Integrating climate change concerns in disaster management planning: The case of Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

The report details an action research programme in Gorakhpur, India, aimed at incorporating climate change projections and vulnerability analysis into local disaster management planning. It highlights the use of 'Shared Learning Dialogues' and the Climate Resilience Framework to bridge gaps between national policy and local implementation, resulting in a climate-sensitive DDMP and state-level government orders to integrate disaster risk reduction into annual development plans.

• Gorakhpur District has experienced an increase in the frequency and intensity of floods over the last 100 years, with events now recurring every 3–4 years or annually in some blocks.
• Climate projections for Gorakhpur indicate a potential increase in rainfall event intensities of up to 33%, particularly for events lasting 12 and 24 hours across all return periods.
• The programme successfully moved beyond research recommendations to publish a climate-sensitive District Disaster Management Plan (DDMP) for Gorakhpur, aided by technical support on vulnerability assessment and the use of scientific climate projections.
• The 'Shared Learning Dialogue' (SLD) process was critical for developing the capacity of government departments to understand climate risks and fostering both horizontal and vertical coordination.
• Implementation faced several challenges, including a lack of comprehensive understanding of vulnerability, the perception of climate change as a distant phenomenon, and poor horizontal coordination among departments.

APA

Wajih, S., & Chopde, S. (2014). Integrating climate change concerns in disaster management planning: The case of Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/CDKN_Gorakhpur_Background_Paper-FINAL.pdf

Chicago

Wajih, Shiraz, and Shashikant Chopde. Integrating climate change concerns in disaster management planning: The case of Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2014. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/CDKN_Gorakhpur_Background_Paper-FINAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Wajih |first1=Shiraz |last2=Chopde |first2=Shashikant |title=Integrating climate change concerns in disaster management planning: The case of Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=October 2014 |url=http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/CDKN_Gorakhpur_Background_Paper-FINAL.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wajih2014integrating, author = {Wajih, Shiraz and Chopde, Shashikant}, title = {{Integrating climate change concerns in disaster management planning: The case of Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2014}, month = oct, url = {http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/CDKN_Gorakhpur_Background_Paper-FINAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }