World 'dangerously unprepared' for future disasters
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Some countries' failure to pay into a UN disaster relief fund is leaving the world "dangerously unprepared" for future crises, Andrew Mitchell says.
The international development secretary said several countries had not donated to the Central Emergency Response Fund, aimed at speeding-up relief delivery.
Britain has increased its pledge for 2012 from £40m to £60m but the fund is expected to be £45m short next year.
The international community must "wake up" to the challenge, Mr Mitchell said.
The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) was set up in the wake of the Indian Ocean tsunami on 26 December 2004. It includes a grant element based on voluntary contributions from governments and private sector organisations and individuals.
The fund was designed by the United Nations to speed up relief in crisis zones with one central fund, though many countries still choose to give bilaterally.
ActionAid spokeswoman Jane Moyo told BBC Breakfast: "The importance of this fund is that it pre-positions money where it is most needed and it is important that people - other governments - pull their weight because then we can help people who are most in need, in their time of most need."
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“
Start Quote
Spend to save is a good rule in international development”
Alan Duncan
International Development Minister
'Basic humanitarian decency'
The fund has been hit hard by a series of natural disasters this year - the tsunami in Japan; an earthquake in New Zealand; famine in the Horn of Africa; and floods in Pakistan and the Philippines.
Mr Mitchell said the increasing numbers of people living in low-lying or famine-prone areas meant the scale of future tragedies would be greater.
He said many countries wait for events to happen before offering money but he said this could affect critical emergency response work.
He said in the first few hours of a disaster, when survivors are trapped in the rubble of an earthquake, delays and lack of resources could mean the difference between life and death.
"This year the world has been rocked by devastating disasters and the evidence suggests this trend is likely to continue.
"The past shows that international responses could have been more effective if they had been properly planned and coordinated as part of one single system instead of a patch-quilt approach we see all too often."
Mr Mitchell said: "The system is in place but too many countries and agencies are failing to back it, leaving the world dangerously unprepared for the scale and number of shocks that lie ahead.
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Selected CERF donors in 2011
UK - $94m (£60m)
Sweden - $74m
Norway - $68m
Netherlands - $54m
Canada - $41m
Spain - $20m
Germany - $16m
Australia - $14m
US - $6m
Japan - $3m
France - $720,000
China - $500,000
Source: UN CERF website
"The international community must wake up to this challenge and unite its efforts under one umbrella," he added.
International Development Minister Alan Duncan told Breakfast that while many countries were facing financial difficulties, it made sense to donate emergency aid in advance and was "basic humanitarian decency".
"If you actually put money into a fund in advance of what are going to be more predictable emergencies around the world such as floods and earthquakes you can actually save a lot of lives by being able to respond very quickly as a result."
Mr Duncan said being prepared could also save a lot of of money "so spend to save is a good rule in international development".
Mr Duncan refused to name to the countries the government believed were not pulling their weight. But he said there were "one or two European ones" and countries from both east and west.
CERF's stated objectives are to:
promote early action and response to reduce loss of life;
enhance response to time-critical requirements;
strengthen core elements of humanitarian response in underfunded crises
Showing posts with label Natural Disaster relief agency india. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Natural Disaster relief agency india. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Why it's so much harder for a Bangladeshi woman to escape a cyclone
Bagerhat, Bangladesh, August 2011. Picture provided by the British Red Cross
By Katie Nguyen
When Cyclone Sidr battered Bangladesh in 2007, hundreds of women and children died.
Not because they didn't know there was a big storm coming, but simply because the men weren't home to give them permission to leave the house and seek safety elsewhere. Paralysed by the shame of being seen alone in public, many women could not save themselves. It seems almost too tragic to contemplate.
Since then, however, the Bangladesh Red Crescent and British Red Cross have been working with the country's coastal communities to encourage women's needs to be taken into greater account.
Through a project to boost disaster preparedness, they have enlisted influential religious and community leaders to help dispel, for example, the stigma around women being unaccompanied by male members of their families.
They have also provided women with training on how to respond to cyclones - smoothing the way with the men first - and recruited female volunteers to spread the word.
"The coastal areas are very poor and the communities don't have much access to information. The women don't know their own rights even," project leader Ali Asgar told me.
"Literacy is very poor. In the coastal areas it is probably less than 35 percent," he noted.
Simple, life-saving tips are passed on to other women. For example, they are told to change out of their long saris into baggy trousers to make escaping from a cyclone easier.
They are taught to bury documents, money, dried food and drinking water in a bucket attached with a rope to an empty plastic bottle. This gives them a head start in resuming their lives once the cyclone passes, the Red Cross says.
The women also have a chance to voice their concerns.
At one women’s forum, some women complained that a lack of electricity in cyclone-resilient shelters made them feel unsafe, so solar panels were installed, Asgar said.
There have also been efforts to observe purdah - the strict separation of men and women - in cyclone shelters.
"We have worked with the most vulnerable groups - particularly pregnant women and children. Women are very vulnerable for a number of reasons, including their long, traditional dress and long hair," said Nazma, a housewife who helps circulate information about cyclones and how to prepare for disasters.
"Also, women will not go outside even when they receive information that a cyclone is coming unless their husband tells them to, and women can't swim because they have not been allowed to learn," the Red Cross quoted her as saying.
Read in detail at :- http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=23012
By Katie Nguyen
When Cyclone Sidr battered Bangladesh in 2007, hundreds of women and children died.
Not because they didn't know there was a big storm coming, but simply because the men weren't home to give them permission to leave the house and seek safety elsewhere. Paralysed by the shame of being seen alone in public, many women could not save themselves. It seems almost too tragic to contemplate.
Since then, however, the Bangladesh Red Crescent and British Red Cross have been working with the country's coastal communities to encourage women's needs to be taken into greater account.
Through a project to boost disaster preparedness, they have enlisted influential religious and community leaders to help dispel, for example, the stigma around women being unaccompanied by male members of their families.
They have also provided women with training on how to respond to cyclones - smoothing the way with the men first - and recruited female volunteers to spread the word.
"The coastal areas are very poor and the communities don't have much access to information. The women don't know their own rights even," project leader Ali Asgar told me.
"Literacy is very poor. In the coastal areas it is probably less than 35 percent," he noted.
Simple, life-saving tips are passed on to other women. For example, they are told to change out of their long saris into baggy trousers to make escaping from a cyclone easier.
They are taught to bury documents, money, dried food and drinking water in a bucket attached with a rope to an empty plastic bottle. This gives them a head start in resuming their lives once the cyclone passes, the Red Cross says.
The women also have a chance to voice their concerns.
At one women’s forum, some women complained that a lack of electricity in cyclone-resilient shelters made them feel unsafe, so solar panels were installed, Asgar said.
There have also been efforts to observe purdah - the strict separation of men and women - in cyclone shelters.
"We have worked with the most vulnerable groups - particularly pregnant women and children. Women are very vulnerable for a number of reasons, including their long, traditional dress and long hair," said Nazma, a housewife who helps circulate information about cyclones and how to prepare for disasters.
"Also, women will not go outside even when they receive information that a cyclone is coming unless their husband tells them to, and women can't swim because they have not been allowed to learn," the Red Cross quoted her as saying.
Read in detail at :- http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=23012
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Climate Change: Role of Asia and the Pacific Key to Global Future
November 28, 2011 - The 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is underway in Durban, South Africa, from November 28 –December 9, 2011. ADB believes the talks must continue to put Asia and the Pacific at the forefront of global efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and to help countries adapt to new economic and social threats.
“The region, with over 50% of the world’s population and two-thirds of its poor, is deeply vulnerable to climate change-linked events such as rising sea levels and increasingly severe droughts and floods,” said ADB Vice-President Bindu Lohani. “Without coordinated international action to help address climate change, Asia’s extraordinary growth and poverty reduction achievements of the past three decades will be undermined, and this in turn will hurt the global economy.”
Asia and the Pacific Countries are Vulnerable to Climate Change
Geography compounded with high levels of poverty and population density has rendered Asia and the Pacific countries especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Climate change is real and the region faces daunting climate-related development challenges. Some of the impacts are predicted to be in the form of new challenges (such as sea-level rise) and others as age-old threats made more severe by climate change (such as flooding or drought).
The likely impacts of climate change in the form of higher temperatures, more variable precipitation, and more extreme weather events are already felt in many countries in the region. The region will need to adapt to those changes and reduce their exposure to climate risks. Yet few developing countries in the region are well adapted to even current climate variations.
Impact on Poor
The effects of global warming are unfair. Climate change impacts the poor disproportionately because they depend heavily on climate-sensitive natural resources and subsist in an environment of scarcity where even small shocks can cause irreversible loss. Hence, climate change poses an additional risk to development and could potentially delay or reverse the attainment of many of the Millennium Development Goals, including those on poverty eradication, child mortality, vector-borne diseases, and environmental sustainability.
Natural Endowment
The region has thousands of islands, many below or just a few feet above sea level, and is endowed with some of the most important marine resources of the world, including coral reefs, a wide range of fish species, and other biodiversity. Livelihoods of millions are derived in large part from forestry, fishery, and tourism. The region’s ecosystems are already stressed and climate change will intensify many existing stresses caused by unsustainable resource use.
Sea-level Rise
Sea-level rise represents an existential threat to many small island nations. Being land scarce and low lying, they are exposed to the risks of intensifying weather events such as damage caused by inundation, extreme winds, and flooding from storms.
Many of these islands have more territorial sea than land. With future sea levels projected to increase in the range of 10 to 100 centimeters by the year 2100, many of the island nations - Kiribati, Fiji, Vanuatu, the Marshall Islands, the Maldives, the Cook Islands, Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands - could be submerged in the worst-case scenarios.
Sea-level rise is also a major source of concern for coastal urban areas and for the fertile delta systems, which are threatened by both inundation and salt water intrusion.
Natural Disasters
The region is highly susceptible to natural disasters. In 2010, more than 30 million people in Asia and the Pacific were displaced by weather-related environmental disasters, and that pattern is likely to continue and grow.
Impacts ranging from higher temperatures to more variable precipitation and more extreme weather events are already being felt in the form of regular droughts, floods, and tropical cyclones. With climate change the frequency and incidence of such natural disasters is projected to increase. Recent floods in Cambodia, Pakistan, Philippines, the People Republic of China (PRC) and Thailand offer a somber lesson.
Thailand’s recent flooding has been described as its worst in over 50 years. There have been over 600 reported deaths and over 3 million people affected. It is estimated the country’s gross domestic product could decline by up to 2% as a result of the devastation.
As climate-related risks intensify, there will be a need to respond proactively to build resilience through prevention and preparedness rather than through relief and response.
Urban Expansion
The region has some of the fastest growing cities in the world. The United Nations estimates that by 2020, 13 of the world’s 25 megacities, most of them situated in low-lying coastal areas, will be in Asia and the Pacific. In many megacities, more than half the population is crowded into densely populated slums that are at risk from flooding and where settlements lack basic protective infrastructure.
Climate change will likely exacerbate existing pressures on key resources associated with growth, urbanization and industrialization. Without a substantial investment in basic amenities and infrastructure in these large cities, climate change will worsen existing vulnerabilities.
