Bihar Flood Situation Report :9 August 2011

Flood Situation Report : 8

Dated: 9 August 2011, 18:00 hrs

Reviewed by: Mr. Sanjay Pandey

Prepared by: Mr. Jeevan Kumar

Current Situation:

Continual rainfall in Nepal’s catchment area and resultant rise in the water level of the Kosi and Gandak Rivers has raised the water level above red mark and is threatening the embankments in various areas of Kosi and Champaran region of Bihar.

Situation Report on KOSI RIVER

The Chief Minister, Bihar had planned to visit Birpur on Indo –Nepal Border to access the situation on the 20 K.M vulnerable stretch of Embankment on the Indian Side.The visit has been postponed to 13 August due to bad weather conditions. Notably, this was the portion of the embankment, which had come under tremendous pressure of water and the structure could anyhow been saved from being breached. As a precautionary measure, the WRD had planned to dig a pilot channel in the downstream

of the river in Saptari district(Nepal) of the Himalayan territory to re-establish the central flow of water. But the scheme could not be executed in the face of the stiff resistance by the local Nepalese authorities.

According to the Water Resources Minister, Govt. of Bihar --“To a large extent, we have succeeded in easing the pressure on the embankment by skillfully maneuvering the gates of the Birpur barrage, But then it is Kosi, which can hardly be predicted, the discharge in the river on Monday was 1.47 lakh cusecs. Which is relatively higher in comparison to the discharge last year” Situation at Raja Baas(Nepal) at 26 to 26.40 KMs in Nepal region is normal and river is flowing 15 meters away

from the embankment.

Situation Report on GANDAK RIVER

Meanwhile, the Gandak, which the chief minister visited on Saturday, is in spate. The gushing water of the river extensively damaged the newly built cut end nose of the PD ring bund at Koerpatti in east Champaran. According to Media reports-- WRD officials said that small embankment at Patraha was also damaged but has been restored.

Source:- http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=22299

UNISDRs parliamentarian initiative helping to move DRR

UNISDR’s parliamentarian initiative helping to move disaster risk reduction forward from political commitment to concrete action

Members of Parliament around the world are key drivers of change in moving the disaster risk reduction agenda forward from political commitments to concrete action. Realizing the human and economic imperative to shift from a disaster response culture to one of prevention and risk reduction, parliamentarians from Africa, Asia, and Latin America are stepping up to the challenge.

A push came this week from Senator Loren Legarda hosting the national launch of the 2011 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR11) at the Philippine Senate on July 26. Senator Legarda is UNISDR’s Regional Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation for Asia and the Pacific and Chair of the Philippine Senate Committee on Climate Change.

"The reported eighteen-fold increase in our economic losses due to disasters since 1970 is alarming. How can we move on as a nation towards growth and progress if hard-earned socio-economic gains are often set back by the impact of recurring natural hazards?" said Senator Legarda at the GAR11 launch, which followed the President’s State of the Nation Address.

In Africa, Members of Parliaments from Uganda are in the process of setting up an official disaster risk reduction Committee of Parliamentarians that has been approved and budgeted by the government. Parliamentarians in Latin America have been crucial in supporting the UNISDR-led World Disaster Reduction Campaign, ‘Making Cities Resilient – My City is Getting Ready’ at the Iberoamerican Union of Municipalities, which will provide training to mayors from the twenty-two countries in the region, Spain and Portugal that make up the Union. In Asia, Bangladesh is improving access to DRR information by translating UNISDR’s advocacy kit “Disaster risk reduction: an instrument for achieving the Millennium Development Goals” for use in the country’s national languages.

One of the recent key drivers of parliamentarian contribution to disaster risk reduction is the Manila Call for Action. Directed at national governments and adopted unanimously in November 2010 by parliamentarians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Philippines, and Thailand, the Manila Call for Action is for parliamentarians to apply disaster risk as an instrument for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

“We need to elevate national and global aspirations in addressing disaster risk from mere ‘reduction’ towards ‘elimination’, and to promote disaster prevention with 'zero tolerance' to disaster losses as a mindset and approach for international, national, and local development action,” says the Manila Call for Action.

In the Call, the parliamentarians also agreed to enhance their knowledge and capacity in disaster risk reduction through closer collaboration with UNISDR, the strategic arm of the United Nations Secretariat responsible for coordinating disaster risk reduction activities globally.

Date:

29 Jul 2011

Sources:

• United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat (UNISDR)

Read the detailed report at :- http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=22252

Embankment breach in Lakhimpur, 10 villages submerge

Embankment breach in Lakhimpur, 10 villages submerge
Jul 14, 2011, 10.50pm IST TNN

JORHAT: The continuous heavy rainfall on both the northern and the southern banks of the Brahmaputra during the last few days has caused the water levels in the tributaries of the river to rise rapidly and, as a result, an embankment was breached by floodwaters in Lakhimpur district on Thursday afternoon.

