Twelfth International Conference on Climate Change: Impacts & Responses

Abstract

The Kerala floods of 2018 were disproportionate in their magnitude and affected areas, causing a death of over 500 people, movement of over one million to relief camps, and estimated damage of $2.7 billion. Although increased numbers of extreme rainfall events were recorded in the state during June-August 2018, the vulnerability of the population was significantly increased due to heavy construction in low lying areas, as well as catchment areas of dams. The inappropriate management of dams was a contributing factor to the overflowing of multiple rivers. As Kerala obtains a majority of its energy from monsoon-dependent hydel power, the management of dams has been directed towards maximising energy production. Further, implementation of expert advice on ecological protection, e.g.,Western Ghats Ecology Panel was subsumed by political realities.The recently published IPCC report AR5 suggests that an increase in extreme rainfall events is predicted over much of the Indian Subcontinent, in the short-term. This can create even more riskier scenarios for Kerala. Thus the objectives of this analysis were to indicate risks that were considered/not considered by federal, state, and local government. An accounting for the role of institutional friction that escalated the scale of the disaster was conducted. Due to advanced socio-political awareness, there were some unexpected wins in case of disaster relief. However, we found that there was repeat of previous years’ disaster in the 2019 monsoon season, as there was a delay in relief implementation. Thus, a directional analysis of implementation of adaptation interventions in developing countries was conducted.