{"id":34627,"date":"2018-10-31T12:34:28","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T07:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=34627"},"modified":"2018-10-31T12:34:28","modified_gmt":"2018-10-31T07:04:28","slug":"averting-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/averting-disaster\/","title":{"rendered":"Averting disaster:\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/todays-paper\/tp-opinion\/averting-disaster\/article19849051.ece\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Averting disaster<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently, <\/span><b>Category 5 hurricanes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the Caribbean and in the American mainland; record floods across Bangladesh, India, and Nepal; and drought emergencies in 20 countries in Africa have damaged these regions. These events reiterate the need to act on a changing climate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Reasons for frequent floods and droughts across the globe:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rising temperature is increasing the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere, leading to more intense rainfall and flooding in some places, and drought in others.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rising and warming seas are contributing to the intensity of tropical storms worldwide.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Global warming<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Marine pollution<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Local and regional circulations such as El-Nino and La-Nina<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Step to tackle climate change:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>Paris Agreement<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has set the world on a long path towards a low-carbon future.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reducing the carbon emissions and r<\/span><b>educe disaster risk.<\/b><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">International cooperation is very crucial to tackle climate change.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Restoring the ecological balance between emissions and the natural absorptive capacity of the planet is the long-term goal.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Long term reduction of emissions is the most important risk reduction tactic and there is need to deliver on that ambition.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>November UN Climate Conference in Bonn p<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">rovides an opportunity to not accelerate emission reductions but also boost the work of ensuring that the management of climate risk is integrated into disaster risk management as a whole.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Poverty, rapid urbanization, poor land use, ecosystems decline and other risk factors will amplify the impacts of climate change.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Sendai Framework of Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR)<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>SFDRR is an international Treaty that was approved by UN member states in March 2015 at the Third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Japan.It is a <\/span><b>voluntary<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>non-binding treaty<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> which recognizes that the UN member State has the primary role to reduce disaster risk. It has a framework for 15-year i.e. 2015 to 2030.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It calls for sharing the responsibility with other stakeholders including local government, the private sector, and other stakeholders.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is the successor of the<\/span> <b><i>Hyogo Framework for Action (2005\u20132015)<\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> which had been the most encompassing international accord on disaster risk reduction.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It sets of common standards, a comprehensive framework with achievable targets, and a legally-based instrument for disaster risk reduction.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>It calls for adopting integrated and inclusive institutional measures for preventing vulnerability to disaster, increases preparedness for response and recovery and strengthens resilience<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Four specific priorities of Sendai Framework<\/strong>: <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Understanding disaster risk <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Indian perspective:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>What are the reasons for flooding in India?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India is considered as the world\u2019s most disaster-prone country on account of its unique geo-climate conditions. Reasons for flooding are given below.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>1-<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span> <b>Man-made Reasons:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lacks of drainage upgrade works.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The encroachment and filling in the floodplain on the waterways<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Obstruction by the encroachment and filling in the floodplain on the waterways<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deposits of building materials and solid wastes with subsequent blockage of the system.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Flow restrictions from under-capacity road crossing (bridge and culverts).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lack of planning and enforcement has resulted in a significant narrowing of the waterways and filling in of the floodplain by illegal developments.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Encroachments of nalas, lakes and other water bodies<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Choking of streams and stormwater drains<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Constructions on the riverbed<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Weather pattern and topography leads to regular flooding like in Brahmaputra River.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the ice melts in the Himalayas, the water channels downstream swell. When the river enters Assam from Arunachal Pradesh, it experiences a steep fall in gradient, causing the water to hurtle down at a furious pace.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During the monsoon, when the river is swollen with the precipitation from the Eastern Himalayas, its channels can\u2019t take the huge volumes gushing down at high speed. Siltation and sedimentation in the channels compound the situation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Human hand in such floods as well. With increasing deforestation in the Eastern Himalayas, the run-off has increased, which means as the water rushes towards the plains, it carries along more sediment.