Enhancing Resilience Through Early Warning Systems: An Approach to Disaster Risk Reduction

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), organized a webinar on the launch of a flood early warning system (FEWS) on August 13, 2020.

The FEWS developed for Guwahati city was launched by Shri G V V Sharma, Member Secretary, NDMA, and Dr Ajay Mathur, Director General, TERI.

The welcome note was delivered by Dr Ajay Mathur. He stated that the issue of flooding and the ability to tackle it has become a major concern as urban planning and regulation could not keep pace with the rapid growth of urban areas and cities. He stressed that flooding has become a menace across the economically important centres of the country, such as Mumbai, Chennai, and Guwahati. Emphasizing on the increase in the trend of climate-related disasters in the future, he said that while the total seasonal rainfall of regions has not changed much, the intensity of rainfall has increased for short durations, resulting in the occurrence of flash floods across cities. Unplanned urbanization and increased climate variability were deemed as the crucial factors that made it important for cities to focus on resilience. It was stressed that as the geography and topography of Guwahati city make it prone to flooding post rainfall, preparedness is a major factor that can enhance resilience of the city. Congratulating the team on the development of the FEWS, he stated that early warning systems such as FEWS could help enhance the resilience of cities and regions that face perennial issues of urban flooding by helping in the development of a flood management roadmap for those regions.