Adaptation to Rainfall Extremes: Role of Dams in India

Agnij Sur (), K.S. Kavi Kumar and Anubhab Pattanayak ()
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Agnij Sur: Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi, Delhi
Anubhab Pattanayak: Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, West Bengal

Working Papers from Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India

Abstract: Can large dams keep the floods at bay? In the last twenty years, major flood events in India have wreaked widespread destruction on people’s lives and livelihoods. With a threefold increase in extreme rainfall event in these years, severe flood damages are likely to increase without proper risk management. The increasing trend in constructing dams necessitates careful assessment of the effectiveness of these projects as a flood adaptation measure. The study employs a state-level dataset of India for 1969-2009 on flood damages, monthly average rainfall, and concentration of types of dams in each state taking 2001 census defined state borders. The analysis uses Feasible Generalized Least Squares for estimation, while employing panel corrected standard errors to correct for contemporaneous correlation in the dataset. Controlling for population density, dam concentration and unobserved regional heterogeneity, the study finds significant adverse impact of extreme rainfall on population during the South-West and North-East monsoon periods. The results highlight that large dams built for irrigation and hydroelectric power generation have historically exacerbated flood damages, whereas multipurpose dams have reduced such damages marginally. As the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events and floods are likely to increase under climate change conditions, the potential of mitigation measures such as Dam Safety Act 2021 and Flood Early Warning System (FLEWS) in averting flood damages assumes significance.

Keywords: Rainfall Extremes; Dams; Adaptation; Development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O10 O13 Q54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 34 pages
Date: 2022-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env
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