The rising water levels have mainly affected some villages under the two circle offices of Naoboicha and Bihpuria in Lakhimpur district, thereby forcing the district administration to step up its renovation work, particularly on the embankment of the mighty river. Circle officer Naoboicha H Milik said, "The floodwaters breached the no 1 Borsola embankment at around 3.30 this afternoon and more then ten villages under Naoboicha mouza were submerged by the deluge."

He added the embankment breach, which has affected more than 1,000 families in the area so far, was caused by the heavy rainfall in both the hills and the plains during the last few days. "The rising water level in the river Senga took a serious turn this afternoon, resulting in the breach of the embankment, and we are now visiting the flood-affected village and conducting a survey to distribute flood relief material among the affected villagers," he said.

The Bihpuria circle officer, D Mili, said about four villages under Laluk mouza of this circle have got submerged by the floodwater so far. Although the water levels of tributaries like Pabha and Singra are also rising, no severe flood impact was reported till Thursday afternoon, according to Mili.

"Since the water levels of the rivers are rising and a few areas in the district have been affected, I have directed all concerned officials to take required steps to safeguard the people from the effects of the floods," he said.

Deputy commissioner (Lakhimpur) Anwarwiddin Choudhary said a huge quantity of flood relief material has been stored in the district for distribution among flood victims and all required measures to deal with the floods are in place. "Moreover, the water resource department officials are keeping a watch on all the embankments and repair work is on at the big and important ones like Matmora to prevent any further damage," he said, adding a group of workers are busy with the repairs, particularly in the breach-prone areas.

Source :- http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=22145

Flood-like situation in Yamunanagar

Yamunanagar (Har), Jun 29 (PTI) Flood-like situation has emerged in villages around the Yamuna river here with water level increasing considerably because of heavy rains in the catchment areas of Himachal Pradesh.

1.67 lakh cusecs of water has been released from Hathni Kund Barrage to reduce water level in the river, Deputy Commissioner Ashok Sagwan said.

The district administration has also issued an alert in the villages situated on the banks of the river, he said.

Deputy Commissioner appealed to the villagers not to panic and said the administration was ready to tackle any untoward situation.

Source :- http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=22080

Erosion of river embankments left people scared

BALASORE: Even as the flood waters have receded in northern parts of Balasore, erosion of river embankments has left people scared. Banks of rivers at many places have eroded due to lack of maintenance and appropriate measures to protect them.

Sources said massive erosion of the embankments of Subarnarekha has been reported from Sekhabad, Gobarghata, Mankidia, Gobardhanpur, Baiganbadia, Kirtania, Kantapal and Mohammadpur areas.

Locals said large patches of the riverbed have been eroded in the flood water current. Every year the river is eating into land mass and moving closer to the residential areas.

While the focus has been only on sea erosion, riverbank erosion could be the largest displacement factor, they pointed out.

The condition of embankments in Budhabalanga, Jalaka and Kansabansa rivers is no better. Erosion and landslides on the Budhabalanga embankment have assumed alarming proportion and are giving nightmare to people in scores of villages in Balasore. “Forget about monsoon, we are even scared in summer. The river which gets reverse water from sea has eroded more than 2 km patch in Old Balasore area putting people’s lives under threat,” said Judhisthir Jena, a resident.

Read in Detail at :- http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=22041

Severe Weather Warnings - 23 June 2011

Severe Weather Warnings

DATE : JUNE 23, 2011

Severe Weather Warnings DATE : JUNE 23, 2011

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HEAVY RAINFALL WARNING

HEAVY TO VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AT A FEW PLACES WOULD OCCUR OVER WEST MADHYA PRADESH AND EAST RAJASTHAN DURING NEXT 48 HOURS.HEAVY RAINFALL WOULD OCCUR AT ISOLATED PLACES OVER WEST UTTAR PRADESH, EAST MADHYA PRADESH AND GUJARAT REGION DURING NEXT 24 HOURS.

THUNDERSTORM/ SQUALLS

SOLATED THUNDERSQUALLS WOULD OCCUR OVER PUNJAB, HARYANA, DELHI, RAJASTHAN AND WEST UTTAR PRADESH DURING NEXT 24 HOURS. www.cdrn.org.in

More attention should be paid to forests in drylands

World Day to Combat Desertification: Forests keep drylands working
(posted on 17 June)

About 2 billion people inhabit the “dryland” areas of the world which cover more than 40% of the globe and include the tropical dry forest, the Brazilian Cerrado and the Mediterranean woodlands.

However, these ecosystems are under pressure from climate change and growing populations and human activities. The clearing of vegetation in the drylands can quickly lead to land degradation and desertification.

