Topic: Disaster and disaster management.
6. Early warning systems play an important part in disaster risk reduction as they prevent loss of life, as well as reducing the economic impact of natural hazards. Hence, they must be given adequate importance in disaster management. (250 words)
Difficulty level: Moderate.
Reference: The Hindu
Why the question:
Prone to frequent natural disasters, Jammu and Kashmir is working on a dynamic real-time online system to raise alerts and coalesce data, including data from the India Meteorological Department, for prompt analysis and liner–form actions to mitigate the impact of any disaster.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the role of early warning systems in disaster management.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by defining early warning systems as part of disaster management with an example.
Body:
Frist, mention the various types of early warning systems for varied disasters.
Next, write about the role of early warning systems in preventing loss of life during a disaster – evacuation, information, rehabilitation etc.
Next, write about the role of early warning systems in as reducing the economic impact of natural hazards – better planning, coordination etc. Mention the recommendations of Sendai framework in this regard.
Conclusion:
Conclude by writing a way forward to include early warning systems as an important part of disaster response.
Introduction
An Early Warning System (EWS) can be defined as a set of capacities needed to generate and disseminate timely and meaningful warning information of the possible extreme events or disasters (e.g. floods, drought, fire, earthquake and tsunamis) that threatens people‘s lives. The purpose of this information is to enable individuals, communities and organizations threatened to prepare and act appropriately and in sufficient time to reduce the possibility of harm, loss or risk.
Body
Elements of Early Warning system
- Risk Knowledge: Risk assessment provides essential information to set priorities for mitigation and prevention strategies and designing early warning systems.
- Monitoring and Predicting: Systems with monitoring and predicting capabilities provide timely estimates of the potential risk faced by communities, economies and the environment.
- Disseminating Information: Communication systems are needed for delivering warning messages to the potentially affected locations to alert local and regional governmental agencies. The messages need to be reliable, synthetic and simple to be understood by authorities and public.
- Response: Coordination, good governance and appropriate action plans are a key point in effective early warning. Likewise, public awareness and education are critical aspects of disaster mitigation.
Role of early warning systems
- They prevent loss of life, as well as reducing the economic impact of natural hazards.
- Increasing the availability of multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information is one of seven global targets set by The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.
- Warning to fishermen on coasts to not venture into seas.
- Disaster preparedness: Knowing about an impending danger can save lives and property. The cost of damage due to disaster in India, every year is estimated to be $87 billion due to cyclones, floods and droughts. This can be prevented to a great extent.
- Protecting critical infrastructure: This is especially true for Onshore windmills, nuclear plants close to coast, critical bridges in border areas that are at risk of damage due to disasters. It will impact the security and safety of the nation.
- Diplomacy: India’s Tsunami warning centre in the Indian ocean under the aegis of INCOIS, has been helpful in disseminating information for littoral states of Indian ocean. This has helped in increasing soft power diplomacy and achieve leadership of India in the Indo-Pacific.
- Saving biodiversity and wildlife: Many endangered Rhinos in Assam were rehabilitated due to risk of flooding of Brahmaputra last year. In turn it can save the whole ecosystem and the biodiversity of the place.
Conclusion
A complete and effective early warning system comprises four inter-related elements, spanning knowledge of hazards and vulnerabilities through to preparedness and capacity to respond. Best practice early warning systems also have strong inter-linkages and effective communication channels between all of the elements. These must be the basis for a good early warning system for various kinds of disasters.
