Building Climate Resilience and Advancing Disaster Risk Reduction in the Fragile Mountain Ecosystem of Uttarakhand, India

The Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand is witnessing an alarming rise in climate-induced disasters—such as landslides, flash floods, cloudbursts, and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs)—exacerbated by fragile geophysical conditions and unregulated human activity. This study presents an integrated and region-specific assessment of disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate resilience across the state’s mountainous ecosystem. The research identifies spatial patterns of hazard exposure and vulnerability using remote sensing, GIS-based multi-hazard zonation, and climate trend analysis of IMD and CMIP6 datasets. A novel district-level Climate Resilience Index (CRI) used socio-economic, infrastructural, and environmental indicators. The results reveal a significant inverse correlation between hazard intensity and resilience capacity, particularly in high-risk districts such as Chamoli, Rudraprayag, and Pithoragarh. Institutional analysis highlights critical governance gaps, including limited early warning systems, poor enforcement of land-use regulations, and inadequate community engagement and infrastructure in hazard-prone areas. This interdisciplinary study introduces a novel, unified framework that integrates multi-hazard risk assessment, a district-level Climate Resilience Index (CRI), and institutional diagnostics. It emphasizes the urgent need for decentralized, data-driven resilience strategies. The findings support the formulation of evidence-based policies aligned with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), offering actionable pathways for enhancing adaptive capacity and minimizing risk in one of India’s most vulnerable regions.