IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/mad/wpaper/2022-223.html

Adaptation to Rainfall Extremes: Role of Dams in India

Author

Listed:
  • Agnij Sur

    (Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi, Delhi)

  • K.S. Kavi Kumar

    (Professor & Dean of Academic Affairs, Madras School of Economics, Chennai, Tamil Nadu)

  • Anubhab Pattanayak

    (Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, West Bengal)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Agnij Sur & K.S. Kavi Kumar & Anubhab Pattanayak, 2022. "Adaptation to Rainfall Extremes: Role of Dams in India," Working Papers 2022-223, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.
    • Handle: RePEc:mad:wpaper:2022-223
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mse.ac.in/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/WORKING-PAPER-223.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rafael E. De Hoyos & Vasilis Sarafidis, 2006. "Testing for cross-sectional dependence in panel-data models," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 6(4), pages 482-496, December.
    2. M. Hashem Pesaran, 2021. "General diagnostic tests for cross-sectional dependence in panels," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 13-50, January.
    3. Damle, Devendra, 2021. "Dam Safety in India," Working Papers 21/329, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
    4. Parida, Yashobanta, 2020. "Economic impact of floods in the Indian states," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(3), pages 267-290, June.
    5. Dominik Paprotny & Antonia Sebastian & Oswaldo Morales-Nápoles & Sebastiaan N. Jonkman, 2018. "Trends in flood losses in Europe over the past 150 years," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-12, December.
    6. Yashobanta Parida & Swati Saini & Joyita Roy Chowdhury, 2021. "Economic growth in the aftermath of floods in Indian states," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 535-561, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ostadzad, Ali Hossein, 2022. "Innovation and carbon emissions: Fixed-effects panel threshold model estimation for renewable energy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 602-617.
    2. Chimere O. Iheonu, 2019. "Governance and Domestic Investment in Africa," Working Papers 19/001, European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS).
    3. George Halkos & Iacovos Psarianos, 2016. "Exploring the effect of including the environment in the neoclassical growth model," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 18(3), pages 339-358, July.
    4. Dong, Kangyin & Sun, Renjin & Li, Hui & Liao, Hua, 2018. "Does natural gas consumption mitigate CO2 emissions: Testing the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis for 14 Asia-Pacific countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 419-429.
    5. Satar Bakhsh & Md Shabbir Alam & Wei Zhang, 2024. "Green finance and Sustainable Development Goals: is there a role for geopolitical uncertainty?," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 1-30, August.
    6. Mamba, Essotanam & Ali, Essossinam, 2022. "Do agricultural exports enhance agricultural (economic) growth? Lessons from ECOWAS countries," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 257-267.
    7. Ajanaku, B.A. & Collins, A.R., 2021. "Economic growth and deforestation in African countries: Is the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis applicable?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    8. Amit Nandan & Hrushikesh Mallick, 2022. "Do growth-promoting factors induce income inequality in a transitioning large developing economy? An empirical evidence from Indian states," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 1109-1139, May.
    9. Annisaa Rizky Dwi Brintanti & Iqram Ramadhan Jamil & Usman Alhassan & Brama Yudha Kusmara & Yessi Rahmawati, 2025. "Inverted N-shape relationships: revisiting the dynamic effect of natural resources on poverty in Indonesia," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 83-105, March.
    10. Albert MILLOGO & Ines TROJETTE & Nicolas PÉRIDY, 2021. "Are government policies efficient to regulate immigration? Evidence from France," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 53, pages 23-49.
    11. Bin Peng & Giovanni Forchini, 2012. "Consistent Estimation of Panel Data Models with a Multi-factor Error Structure," School of Economics Discussion Papers 0112, School of Economics, University of Surrey.
    12. Eugene Kouassi & Lexi L Setlhare, 2016. "Asymptotic Properties of Pesaran's CD Test Revisited," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 36(4), pages 2569-2578.
    13. Gina Cristina Dimian & Mihaela Maftei & Josef Jablonský & Erika Marin & Stelian Mircea Olaru, 2026. "The Influence of Digitalization on Greenhouse Gas Emissions in European Union. The Analysis of Mediating Effect of Renewable Energy Consumption," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 17(1), pages 1888-1928, February.
    14. Damane, Moeti & Ho, Sin-Yu, 2024. "Effects of financial inclusion on financial stability: evidence from ssa countries," MPRA Paper 120238, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Miles Parker, 2018. "The Impact of Disasters on Inflation," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 21-48, April.
    16. Eleftherios Thalassinos & Marta Kadłubek & Le Minh Thong & Tran Van Hiep & Erginbay Ugurlu, 2022. "Managerial Issues Regarding the Role of Natural Gas in the Transition of Energy and the Impact of Natural Gas Consumption on the GDP of Selected Countries," Resources, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-22, April.
    17. Philip Kofi Adom & Franklin Amuakwa-Mensah & Salome Amuakwa-Mensah, 2020. "Degree of financialization and energy efficiency in Sub-Saharan Africa: do institutions matter?," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 6(1), pages 1-22, December.
    18. Bruno Pires Tiberto & Helder Ferreira de Mendonça, 2023. "Effects of Sustainable Monetary and Fiscal Policy on FDI Inflows to EMDE Countries," Working Papers Series 575, Central Bank of Brazil, Research Department.
    19. Caterina Giannetti, 2015. "Unit roots and the dynamics of market shares: an analysis using an Italian banking micro-panel," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 537-555, March.
    20. Nahiduzzaman, Md. & Sarker, Sanjoy Kumar & Kuri, Bapon Chandra & Dhar, Bablu Kumar & Roy, Partha Pratim & Karim, Rejaul, 2025. "Navigating environmental vulnerability and resource dependence: Toward equitable and sustainable growth pathways in resource-rich economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:mad:wpaper:2022-223. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Geetha G (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/mseacin.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.