Given that the United Nations has designated 2011 as the International Year of Forests, the U.N. Convention to combat Desertification (UNCCD) has chosen “Forests Keep drylands working” as the theme for the World Day to Combat Desertification. It says that forests may become the single most important determinant of the future sustainability of the drylands as the impacts of climate change escalate. Yet, only 18% of the drylands is forested. UNCCD is calling on inhabitants of the drylands to plant a tree in a degraded area to stem the spread of desertification.

WMO has been a partner with UNCCD over the years on various issues, especially management of drought to improve food security.

Source :- http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=22026

Rain triggers floods and landslides

Rain triggers floods and landslides

19 June 2011

statesman news service
MIDNAPORE/TAMLUK, 19 JUNE: Incessant rain coupled with strong winds triggered by the deep depression in the Bay of Bengal continued to wreak havoc in both West and East Midnapore today disrupting life.
The Kanshabati river, which breached its embankment near Maratala in Debra, flooded at least seven villages today. Villagers in this area suspect that if the rain continues for a few more days, hundreds of villages will be flooded and crops on thousands of hectares will be destroyed.
A wooden bridge over the Silabati river at Kalmijhora in Chandrakona, that was broken due to the impact of the swelling river water, floated away to the nearby Silabati bridge and it got stuck. “If the wooden bridge continues to strike the Silabati bridge, it will also be broken and several villages in Chandrakona will be flooded,” a senior executive engineer of irrigation department said, adding that the block officials have rushed to the place and they are trying to lift the broken bridge from the river.
Mr Ashok Saha, sub-divisional officer, Ghatal, said: “Several hundreds of mud houses have been damaged but no major loss has been reported so far. We have already distributed tarpaulin sheets to the victims.”
Meanwhile, road communication between Jhargram and Chilkigarh has been cut off as the Dulung river is overflowing since last night. Locals, who had put up a road-block at Chilkigarh a few days ago with a demand that a bridge across the river be constructed, renewed their agitation today demanding immediate construction of the bridge. “Several thousands of mud-houses in Jhargram sub-divisions have been partially or fully damaged due to heavy showers. Our block officials are now busy in collecting information and until they submit reports, we cannot state the exact losses,” said the sub-divisional officer in Jhargram.
In East Midnapore, no fresh damage has been reported but the situation is alarming because thousands of hectares of land have been inundated and hundreds of thatched houses of fishermen badly damaged.
“Over a thousand houses at different villages across the district have also been damaged. Tidal surges, whipped up by the lunar eclipse and depression, have snapped ferry services at many places,” said Mr Mamud Hossain, saha-sabhadhipati of the zilla parishad.

Source :- http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=22016

4 dead in Kurseong landslide Sikkims only road cut off at night

4 dead in Kurseong landslide Sikkim’s only road cut off at night

VIVEK CHHETRI AND RAJEEV RAVIDAS

BRO personnel clear the debris at 27th Mile on Friday morning. Picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha Darjeeling/Kalimpong, June 17: Four members of a family in Kurseong, two of them children and the third a 45-day-old baby, were buried alive under debris from a landslide that followed a bout of torrential rain in the hills early this morning. The rain also triggered mudslides at three places on National Highway 31A, the last one at Birik that cut off Sikkim from the rest of the country around 7.30pm. The road is unlikely to be ready for traffic till tomorrow afternoon, Border Roads Organisation sources said. Earlier in the day, nearly 500 vehicles were held up for five hours because of debris on the road at 27th Mile and at Setijhora, 37km from Kalimpong. Heavy rain lashed Calcutta and south Bengal, claiming seven lives and flattening several mud-built houses. Weather officials said the districts could experience more rain for the next 48 hours but the situation should ease up in Calcutta by tomorrow afternoon. Nashim Akhtar, a 35-year-old hawker, and his family members were asleep in their one-storied tin house in St Mary’s area when mud from the mountainside came down on the dwelling around 3.30am. “The wife, Meenaz Begum, was the only survivor as she had gone out to attend nature’s call at that very moment,” said D.P. Singh, the superintendent of police, Darjeeling. The police along with the fire brigade and the civil defence personnel arrived at the spot around 4.30am. Nashim along with his son Mohammed Faisal and daughters 10-year-old Musurt Banu and 45-day-old Nusurt Banu were crushed to death in the bed, eye witnesses said. The house of Nashim Akhtar. (Suman Tamang) On NH31A, the mudslides occurred at 27th Mile and near Setijhora, both in Kalimpong subdivision, between 6am and 7am. The BRO sources said the highway had been cleared of debris at Setijhora and the road on that stretch was opened to traffic at 6.30pm. But the BRO workers had a tough time clearing the mud at 27th Mile, 25km from Kalimpong, and restoring traffic on the road because of a pick-up van that had got stuck in the slush. “Two cranes struggled to retrieve the van from the slush. We managed to clear the road by 12.30pm,” said a BRO source. Some of the commuters stuck in the vehicles walked across the mudslides to avail of transport on the other side. “Around 500 vehicles were left stranded on both sides of the highway,” said an eyewitness said. The third landslide occurred at Birik, between Setjhora and 27th Mile, around 7.30pm. The highest rainfall in the past 24 hours was recorded in Cooch Behar with 54mm, followed by Kalimpong 38mm, Darjeeling 31.8mm and Gangtok 13mm. In Cooch Behar, the Torsha has eaten into the banks in the Takagachh-Rajarhat area. The panchayat pradhan of Karisal, Maksed Ali, claimed that at least 500 people were in fear of losing their homes and small patches of land if the erosion continued.

