to capture
experiences and opinions of communities, practitioners, and policy makers. This is to
generate awareness about the impacts and adaptations faced by Himalaya
communities and make their voices heard at multiple levels.
KN Vajpai commenced his presentation by outlining observed climate change in the
Himalayas along with the issues and challenges faced while identifying key action
areas. He listed the main issues affecting the knowledge pool as follows: an
uncoordinated pool of researchers, lack of co-ordinated and comprehensive
research, non availability of reliable data, and lack of understanding of various types
of climate variability and change, and unstructured and informal communication
between the policy maker, practitioners, and academia. All this has led to the
mismanagement and degradation of natural resources despite financial
investments—all due to inadequate planning and poor implementation of outreach
activities.
Proper planning and capacity building in the Himalayan region should be through
developing and implementing long-term adaptation programs, observing changes
52
and effects through modern warning systems, strengthening scientific understanding
by documenting actual changes, improving and building adaptive capacity, providing
continuous and practical knowledge along with skills, and expanding knowledge and
implementation experiences across multiple scales in the region to support
adaptation. The pathway of knowledge sharing will help in research uptake by all
stakeholders.
He concluded by discussing the Climate Himalaya initiative. He said that the
organisation has developed an empirical climate network that innovates on bridging
the knowledge gap through information sharing, knowledge networking, providing
links between practice, science, policy and decision-making, highlighting climatic
variability and impact in the Himalayan region, and developing a pan Himalayan
climate resilient mountain community through adaptation actions.
Climate Himalaya presently works in the Himalayan Mountains of Bhutan, India,
Nepal, and Pakistan. The Climate Himalaya team developed a knowledge-sharing
portal in 2010, which has over 5000 articles in 80 different categories and over 300
downloadable publications on climate change and mountain development issues.
‘Mountain 2020 Campaign (M-20)’ was conducted under policy advocacy during
which a compendium of people’s voices, available knowledge, practices, and
rationale for much-needed interventions towards climate-proofing and adaptation
was documented. Climate Himalaya launched a multimedia information
communication series called ‘Mountain Voice’ in May 2012. It aims to capture the
experiences along with the thoughts and opinions of people, practitioners, policy
makers and researchers on various climate-linked issues in the Himalayan region of
South Asia. The team has been interacting with people capturing their voices to
understand the current situation and uploading them for viewers worldwide. The
objective of ‘Mountain Voice’ is to generate awareness about the region at various
levels so that the Himalayan Mountains are recognised amongst those important
places requiring attention of the world leaders in the context of climate adaptation
and development. Capacity building through training activities in thematic areas
including water, forest, and livelihoods are carried out to build a community of
practice.
53
Missions under the Climate Change Program of DST:
Pathways to Collaboration
Dr. Nisha Mendiratta, Director/Scientist 'F', Department of Science and Technology (DST),
New Delhi, India.
ABSTRACT
Climate change is an environmental as well as developmental concern for India.
Rapid environmental change has been occurring across the Himalaya with
significant downstream impacts. Climate change concerns in the region include
rising temperatures, variability in rainfall, and enhanced incidences of extreme
events. To adapt to climate change and pursue climate resilient development
pathways in the Himalayan Mountain system the Government of India has launched
the National Mission on Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem. Owing to the transboundary nature of the Himalayan river basins regional co-operation between
countries is essential for adapting to climate change and sustaining the Himalayan
ecosystem. Adaptation research and implementation of scalable pilots require
collaborative adaptation research due to the cross-disciplinary nature of the subject.
A proactive approach is desired for reducing vulnerability and enhancing the
adaptive capacity of at-risk groups among researchers, practitioners, and policy
makers. Pathways of collaboration include partnership with institutional network,
private organisations, and NGOs for capacity building and creating knowledge
through academic institutions and universities, scientific institutions, technical bodies
and agencies, defence and para-military organisations, training institutions in
mountaineering, community-based organisations, and public outreach and
awareness organisations.
Nisha Mendiratta’s presentation on ‘national initiatives for addressing climate change
issues for the Himalayan region’ outlined the Ministry of Science and Technology’s
role in National Action Plan on Climate Change. Enlisting the eight national missions
on climate change she elaborated on the ‘National Mission for Sustaining the
Himalayan Ecosystem’ and ‘National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate
Change’. She said both these missions, assigned to the Ministry of Science and
Technology, call for actions that build, strengthen and sustain national capacities to
secure an ecosystem’s integrity and to self-learn from developing strategic
knowledge.
The major problems in the Himalayan river basin include population growth, poverty,
natural resource degradation, stress on ecosystem services, and climate change. All
this builds extra pressure in terms of melting glaciers and increased disaster risks.
