Climate change is having devastating impacts on communities’ lives, livelihoods and food security across South Asia. Its consequences are so severe that it is increasingly contributing to migration, and
The Koshi river has drawn the attention of scientific, engineering, and political leaders for decades. During the colonial era, the British rulers of India were concerned about the floods and high sediment load of the river and they aimed to control flooding in the Koshi delta in Bihar.
This report summarises the study in northern Ganga plains and coastal Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. The objective of the study was to pilot tasks to enable local communities better deal with impacts of climate variability and anthropogenic climate change such as floods and droughts. It pursued a "learning-by-doing" approach to respond to the interwoven elements of the
The economic benefits to society of investing in disaster risk management substantially exceed the costs. Appropriately designed risk reduction strategies represent a sound
The breach of the Kosi embankment in Nepal in August 2008 marked the failure of conventional ways of controlling floods. After discussing the physical characteristics of the Kosi River and the Kosi barrage project, this paper suggests that the high sediment content of the Kosi River implies a major risk to the proposed Kosi high dam and its ability to control floods in Bihar.
The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a systematic qualitative analysis of the costs and benefits of constructing embankments in the lower Bagmati River basin, which stretches across the Nepal Tarai and into northern Bihar. This paper analyzes the costs and benefits of both structural flood control measures, and a wide array of local, "people-centered" strategies.