http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=21999

Source :-

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

Media’s role in times of natural disasters

Media’s role in times of natural disasters

Arya Gunawan Usis, Hanoi | Fri, 06/03/2011 9:49 AM

A | A | A |

Of all the sad news following the earthquake and tsunami that hit parts of Japan on March 11, 2011, there was one particular thing that was admired by people around the world: The attitude of almost all Japanese in the face of such a calamity. They were relatively very calm and did not panic as they had been trained to engage in such an emergency situation. And they were willing to queue for food.

We witnessed a different situation in Aceh during the earthquake and tsunami in December 2004: People panicked.

Some media outlets reported the occurrence of looting in some parts of Aceh.

Another story that was heard in Aceh at the time was about the sea water that suddenly receded just before the tsunami came.

When that happened, the beaches became much larger and a number of people ran toward the uncovered sea floor.

They did not realize that it was the beginning of the calamity, as shortly afterwards the sea came back to the beach; this time with unimaginable power and speed.

Read the complete article at :-

http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=21909

Don't forget about the Christchurch earthquake: Lessons learned from disaster

In the aftermath of the devastating magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami that struck the Tohoku region of Japan on March 11, attention quickly turned away from a much smaller, but also highly destructive earthquake that struck the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, just a few weeks earlier, on Feb. 22. Both events are stark reminders of human vulnerability to natural disasters and provide a harsh reality check: Even technologically advanced countries with modern building codes are not immune from earthquake disasters. The Christchurch earthquake carried an additional message: Urban devastation can be triggered even by moderate-sized earthquakes.

The Oxford Terrace Baptist Church was damaged in the Christchurch earthquake.

©Schwede66, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

As seismologists and engineers sort through the aftermath of Christchurch’s earthquake, they are already revealing some crucial lessons that might help us learn how to better prepare for such urban earthquakes. The magnitude-6.1 Christchurch earthquake was dwarfed by the Japan earthquake, which carried some 22,000 times more energy. It was even overshadowed by the much larger magnitude-7.0 earthquake that struck just 45 kilometers away from Christchurch on Sept. 3, 2010 (the Christchurch quake is widely considered to be an aftershock of the September quake). Nonetheless, the Christchurch event inflicted considerable damage: It killed nearly 200 people and caused more than $12 billion in losses (the September quake didn’t kill anyone and caused only a quarter of the damage). The damage was far greater than would have initially been expected for an event of this size.

Why? The damage was considerable because the earthquake originated only six kilometers from Christchurch’s population center and parts of Christchurch’s urban area were as close as one kilometer from the fault rupture. Its relatively shallow depth (only 5 kilometers beneath Earth’s surface) produced extraordinarily strong shaking at the surface. The earthquake occurred at about 1 p.m. on a busy workday, so many more people were in downtown Christchurch and thus exposed to the hazards of collapsing tall buildings; half the deaths from this earthquake occurred when one building collapsed. Finally, the effects of the seismic vibrations were probably amplified by the thick sedimentary layers on which the city is built.

Early reports from Christchurch found patterns of damage that are familiar to seismic engineers: the destruction of older, unreinforced masonry structures (like the Christchurch Cathedral) and the collapse of a handful of high-rise buildings that were built prior to modern seismic engineering standards. But it also appears that there were ground accelerations recorded in the Christchurch area that exceeded the design specifications of more recent buildings. Furthermore, there are clear indications of earthquake-induced liquefaction, or ground failure, and flooding that exacerbated impacts and hampered disaster response.

Earthquakes the size of Christchurch’s temblor occur globally about 100 times per year, or a couple of times each week; statistical analysis of the earthquake record indicates that for every magnitude-9.0 Tohoku-sized earthquake, there are about 1,000 Christchurch-sized earthquakes of magnitude 6.0. Fortunately, most of the moderate earthquakes don’t wind up in newspaper headlines. They occur in remote, unpopulated areas, are under water, or are deep enough that they don’t produce significant societal impacts. As the Christchurch earthquake demonstrated, however, when one of these events takes place close to a populated area, its effects can be devastating.

