Climate Hazards and the Role of Local Authorities: Exploring the Indian Legal Framework

Climate change can severely impact disaster risks in multiple ways by altering the frequency and intensity of hazard events. Managing the risks of climate extremes would require a more thoughtful approach and fundamental variations in our socio-legal models. The vulnerability of communities in dealing with natural hazards owing to climate change is closely linked to adaptation and mitigation measures and capacity building. Although numerous efforts to close this gap have been made at the global and national front, not much has been achieved at the local level. The Indian legal framework recognizes local government as the third tier of governance and establishes its role in a typical democratic set-up. In constitutional sense, democracy is the system of Government, in the administration of which, every adult citizen of the country enjoys some direct or indirect share. Keeping in view the real spirit and high ideas of democracy, Local Government forms an indispensable part of governance and administration in India. Before 1992, local level institutions did not have a constitutional status and had only a statutory status under state law. Thus, for instance, governance of urban areas was directly within the jurisdiction of the state government. This structure underwent a major change with the enactment of the 73rd and 74th Amendments of the Constitution of India in 1992, which marked a new era in the nature of local governance in rural and urban areas respectively. It is against this backdrop that the paper seeks to delve into the conceptual understanding of the Indian legal framework with specific emphasis on the institutionalization of local self-governments and their contributions to disaster risk management.