Read in detail at :- http://www.cdrn.org.in/
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Post-Sikkim quake: ham radio, bamboo applications recommended for northeast
Post-Sikkim quake: ham radio, bamboo applications recommended for northeast | |||||
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| New Delhi, Nov 15: A meeting of India's top seismologists and earthquake specialists, which discussed issues arising from the Sikkim earthquake, has strongly recommended that northeastern states set up their own state disaster response units instead of being dependent on centralised forces like the National Disaster Response Force.In addition, the national workshop on 'Housing, Resilience and Rehabilitation' on Nov 11-12 at Jamia Millia Islamia, which saw senior level representation from the governments of five states - Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Sikkim - suggested several innovative steps such as extensive use of ham radio operators and "community radio stations in every district" to respond to crisis where normal telecommunications are knocked out, including mobile phone networks.The 'father' of earthquake engineering technology in the country, A.S. Arya, and others emphasized the critical need to develop quake resistant technology and use bamboo applications wherever possible. They said that most urban centres in the northeast faced major disasters in the event of a severe earthquake: retrofitting of existing buildings, especially "lifeline buildings such as schools and hospitals" was crucial."Retrofitting Clinics may be established in every district to develop cadre of trained masons, contractors and engineers and provide information and guidance on retrofitting to the community," the recommendations said.While awareness was flagged as a key component of preparedness, the workshop recognised the urgent need for "short-term sensitisation programmes for elected representatives, community leaders and government officials...".For Sikkim, the workshop declared that the state government should consider setting up a separate "Department for Disaster Management under a designated officer no lower than a rank of a Secretary/Commissioner who will report directly to the SDMA (State Disaster management Authority". It also noted that the Regional Node for Disaster Risk Reduction in North East Space Applications Centre premises at Umiam, Meghalaya, should be the nodal agency with centres in each NE state with electronic and satellite connectivity.In addition, the workshop flagged the need to involve communities in projects, programmes and policies. "Since public awareness is at the heart of preparedness, an intensive campaign must be waged from door to door and village to village, involving students and teachers and using the excellent network of Panchayats in Sikkim to sensitise communities and to enable them to meaningfully participate in the reconstruction process."Other specialists called for campaigns using SMS' and new technology to sensitise and train people to how they could respond to earthquakes. Another suggestion made was for a "community based participatory monitoring system to track the progress, implementation of technical guidelines, grievance redressal" on the lines of existing processes in Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Bihar.Launched on Nov 11 by Jamia Vice Chancellor Najeeb Jung, the programme began with a minute's silence to honour the late Dr. Bhupen Hazarika and listened to his legendary song, "Buku hom hom kore".The workshop was organised by Sanjoy Hazarika of Jamia's Centre for North East Studies under the auspices of its Sikkim Studies Programme with collaboration from the National Centre for Peoples Action and Disaster Preparedness in Ahmedabad of Rajendra and Rupal Desai.Presentations were made by G.C. Khanal, joint director, Department of Land Revenue and Disaster Preparedness, Biswajit Sarma, head, Centre for Disaster Preparedness, Assam, T.P. Khaund, adviser to the Mizoram chief minister, P.P. Shrivastav, member, North Eastern Council, Suhel Akhtar, Manipur's principal secretary for disaster preparedness, and Pankaj Jain, government of Meghalaya as well as Jemino Mawthoh of the Department of Continuing Education at NEHU.(IANS) Source:- http://headlinesindia.mapsofindia.com/natural-disasters/earthquake/postsikkim-quake-ham-radio-bamboo-applications-recommended-for-northeast-95181.html |
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SIKKIM : EARTHQUAKE MONITORING STATION INAUGURATED AT MARCHAK
SIKKIM : EARTHQUAKE MONITORING STATION INAUGURATED AT MARCHAK
EARTHQUAKE MONITORING STATION INAUGURATED AT MARCHAK
SAGAR CHHETRI
SAGAR CHHETRI
GANGTOK, 07 Nov: The Minister for Science and Technology and Climate Change, Forest and Tourism Department Bhim Dhungel inaugurated the Earthquake Monitoring Station at Science Centre, Marchak today.
The Station has been funded by Ministry of Earthquake Sciences, Government of India and the Principal Investigator of the station is Prof. Sankar Kumar Nath of IIT Kharagpur who has been working in Earthquake Science in Sikkim since 1996. The project is under the coordination of Sikkim State Council of Science and Technology. This station is among the 12 such stations installed in Sikkim.
Prof Sankar Kumar Nath delivered his presentation on ‘Seismicity and Seismic Hazard in the Sikkim Himalaya: Current Scenario’ during a day-long workshop held at Sikkim Science Centre, Marchak today. Prof. S.K.Nath during his presentation citing scientific reasons for earthquake categorically stated that there is no any relationship between earthquake and hydro projects. He further said that there is no reason to panic even if the aftershock sequences continue for some more time
In his presentation, Prof Nath informed that he along with his team has been working for Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalayas since 1996. He informed that a total of 12 earthquake monitoring stations were installed at different parts of the state so far and proposed to have four more at Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and Siliguri in earliest.
He informed that more than 200 earthquakes have been recorded in Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalayas since 1996.
Prof Nath mentioned that it would be not appropriate to say whole Sikkim into the seismic zone 5 as parts of the Sikkim falls under the different seismic zones from 2 to 5 and above. He also mentioned that rapid urbanization and unprecedented population growth compounded the prevailing seismic risks.
The Seismological Investigation Report (SIR) prepared by him states that the Population Density Risk Map prepared by integrating the Hazard Scenario with the Population Density Map on GIS platform depicts higher risk in the mid and southern districts of Sikkim and since the population density in the epicentral zone and its neighbourhood was less the number of casualty was signifacantly low. Since the ground motion at Gangtok, Singtam, Mangan and other cities were comparatively low the casualty had been insignificant in these cities also.
Similarly a Building Risk Map prepared by integrating building typology with the hazard scenario says that it is evident that the building damage distribution is significant in the eastern and southern districts of Sikkim. The inhabitants should remain watchful about the secondary impact of this earthquake in the form of building collapse etc.
While showing the microzonation map, Prof Nath informed about the various uses of these maps such as in land use management, selection of suitable sites for future development of buildings and infrastructures, urban master planning and development of centres for earthquake safety.
He also stressed on the measures to be undertaken for prevention, mitigation and preparedness for such calamities.
Terming earthquake as a very serious matter Minister Bhim Dhungel during his speech said that there are very less people who are serious about this matter. The state government is not behind in framing progressive legislation in this regard but the government needs support from civil Society. The minister further said that the government is thinking on the lines of formulating new bye-laws on construction and the Chief Minister has spoken on this issue in many forums but the civil society has not given any views in this regard. He further added that every member of civil society should take the responsibility and not merely pass on the responsibility to the government alone.
Mr Dhungel also encouraged the people to express their opinion and provide inputs to help the government in its functioning.
Likewise, Dr AK Srivastava, Secretary, Science & Technolocy department gave a presentation on Earthquake in East India and Sikkim: Reflections, Inputs and Suggestions.
The workshop also witnessed an interaction session between Mr Nath and officials from different organisations and departments.
The day-long workshop was organized by the Sikkim State Council of Science and Technology and Geology & Geophysics Department of IIT Kharagpur and was supported by the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
The workshop was chaired by the Minister for Science and Technology, Bhim Dhungel, who was accompanied by the Principal Secretary Sikkim State Council of Science and Technology, Dr AK Srivastava, and was attended by officials from different government departments.
Prof Sankar Kumar Nath delivered his presentation on ‘Seismicity and Seismic Hazard in the Sikkim Himalaya: Current Scenario’ during a day-long workshop held at Sikkim Science Centre, Marchak today. Prof. S.K.Nath during his presentation citing scientific reasons for earthquake categorically stated that there is no any relationship between earthquake and hydro projects. He further said that there is no reason to panic even if the aftershock sequences continue for some more time
In his presentation, Prof Nath informed that he along with his team has been working for Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalayas since 1996. He informed that a total of 12 earthquake monitoring stations were installed at different parts of the state so far and proposed to have four more at Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and Siliguri in earliest.
He informed that more than 200 earthquakes have been recorded in Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalayas since 1996.
Prof Nath mentioned that it would be not appropriate to say whole Sikkim into the seismic zone 5 as parts of the Sikkim falls under the different seismic zones from 2 to 5 and above. He also mentioned that rapid urbanization and unprecedented population growth compounded the prevailing seismic risks.
The Seismological Investigation Report (SIR) prepared by him states that the Population Density Risk Map prepared by integrating the Hazard Scenario with the Population Density Map on GIS platform depicts higher risk in the mid and southern districts of Sikkim and since the population density in the epicentral zone and its neighbourhood was less the number of casualty was signifacantly low. Since the ground motion at Gangtok, Singtam, Mangan and other cities were comparatively low the casualty had been insignificant in these cities also.
Similarly a Building Risk Map prepared by integrating building typology with the hazard scenario says that it is evident that the building damage distribution is significant in the eastern and southern districts of Sikkim. The inhabitants should remain watchful about the secondary impact of this earthquake in the form of building collapse etc.
While showing the microzonation map, Prof Nath informed about the various uses of these maps such as in land use management, selection of suitable sites for future development of buildings and infrastructures, urban master planning and development of centres for earthquake safety.
He also stressed on the measures to be undertaken for prevention, mitigation and preparedness for such calamities.
Terming earthquake as a very serious matter Minister Bhim Dhungel during his speech said that there are very less people who are serious about this matter. The state government is not behind in framing progressive legislation in this regard but the government needs support from civil Society. The minister further said that the government is thinking on the lines of formulating new bye-laws on construction and the Chief Minister has spoken on this issue in many forums but the civil society has not given any views in this regard. He further added that every member of civil society should take the responsibility and not merely pass on the responsibility to the government alone.
Mr Dhungel also encouraged the people to express their opinion and provide inputs to help the government in its functioning.
Likewise, Dr AK Srivastava, Secretary, Science & Technolocy department gave a presentation on Earthquake in East India and Sikkim: Reflections, Inputs and Suggestions.
The workshop also witnessed an interaction session between Mr Nath and officials from different organisations and departments.
The day-long workshop was organized by the Sikkim State Council of Science and Technology and Geology & Geophysics Department of IIT Kharagpur and was supported by the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
The workshop was chaired by the Minister for Science and Technology, Bhim Dhungel, who was accompanied by the Principal Secretary Sikkim State Council of Science and Technology, Dr AK Srivastava, and was attended by officials from different government departments.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Severe Weather Warnings DATE : AUGUST 25,2011
Severe Weather Warnings
DATE : AUGUST 25,2011
HEAVY RAINFALL WARNING |
ISOLATED HEAVY RAINFALL WOULD OCCUR OVER OVER ORISSA, CHHATTISGARH , EAST MADHYA PRADESH DURING NEXT 24 HOURS AND OVER EAST RAJASTHAN , WEST MADHYA PRADESH, MADHYA MAHARASHTRA, MARATHWADA, VIDARBHA AND GUJARAT REGION DURING NEXT 48 HOURS. |
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
To avoid last year’s chaos, disaster cell lines up SMS weapon
To avoid last year’s chaos, disaster cell lines up SMS weapon
Last year’s bad monsoon experience has made officials take extra precautions to avoid any repeats this year.
For starters, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is installing an SMS blaster at the disaster management cell that started functioning at the civic body premises last Wednesday.
