An unusual dust storm on May 2 claimed many lives in India and caused significant damage to the property. In situations like these preparedness comes in handy and would have helped save lives in the case of the early May dust storm as well.

The Times of India recently got into a conversation with Mami Mizutori, the head of UNISDR (UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) on the topic of mitigating the damage caused by such events. Here are the excerpts from the conversation:

Talking about the May 2 dust storm and the high number of casualties, Mizutori said, “There are probably many reasons that can explain this unfortunately high death toll but the main one could be the unusual intensity of the dust storm on May 2. India is used to dealing with recurrent cyclones but dust storms are less frequent. ”

She added, “Storms are common in the pre-monsoon season in India but the impact of the May 2 event was quite exceptional. These phenomena are part of what scientists describe as “the new normal” so this is why we need to be prepared and invest more in adaptation measures.”

Discussing the role of UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mizutori said, “it is the “guardian” of the Sendai Framework, the global plan for reducing disaster losses by 2030, which was adopted in Japan in March 2015 by member states. As such, UNISDR works closely with governments and assists them in the development of their national risk reduction strategies.”

She expressed that India has been improving its disaster management strategies by learning from the devasting events of the past. She said that “Phailin is a very good example to show how India has been learning from devastating events from the past. As we know, cyclonic storm Phailin took place in October 2013 and killed 45 people. If you compared this with the 1999 Odisha cyclone which affected more than 12.9 million people and killed 10,000 others, cyclone Phailin caused few losses. This was due mainly to more effective early warning systems, greater coordination between local and national authorities and increased preparedness of communities.”

She further added that “In June 2016 India was the first country to announce a new National Disaster Management Plan fully based on the four priorities of the Sendai Framework and it was recently among the first Asian countries to establish a disaster loss database.”

The Sendai Framework (a 15-year voluntary agreement among UN members to reduce disaster risk) calls for a national database on disasters. Explaining its functioning, Mizutori said, “In March this year, my office launched the Sendai Framework Monitor System which will support countries in their efforts to collect disaster losses. The monitoring system is the core tool to improve understanding of disaster risk and where investment needs to take place to avoid repeated losses and to avoid the creation of new risk.”

Talking about the need for “legislative intervention” to ensure the building of “disaster resilient assets”, Mizutori said “Resilient infrastructures are key to making the world safer and to considerably reduce increasing economic costs due to disasters which are already reaching globally more than $520 billion per year. The Sendai Framework recommends that every new urban investment is risk-informed to avoid creating new risks in the future.”

H/T: The Times of India