The Framework For Adaptive Governance In Odisha: A Special Reference To Climate Change And Disaster Management

Abstract

Odisha is known as a highly disaster-prone state. In the last half-decade, the state has faced more than a dozen disaster occurrences. Due to poor weather conditions, the coastal belts often remained in an alarming situation. Even though the state has witnessed so many small and big floods and bad air streaming over the years that resulted in crop failure, acute poverty, property damages, and human losses. Farmer suicide is also a related problem to it. Disaster has left the state poor, weaker but also helpless, and vulnerable. It badly affected the economic and administrative structure of state machinery. In the same way, the continuous disaster risk in coastal areas of Odisha has highly influenced untold human suffering. Some of the important regions of the coastal belt or the eastern cities of Odisha like Paradeep, Berhampur, Puri, and Balasore; whereas West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh will come under tremendous disaster every year. These regions are even under heavy alert in governmental planning to protect lives from possible disaster risks. Even from an economic point of view, it is not doubtful that Odisha is a poor state. Most people depend on agriculture and crop production as their life support system and their occupations rely on sea areas. And more than 30 percent of people still rely on government schemes under the Below Poverty Line (BPL). Hence any unprecedented disasters make possible countless properties, infrastructure, shelters, and lives and livelihood losses in the states. So, stress is placed on the government and governance process, to tackle disaster damage in Odisha with zero casualties. Institutional capacity building is a significant step with the help of stakeholders and local communities to enhance the maximum possibilities against regular disasters. Thus, the study will focus on the role of adaptive governance structure in countering climate change and disaster risks in Odisha. At the same time, it focuses on the resilience step to be taken in protecting lives, livelihoods, and properties in the hands of effective governance.