This is to ensure efficient delivery of alerts to citizens and the civic staff to ensure faster response to any untoward incident during monsoon.
The civic body on Wednesday started the disaster management cell in the civic headquarters.
The cell would run during the whole of monsoon. “The cell will be operational 24 hours during monsoon and coordinate rescue and relief operations,” said Deputy Municipal Commissioner, Pravin Ashtikar.
He said the disaster management cell is as per the plan prepared by the civic body in association with the All India Institute of Local Self Government (AIILSG).
Read in detail at :-
http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=21971
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Monsoons spinning the Earths plates- A Study
Monsoons spinning the Earth’s plates - study
- Date:13 Apr 2011
- Source(s):Australian National University (ANU)
A new study from The Australian National University has for the first time confirmed that long-term climate change has the potential to spin the Earth’s tectonic plates.
Dr Giampiero Iaffaldano from the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences and colleagues in France and Germany have established a link between the motion of the Indian plate over the past 10 million years and a specific climate change event over the same period: the intensification of the Indian monsoon.
Dr Iaffaldano said that the monsoon, which increased rainfall in northeast Indian by four metres annually, sped up motion in the Indian plate by almost one centimetre per year.
“The 100km-thick outer shell of Earth, the lithosphere, is divided into pieces called tectonic plates. Plates move in different directions at speeds in the order of centimetres per year, comparable to the speed of fingernail growth in humans.
“The significance of this finding lies in recognising for the first time that long-term climate changes have the potential to act as a force and influence the motion of tectonic plates. It is known that certain geologic events caused by plate motions – for example the drift of continents, the closure of ocean basins and the building of large mountain belts – have the ability to influence climate patterns over a period of a million years.
“Now we know that the opposite holds as well: long-term climate change, or the natural changes in climate patterns over millions of years, can modify the motion of plates in a feedback mechanism.”
Dr Iaffaldano added that the finding could help unlock the causes of plate-motion events like large-scale earthquakes.
“When forces moving plates along their boundaries reach certain thresholds, earthquakes occur and energy is released. This happens cyclically, typically every several hundred years in the case of large earthquakes. However it appears that the seismic potential of plate boundaries, which is an indication of how prone these are to large earthquakes, depends, among other factors, also on how strong or weak these forces have been in the past. In other words, it depends also on the history of plates over millions of years.
“In order to understand the seismic potential of plate boundaries it is important to identify all the possible factors that caused plate motion to change in the past. In that respect we have discovered that climate change could in fact be one possible candidate, something we did not consider until now.
“This new knowledge shall be used to analyse the past behaviour of plates in the Earth’s crust. Ultimately we aim at understanding what caused plate motions to change and which regions are currently more prone to large earthquakes. To that end, we may also have to consider the history of climate over the past million years.”
Dr Iaffaldano’s findings were recently published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters. A copy of the paper is available from the ANU media office.
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) lends a hand in Japan
It's been just one week and a small group of young men from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is already making its presence felt in the tsunami-struck town of Onagawa in Japan.
In a small but significant manner, the 46-member Indian contingent, which landed in Japan on March 28, almost three weeks after the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit the country, has been contributing to the relief and rescue operations in this seaside town that was completely washed away. Nearly half the town’s population is reported to be missing.
Friday, April 8, 2011
NDMA : Shortage of manpower to deal with post-disaster situations'
The National Disaster Management Authority has said the country faces a shortage of manpower to deal with psycho-social and mental health problems that follow disasters and there is a need to evolve a system to deal with it.
For every 100 persons in the world, there are 1.2 psychiatrists and in India, the figure is 0.2. The average number of social workers globally is 0.4 and in India it is 0.03.
“There is a shortage of manpower in dealing with psycho-social problems that arise after disasters. We need to evolve a system to deal with it,” the NDMA Vice-Chairman, Mr Shashidhar Reddy, said at the national workshop on psycho-social support and mental health services during disasters.
The MLA from Andhra Pradesh said the geothermal conditions in the country coupled with impact of climate change globally are an indicator of the need to follow guidelines to deal with disasters as and when they strike.
For More Information on the same , please follow the link :-
Monday, March 28, 2011
What are restrictions on Japanese food imports?
Photo: AP
Imported seafood from Japan is screened for radiation by a chef at a Japanese restaurant in Hong Kong to make sure the food is safe to eat, March 22, 2011
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The number of governments that have banned Japanese food imports due to fears of radiation contamination is growing. On Friday, China joined Singapore and the U.S. in halting some imported foods from radiation-affected areas of Japan. Other governments are expected to take similar precautionary measures as Japan struggles to contain the damage from the Fukushima nuclear plant.
The situation at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant remains precarious after several workers there suffered radiation burns while attempting to cool one of the damaged reactors.
Although the extent of contamination remains unclear, the damage to farms and livelihoods is spreading. At one of Japan's busiest fish markets, Yasumichi Tanaka said the daily catch is dwindling. "Fish supplies from the radiation contaminated regions have been totally halted."
Produce markets also have taken a hit. Retailers say some customers are avoiding all vegetables, not just those likely to be contaminated.
International orders have suffered, as well.
On Friday, China joined the growing list of countries that have halted food imports from affected regions. State TV reported the banned items included milk products, fruit, vegetables and seafood.
In Singapore, where some Japanese foods already are banned, restaurant manager Connie Hon said her customers are worried. "Consumer confidence is yes, somewhat shaken, I would say, amongst some of the Singapore populace, but that can't be helped, I think."
And at another popular restaurant, manager Nakakita Yoshihiko said the menu has changed. "First of all, they want to know the food comes from where and is it safe or not? These are two major questions and it's very easy to answer. It does not come from Fukushima, and Singapore is able to check all the items to make sure the food is safe."
Canada, Australia and Russia have adopted similar bans on Japanese foods. Health and security researcher Bill Durodie said more countries are likely to follow. "The reality is the United States made the decision a few days ago and it's almost inevitable that once a country that size has decided to act in that way, others will follow suit."
But an expert on the politics of energy said the danger of radiation-contaminated foods is greatly exaggerated. Charles Ebinger at the Brookings Institution told VOA that an average adult would have to drink a quart of contaminated milk each day for one year to receive the same radiation as one CAT scan.
Ebinger said the one certainty is the economic damage to Japan's northeast. "That particular part of Japan is deeply dependent on agriculture and fish, so I think inside the Japanese economy, we'll see pockets of areas that have been exposed to contamination, see their economy hurt very much."
Many European countries have yet to announce bans on Japanese food imports. Germany and France have started screening food samples. They say there will be no restrictions on Japanese food imports, however, until the test results are back.
Imported seafood from Japan is screened for radiation by a chef at a Japanese restaurant in Hong Kong to make sure the food is safe to eat, March 22, 2011
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The number of governments that have banned Japanese food imports due to fears of radiation contamination is growing. On Friday, China joined Singapore and the U.S. in halting some imported foods from radiation-affected areas of Japan. Other governments are expected to take similar precautionary measures as Japan struggles to contain the damage from the Fukushima nuclear plant.
The situation at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant remains precarious after several workers there suffered radiation burns while attempting to cool one of the damaged reactors.
Although the extent of contamination remains unclear, the damage to farms and livelihoods is spreading. At one of Japan's busiest fish markets, Yasumichi Tanaka said the daily catch is dwindling. "Fish supplies from the radiation contaminated regions have been totally halted."
Produce markets also have taken a hit. Retailers say some customers are avoiding all vegetables, not just those likely to be contaminated.
International orders have suffered, as well.
On Friday, China joined the growing list of countries that have halted food imports from affected regions. State TV reported the banned items included milk products, fruit, vegetables and seafood.
In Singapore, where some Japanese foods already are banned, restaurant manager Connie Hon said her customers are worried. "Consumer confidence is yes, somewhat shaken, I would say, amongst some of the Singapore populace, but that can't be helped, I think."
And at another popular restaurant, manager Nakakita Yoshihiko said the menu has changed. "First of all, they want to know the food comes from where and is it safe or not? These are two major questions and it's very easy to answer. It does not come from Fukushima, and Singapore is able to check all the items to make sure the food is safe."
Canada, Australia and Russia have adopted similar bans on Japanese foods. Health and security researcher Bill Durodie said more countries are likely to follow. "The reality is the United States made the decision a few days ago and it's almost inevitable that once a country that size has decided to act in that way, others will follow suit."
But an expert on the politics of energy said the danger of radiation-contaminated foods is greatly exaggerated. Charles Ebinger at the Brookings Institution told VOA that an average adult would have to drink a quart of contaminated milk each day for one year to receive the same radiation as one CAT scan.
Ebinger said the one certainty is the economic damage to Japan's northeast. "That particular part of Japan is deeply dependent on agriculture and fish, so I think inside the Japanese economy, we'll see pockets of areas that have been exposed to contamination, see their economy hurt very much."
Many European countries have yet to announce bans on Japanese food imports. Germany and France have started screening food samples. They say there will be no restrictions on Japanese food imports, however, until the test results are back.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Buffett focuses on business, sees interest in giving
Buffett focuses on business, sees interest in giving
Legendary investor Warren Buffett, accompanied by Bill and Melinda Gates and Wipro chairman Azim Premji, today met a group of Indian entrepreneurs to share their views on philanthropy.
“There was a lot of enthusiasm among people we met today about giving in the best possible way,” Buffet said at a news conference after the meeting. He added, however, that it remained to be seen how the enthusiasm translates into action.
Organisers of the event said “some 70” Indian entrepreneurs attended, but declined to divulge names of invitees. Gates said the meeting was not linked to The Giving Pledge — the campaign he launched with Buffett last year to encourage America’s richest people to give away most of their money to social causes — and was not intended to get Indian entrepreneurs to make any public pledge about philanthropy. Buffett has focused mostly on his businesses on the trip, which has come within days of the launch of his company Berkshire Hathaway’s first Indian venture. On March 2, Berkshire Hathaway announced it was entering the non-life insurance sector as a corporate agent of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.
Buffett is meeting J Harinarayan, chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority on March 25, reportedly to impress upon the regulator that lifting the 26 per cent FDI cap will be in the interest of the sector. The same day, he is scheduled to meet customers who have bought a Bajaj Allianz motor policy using the Berkshire platform. “Given Buffett’s stature, getting him to meet the customers directly is a marvelous promotional exercise for Berkshire,” said a senior executive at a leading advertising agency.
Legendary investor Warren Buffett, accompanied by Bill and Melinda Gates and Wipro chairman Azim Premji, today met a group of Indian entrepreneurs to share their views on philanthropy.
“There was a lot of enthusiasm among people we met today about giving in the best possible way,” Buffet said at a news conference after the meeting. He added, however, that it remained to be seen how the enthusiasm translates into action.
Organisers of the event said “some 70” Indian entrepreneurs attended, but declined to divulge names of invitees. Gates said the meeting was not linked to The Giving Pledge — the campaign he launched with Buffett last year to encourage America’s richest people to give away most of their money to social causes — and was not intended to get Indian entrepreneurs to make any public pledge about philanthropy. Buffett has focused mostly on his businesses on the trip, which has come within days of the launch of his company Berkshire Hathaway’s first Indian venture. On March 2, Berkshire Hathaway announced it was entering the non-life insurance sector as a corporate agent of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.
