Introduction:
India has made significant strides over the years in the field of science and technology and the latest results were visible in the battle against Covid pandemic. Human resource in Science and Technology is a major driver for India’s emergence as a knowledge super power. India has been on a rising trajectory, over the past several years in the Global Innovation Index from a rank of 81 in 2015 to 46 in 2021. The Gross Expenditure on Research and Development has been consistently following an increasing trend and during the last 10 years, the GERD of India in gross terms has increased by 3 times. The Government plans to strengthen and develop the Science and Technology infrastructure in major sectors. Emerging areas like Big Data, Cyber Physical Systems, Advanced Manufacturing, Waste Processing have been identified as futuristic platforms with special thrust for initiation of R&D.
Relevance today
- All these inventions became a foundation for future inventions and discoveries.
- Their contribution in astronomy, mathematics, medicine, metallurgy, chemistry havemade an impact on modem scientists.
- It is clear that progress of science and technology in India has been quite significant. Many new methods, products and better-quality goods have been developed in the country.
- India has made rapid progress in the frontier areas of science and technology like space research and atomic energy.
- At present the country has a strong base in modern technology. It also has the third largest scientific and technical manpower in the world
The role of Science & Technology in disaster prevention:
Space-based technologies:
- Technologies such as Earth observation satellites, communication satellites, meteorological satellites and global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) play vital role in disaster risk reduction.
- The geospatial data obtained from earth observation satellites, especially at the times of major events like earthquakes and floods acts as a key tool in risk assessment and risk reduction.
- In case of large urban areas, these space technologies can provide information about the damaged buildings and hazardous sites that are highly vulnerable to secondary disasters.
- Space technology also helps in determining the land use/land cover pattern, capturing weather data, crop monitoring, global rainfall monitoring, fire hotspot, haze monitoring and formulating drought mitigation strategies.
- GIS provides a tool for effective and efficient storage and manipulation of remotely sensed data and other spatial and non-spatial data types for both scientific management and policy oriented
- This can be used to facilitate measurement, mapping, monitoring and modelling of variety of data types related to natural phenomenon.
- The specific GIS application in the field of Risk Assessment Are Hazard Mapping to show earthquake, landslides, floods or fire hazards.
- Theses map could be created for cities, districts or even for the entire country and tropical cyclone Threat Maps are used by meteorological departments to improve the quality of the tropical storm warning services and quickly communicate the risk to the people likely to get affected by the disaster.
- Eg.: GIS and Remote Sensing can be used for preparing seismic hazards maps in order to assess the exact nature of risks.
- GIS can be used in carrying out search and rescue operations in a more effective manner by identifying areas that are disasters prone and zoning them accordingly to risk magnitudes
Internet:
- In the present era of electronic communication, the internet provides a useful platform for disaster mitigation communications.
- Launching of a well-defined web site is a very cost-effective means of making an intra-national and international presence felt.
- It provides a new and potentially revolutionary option for the rapid, automatic, and global dissemination of disaster information. A number of individuals and groups, including several national meteorological services, are experimenting with the Internet for real-time dissemination of weather observation, forecasts, satellite.
- In the most critical phase of natural disasters electronic communication have provided the most effective and in some instances perhaps the only means of communication with the outside world.
Warning and forecasting system:
- An advance system of forecasting, monitoring and issuing early warnings plays the most significant role in determining whether a natural hazard will assume disastrous proportions
- Indian Metrological Department (IMD) provides cyclone warnings from the Area Cyclone Warning Centres (ACWCs) It has developed the necessary infrastructure to originate and disseminate the cyclone warnings at appropriate times
- Seismological observations in the country are made through national network of 36 seismic stations operated by the IMD.
- Long term drought proofing programmes on the natural resources of the district have been greatly helped by the use of satellite data obtained by National Remote Sensing Agency.
- The drought assessment is based on a comparative evaluation of satellite observed green vegetation cover (both area and greenness) of a district in any specific time period by the National Agricultural Drought Assessment and Management System (NADAMS).
- Flood forecasts and warnings are issued by the Central Water Commission (CWC), Ministry of Water Resources. These are used for alerting the public and for taking appropriate measures by concerned administrative and state engineering agencies in the flood hazard
Conclusion
It is clear that progress of science and technology in India has been quite significant. Many new methods, products and better quality goods have been developed in the country. India has made rapid progress in the frontier areas of science and technology like space research and atomic energy. At present the country has a strong base in modem technology. It also has the third largest scientific and technical manpower in the world.
