Proliferating Ecosystem-based Adaptation in Indian Cities

Proliferating EbA Practices in Indian Cities (EPIC)

Traditionally, cities in India have relied solely on engineering solutions for water management. The overall vision of this project is to change this narrative by mainstreaming the agenda for EbA as a robust and sustainable approach for water management. The project will adopt a two-phase approach, where the first phase is focused on building on the case for EbA in one Smart City (Bhubaneshwar) under the Smart Cities Mission (SCM). The second phase is aimed towards pitching the case for EbA within the larger cohort of Smart Cities, using the learnings and outputs of the first phase. Several cities under the SCM (including the pilot cities) are preparing city-specific plans in this regard.

The project will closely and actively engage with the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which is the operational arm of the SCM in the city and is headed by the city’s Commissioner. It is tasked with the planning and implementation of various projects under the city’s SCM agenda and will help to identify EbA solutions and the corresponding locations in line with the needs of the city. It is also crucial to engage the local communities who have lived in the city for generations and have a wealth of information on traditional practices for water management. The project is engaging these communities to draw on their experiences and solutions, helping to develop the database of EbA solutions. Ultimately, the Smart Cities Mission Secretariat will benefit from the linkages created by this project.

What is EbA ?

The common approach adopted by cities to mitigate the climate change impacts like urban flooding, urban heat island effects, water scarcity and so on are centred around ‘Hard’ or ‘Grey’ infrastructure options, such as constructing embankments for flood control or new reservoirs to meet water demand, energy intensive cooling mechanisms, deploying storm water drains etc. These options are cost-intensive and difficult to manage.

Additionally, some of these approaches also have an adverse impact on the ecology and natural elements of cities like rivers, drains, waterbodies etc.

Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA), is centred around leveraging nature-based solutions for the restoration of degraded ecosystems, and their conservation for sustainable management that can help cities to adapt to mitigate climate change.

Ecosystem-based Adaptation conceptualised in the Driving ForcesPressures-State-Impacts-Responses (DPSIR) framework.

Source: UNEP-UNDP-IUCN (2010) Making the Case for Ecosystem-Based Adaptation: Building Resilience to Climate Change.

Project Outcomes

Ecosystem Evaluation

Vulnerability Mapping

Traditional Practices Documentation

Ecosystem valuation and sensitising stakeholders on the value of Ecosystems for climate change adaptation

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To understand the key challenges of urban flooding and water scarcity in the city.

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Evidence-based practical EbA solutions, highlighting the relevant local and traditional practices

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Ecosystem Valuation

Ecosystem valuation is the process of quantifying the economic value of ecosystems and the services they provide

Ecosystem and biodiversity map for Bhubaneshwar city

Measure the values of the 3 ecosystems

ECOSYSTEMS IN BHUBANESHWAR

Forest

Natural Drains

Ponds/Lakes

Wetland

River and Riparian buffer

Swamp and Grasslands

Chandaka

Forest

Chandaka

Forest

3 Ecosystems identified for valuation

Bindusagar Lake

Ponding lake in Darin no. 7

Vulnerability map for Bhubaneshwar that will at a minimum highlight the areas prone to flooding and water scarcity, and the communities that are most affected.

The Bhubaneshwar city has west-to-east sloping topography, and a number of open drains running west to east crisscross the city, some of which finally join to form Gangua Nallah. Gangua nallah meets River Daya, a distributary of River Kuakhai. The main city is on the western side of River Kuakhai and to the northern part of River Daya.

The land on which the city stands slopes from the northwest of the city area to the Kuakhai River in the east and the Daya River in the south. The water requirement for Bhubaneswar City is mainly met by River Kuakhai, River Daya and Spring Tanks and from groundwater sources. River Kuakhai and River Daya are the major surface water source.

Urban flooding issues is becoming prominent in the city, especially in the areas adjoining to the natural drains highlighted in the above map. In order to mitigate this, risk and vulnerability mapping of the city was undertaken by using the multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA), and GIS-based analytical hierarchical process (AHP). The multiple thematic layers were prepared for various parameters that were inputs for creating the flood hazard map of the city. The following chart provides the methodology of the vulnerability map of Bhubaneshwar city for flooding.