Buffett is meeting J Harinarayan, chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority on March 25, reportedly to impress upon the regulator that lifting the 26 per cent FDI cap will be in the interest of the sector. The same day, he is scheduled to meet customers who have bought a Bajaj Allianz motor policy using the Berkshire platform. “Given Buffett’s stature, getting him to meet the customers directly is a marvelous promotional exercise for Berkshire,” said a senior executive at a leading advertising agency.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Leh yet to get Central aid
DAMAGE DUE TO CLOUDBURST
Leh yet to get Central aid
Yangchan Dolma
Leh, March 19
Even after eight months of the devastating cloudburst causing a huge damage to life and property in the Ladakh region, Leh district is yet to receive any major financial support from the Union government.
Many important projects, including the irrigation canal, were incomplete due to lack of funds. The irrigation canal was to be reconstructed within two months to avoid drought-like situation in the district. It was earlier reconstructed temporarily after the cloudburst to protect the standing crops.
To restore different works and clear debris from agricultural lands damaged by the flash floods, a detailed report of projects worth Rs 148 crore and Rs 16.5 crore had been submitted by the state government to the Centre for sanction of the funds under the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.
The chief executive councillor (CEC) of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh, Rigzin Spalbar, said, “The LAHDC has taken up the demand for funds at various levels. Apart from correspondences to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the Union ministers concerned for their intervention in this regard, the chief executive councillor had visited New Delhi twice”. The CEC also met the Prime Minister at the Parliament House in New Delhi yesterday and urged him to intervene for ensuring the timely release of funds, early restoration of various projects damaged in the floods and removal of debris from agricultural land to allow cultivation.
http://www.cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=21580
Leh yet to get Central aid
Yangchan Dolma
Leh, March 19
Even after eight months of the devastating cloudburst causing a huge damage to life and property in the Ladakh region, Leh district is yet to receive any major financial support from the Union government.
Many important projects, including the irrigation canal, were incomplete due to lack of funds. The irrigation canal was to be reconstructed within two months to avoid drought-like situation in the district. It was earlier reconstructed temporarily after the cloudburst to protect the standing crops.
To restore different works and clear debris from agricultural lands damaged by the flash floods, a detailed report of projects worth Rs 148 crore and Rs 16.5 crore had been submitted by the state government to the Centre for sanction of the funds under the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.
The chief executive councillor (CEC) of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh, Rigzin Spalbar, said, “The LAHDC has taken up the demand for funds at various levels. Apart from correspondences to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the Union ministers concerned for their intervention in this regard, the chief executive councillor had visited New Delhi twice”. The CEC also met the Prime Minister at the Parliament House in New Delhi yesterday and urged him to intervene for ensuring the timely release of funds, early restoration of various projects damaged in the floods and removal of debris from agricultural land to allow cultivation.
http://www.cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=21580
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Statement by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction on the 11 March Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan
Type:News briefs
Date:18 Mar 2011
Source:United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat (UNISDR)
Language:English
The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) expresses its profound regret at the loss of life and the immense damage inflicted upon the people of Japan on 11 March 2011, when an earthquake and tsunami struck the north-eastern coast of the country. We take this opportunity to offer our deepest condolences to all who have lost family members and homes as well as those who still await information about missing relatives and friends.
While it may be hard to draw solace from the current state of affairs, perhaps we can take some measure of comfort in knowing that even more lives would have been lost, and damage been more widespread, had the Japanese Government not made disaster risk reduction a high priority over a long period of time. As early as 1896, the authorities laid down the roots for reducing disaster risk in Tohoku, following the Meiji Sanriku Earthquake and Tsunami. Over the years, awareness has evolved into stringent building codes and stronger buildings that sway and slide above the ground rather than crumble. Such precautions, based on lessons learned, have been translated into wider national disaster risk reduction plans, which totaled some US$25 billion in 2008.
Nevertheless, the intensity and scale of the 11 March earthquake of 9.0, and the ensuing tsunami, exceeded the planning parameters foreseen. The crisis that has arisen from the damage to the nuclear power plant gives new impetus to the critical need - plan broadly and inclusively for unique risk-scenarios. Clearly, overall risk mitigation and preparedness planning for critical and vulnerable core socio-economic infrastructure must be given higher priority.
This tsunami tragedy reminds us all that, beyond simulations and drills, it is also important that we as individuals, and in our capacity as professionals, are always conscious of risk as a constant in everyday life. How do we live with it? What do we need to know to better understand our risks? Knowing the answers to questions like these will support resilience.
The Japanese experience once again underscores the value of and the need for comprehensive multi-hazard approaches to risk reduction, particularly as landscape and climate patterns change over time.
UNISDR affirms its solidarity with the people of Japan and pays tribute to their enormous resilience and courage. We also support the Government's continued efforts to build resilient communities; to take inspiration from the bravery of the people facing this catastrophe and; to bring speedy respite to those who still suffer.
Margareta Wahlström
Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction
http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=21572
(Photo credit: Flickr @kalleboo)
Date:18 Mar 2011
Source:United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat (UNISDR)
Language:English
The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) expresses its profound regret at the loss of life and the immense damage inflicted upon the people of Japan on 11 March 2011, when an earthquake and tsunami struck the north-eastern coast of the country. We take this opportunity to offer our deepest condolences to all who have lost family members and homes as well as those who still await information about missing relatives and friends.
While it may be hard to draw solace from the current state of affairs, perhaps we can take some measure of comfort in knowing that even more lives would have been lost, and damage been more widespread, had the Japanese Government not made disaster risk reduction a high priority over a long period of time. As early as 1896, the authorities laid down the roots for reducing disaster risk in Tohoku, following the Meiji Sanriku Earthquake and Tsunami. Over the years, awareness has evolved into stringent building codes and stronger buildings that sway and slide above the ground rather than crumble. Such precautions, based on lessons learned, have been translated into wider national disaster risk reduction plans, which totaled some US$25 billion in 2008.
Nevertheless, the intensity and scale of the 11 March earthquake of 9.0, and the ensuing tsunami, exceeded the planning parameters foreseen. The crisis that has arisen from the damage to the nuclear power plant gives new impetus to the critical need - plan broadly and inclusively for unique risk-scenarios. Clearly, overall risk mitigation and preparedness planning for critical and vulnerable core socio-economic infrastructure must be given higher priority.
This tsunami tragedy reminds us all that, beyond simulations and drills, it is also important that we as individuals, and in our capacity as professionals, are always conscious of risk as a constant in everyday life. How do we live with it? What do we need to know to better understand our risks? Knowing the answers to questions like these will support resilience.
The Japanese experience once again underscores the value of and the need for comprehensive multi-hazard approaches to risk reduction, particularly as landscape and climate patterns change over time.
UNISDR affirms its solidarity with the people of Japan and pays tribute to their enormous resilience and courage. We also support the Government's continued efforts to build resilient communities; to take inspiration from the bravery of the people facing this catastrophe and; to bring speedy respite to those who still suffer.
Margareta Wahlström
Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction
http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=21572
(Photo credit: Flickr @kalleboo)
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
PHILIPPINES: Containing radioactive rumours
PHILIPPINES: Containing radioactive rumours
MANILA, 15 March 2011 (IRIN) - The Philippines sought to assure a panicked public on 15 March that a potential nuclear meltdown in Japan would not affect the country amid fears following widely circulated text messages - dismissed by the country's leading nuclear regulatory agency [ http://www.pnri.dost.gov.ph/index.php] as a prank - that warned Filipinos to wear raincoats outdoors, hunker down, and stockpile food and medicine because of an imminent radioactive hit.
In the Philippines, an estimated one billion text messages are sent every day. Some eight out of 10 people had mobile phones in 2009, according to the National Telecommunications Commission.
At least two public schools sent home their students after text messages spread quickly across the country's millions of mobile phone users, with anxious parents and office workers flooding emergency phone lines demanding to know what do in the case of contaminated rain, officials said.
"We have a national radiological emergency preparedness and response plan that was approved as early as 2000. We will put into action this existing plan if there is an emergency," said Philippine Nuclear Research Institute chief Alumanda dela Rosa.
"The level of alert at the moment is zero."
She said current wind models indicate that the Philippines, 3,000km southwest of Japan's coast, is not in the direct path of any air-borne radioactive material, which is currently blowing eastwards, according to regional monitoring agencies.
But even in a worst-case scenario in Japan, the impact on the Philippines will still be minimal, she said.
Health Secretary Enrique Ona said that at the moment there was no need to procure large amounts of iodine to counter possible contamination or quarantine people who transited through Japan.
"Let me be very clear. We don't see the necessity for that. However, we know where we get it if necessary. But we are not going to order it yet," Ona said, adding that the emergency medical personnel were on high alert just in case.
"Outrageous"
Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo said the public's mass hysteria was "outrageous" and that the government was capable of responding to any emergency related to Japan.
"The university that suspended classes yesterday did not ask us for any recommendation. I don't know how to describe it, except perhaps outrageous and weird that we would even think of suspending classes when in Japan itself classes and office work have resumed," Montejo said.
But for housewife Loida Valenzuela, 40, whose house was swept away by massive flooding that followed tropical storm Ketsana in 2009 [ http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86362 ], extreme preparation is the only way to save lives.
Like Japan, the Philippines sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, and large parts of its urban areas sit atop fault lines. An estimated 20 typhoons, some of them destructive, batter the country annually, making it among the most disaster-prone places in the world.
"They can call me crazy anytime, but when I got that text yesterday [14 March], I just had to pull out my son from the university," said Valenzuela, whose 18-year-old son is a sophomore [second-year student] at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines that decided to call off classes as a result of the hoax.
"We already lost our house to Ondoy [local name for Ketsana] and I can't take any chances," she said.
Asked whether she does not believe government assurances, she said: "They've made wrong forecasts about typhoons in the past, so we're just being extra careful."
fv/pt/cb
[END]
CLICK ON LINK BELOW TO READ THE REPORT ONLINE
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportID=92194
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[This item comes to you via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States. Reposting or reproduction, with attribution, for non-commercial purposes is permitted. Terms and conditions: http://www.irinnews.org/copyright.aspx
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MANILA, 15 March 2011 (IRIN) - The Philippines sought to assure a panicked public on 15 March that a potential nuclear meltdown in Japan would not affect the country amid fears following widely circulated text messages - dismissed by the country's leading nuclear regulatory agency [ http://www.pnri.dost.gov.ph/index.php] as a prank - that warned Filipinos to wear raincoats outdoors, hunker down, and stockpile food and medicine because of an imminent radioactive hit.
In the Philippines, an estimated one billion text messages are sent every day. Some eight out of 10 people had mobile phones in 2009, according to the National Telecommunications Commission.
At least two public schools sent home their students after text messages spread quickly across the country's millions of mobile phone users, with anxious parents and office workers flooding emergency phone lines demanding to know what do in the case of contaminated rain, officials said.
"We have a national radiological emergency preparedness and response plan that was approved as early as 2000. We will put into action this existing plan if there is an emergency," said Philippine Nuclear Research Institute chief Alumanda dela Rosa.
"The level of alert at the moment is zero."
She said current wind models indicate that the Philippines, 3,000km southwest of Japan's coast, is not in the direct path of any air-borne radioactive material, which is currently blowing eastwards, according to regional monitoring agencies.
