The HKH Snow Update 2025 highlights a significant decline in seasonal snow across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, with snow persistence 23.6% below normal — the lowest in 23 years. This trend, now in its third consecutive year, threatens water security for nearly two billion people. All twelve major river …
The Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) will establish two more seismic wave monitoring centres at Mahakanadarawa, Anuradhapura and Hakmana before the end of this year, to enhance the measuring capacity of earth tremors. A GSMB official told the Daily News yesterday that at least three seismic data recordings are …
Almost all earthquakes are small. A small segment of a fault, miles underground, jerks a little, the rumble imperceptible at the surface. But with a few quakes, the fault continues breaking, the ground jumps several feet and the world shakes in cataclysm.
Food and Disaster Management Minister Md Abdur Razzak yesterday urged the NGOs to come forward to eliminate poverty and raise awareness among people about disaster preparedness. He said people would be able to take more effective measures to face disaster if poverty can be eliminated. The minister was speaking as …
A research team at National Taiwan University (NTU) has rolled out a tiny low-budget device that can sense earthquakes within 30 seconds, enough time to issue crucial disaster warnings, NTU Geosciences Department researcher and lead inventor Wu Yih-min said on Thursday. According to a private TV channel, Wu said the …
The district administration has finalised comprehensive flood relief and safety plans, which would be implemented with the active role of concerned departments. The District Co-ordination Officer (DCO) Nayyer Iqbal said this here Tuesday while presiding over a meeting to review pre-flood arrangements. It was attended by the officers of Education, …
This report identifies ten risk reduction practices which were successfully implemented in the pilot communities and are replicable elsewhere. Its objective is to encourage knowledge and experience sharing among communities, organizations and other disaster risk reduction (DRR) stakeholders for the benefit of all those vulnerable to natural disasters, especially floods. …
The objective of this review commissioned by UNISDR as a follow up to the 3rd Asian Ministerial Conference on DRR (AMCDRR) is to develop a common action plan that would facilitate such partnerships based on an evaluation of PPP case studies and consultations with stakeholders. The expected outputs include: a …
Four years after the tsunami, the people of Poompuhar lead a well-settled life. You can see resettled villages of fishing and farming communities with neat rows of houses. There are well laid out roads flanked by neon street lights. The transformation of 10 villages in this panchayat is the handiwork …
This case study is part of the ODI HPG research programme on the role of the affected state in humanitarian action and aims to describe the essential elements of approach to disaster management as seen in its response to the 2001 Gujarat earthquake and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. It …
Chairman and Managing Director of the Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL), T K Lahiry said tragedy can strike any time in Jharia, so tough actions are needed to shift people Why are people not shifting after so many sops and facilities? The issue of relocation has become highly politicized. We …
Alok Kumar Gupta Nearly half a million people living in and around the Jharia coalfield in Jharkhand have to be shifted to control underground fires. But the government has no sound strategy for their rehabilitation and the people have no trust in the government Kujama village in Jharkhand
It is doubtful the master plan will see the light of the day The relocation plan would have made more sense if it was done soon after a committee set up by the energy ministry in 1976 found underground fire active in the Jharia coalfield. Then, bccl did not even …
Earthquake study centres to be linked for integrated analysis THE Chinese claim to predict earthquakes by observing animal behaviour and phenomenon such as sudden disappearance of water from lakes and wells. Scientists around the world have tried to do the same by studying parameters like changes in seismic activity and …
Bangladesh is to receive support from Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan to tackle the huge challenges posed by climate change over the coming decades. ADB's Board of Directors yesterday approved a technical assistance grant of US$2 million from the Japan Special Fund to increase the capacity of government agencies …
Five countries including Sri Lanka are to send their delegations to conduct a feasibility study on the disaster preparedness in Padang, West Sumatra. Two delegates from each of the five countries, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka and Maldives, will participate at this meeting, executive director of the Indonesian Tsunami Alert …
New Delhi (PTI): Government has given the green signal for construction and operation of helipads in coastal regions as well rooftops of high rise buildings near coasts with an aim to carry out relief and rescue operations during natural calamities. However, keeping in view the environment sensitive nature of the …
The economic benefits to society of investing in disaster risk management substantially exceed the costs. Appropriately designed risk reduction strategies represent a sound investment that is central both to alleviating poverty and to responding to the expected impacts of climate change on lives and livelihood systems. This core finding emerges …
