Faculty Publications

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Identifying evolving priorities in national river governance from Parliamentary Questions
(IWA Publishing, 2022) Azhoni, A.; Holman, I.; Grabowski, R.C.
Rivers and their surrounding land provide resources and services that result in trade-offs requiring legislative and institutional interventions, for which the perspectives of law-policymakers and their societal values and political expediencies play a major role in decision-making. This study critically evaluates the evolving land–river governance in large democratically elected governments with complex developmental priorities and how law-policymakers’ recognition of emerging issues of river management influences common pool environmental resources governance. We selected an emerging economy – India – and analysed Parliamentary Questions (PQs) between 1999 and 2020 using a mixed method approach. Conflicting priorities over economic development, pollution management, socio-cultural values and inter-state–centre issues shape the evolving priorities of land–river governance. A declining focus on large-scale dams coupled with increasing attention on inter-basin water transfers, river conservation and pollution abatement, demonstrates an evolution away from the earlier narrow view of rivers for irrigation and hydropower. Our analysis demonstrates how the priorities of law-policymakers and political expedience play a critical role in river governance and thereby provide important insights into common pool environmental resources governance for sustainable development while also identifying important knowledge gaps and suggesting scopes for interdisciplinary studies. © 2022 The Authors.
Analyzing landslide susceptibility, health vulnerability and risk using multi-criteria decision-making analysis in Arunachal Pradesh, India
(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2023) Rehman, S.; Azhoni, A.
Landslides being a widespread disaster are associated with susceptibility, vulnerability and risk. The physical factors inducing landslides are relatively well-known. However, how landslide susceptibility will be exacerbated by climate change, impede the attainment of the sustainable development goals and increase health vulnerability is relatively less explored. We present an integrated assessment of landslide susceptibility, health vulnerability and overall risk to understand these interconnected dimensions using Arunachal Pradesh, India, as a case study, which is susceptible to landslides due to its topography and climate conditions. Landslide susceptibility was examined using twenty landslide conditioning parameters through the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP). The susceptibility map was validated using the area under the ROC curve (AUC). National Family Health Survey (NFHS 4) data were used to analyze the health vulnerability, while the overall risk was computed through the integration of susceptibility and vulnerability. Landslide susceptibility analysis indicated that nearly 22% area of the state is characterized by moderate susceptibility followed by high (17%) and very high susceptibility (13%). High elevation, slope, rainfall, SPI, drainage density and complex geology were identified as the causative factors of landslides. In the case of health vulnerability, East Kameng and Lohit districts were found to be very highly vulnerable, while Papum Pare, Changlang and Tirap districts experience high health vulnerability due to high degree of exposure and sensitivity. Overall risk analysis revealed over 16.8% area of the state is under moderate risk followed by high (9.8%) and very high (4.2%) risk. Linking this analysis with the climate change projections and SDG goals attainment revealed that Papum Pare, Upper Subansiri, Tirap and West Kameng require priority for lessening susceptibility, vulnerability and risk for achieving sustainable development. A strong correlation (99%) between HVI and risk further demonstrates the need for lessening health vulnerability and risk in the study area. Furthermore, our study contributes additional insights into landslide susceptibility by considering heal vulnerability and risk which may help in planning sustainable development strategies in a changing climate. © 2022, The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences & Polish Academy of Sciences.
Multihazard Assessment of the Sutlej-Beas River Basin Using Bivariate Statistical Frequency Ratio (FR) Model and Management Barriers of Land-River Interface
(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2023) Rehman, S.; Azhoni, A.
Climate change coupled with increased anthropogenic activities intensifies the potency and frequency of extreme weather events. While multihazard assessments of these extreme weather events enhance the estimation of hazard susceptibility, it must be coupled with identifying institutional barriers of managing the land-river interface. Thus, this study has carried out a multihazard susceptibility assessment based on landslide and flood susceptibility in the Sutlej-Beas River basin and prepared flood and landslide susceptibility maps using eleven causative parameters through a bivariate statistical frequency ratio (FR) model. This statistical evaluation of hazard susceptibility from multiple factors is supplemented by identifying the key barriers of managing the land-river interface, producing a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges of mitigating extreme weather-related hazards in a river basin. Nearly 51% of the study area was identified as susceptible to landslide while 43% was under flood and 48% area was observed under multihazard susceptibility. Landslides, floods, and multihazard followed a similar pattern of spatial distribution where elevation, population, drainage density, stream power index (SPI), and rainfall were identified as the contributing parameters. Changing attitudes of people toward rivers, lack of coordination among different stakeholders, and deficit funds were identified as prominent barriers in the case of land-river management. Susceptibility maps generated in this study will help in identifying the areas under hazard susceptibility while the identified institutional barriers may guide towards contextual sustainable planning of the basin and attainment of sustainable development goals. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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