But even in a worst-case scenario in Japan, the impact on the Philippines will still be minimal, she said.
Health Secretary Enrique Ona said that at the moment there was no need to procure large amounts of iodine to counter possible contamination or quarantine people who transited through Japan.
"Let me be very clear. We don't see the necessity for that. However, we know where we get it if necessary. But we are not going to order it yet," Ona said, adding that the emergency medical personnel were on high alert just in case.
"Outrageous"
Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo said the public's mass hysteria was "outrageous" and that the government was capable of responding to any emergency related to Japan.
"The university that suspended classes yesterday did not ask us for any recommendation. I don't know how to describe it, except perhaps outrageous and weird that we would even think of suspending classes when in Japan itself classes and office work have resumed," Montejo said.
But for housewife Loida Valenzuela, 40, whose house was swept away by massive flooding that followed tropical storm Ketsana in 2009 [ http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86362 ], extreme preparation is the only way to save lives.
Like Japan, the Philippines sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, and large parts of its urban areas sit atop fault lines. An estimated 20 typhoons, some of them destructive, batter the country annually, making it among the most disaster-prone places in the world.
"They can call me crazy anytime, but when I got that text yesterday [14 March], I just had to pull out my son from the university," said Valenzuela, whose 18-year-old son is a sophomore [second-year student] at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines that decided to call off classes as a result of the hoax.
"We already lost our house to Ondoy [local name for Ketsana] and I can't take any chances," she said.
Asked whether she does not believe government assurances, she said: "They've made wrong forecasts about typhoons in the past, so we're just being extra careful."
fv/pt/cb
[END]
CLICK ON LINK BELOW TO READ THE REPORT ONLINE
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportID=92194
New IRIN films: http://www.irinnews.org/film
© IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.irinnews.org
[This item comes to you via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States. Reposting or reproduction, with attribution, for non-commercial purposes is permitted. Terms and conditions: http://www.irinnews.org/copyright.aspx
IRIN partners: UAE, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, UNEP and the IHC. More information:http://www.irinnews.org/donors.aspx
This mail is from a automatic address. Contact IRIN at: feedback@irinnews.org. Revise/stop your subscription: http://bit.ly/9nCoUP ]
Prioritization of ICT-infused ‘disaster science’ pushed
Prioritization of ICT-infused ‘disaster science’ pushed
Submitted by Argilli Lydia on Tue, 15/03/2011 - 14:15
After the devastating 8.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Japan and the worldwide tsunami warnings that it triggered, a lawmaker has called for the development of an ICT-led “disaster science” in the Philippines to make the country better equipped to face natural calamities.
The Disaster Science Management Center (DSMC) is a project of the Congressional Commission on Science, Technology, and Engineering (Comste), which is primed to become a regional training center for disaster preparedness.The DSMC recently announced that that Sentinel Asia, an international project of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), has appointed Manila Observatory as a Data Analysis Node (DAN).
A joint study by Columbia University and the World Bank entitled ‘Natural Disaster Hotspots: A Global Risk Analysis’, which identifies countries which are at high risk for six major natural hazards: earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, floods, drought, and cyclones, has the Philippines pegged as one of riskiest countries in the world.
Published by: Newsbytes on March 14,2011
Full article: http://newsbytes.ph/2011/03/14/prioritization-of-ict-infused-%E2%80%98disaster-science%E2%80%99-pushed/
Submitted by Argilli Lydia on Tue, 15/03/2011 - 14:15
After the devastating 8.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Japan and the worldwide tsunami warnings that it triggered, a lawmaker has called for the development of an ICT-led “disaster science” in the Philippines to make the country better equipped to face natural calamities.
The Disaster Science Management Center (DSMC) is a project of the Congressional Commission on Science, Technology, and Engineering (Comste), which is primed to become a regional training center for disaster preparedness.The DSMC recently announced that that Sentinel Asia, an international project of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), has appointed Manila Observatory as a Data Analysis Node (DAN).
A joint study by Columbia University and the World Bank entitled ‘Natural Disaster Hotspots: A Global Risk Analysis’, which identifies countries which are at high risk for six major natural hazards: earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, floods, drought, and cyclones, has the Philippines pegged as one of riskiest countries in the world.
Published by: Newsbytes on March 14,2011
Full article: http://newsbytes.ph/2011/03/14/prioritization-of-ict-infused-%E2%80%98disaster-science%E2%80%99-pushed/
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Top UN officials speak about the importance of disaster risk reduction following a massive earthquake off Japan's coast
Top UN officials speak about the importance of disaster risk reduction following a massive earthquake off Japan's coast
Type:News briefs
Date:14 Mar 2011
Source:United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat (UNISDR)
Language:English
Speaking to UN Radio, two of the UN's top officials on disaster reduction weigh in on the devastation caused by an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale that struck northeastern Japan on Friday and triggered a tsunami that engulfed coastal towns and cities along Miyagi, Iwate, and Fukushima prefectures. In the interviews, they highlighted the importance of disaster risk reduction and Japan's disaster preparedness.
Margareta Wahlström, UN Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, spoke to Gerry Adams about the international response and the preparedness measures taken by countries to reduce their disaster risk.
"After the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, a lot of work has been invested in building early warning systems", said Ms. Wahlström when asked about what small island nations were doing to reduce their risk to disasters. She said many small island nations, such as Fiji, were given evacuation warnings hours before the tsunami reached these countries.
Sálvano Briceño, Director with the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, spoke to RocÃo Franco about disaster preparedness in Japan and the risk and impact of a tsunami on the country and the rest of the world.
“In Japan, it’s a traditional effort to reduce their risk to disasters. And their education system includes the relevant information for children from very early ages to be aware and to be prepared to respond to these natural hazards.” Compared to earthquakes, tsunamis are a different hazard affecting a wider geographic area and population. They are high risk hazards since most populations are located along the coast, stressed Mr. Briceño.
Available here
UNISDR YouTube channel
Related Links
UN Secretary General on the earthquake that hit Japan
Type:News briefs
Date:14 Mar 2011
Source:United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat (UNISDR)
Language:English
Speaking to UN Radio, two of the UN's top officials on disaster reduction weigh in on the devastation caused by an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale that struck northeastern Japan on Friday and triggered a tsunami that engulfed coastal towns and cities along Miyagi, Iwate, and Fukushima prefectures. In the interviews, they highlighted the importance of disaster risk reduction and Japan's disaster preparedness.
Margareta Wahlström, UN Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, spoke to Gerry Adams about the international response and the preparedness measures taken by countries to reduce their disaster risk.
"After the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, a lot of work has been invested in building early warning systems", said Ms. Wahlström when asked about what small island nations were doing to reduce their risk to disasters. She said many small island nations, such as Fiji, were given evacuation warnings hours before the tsunami reached these countries.
Sálvano Briceño, Director with the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, spoke to RocÃo Franco about disaster preparedness in Japan and the risk and impact of a tsunami on the country and the rest of the world.
“In Japan, it’s a traditional effort to reduce their risk to disasters. And their education system includes the relevant information for children from very early ages to be aware and to be prepared to respond to these natural hazards.” Compared to earthquakes, tsunamis are a different hazard affecting a wider geographic area and population. They are high risk hazards since most populations are located along the coast, stressed Mr. Briceño.
Available here
UNISDR YouTube channel
Related Links
UN Secretary General on the earthquake that hit Japan
Friday, March 11, 2011
In times of dwindling resources, disaster risk reduction is an easy win
UNISDR
Description
Posted: Thursday, March 10, 2011
In times of dwindling resources, disaster risk reduction is an easy win
Type:Press release
Date:9 Mar 2011
Source:United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat (UNISDR)
Language:English
Geneva, Switzerland – A new report from the United Nations confirms what governments already hear but are slow to believe: that disciplined public sector involvement in “disaster risk reduction” can significantly reduce setbacks brought by hundreds of droughts, earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes and other hazards that befall the world each year, on average.
Released today, the “Mid-Term Review of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters,” points out that a majority of countries have roadmaps for creating and safeguarding wealth, but many are lacking capacity. In some cases, there is capacity but no legal basis for coordination among the different government sectors.
“The world needs to hear from its leaders, ‘This fragmentation leads to weakness. The political, economic and social agenda is not complete if we can’t protect our wealth from the next earthquake or storm,’” says Ms. Wahlström, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction. “The report emphasizes that countries need to conduct risk assessments that lead to wiser development plans, to be carried out by institutions that are well-funded, well-coordinated and trustworthy.”
The report, written half-way through the ten-year mandate of the Hyogo Framework, analyses the findings from nine workshops around the world on disaster risk reduction, four online debates involving over 300 participants, six in-depth studies, a literature review and internal reviews conducted by major non-governmental organizations and bilateral and multilateral aid organizations.
Agreed in 2005, the Hyogo Framework for Action is the world’s only blueprint for staving off losses caused by natural hazards, often overshadowed by news on losses from war, unemployment or inflation. The earthquake in Haiti in January 2010 and New Zealand in September 2010 and February 2011, and the floods in Pakistan in July 2010 and in Australia in December 2010 are some recent examples of the devastating effects of disasters on lives and social and economic fabric of the societies.
According to the report, countries that regularly experience disasters have become more safety conscious. Those countries are now trying to ensure that disaster lessons are not forgotten, such as Japan with its National Day of Earthquake Remembrance and National Disaster Risk Reduction Day. Similar examples can be found in Bangladesh, Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Madagascar, Mexico, Mozambique, and Vietnam.
Countries are also more serious about implementing the Hyogo Framework. The number of countries voluntarily reporting on progress through the “HFA Monitor,” developed after the 2005 World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe, has risen since the Framework came into being in 2005. During the first reporting cycle ending in 2007, 27 governments completed reports on HFA implementation. The number grew to 77 during the second reporting cycle, ending in 2009. For the cycle ending in 2011, more than 100 reports have been initiated nationally.
Many countries also have recently enacted laws relating to disaster risk reduction, among them India, Sri Lanka, El Salvador, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Anguilla (UK), Gambia, Indonesia, Egypt, Philippines, Zambia and Papua New Guinea. The report however notes that countries must strive for “a senior, over-arching authority” that can set policies, be accountable for how policies are carried out and ensure enough funds to sustain work in disaster risk reduction.
Ms. Wahlström cautioned: “We are still far from having empowered individuals adopt a disaster risk reduction approach in their daily lives. We need individuals to demand that development, environmental and humanitarian policies and practices be based on sound risk reduction measures.”
When the Hyogo Framework for Action ends in 2015, a successor framework for disaster risk reduction, was indicated in the report, should be based on “solid, structural links” with sustainable development and climate change international framework agreements.
Said Ms. Wahlström: “This report provides an opportunity to catalyze discussion and focus attention on activities that must be undertaken urgently if we are to achieve the outcome expected in the Hyogo Framework for Action by 2015 and contribute to setting the agenda for the Rio+20 world summit on sustainable development, planned for 2012.”
