write a topic on Floods in Kerala in 100 words
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The Indian state of Kerala has been devastated by severe floods. More than 350 people have died, while more than a million have been evacuated to over 4,000 relief camps. Tens of thousands remain stranded.
The crisis is a timely reminder that climate change is expected to increase the frequency and magnitude of severe flooding across the world. Although no single flood can be linked directly to climate change, basic physics attests to the fact that a warmer world and atmosphere will hold more water, which will result in more intense and extreme rainfall.
The crisis is a timely reminder that climate change is expected to increase the frequency and magnitude of severe flooding across the world. Although no single flood can be linked directly to climate change, basic physics attests to the fact that a warmer world and atmosphere will hold more water, which will result in more intense and extreme rainfall.
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Over the past 45 days, hurricanes Harvey, Jose and Irma have ravaged most of the Southern USA and its West Coast while Hurricane Maria is unleashing its wrath in Latin America and across the Caribbean – killing hundreds, leaving thousands displaced and inflicting millions of dollars in damages. The death toll from the devastating earthquake in Mexico City on Tuesday crossed 295 with over 2,000 injured and the numbers are only climbing as rescue efforts are continuing. In such a scenario, with natural disasters recurring and often without any warning signs, the question in many minds has been how prepared is the multi-hazard prone Kerala to deal with such calamities?
In fact, last week with the rain-induced floods, the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) was called into action, elevating it to a Level 2 (L2) event and it reflected the readiness of Kerala’s forces to combat calamities. An L2 event means the Army, defence service corps, navy, police and fire and rescue are all geared up and in an L3 event, even the National Disaster Response Force battalions are called into action.
Sekhar L Kuriakose, member secretary of SDMA, says, “Once the rainfall increased last week, we had mobilised the forces and specifically instructed what should be done and how. Based on the analytical inputs, we decided which schools should be given holidays and how even traffic should be directed to prevent further damages. The forces were kept on standby for three days, till the level was brought down.”
Plan in place, but more steps required
SDMA officials say the disaster management plan, which the State came out with last September, makes up for lost ground in preparedness, which was shockingly lacking five years ago. Not everyone is sure, though. Experts like KG Thara, former head of the State Disaster Management Centre, say that though theoretically the plan sounds all hunky dory, it may not quite translate into action in the event of a disaster.
“In terms of preparedness, we are still not entirely ready. That’s because the plan has no clear cut directions on what exactly has to be done. Vulnerability and risk assessment must be done at the field level. It’s no use if we have high-tech warning systems but those on the ground have no idea what to do with the information that is passed down,” she says. "Also, there's a need for community capacity building."
Supporting her, A Sankarankutty Nair, chief scientist of Centre for Environment and Development, says that a good disaster management plan has to classify each zone in the State based on the specific disaster that it is prone to and there must be measures devised to train personnel to tackle those disasters. “These aspects have not been addressed in the plan at all,” he says.
Risk sensitive land-use planning necessary
Another aspect that puts Kerala’s preparedness at risk is the haphazard land-use planning of the State, according to Muralee Thummarkudy, chief of disaster risk reduction in UN Environment Programme. “Historically, Kerala has been shielded from mega disasters, or disasters that killed thousands of people in one go. However, this has also made us complacent and over the past 100 years, as our population and prosperity grew, we have ignored basic principles of land use planning. Our houses, factories and other infrastructure, both social and critical, have been built in areas which are potentially vulnerable to natural hazards. If we take the floods in 1924 as a benchmark, we will see that we have built airports, factories, schools, hospitals, supermarkets and flats in locations which were flooded at that time. If the floods of same intensity were to return, all these will be underwater which will be a big blow to our development and result in loss of lives.”
Concurring with him, scientist Sankarankutty adds that risk sensitive land use planning and community sensitisation are the need of the hour. “Let’s take Idukki for instance. The land is vulnerable to landslides, plzzz mark me brainliest
In fact, last week with the rain-induced floods, the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) was called into action, elevating it to a Level 2 (L2) event and it reflected the readiness of Kerala’s forces to combat calamities. An L2 event means the Army, defence service corps, navy, police and fire and rescue are all geared up and in an L3 event, even the National Disaster Response Force battalions are called into action.
Sekhar L Kuriakose, member secretary of SDMA, says, “Once the rainfall increased last week, we had mobilised the forces and specifically instructed what should be done and how. Based on the analytical inputs, we decided which schools should be given holidays and how even traffic should be directed to prevent further damages. The forces were kept on standby for three days, till the level was brought down.”
Plan in place, but more steps required
SDMA officials say the disaster management plan, which the State came out with last September, makes up for lost ground in preparedness, which was shockingly lacking five years ago. Not everyone is sure, though. Experts like KG Thara, former head of the State Disaster Management Centre, say that though theoretically the plan sounds all hunky dory, it may not quite translate into action in the event of a disaster.
“In terms of preparedness, we are still not entirely ready. That’s because the plan has no clear cut directions on what exactly has to be done. Vulnerability and risk assessment must be done at the field level. It’s no use if we have high-tech warning systems but those on the ground have no idea what to do with the information that is passed down,” she says. "Also, there's a need for community capacity building."
Supporting her, A Sankarankutty Nair, chief scientist of Centre for Environment and Development, says that a good disaster management plan has to classify each zone in the State based on the specific disaster that it is prone to and there must be measures devised to train personnel to tackle those disasters. “These aspects have not been addressed in the plan at all,” he says.
Risk sensitive land-use planning necessary
Another aspect that puts Kerala’s preparedness at risk is the haphazard land-use planning of the State, according to Muralee Thummarkudy, chief of disaster risk reduction in UN Environment Programme. “Historically, Kerala has been shielded from mega disasters, or disasters that killed thousands of people in one go. However, this has also made us complacent and over the past 100 years, as our population and prosperity grew, we have ignored basic principles of land use planning. Our houses, factories and other infrastructure, both social and critical, have been built in areas which are potentially vulnerable to natural hazards. If we take the floods in 1924 as a benchmark, we will see that we have built airports, factories, schools, hospitals, supermarkets and flats in locations which were flooded at that time. If the floods of same intensity were to return, all these will be underwater which will be a big blow to our development and result in loss of lives.”
Concurring with him, scientist Sankarankutty adds that risk sensitive land use planning and community sensitisation are the need of the hour. “Let’s take Idukki for instance. The land is vulnerable to landslides, plzzz mark me brainliest
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