Gorakhpur in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India lies in a lower catchment area. A number of rivers intersect and pass through it. Having faced severe floods in 1998 and 2007, the area is actually extremely vulnerable and disaster prone. This risk has been exacerbated by unplanned development, lack of an effective preparedness plan, lack of departmental awareness and lack of policy enforcement.
Future climate projections for Gorakhpur show further temperature and rainfall pattern changes. These will also have impacts on health, agriculture and urban water management.
Through this action research project, disaster management plans were created across all concerned line departments. These were integrated into a District Disaster Management Plan. Along with the training module on how to conduct this process, this has become a planning model for other Uttar Pradesh districts to follow.