Available here
Press Release [PDF 26.66 KB]
Download the HFA Mid-Term Review
Related Links
HFA Mid-Term Review on PreventionWeb
Description
Posted: Thursday, March 10, 2011
In times of dwindling resources, disaster risk reduction is an easy win
Type:Press release
Date:9 Mar 2011
Source:United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat (UNISDR)
Language:English
Geneva, Switzerland – A new report from the United Nations confirms what governments already hear but are slow to believe: that disciplined public sector involvement in “disaster risk reduction” can significantly reduce setbacks brought by hundreds of droughts, earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes and other hazards that befall the world each year, on average.
Released today, the “Mid-Term Review of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters,” points out that a majority of countries have roadmaps for creating and safeguarding wealth, but many are lacking capacity. In some cases, there is capacity but no legal basis for coordination among the different government sectors.
“The world needs to hear from its leaders, ‘This fragmentation leads to weakness. The political, economic and social agenda is not complete if we can’t protect our wealth from the next earthquake or storm,’” says Ms. Wahlström, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction. “The report emphasizes that countries need to conduct risk assessments that lead to wiser development plans, to be carried out by institutions that are well-funded, well-coordinated and trustworthy.”
The report, written half-way through the ten-year mandate of the Hyogo Framework, analyses the findings from nine workshops around the world on disaster risk reduction, four online debates involving over 300 participants, six in-depth studies, a literature review and internal reviews conducted by major non-governmental organizations and bilateral and multilateral aid organizations.
Agreed in 2005, the Hyogo Framework for Action is the world’s only blueprint for staving off losses caused by natural hazards, often overshadowed by news on losses from war, unemployment or inflation. The earthquake in Haiti in January 2010 and New Zealand in September 2010 and February 2011, and the floods in Pakistan in July 2010 and in Australia in December 2010 are some recent examples of the devastating effects of disasters on lives and social and economic fabric of the societies.
According to the report, countries that regularly experience disasters have become more safety conscious. Those countries are now trying to ensure that disaster lessons are not forgotten, such as Japan with its National Day of Earthquake Remembrance and National Disaster Risk Reduction Day. Similar examples can be found in Bangladesh, Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Madagascar, Mexico, Mozambique, and Vietnam.
Countries are also more serious about implementing the Hyogo Framework. The number of countries voluntarily reporting on progress through the “HFA Monitor,” developed after the 2005 World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe, has risen since the Framework came into being in 2005. During the first reporting cycle ending in 2007, 27 governments completed reports on HFA implementation. The number grew to 77 during the second reporting cycle, ending in 2009. For the cycle ending in 2011, more than 100 reports have been initiated nationally.
Many countries also have recently enacted laws relating to disaster risk reduction, among them India, Sri Lanka, El Salvador, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Anguilla (UK), Gambia, Indonesia, Egypt, Philippines, Zambia and Papua New Guinea. The report however notes that countries must strive for “a senior, over-arching authority” that can set policies, be accountable for how policies are carried out and ensure enough funds to sustain work in disaster risk reduction.
Ms. Wahlström cautioned: “We are still far from having empowered individuals adopt a disaster risk reduction approach in their daily lives. We need individuals to demand that development, environmental and humanitarian policies and practices be based on sound risk reduction measures.”
When the Hyogo Framework for Action ends in 2015, a successor framework for disaster risk reduction, was indicated in the report, should be based on “solid, structural links” with sustainable development and climate change international framework agreements.
Said Ms. Wahlström: “This report provides an opportunity to catalyze discussion and focus attention on activities that must be undertaken urgently if we are to achieve the outcome expected in the Hyogo Framework for Action by 2015 and contribute to setting the agenda for the Rio+20 world summit on sustainable development, planned for 2012.”
Available here
Press Release [PDF 26.66 KB]
Download the HFA Mid-Term Review
Related Links
HFA Mid-Term Review on PreventionWeb
Managing floods through proactive governance
Managing floods through proactive governance March 2011
By N Vinod Chandra Menon
Indian officialdom is pioneering efforts to incorporate disaster management in development planning.
Art: Sworup Nhaisiju
Flood-preparedness measures are divided into structural and non-structural varieties. The former include embankments and related flood-protection walls, while the latter include measures such as zoning within floodplains, building shelters, raising the platforms of borewells and hand pumps above flood level, public-awareness campaigns and capacity-building for a range of preparedness. Forecasting and early-warning systems constitute another significant non-structural measure when dealing with flood-prone areas. In India, the Central Water Commission (CWC) has established a country-wide forecasting system, with alert information shared with all concerned state governments. During the monsoon season, data from 945 stations in the country’s 62 river sub-basins is collected, analysed and applied on a daily basis.
Let us start with a bit of historical context. During the British period, the agency mandated with disaster management in India was the Ministry of Agriculture, as the most frequent disasters in the Subcontinent were recurrent floods and famines. After Independence, the Ministry of Agriculture continued to play this role until as late as 1999, when an official review suggested formulating disaster-management plans at the national, state and district levels. One of the most significant recommendations included in the subsequent report of 2001 was to vest the Ministry of Home Affairs with responsibility for disaster management. Another important recommendation was to establish institutional mechanisms for disaster management, including an apex body at the national level and similar institutions at the state and district levels.
The Indian Ocean tsunami, in December 2004, was a major turning point in understanding the need for comprehensive disaster-management approaches. A year later, the government enacted the Disaster Management Act, following which the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA, of which this writer is a former member) was established and took on the apex role. The NDMA’s executive committee is headed by the home secretary, and its membership includes the secretaries of 14 key ministries; this body performs the tasks related to the implementation of the policy, plans and guidelines. The Disaster Management Act of 2005 also mandated the establishment of State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs), headed by the chief ministers of the states of India, as well as District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs), headed by district collectors and co-chaired by the elected representative of the respective zilla parishads.
Serious challenges still remain in disseminating alert and early-warning information to flood-prone communities themselves. With the spread of new telecommunication technologies, multiple communication channels are today being used to try to get this critical information ‘the last mile’. The CWC currently operates a network of 878 hydro-meteorological observation sites and disseminates flood forecasts, alert and early-warning messages through a countrywide network of over 500 wireless stations to district authorities; this is now buttressing telephone, telex, fax, satellite and VoIP (Internet telephone) facilities for communicating early-warning messages to various authorities. This has helped to reduce the loss of lives and disruption to livelihoods to a large extent.
From the district headquarters to taluka and tehsil levels, phone, fax and wireless communication is often used. From the tehsil headquarters to villages and smaller settlements, wireless, phone and mobile phones are used. At the very lowest level, even loudspeakers are used to spread evacuation messages. These multiple channels of communication have been used by various agencies to transmit alert and early-warning messages over the past several years. In the recent past, however, innovative approaches have also been attempted by civil-society organisations in several disaster-prone areas to disseminate these messages to the community level, deploying combinations of communication media, including wireless communication supplemented by public-address systems.
The CWC has also deployed automatic water-level-monitoring sensors and tidal gauges with satellite-based transmitters. These can transmit information on rising water levels to designated control rooms, which in turn communicate with district authorities who are tasked with alerting flood-prone communities. During monsoon season, these messages are sent two or three times a day – and during peak flood situations, even hourly. Agencies such as the Indian Meteorological Department, Ministry of Water Resources and Ministry of Earth Sciences also use remote sensing information to identify areas that are likely to be inundated, backed by scenario analysis and simulation models. The CWC uses 175 stations for flood forecasting, of which 147 are for river stage forecast and 28 stations are for flow forecast. These stations are spread over nine major river basins in the country. The 147 ‘river stage’ forecast stations use sensors to monitor the water levels in the rivers that flood regularly, and transmit messages to designated control rooms for onward transmission to government officials. The 28 ‘flow forecast’ stations are located at critical locations for monitoring the inflow into the rivers, especially from reservoirs that release water when their water level rises.
Heads together
Given the nature of Southasian rivers, floods in India are frequently the result of waters coming from across the borders in Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet/China and Bangladesh. An Indo-Bangladesh Joint River Commission, headed by the water ministers of both countries, has been functioning since 1972, tasked with monitoring all concerns related to common rivers. Since 1989, Kathmandu and New Delhi have been maintaining 42 monitoring stations in Nepal and 18 in India to monitor flooding situations in rivers common to the two countries. In addition, 35 stations are maintained by the Bhutanese government, which shares all such information with New Delhi.
In 2002, New Delhi and Beijing also signed an agreement for information-sharing related to water levels on the Tsangpo Siang/Brahmaputra at three sites; during the monsoon, Indian officials receive this information twice a day. In 2005, another agreement was signed with China to establish a monitoring station in Tibet on the Sutlej river (Langquin Zangbu), and again to share information with New Delhi twice a day. As envisaged in the Indus Water Treaty in 1960, India and Pakistan have created permanent posts – Commissioners for Indus Waters – in each government, and together they form the Permanent Indus Commission. India shares daily data from 280 hydrological sites in six basins of the Indus system every month with counterparts in Pakistan. For the rivers of the Indus system, India also shares priority telegrams, telephone messages and radio broadcasts with Pakistan based on monitoring. These messages are sent to the Indus Commissioner’s Office in Pakistan and, depending on the nature of the message, appropriate channels are chosen for the communication.
While these constitute relatively good starts, crossborder information needs to be made available on a real-time basis if appropriate flood-preparedness measures are to be initiated by local communities after early warnings. Trans-boundary concerns on disaster-related information-sharing have been discussed at several bilateral and regional meetings. But inter-governmental platforms (such as SAARC and ASEAN) as well as relevant institutions (such as the new SAARC Disaster Management Centre and ICIMOD, the mountain-focused agency) have yet to place adequate priority on these concerns and improve coordination for effective data-sharing. Most of these issues have been treated as concerns to be addressed bilaterally, but the solutions tend to be ones that require a regional focus. The potential of bilateral agreements has yet to reach its full strength, typically due to other contentious undercurrents between the governments.
There is also a pressing need to document successful flood-management practices, and to share this information with flood-prone communities. Eventually, there will also need to be a widespread risk assessment and vulnerability analysis of flood-prone areas, including the preparation of highly detailed base maps. In the case of most river basins, the CWC and the Ministry of Water Resources have carried out studies, but more needs to be done in terms of scenario analysis and modelling. Still, one of the most important mitigation measures remains the simple preventive maintenance of embankments and flood-protection walls. To date, embankment maintenance, desilting, canal repair and constant monitoring of field channels have been neglected by most state governments, often due to resource constraints and the low priority assigned to these tasks under a ‘business as usual’ approach.
Due to improvements in early warning and flood forecasting, district authorities in India can today initiate proactive evacuation action. In areas that face recurrent flooding, zones that can serve as temporary relief camps are identified in advance, and arrangements are being made for safe drinking water, sanitation and health facilities. Local youths are also being trained to carry out search-and-rescue operations, and to evacuate individuals caught in flooding. Training programmes and mock drills have been conducted in flood-prone areas to teach people to make rafts from locally available materials, and to prepare improvised life-saving equipment. Flood-prone communities are also being provided training in preparing emergency relief kits, and storing valuables and important documents in safe locations in their houses.
After the immediate crisis of the flooding has passed, transparency in the distribution of relief assistance to flood-affected people is widely known to improve confidence levels in affected communities. The publication of relief entitlements – on, for instance, gram panchayat notice boards – can help in ensuring that there are no leakages, and also guarantee that eligible individuals are not deprived from the assistance they are owed.
