Lok Sabha Question No. 2629 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-11
Subject: Early Warning Systems for Natural Disasters
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: Shri Anurag Sharma

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2629

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 11 TH  DECEMBER, 2024

## EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS FOR NATURAL DISASTERS

## 2629.   SHRI ANURAG SHARMA:

Will the Minister of EARTH SCIENCES be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of advancements in climate change research and their implications for country's vulnerable regions;
- (b) whether the rising frequency of extreme weather events such as floods and droughts has been disrupting livelihoods and economic stability;
- (c) if so, the specific initiatives being implemented to address these challenges;
- (d) whether partnerships and studies are currently underway to assess climate change impacts across critical sectors, including agriculture, water resources, and public health, if so, the details thereof;
- (e) the  details  about  the  progress  made  in  enhancing  early  warning  systems  for  natural disasters particularly in rural and coastal areas; and
- (f) whether the Government is ensuring that actionable data is made available to policymakers and communities to build resilience and safeguard the country's socio-economic fabric and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

- (a) A  state-of-the-art  Earth  System  Model  (ESM)  has  been  indigenously  developed  at  the Centre for Climate Change Research, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) for generating  climate  change  projections  in  the  region.  The  National  Climate  Change Assessment report documenting the regional climate change projections has been released to benefit students, researchers, and policymakers. The report is available at https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-15-4327-2.  This  report  is  the  first  of  its kind  where  a  comprehensive  discussion  has  been  made  regarding  the  impact  of  humaninduced  global  climate  change  on  the  regional  climate  and  monsoon  of  the  Indian subcontinent,  adjoining  the  Indian  Ocean  and  the  Himalayas.  Based  on  the  available climate records, the report documents that the surface air temperature over India has risen by about 0.7 °C during 1901-2018, which is accompanied by an increase in atmospheric moisture  content.  The  sea  surface  temperatures  in  the  tropical  Indian  Ocean  have  also increased by about 1°C during 1951-2015. Clear signatures of human-induced changes in climate  have  emerged  over  the  Indian  region  on  account  of  anthropogenic  GHG  and aerosol  forcing  and  changes  in  land  use  and  land  cover,  which  have  contributed  to  an increase in the climatic extremes. India Meteorological Department (IMD) has prepared a Climate  Hazards  and  Vulnerability  Atlas  of  India  for  the  thirteen  most  hazardous meteorological events, including  Cold waves, Heat Waves, Floods, Lightning, Snowfall, Dust Storms, Hail Storms, Thunderstorms, Fog, Strong winds, Extreme Rainfall, Droughts, and Cyclones, which is helpful to safeguard the citizens living in the vulnerable regions.
- (b) Yes.
- (c) The Union Cabinet has approved the central sector scheme 'Mission Mausam' at an outlay of  INR  2,000  crores  over  two  years.  The  main  aim  of  the  mission  is  to  make  Bharat weather-ready  and  climate-smart  and  provide  early  warning  to  all.  Mission  Mausam  is envisaged to be a multi-faceted and transformative initiative to tremendously boost India's weather and climate-related science, research, and services.
- (d) Yes. Mission Mausam will cater to the weather & climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture, power, irrigation, shipping, water resource management, health, aviation, transport sector, disaster  management,  off-shore  oil  management,  public  safety,  etc.,  by  mitigating  the impact of climate change and extreme weather events and strengthen the resilience of the communities to severe weather phenomenon.
- (e) IMD has adopted new techniques and technology from time to time to detect, monitor, and provide timely early warnings for disruptive weather events. Initiatives and developments have  been  taken  to  improve  the  monitoring  and  forecasting  of  weather  events  by augmenting the observational network, numerical weather prediction models, and supercomputers.

IMD utilizes a seamless forecasting system at seasonal to nowcast scale and implemented well-defined Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for monitoring & forecasting weather hazards.  IMD  uses  a  state-of-the-art  dissemination  system  to  share  all  severe  weather information  and  early  warnings  with  disaster  management  authorities  and  the  general public  through  various  platforms/channels  for  necessary  preparedness  and  to  support mitigation  measures.It  includes  social  media,  Common  Alert  Protocol,  Mobile  Apps, WhatsApp, and APIs. As a result, the vulnerable population in rural and coastal areas gets evacuated  on  time  to  safe  shelters,  thereby  reducing  the  human  death  toll  to  a  bare minimum.

- (f) Yes. All the data, weather warnings, and climate projections are available to policymakers, the  National  Disaster  Management  Authority  (NDMA),  state disaster  administrators and managers, and all stakeholders to help build a resilient society.

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