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The TREADS Initiative at CPR invites you to a TREADTalk on:
From Hazard to Calamity: Uncovering Politics in Kosi Flood Management Policies
Monday, 29th September 2025, 3:30 PM IST
Speaker:
Dr. Rahul Yaduka, Postdoctoral Researcher, SOAS School of Law, London
Moderator:
Dr. Srinivas Chokkakula, President and Chief Executive, CPR
This event will be held in a hybrid mode at the CPR Conference Room and online via Zoom. Please register to attend.
About the talk:
In common discourse, disasters like the Kosi River floods are often perceived as natural accidents, deemed “Acts of God” beyond human control, with impacts seemingly indifferent to social markers such as caste or gender. This presentation challenges such narratives, arguing that framing floods as natural absolves human agency and obscures the political and economic dynamics that transform hazards into disasters.
The natural component of the region, that is a flood-prone river, has been systematically converted into a full-blown annual disaster by increasing the vulnerability of the riverine communities through ill-conceived structural interventions on the river.
Drawing on an anthropological approach, it examines the annual Kosi floods in northern Bihar, dissecting the interplay of natural river properties and human interventions, from colonial attempts to post-1954 embankment policies. The talk unravels the politics embedded in framing the river as a calamity, the elite-driven policy choices, and the inertia sustaining flawed management, supported by ethnographic insights from affected communities. It concludes by advocating for a paradigm shift toward holistic, community-informed flood governance, offering lessons for disaster studies and policymaking.
About the speaker:
Dr. Rahul Yaduka is a postdoctoral researcher in the SOAS School of Law, working under Professor Philippe Cullet on the ERC/UKRI-funded WATCON project, “Addressing the Multi-scalar Dimensions of Sectoral Water Conflicts Through the Lens of Water Security: Lessons from South Asia.” Dr. Rahul Yaduka’s research investigates sectoral water conflicts, such as around dams in Uttarakhand, used for irrigation, hydropower, and drinking water, exploring river rights for sustainable conflict resolution.
Dr. Yaduka holds a PhD in Development Studies from Ambedkar University Delhi, an MA in Political Science from the University of Delhi, and a B.Tech. in Civil Engineering from IIT Bombay. His doctoral work focused on community resistance to development and disaster management, exploring socio-political aspects of disaster governance. He has published on the Kosi floods in Bihar from an anthropological perspective and engages in collaborative research on environmental governance, amplifying marginalised voices through articles in Hindi, Maithili, and Nepali, and participant-observant roles in people’s movements.
Dr. Yaduka is a member of the SOAS Law, Environment and Development Centre (LEDC). He serves as assistant editor for the LEAD Journal and member-secretary of the People’s Commission on the Kosi River Basin. Additionally, he is a Fellow at the Institute for Social and Environmental Transition-Nepal (ISET-Nepal), collaborating with Senior Advisor, Mr. Ajaya Dixit.