Local youth volunteers must be made aware of the possibility of the spread of water-borne diseases after the onset of floods, as hand pumps and borewells frequently become contaminated by muddy water during and after floods. Similarly, the disposal of animal carcasses and the cremation of the deceased also require special care in such situations. The caregivers in each community must be trained to provide psycho-social support and mental health care, as some of those who have lost their relatives, lands, houses or assets will undoubtedly be traumatised, and might need help to overcome their grief and trauma.
Planning ahead
In the aftermath of the Kosi floods of 2008, the Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka floods of 2009 and the Uttarakhand floods of 2010, the state governments cumulatively estimated the damage caused at some INR 800 billion. If the capacities for disaster preparedness, mitigation and emergency response had been strong enough, most of these losses could have been prevented. For the sake of comparison, note that for the period 2005-10 around INR 213.3 billion had been earmarked for India-wide disaster management. The gap between this and the actual losses clearly highlights the strong justification for investing in strengthening disaster preparedness, mitigation and emergency response. So far, most governments have only reacted to disasters after the fact, typically by providing relief assistance to affected communities. More recently, however, the emphasis has shifted to strengthening pre-disaster preparedness, capacity-building of local communities and introducing disaster-related risk-reduction interventions.
In the tenth Five-Year Plan (2002-07), the National Planning Commission for the first time introduced a separate chapter on disaster management, which focused on looking at disasters from a development perspective. ‘Development programmes that go into promoting development at the local level have been left to the general exercise of planning,’ it read.
Measures need also to be taken to integrate disaster mitigation efforts at the local level with the general exercise of planning, and a more supportive environment created for initiatives towards managing of disasters at all levels: national, state, district and local. The future blue-print for disaster management in India rests on the premise that in today’s society while hazards, both natural or otherwise, are inevitable, the disasters that follow need not be so and the society can be prepared to cope with them effectively whenever they occur … the compounded costs of disasters relating to loss of life, loss of assets, economic activities, and cost of reconstruction of not only assets but of lives can scarcely be borne by any community or nation.
During the early stages of drawing up strategies for inclusive growth for the 11th Five-Year Plan (2008-13), the Planning Commission set up a working group chaired by a Member of the NDMA to work out ways to incorporate disaster management in development planning. Based on subsequent recommendations, the 11th Five-Year Plan extended the spirit of the transition initiated in its predecessor, aiming to give ‘impetus to projects and programmes that develop and nurture the culture of safety and the integration of disaster prevention and mitigation into the development process.’ It also noted that ‘the guidance and direction to achieve this paradigm shift’ would be expected to come specifically from the NDMA.
The Planning Commission further explained that ‘mainstreaming’ disaster management into development planning means looking at every part of that process ‘not only from the perspective of reducing the disaster vulnerability of that activity, but also from the perspective of minimising that activity’s potential contribution to the hazard.’ Examples of such an approach include zoning and urban planning, upgrading and enforcing building codes, adopting disaster-resilient building designs, expanding insurance and early warning systems, and creating additional technical competence among a range of engineers, etc.
In consultation with the Planning Commission, the NDMA and concerned ministries have worked out ways to scrutinise the incorporation of disaster management concerns in development plans throughout the central and state governments. For instance, if hospitals or school buildings have to be constructed in areas of high seismic risk, their design must incorporate earthquake-resistant construction techniques. Similarly, if roads are to be built in areas that are prone to flooding or storm surges, the specifications require that these are built in such a way that they cannot be washed away during the monsoon season or when the rains arrive. These now have to be complied with while submitting any plan proposal before the Planning Commission. In so doing, the Indian government has become one of the first in Southasia (and one of the leading examples around the world) to operationalise the mainstreaming of disaster management in development plans. The 12th Five-Year Plan is likewise expected to build on this success by institutionalising the processes within the development-planning framework in the central and state governments.
New roles
As local communities are always the first to respond to a disaster situation, the Indian government is encouraging the involvement of all stakeholders in strengthening community-based disaster management through comprehensive training programmes, public-awareness campaigns, mock drills and so on. This is one of the pillars of the National Policy for Disaster Management, as officially approved in October 2009. While formulating individual State Disaster Management Policies, many state governments have also started to apply these principles for emphasising communities in disaster preparedness, disaster-related risk reduction, mitigation and emergency response, rehabilitation and recovery.
Over the past few years, disaster situations in India have also witnessed changing roles of women, from passive victims to agents of social change. During the immediate aftermath of the 2004 tsunami, women in many villages mobilised their own savings to provide necessary support to affected communities, and even financed some risk-reduction initiatives for their villages. This transformed the quality of life of the disaster-prone communities through large scale social-mobilisation efforts. Examples can be seen in improved levels of confidence and community resilience among women’s groups in many disaster-prone communities, and the success stories of replication of Community Disaster Resilience Funds in thousands of villages due to women-led initiatives in several states.
Special efforts are also being made to create a culture of disaster preparedness, mitigation, risk reduction and emergency response among children and youths, including through changes to curricula. The Committee on Boards of Secondary Education, the All India Council on Technical Education, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, the University Grants Commission, the Indian Medical Council and others have reviewed the curricula of relevant educational programmes by setting up expert working groups, and carried out necessary revisions in the curricula of schools, higher education and professional education. Special efforts are also being made to involve youths in NCC, NSS and Nehru Yuvak Kendra (a voluntary youth organisation supported by the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, with state, district and sub-district presence) in improving disaster preparedness in their neighbourhoods.
An empowered community – one that is aware about the disaster-related vulnerability of their local area and capable enough to address the challenges of establishing temporary relief camps, providing safe drinking water, sanitation and health services, and managing a system of transparent assessment of damages and distribution of relief assistance – is clearly one of the most important parts of any effective disaster-management system. Public awareness campaigns and capacity-building initiatives are being launched with the help of elected representatives, NGOs, self-help groups and related small-scale organisations. Due to the myriad experiences that have evolved through the years, successful coping strategies of communities which have been living with floods historically will have to be documented and widely shared.
Fragile governance systems will always pose serious challenges in improved flood preparedness, mitigation and emergency response. In the context of disaster management, good governance (especially transparency, accountability, inclusion, non-discrimination, etc) cannot be left as a responsibility of the government alone. Rather, besides the community, corporate sector, civil society and multi-disciplinary professionals all have to contribute to identify possible emerging risks and vulnerabilities, developing worst-case scenarios and preparing to face them in advance by developing local capacities through training, mock drills, awareness campaigns, participatory risk assessment and vulnerability analysis exercises, and capturing the wisdom of elderly people in understanding coping strategies. Natural disasters are often caused by human interference with nature, and also by lack of effective coordination among multiple entities with overlapping mandates. Recent experiences thus underline a need to carry out frank diagnostics of the failure of governance systems in disaster-prone areas.
The impact of the various planning interventions mentioned above is already being seen, in reducing the loss of lives due to flooding in several parts of India. Even though the lives of about 200 million people are affected by floods during the worst such years in India, the number of lives lost due to flooding has been declining. The real challenge continues to be to reduce the economic damage caused by the floods, especially by reducing the number of houses, the hundreds of kilometres of roads and the community assets and rural infrastructure destroyed and damaged by flooding every year. Even though efforts have begun in mainstreaming disaster management in development planning at the national level, the institutionalisation of these efforts at the state, district and sub-district levels continue to remain serious challenges. The involvement of all stakeholder groups is required to meet these challenges in making disaster-prone communities take greater responsibility for disaster risk reduction in their local neighbourhoods.
-- N Vinod Chandra Menon is a former member of the Indian government’s National Disaster.
By N Vinod Chandra Menon
Indian officialdom is pioneering efforts to incorporate disaster management in development planning.
Art: Sworup Nhaisiju
Flood-preparedness measures are divided into structural and non-structural varieties. The former include embankments and related flood-protection walls, while the latter include measures such as zoning within floodplains, building shelters, raising the platforms of borewells and hand pumps above flood level, public-awareness campaigns and capacity-building for a range of preparedness. Forecasting and early-warning systems constitute another significant non-structural measure when dealing with flood-prone areas. In India, the Central Water Commission (CWC) has established a country-wide forecasting system, with alert information shared with all concerned state governments. During the monsoon season, data from 945 stations in the country’s 62 river sub-basins is collected, analysed and applied on a daily basis.
Let us start with a bit of historical context. During the British period, the agency mandated with disaster management in India was the Ministry of Agriculture, as the most frequent disasters in the Subcontinent were recurrent floods and famines. After Independence, the Ministry of Agriculture continued to play this role until as late as 1999, when an official review suggested formulating disaster-management plans at the national, state and district levels. One of the most significant recommendations included in the subsequent report of 2001 was to vest the Ministry of Home Affairs with responsibility for disaster management. Another important recommendation was to establish institutional mechanisms for disaster management, including an apex body at the national level and similar institutions at the state and district levels.
The Indian Ocean tsunami, in December 2004, was a major turning point in understanding the need for comprehensive disaster-management approaches. A year later, the government enacted the Disaster Management Act, following which the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA, of which this writer is a former member) was established and took on the apex role. The NDMA’s executive committee is headed by the home secretary, and its membership includes the secretaries of 14 key ministries; this body performs the tasks related to the implementation of the policy, plans and guidelines. The Disaster Management Act of 2005 also mandated the establishment of State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs), headed by the chief ministers of the states of India, as well as District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs), headed by district collectors and co-chaired by the elected representative of the respective zilla parishads.
Serious challenges still remain in disseminating alert and early-warning information to flood-prone communities themselves. With the spread of new telecommunication technologies, multiple communication channels are today being used to try to get this critical information ‘the last mile’. The CWC currently operates a network of 878 hydro-meteorological observation sites and disseminates flood forecasts, alert and early-warning messages through a countrywide network of over 500 wireless stations to district authorities; this is now buttressing telephone, telex, fax, satellite and VoIP (Internet telephone) facilities for communicating early-warning messages to various authorities. This has helped to reduce the loss of lives and disruption to livelihoods to a large extent.
From the district headquarters to taluka and tehsil levels, phone, fax and wireless communication is often used. From the tehsil headquarters to villages and smaller settlements, wireless, phone and mobile phones are used. At the very lowest level, even loudspeakers are used to spread evacuation messages. These multiple channels of communication have been used by various agencies to transmit alert and early-warning messages over the past several years. In the recent past, however, innovative approaches have also been attempted by civil-society organisations in several disaster-prone areas to disseminate these messages to the community level, deploying combinations of communication media, including wireless communication supplemented by public-address systems.
The CWC has also deployed automatic water-level-monitoring sensors and tidal gauges with satellite-based transmitters. These can transmit information on rising water levels to designated control rooms, which in turn communicate with district authorities who are tasked with alerting flood-prone communities. During monsoon season, these messages are sent two or three times a day – and during peak flood situations, even hourly. Agencies such as the Indian Meteorological Department, Ministry of Water Resources and Ministry of Earth Sciences also use remote sensing information to identify areas that are likely to be inundated, backed by scenario analysis and simulation models. The CWC uses 175 stations for flood forecasting, of which 147 are for river stage forecast and 28 stations are for flow forecast. These stations are spread over nine major river basins in the country. The 147 ‘river stage’ forecast stations use sensors to monitor the water levels in the rivers that flood regularly, and transmit messages to designated control rooms for onward transmission to government officials. The 28 ‘flow forecast’ stations are located at critical locations for monitoring the inflow into the rivers, especially from reservoirs that release water when their water level rises.
