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Dehradun, Oct 15 (IANS) Endorsing an integrated Himalayan action plan with multi-hazard early warning and strict land-use regulation to mitigate the impact of the climate crisis, a new report on Wednesday reiterated that the Himalayas are “at a critical juncture where climate change and unregulated human development are converging to create unprecedented disaster risks”.
The report, ‘Enhancing Multi-Hazard Early Warning and Resilient Settlement in the Himalayan Region’, was released at a stakeholder consultation in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
The report suggests an integrated action plan with community participation, emphasizing that traditional, fragmented disaster management should be replaced by an integrated multi-hazard warning system linked to implementable land-use and livelihood strategies.
The analysis highlights that while climate factors such as accelerated glacial retreat, cloudbursts and extreme rainfall increase hazards such as glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) and landslides, human actions, particularly unregulated construction and settlement expansion in high-risk areas, are significantly increasing population exposure and vulnerability.
The result is a reinforcing cycle of risk that threatens to increase human and economic losses in states like Uttarakhand.
Drawing lessons from international models from Japan, Switzerland and Norway, the report calls for accountability and commitment to reduce preventable disaster deaths in the Himalayas to zero by 2030.
It advocates immediate short-term deployment of low-cost, real-time sensors (for rainfall, soil moisture and lake levels) and robust mobile-based alert systems, which should be seamlessly integrated with long-term structural reforms such as hazard-sensitive land-use planning and planned relocation.
Specifically, the report supports designing a robust and adaptive early warning system capable of addressing a spectrum of hazards including landslides, flash floods, cloud bursts and glacial lake outburst floods, integrating real-time climate, hydrological and geospatial data with community-level response mechanisms and strategies to regulate settlements, optimize land use and implement planned resettlement. Evaluates and recommends. high-risk areas, thereby reducing risk while promoting climate-resilient urban and rural development.
The report suggests establishing a Himalayan Resilience Mission to coordinate a phased, decade-long plan, starting with dense deployment of sensors and the transfer of pilots to the highest-risk communities.
–IANS
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