Many urban planners in the U.S. are appropriately concerned about the potential occurrence of a Christchurch-type earthquake — a relatively moderate magnitude-6.0 to -6.5 earthquake — directly beneath an American city.

Many American cities are vulnerable to damage in much the same way as Christchurch. A number of U.S. cities — notably Charleston, Memphis, Los Angeles, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Francisco and Seattle — are built dangerously close to known faults that have produced large earthquakes in the past, and their growing urban population centers are encroaching on hazardous areas. Most of our cities situated in seismic zones — particularly those in the central and eastern U.S. — have a large inventory of old, unreinforced masonry structures that are subject to damage or collapse, even from moderate earthquakes. And even more recent buildings constructed in the 1960s and early 1970s were built without seismic-resistant design.

Furthermore, the ground beneath many of our cities is underlain by unconsolidated sediments and thus is subject to seismic wave amplification and liquefaction. Add in the vulnerability of critical facilities — such as dams, nuclear power plants and chemical storage facilities — to the cascading secondary effects of earthquakes, including strong ground shaking, liquefaction, landslides, tsunamis and flooding, and you have the makings of a disaster.

Earth scientists understand that earthquakes are an inevitable consequence of geological processes, but we also know that earthquake disasters are not. Renowned 20th century author Will Durant wrote in “The Story of Civilization”: “Civilization exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice.” If we are to address his prophetic challenge, we must seek innovative ways to help prepare for and mitigate the urban disaster that is likely to happen during our lifetimes.

That disaster is most likely to manifest itself, not in the form of a massive, Tohoku-style earthquake, but as a moderate-sized Christchurch-style event, in which its proximity to an urban center results in damage far out of proportion to its size. While we cannot forecast which city will be the next victim of such an earthquake, we can mitigate potential impacts. For the most part, we already know what needs to be done. Now the challenge is transforming this geoscience knowledge into action. Let’s not be caught unaware — or unprepared.

Michael W. Hamburger and Walter D. Mooney

Grass test in landslide zone to protect soil

Grass test in landslide zone to protect soil

RAJEEV RAVIDAS

Vetiver plants distributed by the NGO in Kalimpong. Picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha Kalimpong, May 6: A Kalimpong-based NGO has started a project on an experimental basis to promote the planting of a grass that can control soil erosion in landslide-prone areas. The NGO, Save The Hills, has distributed 15 gunny sacks of vetiver or khas-khas grass at cost price to different groups for planting in the landslide-prone areas of Chibo-Pashyor and Sindebung on the fringes of Kalimpong. The grass was also given to two other NGOs, which are working in remote areas of the subdivision, promoting agriculture and spreading awareness on the measures needed to arrest landslides. “Vetiver is a tough grass native to south India. Even though vetiver is being used the world over to check soil erosion and for slope protection, this is the first time that we are trying out the grass in these mountains for erosion control and slope stability. This is very much an experiment since we found bamboo to be not too suitable for soil binding once the rainfall crossed a certain threshold,” said Praful Rao, the president of the STH. Rao said if the experiment proved successful, the NGO may start vetiver plantation on a much larger scale, especially in the rural areas where farmers are losing land continuously because of erosion by jhoras. “What is special about vetiver is that its dense fibrous roots go vertically into the soil over a four-five year period. Its roots are normally three-four metre long. Some call the grass ‘living soil nailing’ in reference to an engineering technique used to prevent landslides. The grass is also used as fodder and its stems as fuel,” he added. Landslides are taking place with increasing frequency in the hills, killing people, destroying properties and eating up land. Although experts talk about a comprehensive landslide prevention plan, no initiative has been taken to put in place a mechanism to tackle the problem. “Such a plan requires huge resources which would certainly require the government's involvement. Ours is a small attempt to help in landslide prevention,” said Rao. Even though the STH was formed four years ago mainly to raise awareness on landslides, it has managed to set up an SMS-based early weather warning system and put in place automatic rainfall gauges in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong to continuously monitor rainfall. The STH president regretted that even though the National Disaster Management Authority talked about a paradigm shift in disaster management from a relief-centric regime to one which believes in prevention and preparedness, the opposite is practised at district and subdivisional levels. “The district disaster management plan is nothing more than a contingency plan which lays down action by different government agencies in the event of a disaster,” he said. Source :- http://telegraphindia.com/1110507/jsp/siliguri/story_13949905.jsp

Global Warming Reduces Expected Yields of Harvests in Some Countries

Global Warming Reduces Expected Yields of Harvests in Some Countries, Study Says

By JUSTIN GILLIS

Published: May 5, 2011

Global warming is already cutting substantially into potential crop yields in some countries — to such an extent that it may be a factor in the food price increases that have caused worldwide stress in recent years, researchers suggest in a new study

Wheat yields in recent years were down by more than 10 percent in Russia and by a few percentage points each in India, France and China compared with what they probably would have been without rising temperatures, according to the study.

