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Uttarakhand fails to deliver early warning system 8 years after it was promised

Source(s): Live-Mint/Hindustan Times, HT Media Limited
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By Jayashree Nandi

The decision to install an early warning system comes nearly 8 years after the Union environment ministry had said in an affidavit that Uttarakhand urgently needed a flood forecasting network. An expert panel appointed in 2013 had observed that lack of disaster preparedness was a dangerous lacuna.

[...]

Warning systems failed both at Rishi Ganga and Tapovan Vishnugad hydropower project. A senior national thermal power corporation (NTPC) official at the disaster site said: “We had a system of dependence. We had an understanding that whenever water levels rise in Rishi Ganga project barrage, they communicate it to us and we inform projects downstream.

[...]

India Meteorological Department doesn't yet have any weather monitoring stations in the higher reaches. “We don't monitor glaciers and avalanche warnings are normally issued by Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment of DRDO. We are trying to strengthen our network but as of today we don't have monitoring stations above 3500 metres,” said Anand Sharma, additional director general, IMD.

[...]

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Hazards Flood Landslide Avalanche
Themes Early warning
Country and region India
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