Drought, characterized by its extensive spatial reach, prolonged temporal duration, gradual onset, and profound impact on susceptible populations, stands recognized as a formidable disaster. In the Indian context, where agriculture is a linchpin of the economy and millions depend on it for sustenance, the ramifications of drought can be particularly severe. In light of this, the September 2010 guidelines issued by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) provide a crucial framework for preparedness, specifically focusing on anticipated El Niño and La Niña phenomena. El Niño and La Niña, as components of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle, exert significant influence on global weather patterns, often leading to droughts or floods in various regions, including India. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms to anticipate and mitigate their impacts is paramount. The NDMA guidelines emphasize a multi-faceted approach encompassing early warning systems, contingency planning, resource mobilization, and community engagement. Early warning systems, utilizing advanced meteorological data and predictive models, enable timely identification of potential drought conditions, allowing for proactive measures to be implemented. Contingency planning involves the development of comprehensive strategies tailored to address specific vulnerabilities within different regions, sectors, and communities. Resource mobilization mechanisms ensure the availability of necessary supplies, including food, water, and medical aid, to affected areas. Additionally, community engagement initiatives foster resilience at the grassroots level, empowering local populations to effectively cope with and adapt to drought-related challenges. By adhering to the NDMA guidelines and adopting a proactive stance towards preparedness, India can enhance its capacity to mitigate the adverse impacts of El Niño and La Niña fallouts, thereby safeguarding livelihoods and fostering sustainable development.
Tag: Disaster and disaster management.
Decoding the Question:
- In Intro try to define drought as disaster.
- In Body,
- In first part discusses about El Nino and La Nina
- In the second part of the answer, discuss NDMA guidelines with respect to preparedness to deal with likely fallouts of El Nino and La Nina.
- Try to conclude, with suggestions for changing climate.
Answer:
A drought is a natural condition of below-average precipitation in a given region resulting in prolonged shortages in the water supply, whether atmospheric, surface water or groundwater. As per Indian Meteorological Department drought is defined by mean annual rainfall is less than 75% of total rainfall or normal rainfall. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region and harm to the local economy. Prolonged droughts have caused mass migrations and humanitarian crises. Most arid ecosystems have inherently low productivity.
The National Disaster Management Authority guidelines:
- These guidelines place emphasis on risk management, rather than following the traditional approach of crisis management, where the emphasis is on reactive emergency response measures.
- Developing vulnerability profiles for regions, communities, population groups, and others will provide critical information on the vulnerability of regions and communities together with the causes.
- All contemporary knowledge, experience and information are taken on board, clear destinations identified, and road maps drawn with milestones clearly marked off through a wide consultative process involving all stakeholders.
- Robust procedures are evolved for drought intensity assessment from time to time using multiple observations.
- Standard operating procedures are evolved and practiced in the declaration of drought including the time of declaration.
- The India Drought Management Centre (IDMC) is established.
- A centralized database at State level and at Nation level related to drought intensity assessment is compiled and maintained.
- A Control Room for Drought Management is established and the DM Division in DAC, GoI is suitably strengthened.
Thus, with increasing climate change and threat of drought due to El-Nino and La-Nina phenomena. India needs to adopt better adaptation and mitigation techniques which will minimise impacts on every aspect of life and every sector of the economy. At the same time promotion of water management techniques is also very essential so keep a reserve of water underground to fight severe drought like situation.
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