54
Changes on account of natural causes and climate change resulting from
anthropogenic emissions and developmental paradigms of modern society are the
drivers of environmental problems. Commenting on the negative impacts of climate
change on livelihood options she emphasised that all four dimensions of food
security have been projected to be affected by climate change. These dimensions
include food availability, food accessibility, food utilisation, and the food system's
stability. Increasing temperatures have and will further cause changes in agricultural
zones and shifts during the growing seasons, for instance, decreasing yields in midaltitude apple growing areas of Himachal Pradesh with cultivation shifting to higher
altitudes. Increments in evaporation, reduction in snow cover, and fluctuations in
precipitation are key factors contributing to the degradation of dry land ecosystems
causing loss of biodiversity and crop yields, she asserted.
Emphasising the key problem that needs to be addressed, she said, a ‘proactive
approach’ is desired for reducing vulnerability and enhancing the adaptive capacity
of at-risk groups. She suggested that the objective and mission deliverables of
‘National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem’ too share the same aim.
She said that the main issues addressed in the mission are biodiversity
conservation, glacier retreats, and securing traditional societies and the livelihoods of
the locals. The mission’s deliverables of the project intend to create network
knowledge institutions engaged in research on the Himalayan ecosystem and
develop a coherent database on the geological, hydrological, biological, and sociocultural dimensions including traditional knowledge systems on preservation and
conservation of the ecosystem. The mission’s deliverables also intend to detect and
decouple the natural and anthropogenic-induced signals of global environmental
changes in mountain ecosystems and predict future trends, while assessing the
socio-economic and ecological consequences of global environmental change and
designing appropriate strategies for economic growth in the mountain regions and
the lowland systems dependent on mountain resources.
Highlighting some instances of the recent progress, she said, a National Centre for
Himalayan Glaciology will be established in Mussoorie. Bilateral co-operation with
countries for capacity building in glaciology is already underway. A recent Joint
Working Group (JWG) with Switzerland has been set up. A regional co-operation
framework on Himalayan ecosystem has been launched in collaboration with
ICIMOD and the mapping of all R&D Institutions in the Himalayan region is presently
afoot. A Global Technology Watch graph has been set up by the department to
combat climate impacts. The Department of Science and Technology is in the
process of floating a public private partnership for a knowledge network programme.
One of DST’s recent farsighted programmes is the formulation of NSDI (National
Spatial Data Infrastructure) as an extensive effort towards managing and sharing
data. Mentioning some of the future steps being taken under the NMSHE state-level
consultations are already underway while programmes on human and institutional
capacity building for the Himalayan region are being launched. Setting up National
55
Centre for Himalayan Glaciology, capacity building in glaciology; building a regional
co-operation framework and compilation of traditional knowledge are being aimed at
by DST.
Discussing pathways of collaboration from the government perspective she
mentioned that DST had proposed a partnership with institutional networks, private
organisations, and NGOs for capacity building and creating knowledge through
academic institutions and universities, scientific institutions, technical bodies and
agencies, defence and para-military organisations, training institutions in
mountaineering, community-based organisations, and public outreach and
awareness organisations. Besides, commitment to evidence-based research is
needed apart from knowledge sharing and involving policy makers. Capacity building
is another priority realm. The two key issues of contention, as identified by her,
involved base management and sharing along with regional co-operation. Owing to
the trans-boundary nature of the Himalayan Rivers the issue of regional co-operation
becomes critical.
56
Discussions
Session - IV
In the last session speakers emphasised the importance of trans-boundary
collaboration and the need for mainstreaming adaptation in policy process and
addressing governance =. The main highlights of the discussion were as follows:
Issues


Trans-boundary scientific co-operation is needed to deal with climate
change impacts in the Himalayan river basins
There lacks an efficient governance regime for turning knowledge into
action
Research Demands





There is a need to create platforms for sharing research findings so that
policymakers can learn from this process
There is a need to promote dialogue, networking and build strategic
partnerships between academic institutions, public and private sectors to fill
the knowledge gap
It is critical to build regional institutional capacity and proper management
of resources
The government is required to build active preparedness to cope with
climate-related risks and hazards
Disaster risk reduction should be the main priority of the government while
dealing with Himalayan river basins since the area is highly susceptible to
floods, landslides and glacial lake outbursts and floods
57
Concluding Session
The concluding session flagged off key issues of every session. It also reemphasised research issues and demands. The importance of stakeholder
involvement in research uptake was stressed. For issues related to climate change,
where resilient livelihoods and adaptations were key concerns, communities could
provide first hand tacit knowledge. Adaptation is the key concept for addressing
vulnerability while the direct involvement of those most vulnerable to climate change
is crucial; in research terms this will provide new insights and help design scalable
adaptations. The Himalayan communities have been relying on traditional knowledge
in the face of some of the most extreme conditions on Earth. Revisiting this
knowledge in the context of a changing climate can lead to practical solutions and
the generation of high quality data. Merely focusing on communities isn’t enough as
policy advocacy in evolving adaptations is paramount. Policy dialogue and coordination with concerned ministries and departments are highly significant in the
context of research. Uptake of research in adaptation plans in consonance with
policy advocacy will enhance research processes and benefit the community at
large. Gopalakrishna Bhatt moderated the concluding session while highlighting the
important issues that arose during the conference.