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The riverbed in the plains is full of sediment, impairing the Brahmaputra\u2019s carrying capacity.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>2-Physiological Reasons:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">About 60% of the flood damage in India occurs from river floods while 40 percent is due to heavy rainfall and cyclones<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Damage by Himalayan rivers accounts for 60% of the total damage in the country.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A flood occurs when water overflows or inundates land that\u2019s normally dry.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most common are when rivers or streams overflow their banks.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Excessive rain, a ruptured dam or levee, rapid ice melting in the mountains, or even an unfortunately, placed beaver dam can overwhelm a river and send it spreading over the adjacent land, called a floodplain.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Flooding is a natural phenomenon because of the rivers in the Northeast, mostly originating in the Eastern Himalayas, experience a sharp fall in gradient as they move from Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan to reach Assam\u2019s floodplain.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most of these rivers carry large amounts of sediments, which then get deposited on the floodplains, reducing the storage capacity of the river channels and resulting in inundation of the adjoining floodplains.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Flooding is partly anthropogenic as the sediment load carried by the rivers is accentuated through \u201cdevelopmental interventions in the Eastern Himalayas that result in deforestation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The principal causes of vulnerability include rapid and uncontrolled urbanization, poverty, degradation of the environment resulting mismanagement of the resources, inefficient public policies.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Flood-prone areas in India:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Areas which are subject to serious floods are mainly in the Plains of Northern India.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is estimated that over 90 percent of the total damage done to property and crops in India is done in the Plains of Northern India.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Annual deposition of silt and sand raises the bed and thus reduces the capacity of the river to accommodate flood water.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Assam Valley is another fertile belt which is affected sometimes seriously by flood havocs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Brahmaputra which drains this valley receives from its tributaries, the Dibang and the Luhit, a large amount of water heavily laden with silt.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Floods are almost a regular feature in coastal lowlands of Odisha<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The deltas of the Godavari and the Krishna.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lower courses of the Narmada and the Tapi<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What are the safety measures needed for the natural disaster?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is need to adopt a multidimensional endeavour involving diverse scientific, engineering and financial and social processes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The need to adopt a multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral approach and incorporation of risk reduction in the developmental plans and strategies.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Disaster management needs to occupy an important place in India\u2019s policy framework as it is the poor and the underprivileged who are worst affected on account of calamities\/disasters.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Providing necessary support and assistance to State Governments by way of resource data, macro-management of emergency response, specialized emergency response teams, sharing of disaster-related database etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Coordinating government\u2019s policies for disaster reduction.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ensuring adequate preparedness at all levels.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Need for disaster risk management:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Disaster affects the normal routine and it is not easy to come back to. The risk is reduced by various disaster management systems.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over the last two decades, more than 850000 people have died from disaster in Asia-Pacific.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">7 of the top 10 countries in terms of the number of deaths due to disaster are in the Asia-Pacific.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What are the government steps?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government inaugurated the <\/span><b>Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Management<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In order to respond effectively to floods, the Ministry of Home Affairs has initiated National Disaster Risk Management Programme in all the flood-prone states.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After a disastrous impact of the tsunami in 2004, India realized the need for Disaster Management Response Team and enacted the Disaster Management Act, 2005.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It establishes National Disaster Management Authorities function in coordination with other government departments like police, fire, finance, telecommunications etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Conclusion:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Disaster risk reduction has a pivotal role in supporting adaptation to climate change as well as sustainable development. Therefore, flood-prone regions of the country require a focused approach from both the Centre and state governments.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Averting disaster:\u00a0 Recently, Category 5 hurricanes in the Caribbean and in the American mainland; record floods across Bangladesh, India, and Nepal; and drought emergencies in 20 countries in Africa have damaged these regions. These events reiterate the need to act on a changing climate. Reasons for frequent floods and droughts across the globe: Rising temperature&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/averting-disaster\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Averting disaster:\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-test-1","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704881789},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34627\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}