Last Updated on 01/08/2024 by wccexam Desk
Two hundred and fifty deaths have been confirmed in the Wayanad landslide that happened on Monday night, while many people are still missing. Meanwhile, the Home Ministry claimed that they had sent an alert to the Kerala government through the Early Warning System, which was ignored. Whereas this is the same system through which disasters were predicted and prevented in the country including Odisha and Gujarat.
What is this system
Early warning system is a system through which the weather department or several departments together predict a natural disaster such as earthquake, tsunami, flood or cyclone before it occurs. Its purpose is to take people to safe places in time so that the loss of life and property is minimized. This is a method of disaster management.
Related news
- Fake name, paper identity, 11 times UPSC exam… this is how Pooja Khedkar lost her job as an officer!
- Not only Haniya but Hamas military chief Daif was also eliminated, Israel made a big claim
- What mistake has the BJP government committed by demolishing the platform built for this leader’s statue in Gorakhpur?
- This 7 month pregnant player is doing fencing
- Indian Hockey Team, Paris Olympics 2024: Team India suffered its first defeat, Olympic champion Belgium defeated them in a thrilling match
On which disasters does it work
To reduce the impact of disasters, an early warning system was developed at the international level. A lot of work was done on this in America. There, the US Geological Survey monitors earthquakes, volcanoes and other geological hazards, while the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration works on marine disasters. Apart from this, there is also the National Weather Service, which issues warnings along with weather forecasts.
We also have many government agencies for this. For example, the National Disaster Management Authority does all the planning to minimize the risk. Apart from this, we have the Meteorological Department as well as the Seismological Center.
How effective is this
You can guess its power from the fact that if a warning is received even 24 hours in advance, the loss caused by a disaster can be reduced by 30 percent. However, even now the less developed countries with one-third of the world’s population do not have this system, or it is not effective enough to catch the disaster in time.
Where does India stand
In 2016, an early warning system was developed in the country and at present it is one of the most modern systems in the world. In this too, India is among the few countries that can predict a disaster 7 days in advance. Under this, information is sent to the concerned state within a week, which is also made public on the website. According to a report in the Economic Times, our scientists are helping five countries – Nepal, Bangladesh, Mauritius, Maldives and Sri Lanka – to develop such a system.
What is the process for giving warning
Sometimes, sudden warnings can create panic or panic among the common people. Keeping this in mind, many protocols are followed. The responsibility of sending warnings lies with the India Meteorological Department. This information is given in balanced words on its website, government channels, social media handles, and news agencies. Meanwhile, both the Center and the state take precautionary measures.
How to make a forecast
Scientists collect data on weather, earthquakes and other disasters through sensors and different equipment. Sometimes a specific pattern is seen in these disasters that certain places are sensitive to it, or it happens at a certain time. Sensors also keep telling about the changes taking place continuously. Warnings are issued on the basis of these. However, this can be quite tricky. It has been considered quite difficult to detect landslides and earthquakes in advance.
Why is it difficult to detect earthquakes?
There are indications of vibrations coming again after an earthquake, but prediction is difficult. One reason for this is fault lines. These lines are spread inside the earth. Due to the movements happening below, many earthquakes occur in a day. Almost all of these are so weak that no one can notice them, while some are very powerful. This heavy traffic of movements confuses and it is difficult to detect a big earthquake.
Why is it difficult to accurately predict landslides?
Landslide is an event when a large portion of sloping land suddenly slides downwards. There can be many reasons for this, ranging from rain to earthquake or human activities such as cutting forests or building buildings on high places. This is the biggest reason for not being able to predict. Sometimes something is missed out of so many factors. Or an accurate result cannot be arrived at by combining all of them.
There is also a lack of data in landslides, which hinders understanding the pattern. Anyway, the possibility of landslides also depends on the geographical conditions of that particular place. Since the conditions of every place vary, landslides cannot be predicted for every place using the same model.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)