In the end Saswata Biswas extended a vote of thanks to the speakers and all the
people who helped organise the conference.
58
Annexure
Conference Schedule
Time
09:00-09:30
09:30-10:45
Day 1: Thursday, 01 August 2013
Presentations
Resource Person
Registration
Welcome
Prof. Jeemol Unni, Director IRMA
Introduction to the
Prof. Pramod K. Singh, IRMA
conference
Self introduction
Participants
Inaugural Address
10:45-11:15
Prof. P S Ramakrishnan
Hydrological regimes under
climate change in the
Himalayan river basins
Changing profile of water
resources in the Himalayan
river basins
Geological hazards in the
Himalayan ecosystem
Discussion
Chair
15:30-15:45
15:45-18:30
Prof. P S Ramakrishnan
Emeritus Fellow, JNU,
New Delhi
Prof. Vimal Mishra
Asst. Professor IITGandhinagar
Prof. BRSharma
Prof. Saumitra Mukherjee
IWMI, New Delhi
Professor, JNU, New
Delhi
Participants
Lunch
Session–II Challenges to Livelihoods
13:00-14:00
14:00- 15:30
Emeritus Fellow, JNU,
New Delhi
Tea Break
Session–I Manifestations of Climate Change
Chair
11:15-13:00
Designation
Climate refugee, conflicts and
adaptations in river basins of
Bangladesh
Resilient Livelihoods for the
Himalayas
Technology interventions for
developing livelihoods in
Indian Himalayas
Dr. R Gopichandran
Director, Vigyan Prasar,
GOI
Mr. Muhammad Abdur
Rahaman Rana
Research Fellow, YPSA
Bangladesh
Dr. Jitendra Verma
Dr. Lal Singh
Centre for sustainable
livelihood, HP
Himalayan Research
Group (HRG), Core
Group, DST, GoI
Tea Break
Cases of disaster risk
reduction strategies in Indus
river basins and Pakistan's
efforts in mainstreaming
Indigenous knowledge in the
Himalayan river basins
Livelihood opportunities for
marginal communities in
Central Himalayas
Discussion
Mr. Fazal Ali Sadi
Monitoring and
Evaluation Specialist,
RSPN,
Pakistan
Prof. Vimal Khawas
Assistant Professor,
Sikkim University
Dr. P Dhaila
Central Himalayan
Environment Association
(CHEA)
Participants
59
Time
Day 2: Friday, 02 August 2013
Presentations
Resource Person
Designation
Session–III Discussions on Research Issues
09:30-11:00
11:00- 11:30
11:30- 13:00
13:00-14:00
Chair
Asst. Professor IITGandhinagar
Prof. Vimal Mishra
Models for Himalayan River Basins:
Dr. Gunther Fischer
Issues of Uncertainty
Vulnerability and Hazard Assessment Dr. Gopalakrishna Bhat
and Community Resilience
Tea Break
IIASA, Austria
Director, TARU
Himalayan Human and
Natural Resource
Engaging Communities in Adapting to
Mr. Narayanjeet Negi
Management
Climate Change
Organization, Himachal
Pradesh
Mainstreaming adaptations and
Senior Thematic Advisor –
Dr. Shirish Sinha
enhancing policy processes
Climate Change, IHCAP
Discussion
Participants
Lunch Break
Session–IV Roadmap for Collaborations
14:00- 15:30
Chair
Dr. Gunther Fischer
IIASA, Austria
Research and policy uptake:
Pathways through knowledge
management
Mr. K N Vajpai
Environment Specialist,
Climate Himalaya,
Uttrakhand
Dr. Nisha Mehndiratta
Ministry of Science and
Technology, GoI
Missions under the Climate Change
Programme of DST: Pathways for
collaboration
Discussion
Participants
Session–V Concluding Session
15:30-16:00
16:00-16:30
Concluding Session
Vote of Thanks
Dr. Gopikrishnan Bhat
Prof. SN Biswas
Farewell Tea
Director, TARU
IRMA
60
List of participants
SN
1
Name
Dr. R. Gopichandran
Designation
Director
2
Mr. Bharat Sharma
Coordinator
3
Dr. Shirish Sinha
Sr. Thematic Advisor
4
Mr. NarayanJeet Negi
President
5
Mr. Abhinav Gupta
Programme Officer
6