Corn yields were off a few percentage points in China, Brazil and France from what would have been expected, said the researchers, whose findings were published in Friday’s issue of the journal Science.

Some countries saw small gains from the temperature increases, however. And in all countries, the extra carbon dioxide that humans are pumping into the air acted as a fertilizer that encouraged plant growth, offsetting some of the losses from rising temperatures caused by that same greenhouse gas.

Consequently, the study’s authors found that when the gains in some countries were weighed against the losses in others, the overall global effect of climate change has been small so far: losses of a few percentage points for wheat and corn from what they would have been without climate change. The overall impact on production of rice and soybeans was negligible, with gains in some regions entirely offsetting losses in others.

But the authors of the study — David Lobell and Justin Costa-Roberts of Stanford University, and Wolfram Schlenker of Columbia University — pointed out that temperature increases were expected to accelerate in coming decades, making it likely that the challenges to food production will grow in an era when demand is expected to rise sharply.

Over the period covered by the study, 1980 to 2008, temperatures increased briskly in many of the world’s important agricultural regions. A notable exception was the United States: for reasons climate scientists do not fully understand, temperatures in the Midwestern corn and soybean belt during the summer crop-growing season have not increased in recent decades.

“One way to think of it is that we got a pass on the first round of global warming,” Dr. Lobell said.

However, the study found that in virtually all of Europe, large parts of Asia and some parts of Africa and South America, temperatures during the growing season have warmed by an average of several degrees since 1980, increasing the likelihood of extremely hot summer days. The study also looked at rainfall, but changes were relatively minor compared with the temperature increases.

Plants are known to be sensitive to high temperatures, especially if the hot days occur when they are flowering. “In many of these countries, a typical year now is like a very warm year back in 1980,” Dr. Lobell said.

Wheat, rice, corn and soybeans account for the majority of calories consumed by the human race, either directly or as meat from animals raised on grains. Because demand for these grains is inflexible and rising, the losses from climate change probably accounted for price increases of about 6 percent in the four major commodities, the study’s authors found.

At today’s grain prices, that calculation implies that climate change is costing consumers, food companies and livestock producers about $60 billion a year.

“We aren’t talking about the sky falling,” Dr. Lobell said. “But we are talking about billions of dollars of losses. Every little bit of production is valuable when we’re trying to feed the world.”

If the price estimate is correct, it makes climate change a small contributor to a large trend. The prices of many foodstuffs have doubled or tripled in recent years as a result of a host of factors, including rapidly rising food demand in Asia, government mandates to use crops for biofuel production and extreme weather that may or may not be linked to climate change.

The authors of the new study specifically excluded the effects of extreme weather like brief heat waves and flash floods because of limitations in the data that they used. For that and other reasons, Dr. Lobell said, the study’s estimate of the impact of climate change is probably conservative.

Source :-http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/06/science/earth/06warming.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=21733

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.

http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=21672

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 :-

http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=21655

Asia 'needs to learn' lessons of disasters'

Asia 'needs to learn' lessons of disasters' - ADPC director

Date:25 Mar 2011
Source(s):Bangkok Post; Post Publishing Public Company Limited, the
"The death toll of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan is high despite the country being well prepared for natural disasters. This means we have to learn more about disaster preparedness if we want the Asia-Pacific region to be a safer place," Bhichit Rattakul, executive director of the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC) told a seminar on disaster risk reduction on Wednesday.

"We still have limited resources, especially the knowledge and expertise to systematically and effectively handle large-scale disasters. It is important that effective disaster risk reduction practices be in tune with the fostering of a disaster safety culture in every part of society," Mr Abhisit said.

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http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=21605

Orissa: Project Launch Workshop on Climate Change Adaptation

Report by Orissa Diary correspondent; Bhubaneswar: Global Warming, Greenhouse Effect, Climate Change, the single biggest threat to humanity..!

Climate change is now widely recognized as the major environmental problem facing the globe. The overwhelming majority of scientists agree that our globe is undergoing through a major climatic change. It is obvious from satellite images and research studies that the ice caps are melting faster, our sea levels are rising, and weather patterns are changing. We are experiencing more water shortages and we will see hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones increasing in ferocity and frequency. The deserts will expand and the world will ultimately have difficulty growing enough food.

Global warming and climate change could affect India’s economic growth unless a range of steps are taken to address the effects of increased surface temperature and its effect on monsoon pattern and river flows. There is a wealth of evidence quantifying the economic costs of climate change in India. Experts have estimated that climate change will induce erratic rainfall and accompanied by more regional variations in temperature and rainfall. This is likely to affect agriculture and, therefore, GDP growth.

