The webinar, “Building Coastal Resilience: Innovative Approaches to Disaster Management in India” is being organised by the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR) in collaboration with the Asia Foundation, Delhi, as part of the Indian Coastal Think Tank Network project.
India’s coastal region is home to a significant portion of the population and it is an important hub for economic, cultural and ecological activities. These areas are inhabited by almost 17 percent of India’s total population, making this area crucial for India’s development. But this region is very vulnerable to various natural disasters such as storms, tsunamis, coastal erosion and flooding. Climate change has exacerbated these risks and has increased the frequency and intensity of these natural disasters. So it is essential to have effective disaster management to safeguard the livelihood and ecosystem in the coastal region.
Coastal areas in India face unique challenges due to their geography and socio-economic factors. Various issues such as high population, unregulated urbanisation, poor infrastructure, lack of early warning, etc. These reasons further broaden the issues in the coastal regions. There must be early warning systems, community resilience, better infrastructure and innovative scientific technologies to look into the natural disasters in the region and make appropriate policies.
Disaster management in coastal areas requires a multi-dimensional approach that integrates scientific innovation, public policy, and community participation. It is also important to adopt sustainable practices and invest in long-term resilience; only then will it be possible to protect coastal ecosystems and communities. Civil societies, governments and communities must be involved to address the challenges posed by natural disasters.
This webinar aims to address the challenges posed by natural disasters in coastal areas and capture the multi-dimensional approach required for disaster management.
This webinar is organised as part of CPPR’s project done in collaboration with the The Asia Foundation, “Indian Coastal Think Tank Network: Addressing Traditional and Non-traditional Challenges in the Indian Coastal Region from Regional and National Perspectives”.
KEY DISCUSSION POINTS
- Understanding the impact of Disaster Management in the coastal regions
- Examining the Disaster management policies of India from a coastal perspective.
- Coastal Communities and risk adaptation methods.
- Non-governmental organisations and their role in disaster management.
- Women and disaster management, impact and resilience.
- India’s Disaster management governance and initiatives.
SPEAKERS
Mihir Bhatt
Dunu Roy
Anubrotto Kumar Roy, popularly known as Dunu Roy, is a chemical engineer by training, a social scientist by compulsion, and a political ecologist by choice. Born in 1945, he obtained his B.Tech in 1967 and M.Tech in 1969 from the Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Bombay. As the Director of the Hazards Centre in New Delhi, Dunu Roy has dedicated over four decades to addressing critical issues in both rural and urban contexts, including land and water management, secure settlements, safe work, environmental planning, leadership training, and pollution control.
Dr N Venugopalan
Dr N Venugopalan has been working in the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers for the last twenty years, and currently he is the programme manager at ICSF.
MODERATOR
Aleena T Sabu
Aleena is an Research Associate of the International Relations vertical at the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR), Kochi, Kerala, India. She is currently working on the Indian Coastal Think Tank Network project and had previously worked on a paper with Vice Admiral MP Muralidharn on the Global Security Implications of the Bay of Bengal.
Aleena has completed her Master’s in Politics and International Relations from Pondicherry University and Bachelor’s in Political Science (Hons) from Delhi University.