Dr. Nisha Mendirette
Director / Sc. 'F'
7
Dr. Lal singh
Director
8
Ms. Kinkini Dasgupta Misra
Scientist 'E'
9
Dr. Bharat Bhushan
Scientist 'E'
10
Mr. Nimish Kapoor
Scientist 'D'
11
Prof. P. S. Ramakrishnan
Emeritus fellow
12
Prof. Saumitra Mukherjee
Professor
13
Dr. P. D. Rai
14
Mr. Mustafa Au Khan
Member of Parliament
(LokSabha), Government of India
Policy Specialist
15
Mr. Kirtiman Awasthi
Team Leader/Indian Himalayas
Climate Adaptation Programme
16
Mr. K N Vajpai
Environment Specialist
17
Dr. Vimal Khawas
Assistant Professor
18
Dr. Vimal Mishra
Assistant Professor
Organization
Vigyan Prasar, Department of
Science and Technology,
Government of India
International Water Management
Institute, New Delhi
Swiss Agency for Development and
Cooperation /Embassy of
Switzerland
Himalayan Human and NRM
Organisation,
Himachal Pradesh
Vigyan Prasar, Department of
Science and Technology,
Government of India
Department of Science and
Technology,
New Delhi
Himalayan Research Group (HRG),
Department of Science and
Technology, Core Group
Shimla
Vigyan Prasar, Department of
Science and Technology,
Government of India
Vigyan Prasar, Department of
Science and Technology,
Government of India
Vigyan Prasar, Department of
Science and Technology,
Government of India
Jawaharlal Nehru University,
New Delhi
Jawaharlal Nehru University,
New Delhi
New Delhi
Climate Change Department/ Swiss
Agency for Development and
Cooperation,
New Delhi
Indian Himalayas Climate Adaptation
Programme / Swiss Agency for
Development and Cooperation, New
Delhi
Climate Himalaya
Dehradun
Sikkim University
Sikkim
Indian Institute of Technology
Gandhinagar
61
SN
19
Name
Mr. Abdhesh Gangwar
Designation
Programme Director
Organization
Centre for Environment Education,
Lucknow
Himalayan Human and NRM
Organisation,
Himachal Pradesh
Himalayan Human and NRM
Organisation,
Himachal Pradesh
Himalayan Human and NRM
Organisation,
Himachal Pradesh
Rural Support Programmes Network,
Pakistan
Rural Support Programmes Network,
Pakistan
Rural Support Programmes Network,
Pakistan
International Institute for Applied
Systems Analysis, Austria
Young Power in Social Action,
Bangladesh
Young Power in Social Action,
Bangladesh
20
Ms. Sonia Thakar
President
21
Ms. Rashmi Pundir
Vice President
22
Mr. Ashok Kumar
President
23
Mr. Atif Zeeshan Rauf
DM, PMORI
24
Mr. Fazal Ali Khan
25
Mr. Muhammad Tahir Waqar
Specialist Research and
Knowledge Management
Programme Manager
26
Dr. Gunther Fischer
Senior Researcher
27
Mr. Mohammad Shahjahan
Team Leader
28
Mr. Mohammad Abdur
Rahaman Rana
Consultant
29
Mr. Jitender Verma
Director
Centre for Sustainable Development,
Himachal Pradesh
30
Dr. P Dhaila
Director
Central Himalayan Environment
Association, Uttrakhand
31
Dr. Gopalakrishna Bhat
Chairman
TARU, New Delhi
32
Dr. Jeemol Unni
Director
Institute of Rural Management
Anand
33
Dr. Harekrishna Misra
Professor
Institute of Rural Management
Anand
34
Mr. K. V. Raju
Professor
Institute of Rural Management
Anand
35
Dr. Pramod Kumar Singh
Associate Professor
Institute of Rural Management
Anand
36
Dr. Saswata Narayan Biswas
Professor
Institute of Rural Management
Anand
37
Mr. Abhishek Nair
Research Associate
38
Mr. Chintansinh V Suratia
Research Associate
Institute of Rural Management
Anand
Institute of Rural Management
Anand
39
Ms. Shushumna Agrawal
Research Associate
Institute of Rural Management
Anand
40
Ms. Roopam Shukla
Research Fellow
Institute of Rural Management
Anand
62
63