Hazards, Disasters And Your Community - United Nations ...

Plants, crops and vegetables are also subject to the effects of the heat. The damage to the standing
crops is a common feature during such events.
Infrastructure: it is observed that during heatwaves railway lines can expand to the point where they
buckle and cause derailments of trains. Road damage can also occur, where bitumen melting and
concrete expanding and cracking occur. This may lead to disruption of traffic.
Utilities and services: Water and electricity consumption services increase rapidly during severe heat
conditions, often causing shortages. This causes extra demands on electricity and water supplies.
FORECASTING AND WARNINGS
The National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) of Department of Science of
Technology is the premier institution in India to provide Medium Range Weather Forecasts through
deterministic methods and to render Agro Advisory Services (AAS) to the farmers. Advice will be
included in the weather forecasts advising of the dangers of heat stress.
Agricultural Meteorology Division, India Meteorological Department(IMD), Pune looks into minimizing the
impact of adverse weather on crops and to make use of crop-weather relationships to boost agricultural
production. The Agricultural Meteorology Division was established at Pune in 1932 and from its inception
the Division supports and participates in multi-disciplinary activities in this field. It is also the centre for
research programmes in agricultural meteorology and has field units in various parts of the country.
Besides, forecasts and advisories for farmers are issued by IMD’s Forecasting Offices located at different
State capitals.
COMMUNITY AWARENESS
There appears to be a significant lack of community awareness of the risks associated with heat wave,
even though several parts of the country experience such events with some regularity. It is a widely
overlooked, even unknown, killer. It is ideal to create awareness among the communities and ask them to
take suitable precautionary steps during the peak summer months. Media and Community education can
be launched prior to the onset of the heatwave conditions.
WEB RESOURCES
http://imdagrimet.org/ Website of Agricultural Meteorology Division, IMD, Pune
http://www.ncmrwf.gov.in/ Website of National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting
http://www.imd.ernet.in/ website of India Meteorological Department
U R B A N S T R U C T U R E F I R E S
Fires are very dangerous. It is an event of something burning and is
often destructive taking up toll of life and property. It is observed that
more people die in fires than in cyclones, earthquakes, floods and all
other natural disasters combined.
The most common human-caused hazard is fire in large occupied
buildings and in slums built of combustible materials. Causes can be
accidental or deliberate, but unless structures are built to safe fire
standards as mentioned in the National Building Code, and sound
emergency procedures are used, heavy loss of life can result.
There are numerous causes of Fire. It could be
1. Heating sources are often causes of Fire. Space heaters, electric heaters
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