Climate change has many implications for the sate of Odisha. For instance, over a decade, Odisha has been teetering from one extreme weather condition to another: from heatwave to cyclone, from drought to flood. The state has been declared disaster-affected for 95 years out of the last 105 years: floods have occurred for 50 years, droughts for 32, and cyclones have struck the state for 11 years. Since 1965, these calamities have not only become more frequent, they are striking areas that have never experienced such conditions before. For instance, a heatwave in 1998 killed around 2,200 people -- most of the casualties were from coastal Odisha, a region known for its moderate climate. Since 1998, almost 3,000 people have died due to heatstroke.

The 1999 super cyclone affected places like Bhubaneswar and Nayagarh, which were never traditionally cyclone-prone. While the 2001 drought parched fields in coastal districts, the unprecedented floods of 2001 submerged 25 of the state’s 30 districts. Many of these areas had never witnessed floods before. Orissa has experienced around 952 small and big cyclones and 451 tornadoes between 1891 and 1970. From 1901 to 1981 there were 380 cyclones, of which 272 resulted from depressions in the Bay of Bengal. Twenty-nine of these cyclones were devastating.

As this is a crisis of global proportion, Concern World Wide in collaboration with Regional Centre for Development Cooperation (RCDC), a non profit organization based in Odisha and partners of Bangladesh is planning to implement a multinational project with an aim to contribute towards poverty alleviation amongst poor communities in coastal areas of the Bay of Bengal, through reducing their risk to the impact of hazards and climate change. This multi national project will be implemented in eight gram panchayats of two districts, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur of Odisha, India and four districts, Khulna, Satkira, Borguna and Potuakhali of Bangladesh. The project in Odisha will cover 84 villages across 8 Panchayats and target 54,148 beneficiaries directly (27,581 men and 26,567 women) and 589,602 beneficiaries indirectly (296,224 men and 293,378 women).

The objective of this project is to build resilience of coastal communities along the Bay of Bengal by increasing their ability, along with that of authorities and organisations, to prepare for and adapt to the impact of hazards and climate change. It was presumed that poor coastal communities in particular are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Hence it is required for them along with the local government functionaries and civil society organisations who are actively involved in the development, planning and implementation of disaster risk reduction activities should enhance their knowledge and understanding about the vagaries and impacts of climate change. This could in turn not only help the local communities to take effective adaptation measures but also contribute to the development of effective policies and programme which could reduce the risk of economic, property and loss of life during the times of unpredicted disasters triggered by climate change.

Concern in collaboration with RCDC officially launched the programme on 25th March 2011 at Hotel New Marrion. Dipankar Datta, Country Director Concern Worlwide, India gave the welcome address and briefed the objective of the event.

This project inauguration was attended by dignitaries of government departments, academic institutions, local community representatives and civil society organizations. Sri. Aurobindo Behara (Principal Secretary Forests and Environment), Sri. Ambika Nanda (UNDP), Sri. Nikunja Sundar Ray (OSDMA), Prof. Gopal Krishna Panda (Head, Dept of Geography, UU), the meeting ended with the vote of thanks by Sri Kailash Chandra Dash, Executive Director, RCDC.

India Disaster Statistics by Disaster Type 1900-2011

Total Affected in India and by Disaster Type

Country(ies):
India;
Year(s):
1900 - 2011;
Disaster(s):
Complex Disasters; Drought; Earthquake (seismic activity); Epidemic; Extreme temperature; Flood; Industrial Accident; Insect infestation; Mass movement dry; Mass movement wet; Miscellaneous accident; Storm; Transport Accident; Volcano; Wildfire;


India

Total

Complex Disasters

710000

710000

Drought

1061841000

1061841000

Earthquake (seismic activity)

27919695

27919695

Epidemic

421473

421473

Extreme temperature

250

250

Flood

799177220

799177220

Industrial Accident

534455

534455

Insect infestation

0

0

Mass movement dry

0

0

Mass movement wet

3839116

3839116

Miscellaneous accident

220910

220910

Storm

93294512

93294512

Transport Accident

10292

10292

Wildfire

0

0

Total

1987968923

1987968923

Table Created on: Mar-26-2011. Data version: v12.07
Droughts can be multi year. Only the global figure for each country is taken in account
Complex Disaters can be multi year. Only the global figure for each country is taken in account



Deaths in India and by Disaster Type

Country(ies):

India;

Year(s):

1900 - 2011;

Disaster(s):

Complex Disasters; Drought; Earthquake (seismic activity); Epidemic; Extreme temperature; Flood; Industrial Accident; Insect infestation; Mass movement dry; Mass movement wet; Miscellaneous accident; Storm; Transport Accident; Volcano; Wildfire;



You have choosen to see the Total number of Deaths by Country and by Disaster Type in the selected dataset.
If there is no data for one variable of the set, it is not displayed.



