The large portfolio of current climate-related activities in the region will be considerably expanded during the current fiscal year, particularly in the rural sector, and will include:

Improving natural disaster forecasting capacity,for example through the Bihar State Flood Management Information System Project and the India National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project;

Improving irrigation supplies and efficiency, for example through the Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernization and Management Project in India;

Adaptation to droughts, for which a pilot activity is being undertaken in Andhra Pradesh, India, to build a comprehensive and holistic drought resilience program;

Coastal zone management, which is of particular urgency in the region, given that a 1-meter rise in sea level would submerge Maldives and impact millions of people living in low-lying areas, and which is being addressed, for example, by a Coastal Zone Integrated Management Project in India;

Watershed management to improve the productivity of water and land resources and thus build the climate resilience of rural communities, for example through the Himachal Pradesh Mid-Himalayan Watershed Development Project;

Water resources management through approaches that enhance adaptation to climate change, including various projects in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, and Bangladesh;

Urban sector adaptation through a host of initiatives in Bangladesh and India (for example Gujarat Urban Renewal) that recognize the vulnerability of South Asian coastal cities to sea level rise and aim to improve understanding of the scale of the problem and to identify feasible adaptation solutions.