Times of India, the

A national disaster risk index mapping hazards and vulnerabilities across 640 districts puts Maharashtra at the top of the chart, while Delhi is most at risk among Union territories (UTs). Certain states are considered high-risk states despite facing lower natural hazard possibilities due to high vulnerability and low capacity-building.

The Institute of Seismological Research (ISR), an Indian state agency, has come out with an ‘earthquake hazard map’ of Gujarat, which provides information about how intense the ground movement can be if an earthquake hits a particular place. It can help town planners and architects to take necessary precautions to mitigate the impact of a possible earthquake.

More than 22 countries have confirmed participation in a two-day international meeting India is hosting along with the UN from Monday to build a global coalition for development of disaster resilient infrastructure on the lines of the Solar Alliance of 120 countries.

On 15 November, Indian state Odisha will complete the process of commissioning alert siren towers under the Early Warning Dissemination System (EWDS). The system will warn communities of incoming cyclones and tsunamis, and is the first of its kind in India. The EWDS greatly increases Odisha's disaster preparedness and risk mitigation capacities.

A new study released on International Day for Disaster Reduction forecasts a continued rise in homelessness due to disasters. The study has accounted for displacement from the destruction of housing caused by earthquakes, tsunamis, riverine floods and tropical cyclones, highlighting the need for implementation of the Sendai Framework.

The Airports Authority of India has started work to prevent flooding at the airport in Chennai. The airport follows a checklist for pre-monsoon preparedness based on lessons learned from flood events in 2015, including both de-silting the river and improving the capacity and flow of water drains.

The union home minister of India calls for shared hydrological data after China failed to share data on the Sutlej and Brahmaputra rivers, which cross international borders, during major flooding events in eastern India. Consensus needs to be developed between the countries regarding the sharing of data so that flood mitigation efforts can be improved.

IIT Roorkee is planning to deploy a new earthquake early warning system across all earthquake prone cities in north India. It is based on a successful pilot in Uttarakhand where 84 sensors were placed in the Garwhal Himalayas. The sensors stream data in real-time and issue warnings for magnitude 6 and above earthquakes.