Assessment of adaptations to floods through bottom up approach: A case of three agro climatic zones of Assam, India Katyaini Suparana*, Barua Anamika, Mili Bhupen Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Guwahati, India *Corresponding author -suparana@iitg.ernet.in
Online published on 5 April, 2012. Abstract To unearth the priorities in Assam to cope with floods effectively, the prime objective of this research study is on assessment of the adaptation measures, structural and non-structural, to floods in three districts of Assam, viz. Dhemaji, Jorhat and Dhubri representing North Bank Plains, Upper Brahmaputra Valley and Lower Brahmaputra Valley, agroclimatic zones respectively. Bottom up approach was adopted to gather the quantitative data from various concerned departments and qualitative data by holding focus group discussions. The bottom up approach was considered crucial as the society's decisions are essential to make an adaptation measure successful. The findings of the study reveal that there are various lacunae leading to the weak adaptation capacity of the communities. Structural priorities are infrastructure to prevent the damage at the time of incidence of floods, agricultural infrastructure, health care infrastructure as they are weak and inadequate; the non-structural priorities are watershed management, forest management, communication and coordination between various stakeholder groups, micro finance, and strengthening of self help groups to enhance the adaptation capacity. The study recommends that strengthening the knowledge and data base of the study region along with developing socially and economically feasible adaptation measures would immensely help in enhancing the adaptation capacity of the communities. Top Keywords Adaptation, Assam, Bottom-up approach, Community, Flood. Top |