India

Total

Complex Disasters

0

0

Drought

4250320

4250320

Earthquake (seismic activity)

78094

78094

Epidemic

4543874

4543874

Extreme temperature

13801

13801

Flood

60286

60286

Industrial Accident

6269

6269

Insect infestation

0

0

Mass movement dry

45

45

Mass movement wet

4762

4762

Miscellaneous accident

6202

6202

Storm

164179

164179

Transport Accident

18898

18898

Wildfire

6

6

Total

9146736

9146736

Table Created on: Mar-26-2011. Data version: v12.07

Droughts can be multi year. Only the global figure for each country is taken in account
Complex Disaters can be multi year. Only the global figure for each country is taken in account





Damage from Disasters in US$(,000) in India

Country(ies):
India;
Year(s):
1900 - 2011;
Disaster(s):
Complex Disasters; Drought; Earthquake (seismic activity); Epidemic; Extreme temperature; Flood; Industrial Accident; Insect infestation; Mass movement dry; Mass movement wet; Miscellaneous accident; Storm; Transport Accident; Volcano; Wildfire;


India

Total

Complex Disasters

0

0

Drought

2441122

2441122

Earthquake (seismic activity)

5102700

5102700

Epidemic

0

0

Extreme temperature

544000

544000

Flood

34145188

34145188

Industrial Accident

698900

698900

Insect infestation

0

0

Mass movement dry

0

0

Mass movement wet

54500

54500

Miscellaneous accident

10000

10000

Storm

11051900

11051900

Transport Accident

36000

36000

Wildfire

2000

2000

Total

54086310

54086310

Table Created on: Mar-26-2011. Data version: v12.07
Droughts can be multi year. Only the global figure for each country is taken in account
Complex Disaters can be multi year. Only the global figure for each country is taken in account





Affected in India and by Disaster Type

Country(ies):

India;

Year(s):

1900 - 2011;

Disaster(s):

Complex Disasters; Drought; Earthquake (seismic activity); Epidemic; Extreme temperature; Flood; Industrial Accident; Insect infestation; Mass movement dry; Mass movement wet; Miscellaneous accident; Storm; Transport Accident; Volcano; Wildfire;




India

Total

Complex Disasters

710000

710000

Drought

1061841000

1061841000

Earthquake (seismic activity)

25613899

25613899

Epidemic

421473

421473

Extreme temperature

0

0

Flood

783086426

783086426

Industrial Accident

430553

430553

Insect infestation

0

0

Mass movement dry

0

0

Mass movement wet

222300

222300

Miscellaneous accident

202000

202000

Storm

83532340

83532340

Transport Accident

347

347

Wildfire

0

0

Total

1956060338

1956060338

Table Created on: Mar-26-2011. Data version: v12.07

Droughts can be multi year. Only the global figure for each country is taken in account
Complex Disaters can be multi year. Only the global figure for each country is taken in account



Homeless in India and by Disaster Type

Country(ies):

India;

Year(s):

1900 - 2011;

Disaster(s):

Complex Disasters; Drought; Earthquake (seismic activity); Epidemic; Extreme temperature; Flood; Industrial Accident; Insect infestation; Mass movement dry; Mass movement wet; Miscellaneous accident; Storm; Transport Accident; Volcano; Wildfire;




India

Total

Complex Disasters

0

0

Drought

0

0

Earthquake (seismic activity)

2085700

2085700

Epidemic

0

0

Extreme temperature

0

0

Flood

16089000

16089000

Industrial Accident

0

0

Insect infestation

0

0

Mass movement dry

0

0

Mass movement wet

3616285

3616285

Miscellaneous accident

12250

12250

Storm

9744745

9744745

Transport Accident

0

0

Wildfire

0

0

Total

31547980

31547980

Table Created on: Mar-26-2011. Data version: v12.07

Droughts can be multi year. Only the global figure for each country is taken in account
Complex Disaters can be multi year. Only the global figure for each country is taken in account





Injured in India and by Disaster Type

Country(ies):
India;
Year(s):
1900 - 2011
Disaster(s):
Complex Disasters; Drought; Earthquake (seismic activity); Epidemic; Extreme temperature; Flood; Industrial Accident; Insect infestation; Mass movement dry; Mass movement wet; Miscellaneous accident; Storm; Transport Accident; Volcano; Wildfire;


India

Total

Complex Disasters

0

0

Drought

0

0

Earthquake (seismic activity)

220096

220096

Epidemic

0

0

Extreme temperature

250

250

Flood

1794

1794

Industrial Accident

103902

103902

Insect infestation

0

0

Mass movement dry

0

0

Mass movement wet

531

531

Miscellaneous accident

6660

6660

Storm

17427

17427

Transport Accident

9945

9945

Wildfire

0

0

Total

360605

360605

Table Created on: Mar-26-2011. Data version: v12.07
Droughts can be multi year. Only the global figure for each country is taken in account
Complex Disaters can be multi year. Only the global figure for each country is taken in account

Source:http://emdat.be/