India helping five nations develop Early Warning Systems (EWS): India Meteorological Department (IMD) chief | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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India helping five nations develop Early Warning Systems (EWS): India Meteorological Department (IMD) chief

Posted 12 Apr 2024

2 min read

  • India is helping Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Mauritius to develop EWS to reduce loss of life and property due to extreme weather events.
    • India's efforts are part of 'Early Warnings for All (EW4All)' initiative announced by UN in 2022.
  • EWS: An integrated system of hazard monitoring, forecasting etc. and processes enabling individuals, governments to take timely action reducing disaster risks.

 

  • About EW4All 
    • Aims to protect everyone from hazardous weather, water or climate events through EWS by end of 2027.
    • Spearheaded by World Meteorological Organization and United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
    • Calls for investments of USD 3.1 billion between 2023- 2027 to strengthen four pillars of EWS i.e.
      • Disaster risk knowledge.
      • Detection, observation, monitoring, analysis, and forecasting.
      • Warning dissemination and communication.
      • Preparedness and response capabilities.

 

  • Need for EWS
    • Protect lives and livelihoods
      • About 2 million deaths and economic losses of USD 4.3 trillion occurred during 1970 -2021.
    • Improve preparedness and mitigate impact of natural hazards.
    • Increasing disasters due to climate change necessitate EWS.
      • World is projected to face 560 medium- to large-scale disasters each-year.

Challenges with EWS

  • Lack of co-ordination between data collection and warning dissemination centre.
  • Language barriers hamper communication of early warnings to people.

 

Way Forward

  • Integrate scientific and technological advancements with local, traditional, Indigenous and generational knowledge.
  • Improving data quality, ensuring access to data globally.
  • Tags :
  • Disaster Management
  • Early Warning System
  • Early Warnings for All
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