Heads together
Given the nature of Southasian rivers, floods in India are frequently the result of waters coming from across the borders in Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet/China and Bangladesh. An Indo-Bangladesh Joint River Commission, headed by the water ministers of both countries, has been functioning since 1972, tasked with monitoring all concerns related to common rivers. Since 1989, Kathmandu and New Delhi have been maintaining 42 monitoring stations in Nepal and 18 in India to monitor flooding situations in rivers common to the two countries. In addition, 35 stations are maintained by the Bhutanese government, which shares all such information with New Delhi.
In 2002, New Delhi and Beijing also signed an agreement for information-sharing related to water levels on the Tsangpo Siang/Brahmaputra at three sites; during the monsoon, Indian officials receive this information twice a day. In 2005, another agreement was signed with China to establish a monitoring station in Tibet on the Sutlej river (Langquin Zangbu), and again to share information with New Delhi twice a day. As envisaged in the Indus Water Treaty in 1960, India and Pakistan have created permanent posts – Commissioners for Indus Waters – in each government, and together they form the Permanent Indus Commission. India shares daily data from 280 hydrological sites in six basins of the Indus system every month with counterparts in Pakistan. For the rivers of the Indus system, India also shares priority telegrams, telephone messages and radio broadcasts with Pakistan based on monitoring. These messages are sent to the Indus Commissioner’s Office in Pakistan and, depending on the nature of the message, appropriate channels are chosen for the communication.
While these constitute relatively good starts, crossborder information needs to be made available on a real-time basis if appropriate flood-preparedness measures are to be initiated by local communities after early warnings. Trans-boundary concerns on disaster-related information-sharing have been discussed at several bilateral and regional meetings. But inter-governmental platforms (such as SAARC and ASEAN) as well as relevant institutions (such as the new SAARC Disaster Management Centre and ICIMOD, the mountain-focused agency) have yet to place adequate priority on these concerns and improve coordination for effective data-sharing. Most of these issues have been treated as concerns to be addressed bilaterally, but the solutions tend to be ones that require a regional focus. The potential of bilateral agreements has yet to reach its full strength, typically due to other contentious undercurrents between the governments.
There is also a pressing need to document successful flood-management practices, and to share this information with flood-prone communities. Eventually, there will also need to be a widespread risk assessment and vulnerability analysis of flood-prone areas, including the preparation of highly detailed base maps. In the case of most river basins, the CWC and the Ministry of Water Resources have carried out studies, but more needs to be done in terms of scenario analysis and modelling. Still, one of the most important mitigation measures remains the simple preventive maintenance of embankments and flood-protection walls. To date, embankment maintenance, desilting, canal repair and constant monitoring of field channels have been neglected by most state governments, often due to resource constraints and the low priority assigned to these tasks under a ‘business as usual’ approach.
Due to improvements in early warning and flood forecasting, district authorities in India can today initiate proactive evacuation action. In areas that face recurrent flooding, zones that can serve as temporary relief camps are identified in advance, and arrangements are being made for safe drinking water, sanitation and health facilities. Local youths are also being trained to carry out search-and-rescue operations, and to evacuate individuals caught in flooding. Training programmes and mock drills have been conducted in flood-prone areas to teach people to make rafts from locally available materials, and to prepare improvised life-saving equipment. Flood-prone communities are also being provided training in preparing emergency relief kits, and storing valuables and important documents in safe locations in their houses.
After the immediate crisis of the flooding has passed, transparency in the distribution of relief assistance to flood-affected people is widely known to improve confidence levels in affected communities. The publication of relief entitlements – on, for instance, gram panchayat notice boards – can help in ensuring that there are no leakages, and also guarantee that eligible individuals are not deprived from the assistance they are owed.
Local youth volunteers must be made aware of the possibility of the spread of water-borne diseases after the onset of floods, as hand pumps and borewells frequently become contaminated by muddy water during and after floods. Similarly, the disposal of animal carcasses and the cremation of the deceased also require special care in such situations. The caregivers in each community must be trained to provide psycho-social support and mental health care, as some of those who have lost their relatives, lands, houses or assets will undoubtedly be traumatised, and might need help to overcome their grief and trauma.
Planning ahead
In the aftermath of the Kosi floods of 2008, the Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka floods of 2009 and the Uttarakhand floods of 2010, the state governments cumulatively estimated the damage caused at some INR 800 billion. If the capacities for disaster preparedness, mitigation and emergency response had been strong enough, most of these losses could have been prevented. For the sake of comparison, note that for the period 2005-10 around INR 213.3 billion had been earmarked for India-wide disaster management. The gap between this and the actual losses clearly highlights the strong justification for investing in strengthening disaster preparedness, mitigation and emergency response. So far, most governments have only reacted to disasters after the fact, typically by providing relief assistance to affected communities. More recently, however, the emphasis has shifted to strengthening pre-disaster preparedness, capacity-building of local communities and introducing disaster-related risk-reduction interventions.
In the tenth Five-Year Plan (2002-07), the National Planning Commission for the first time introduced a separate chapter on disaster management, which focused on looking at disasters from a development perspective. ‘Development programmes that go into promoting development at the local level have been left to the general exercise of planning,’ it read.
Measures need also to be taken to integrate disaster mitigation efforts at the local level with the general exercise of planning, and a more supportive environment created for initiatives towards managing of disasters at all levels: national, state, district and local. The future blue-print for disaster management in India rests on the premise that in today’s society while hazards, both natural or otherwise, are inevitable, the disasters that follow need not be so and the society can be prepared to cope with them effectively whenever they occur … the compounded costs of disasters relating to loss of life, loss of assets, economic activities, and cost of reconstruction of not only assets but of lives can scarcely be borne by any community or nation.
During the early stages of drawing up strategies for inclusive growth for the 11th Five-Year Plan (2008-13), the Planning Commission set up a working group chaired by a Member of the NDMA to work out ways to incorporate disaster management in development planning. Based on subsequent recommendations, the 11th Five-Year Plan extended the spirit of the transition initiated in its predecessor, aiming to give ‘impetus to projects and programmes that develop and nurture the culture of safety and the integration of disaster prevention and mitigation into the development process.’ It also noted that ‘the guidance and direction to achieve this paradigm shift’ would be expected to come specifically from the NDMA.
The Planning Commission further explained that ‘mainstreaming’ disaster management into development planning means looking at every part of that process ‘not only from the perspective of reducing the disaster vulnerability of that activity, but also from the perspective of minimising that activity’s potential contribution to the hazard.’ Examples of such an approach include zoning and urban planning, upgrading and enforcing building codes, adopting disaster-resilient building designs, expanding insurance and early warning systems, and creating additional technical competence among a range of engineers, etc.
In consultation with the Planning Commission, the NDMA and concerned ministries have worked out ways to scrutinise the incorporation of disaster management concerns in development plans throughout the central and state governments. For instance, if hospitals or school buildings have to be constructed in areas of high seismic risk, their design must incorporate earthquake-resistant construction techniques. Similarly, if roads are to be built in areas that are prone to flooding or storm surges, the specifications require that these are built in such a way that they cannot be washed away during the monsoon season or when the rains arrive. These now have to be complied with while submitting any plan proposal before the Planning Commission. In so doing, the Indian government has become one of the first in Southasia (and one of the leading examples around the world) to operationalise the mainstreaming of disaster management in development plans. The 12th Five-Year Plan is likewise expected to build on this success by institutionalising the processes within the development-planning framework in the central and state governments.
New roles
As local communities are always the first to respond to a disaster situation, the Indian government is encouraging the involvement of all stakeholders in strengthening community-based disaster management through comprehensive training programmes, public-awareness campaigns, mock drills and so on. This is one of the pillars of the National Policy for Disaster Management, as officially approved in October 2009. While formulating individual State Disaster Management Policies, many state governments have also started to apply these principles for emphasising communities in disaster preparedness, disaster-related risk reduction, mitigation and emergency response, rehabilitation and recovery.
Over the past few years, disaster situations in India have also witnessed changing roles of women, from passive victims to agents of social change. During the immediate aftermath of the 2004 tsunami, women in many villages mobilised their own savings to provide necessary support to affected communities, and even financed some risk-reduction initiatives for their villages. This transformed the quality of life of the disaster-prone communities through large scale social-mobilisation efforts. Examples can be seen in improved levels of confidence and community resilience among women’s groups in many disaster-prone communities, and the success stories of replication of Community Disaster Resilience Funds in thousands of villages due to women-led initiatives in several states.
Special efforts are also being made to create a culture of disaster preparedness, mitigation, risk reduction and emergency response among children and youths, including through changes to curricula. The Committee on Boards of Secondary Education, the All India Council on Technical Education, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, the University Grants Commission, the Indian Medical Council and others have reviewed the curricula of relevant educational programmes by setting up expert working groups, and carried out necessary revisions in the curricula of schools, higher education and professional education. Special efforts are also being made to involve youths in NCC, NSS and Nehru Yuvak Kendra (a voluntary youth organisation supported by the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, with state, district and sub-district presence) in improving disaster preparedness in their neighbourhoods.
An empowered community – one that is aware about the disaster-related vulnerability of their local area and capable enough to address the challenges of establishing temporary relief camps, providing safe drinking water, sanitation and health services, and managing a system of transparent assessment of damages and distribution of relief assistance – is clearly one of the most important parts of any effective disaster-management system. Public awareness campaigns and capacity-building initiatives are being launched with the help of elected representatives, NGOs, self-help groups and related small-scale organisations. Due to the myriad experiences that have evolved through the years, successful coping strategies of communities which have been living with floods historically will have to be documented and widely shared.
Fragile governance systems will always pose serious challenges in improved flood preparedness, mitigation and emergency response. In the context of disaster management, good governance (especially transparency, accountability, inclusion, non-discrimination, etc) cannot be left as a responsibility of the government alone. Rather, besides the community, corporate sector, civil society and multi-disciplinary professionals all have to contribute to identify possible emerging risks and vulnerabilities, developing worst-case scenarios and preparing to face them in advance by developing local capacities through training, mock drills, awareness campaigns, participatory risk assessment and vulnerability analysis exercises, and capturing the wisdom of elderly people in understanding coping strategies. Natural disasters are often caused by human interference with nature, and also by lack of effective coordination among multiple entities with overlapping mandates. Recent experiences thus underline a need to carry out frank diagnostics of the failure of governance systems in disaster-prone areas.
The impact of the various planning interventions mentioned above is already being seen, in reducing the loss of lives due to flooding in several parts of India. Even though the lives of about 200 million people are affected by floods during the worst such years in India, the number of lives lost due to flooding has been declining. The real challenge continues to be to reduce the economic damage caused by the floods, especially by reducing the number of houses, the hundreds of kilometres of roads and the community assets and rural infrastructure destroyed and damaged by flooding every year. Even though efforts have begun in mainstreaming disaster management in development planning at the national level, the institutionalisation of these efforts at the state, district and sub-district levels continue to remain serious challenges. The involvement of all stakeholder groups is required to meet these challenges in making disaster-prone communities take greater responsibility for disaster risk reduction in their local neighbourhoods.
-- N Vinod Chandra Menon is a former member of the Indian government’s National Disaster.
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