Page 3 - Policy Brief - Road map for mainstreaming urban climate resilience in Goa
P. 3
Policy Brief
supply, water supply, transport, roads, etc. Moreover, parameters. These have been listed as follows:
uncontrolled construction and growth in and around
the ecologically sensitive khazan lands has affected the Lack of decision support systems—Cities do
capacity of these wetlands to contain floods caused not maintain a comprehensive and up-to-date data
by sea water inundation, storm surges, and extreme required for urban resilience planning. Besides, the
weather events. Climate change and the resultant stress data on infrastructure and assets in a city is spread
on Goa’s coastal ecosystems due to sea-level rise (SLR) across various departments. Similarly, there is a dearth
and the stress on rain-fed river systems pose additional of fine resolution assessments of climate parameters
threats. The draft State Action Plan for Climate Change such as change in temperature and rainfall, at the city
has identified coastal erosion as one of the main issues, level, to base their planning decisions. A knowledge
arising primarily due to climate change. Panaji city has repository of climate data should be established at
been identified as one of the coastal cities vulnerable the state level which can disseminated to the cities
to flooding due to the predicted sea-level rise. Based for developing their Master Plans. It is also important
on the projected SLR scenarios and vulnerability that data and information is spatially translated
assessment conducted for Panaji, a large share of its key (e.g. GIS maps) and is utilized for the purpose of
infrastructure assets, service networks, and ecologically urban planning. To create an enabling environment
sensitive areas, including khazan lands, salt pans and to mainstream climate resilience, it is important that
creeks are likely to be affected due to climate change disaster and climate risk assessment are the key
impacts like SLR and coastal flooding (TERI 2014b). inputs to urban and infrastructure planning. To this
end, the focus should be on developing detailed
Goa’s development vision and challenges to hazard, risk, and vulnerability studies. The outcome
building urban climate resilience should be a detailed risk profile of the state in terms
of climate impacts and extreme events. It is also
Goa 2035—a vision document for the state—highlights important to consider locally identified parameters,
that ‘Goa should stand out globally as a model of such as slope gradient, distance from the river,
development without destruction’. This is a laudable goal angle of dip, embodied geology, etc., for defining
and illustrative of the recognition in Goa’s policy circles vulnerabilities.
that there is a need for alternative development pathways
to meet the sustainability challenge. Goa is one of the Lack of capacity at city level—Climate resilience
pioneering states in India that acknowledge emerging is a new concept in India, requiring specific technical
concerns, such as climate change and sea level rise in know-how and data for cities to draw up their
urban development. Goa State Action Plan for Climate resilience plans, which is currently not available
Change is an important beginning in this direction. The with the urban local bodies. Sensitization and skill
capital city of Panaji has been involved, in the recent development of urban practitioners and decision
past, in international initiatives, such as the Asian Cities makers is an absolute necessity for bringing about
Climate Change Resilient Network (ACCCRN) and the requisite changes in the existing urban governance
study on ‘Climate Resilient Infrastructure Services’ by mechanisms and systems.
TERI and USAID. Nonetheless, there is a growing need
to replicate such initiatives and upscale them at the Lack of enabling guidelines and institutional
state level to come up with a ‘Climate esilient mechanisms at city level—In the absence of
Development’ Agenda. To this end, the Urban a local mandate and policies at the city level, the
Development Department of Goa joined hands with mechanisms and institutions are currently not aligned
TERI to prepare a detailed road map for preparing and to account for future vulnerabilities, such as those of
instituting an urban climate resilience policy framework climate change. Various state level departments are
in the state. However, there are some critical policy and responsible for all matters pertaining to development
institutional barriers that restrict the city governments and management of urban infrastructure under the
to bring in climate resilience as one of the development purview of sector-specific policies and regulations.
However, urban climate resilience planning would
3
supply, water supply, transport, roads, etc. Moreover, parameters. These have been listed as follows:
uncontrolled construction and growth in and around
the ecologically sensitive khazan lands has affected the Lack of decision support systems—Cities do
capacity of these wetlands to contain floods caused not maintain a comprehensive and up-to-date data
by sea water inundation, storm surges, and extreme required for urban resilience planning. Besides, the
weather events. Climate change and the resultant stress data on infrastructure and assets in a city is spread
on Goa’s coastal ecosystems due to sea-level rise (SLR) across various departments. Similarly, there is a dearth
and the stress on rain-fed river systems pose additional of fine resolution assessments of climate parameters
threats. The draft State Action Plan for Climate Change such as change in temperature and rainfall, at the city
has identified coastal erosion as one of the main issues, level, to base their planning decisions. A knowledge
arising primarily due to climate change. Panaji city has repository of climate data should be established at
been identified as one of the coastal cities vulnerable the state level which can disseminated to the cities
to flooding due to the predicted sea-level rise. Based for developing their Master Plans. It is also important
on the projected SLR scenarios and vulnerability that data and information is spatially translated
assessment conducted for Panaji, a large share of its key (e.g. GIS maps) and is utilized for the purpose of
infrastructure assets, service networks, and ecologically urban planning. To create an enabling environment
sensitive areas, including khazan lands, salt pans and to mainstream climate resilience, it is important that
creeks are likely to be affected due to climate change disaster and climate risk assessment are the key
impacts like SLR and coastal flooding (TERI 2014b). inputs to urban and infrastructure planning. To this
end, the focus should be on developing detailed
Goa’s development vision and challenges to hazard, risk, and vulnerability studies. The outcome
building urban climate resilience should be a detailed risk profile of the state in terms
of climate impacts and extreme events. It is also
Goa 2035—a vision document for the state—highlights important to consider locally identified parameters,
that ‘Goa should stand out globally as a model of such as slope gradient, distance from the river,
development without destruction’. This is a laudable goal angle of dip, embodied geology, etc., for defining
and illustrative of the recognition in Goa’s policy circles vulnerabilities.
that there is a need for alternative development pathways
to meet the sustainability challenge. Goa is one of the Lack of capacity at city level—Climate resilience
pioneering states in India that acknowledge emerging is a new concept in India, requiring specific technical
concerns, such as climate change and sea level rise in know-how and data for cities to draw up their
urban development. Goa State Action Plan for Climate resilience plans, which is currently not available
Change is an important beginning in this direction. The with the urban local bodies. Sensitization and skill
capital city of Panaji has been involved, in the recent development of urban practitioners and decision
past, in international initiatives, such as the Asian Cities makers is an absolute necessity for bringing about
Climate Change Resilient Network (ACCCRN) and the requisite changes in the existing urban governance
study on ‘Climate Resilient Infrastructure Services’ by mechanisms and systems.
TERI and USAID. Nonetheless, there is a growing need
to replicate such initiatives and upscale them at the Lack of enabling guidelines and institutional
state level to come up with a ‘Climate esilient mechanisms at city level—In the absence of
Development’ Agenda. To this end, the Urban a local mandate and policies at the city level, the
Development Department of Goa joined hands with mechanisms and institutions are currently not aligned
TERI to prepare a detailed road map for preparing and to account for future vulnerabilities, such as those of
instituting an urban climate resilience policy framework climate change. Various state level departments are
in the state. However, there are some critical policy and responsible for all matters pertaining to development
institutional barriers that restrict the city governments and management of urban infrastructure under the
to bring in climate resilience as one of the development purview of sector-specific policies and regulations.
However, urban climate resilience planning would
3
