Towards a Policy for Climate Resilient Infrastructure and Services in Coastal Cities

The policy brief is based on the learning that emerged from TERI's year-long study which looked at the impacts of Sea Level Rise (SLR) and other climate parameters such as storm surges and extreme rainfall on infrastructure and services of coastal cities. Granted by USAID as part of their Climate Change Resilient Development (CCRD) - Climate Adaptation Small Grants Program, the thematic area for the study was 'Climate Resilient Infrastructure Services'(CRIS) and the case study cities were Panaji in Goa and Visakhapatnam or Vizag in Andhra Pradesh. Drawing from the study, this policy brief brings out a discussion on the policy and regulatory requirement to foster climate resilient infrastructure and services planning, particularly for coastal cities in India. India is bestowed with a 7,517 km long coastline with many low lying and densely populated pockets with nearly 260 million people living within 50 km of the sea coast. A total of 130 towns and cities within 84 coastal districts contribute significantly to the nations' economy. These highly vulnerable areas house a web of infrastructure including transport and freight networks, road and rail corridors, industrial zones and parks, maritime and port facilities, petroleum industries, and refineries. The investment on infrastructure is likely to be doubled in the 12th Five-Year Plan period as compared to the previous plan period with a substantial chunk going to coastal areas for the development of Special Economic Zones (SEZs), tourism development, port, rail and road corridors, and housing.