Altamash Khan is a Program Coordinator, Collaborative Advocacy at SPHERE India, and a Field Correspondent for Know Disasters magazine.
The Planning and Development Department, Government of Bihar, set up a Bihar Mausam Seva Kendra (Bihar Weather Service Centre) in 2020. It is an ambitious step by the State Government towards achieving one of the common goals of several international agreements like the Paris Agreement and COP26 to achieve climate adaptation. With this step, Bihar joins the 93 select few countries or territorial bodies under the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) members to have state-of-the-art early warning services vital to support adaptation in climate-sensitive sectors like health, water and agriculture. The WMO Secretary-General, Petteri Taalas, must be happy to learn about this development from India.
What is BMSK?
Bihar is a flood-prone State. Every year, natural calamities like drought, cold waves, thunderstorms, torrential rain and cyclonic storm keep hitting the State, causing immense loss of life and property. There was a need to establish a strong system to minimise the loss of public money by disseminating information related to these natural calamities, especially floods, drought, heavy rains and earthquakes, etc. A systematic approach to risk management through the established Early Warning System (EWS) can reduce the loss of life and the negative impact on the economy. An EWS based on effective institutional plans can predict risks in a timely and effective manner, thus empowering decision-makers and communities at risk.
In 2020, the Department of Planning and Development (Government of Bihar) approved the establishment and operation of Bihar Mausam Seva Kendra (BMSK) at the State level. The Centre will be responsible for consolidation, integration, analysis, and dissemination and forecasting of data received from the Automatic Weather Station (AWS) and Automatic Rain Gauge (ARG) installed in all Block Headquarters and Gram Panchayats respectively. Setting up of Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) and Automatic Rain Gauges (ARGs) are underway in all administrative Blocks and Panchayats of the State. This would help in forecasts on crop damage, drought and flood.
Karnataka Connection
According to a press release from the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC) on March 21, 2021, there was a high-level meeting between officials from the Department of Planning and Development, Government of Bihar (GoB) and the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC). The event brought together government officials, technical officials from KSNDMC, and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC). The ADPC has had a close working relationship with the Government of Bihar in India since 2015 to support its capacity-building needs in the recently adopted Bihar Roadmap for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–2030). With the support and guidance of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, ADPC supports Bihar Government officials to implement disaster risk reduction programmes in development programmes.
The meeting was organised to advance technical cooperation between KSNDMC and GoB to establish a hydro-meteorological network – Bihar Mausam Sewa Kendra (BMSK).
ADPC has submitted a detailed project report to the Department of Planning and Development to establish a similar network. It aims to provide practical scientific and technological ideas in the field of disaster management promptly. BMSK will be the central facility to produce information, reports and advice for the public, research organisations and the GoB to support improved and timely decision-making on their part.
The network has shown promising results while being successfully implemented during Phase I (2016 – 2018) of the project. ADPC has facilitated scheme design on the Agricultural Early Warning System in five Bihar districts. Part of this project involves the development of a high-resolution telemetry-based hydro-meteorological network in the districts that will provide improved weather-based advisory services in agriculture and related sectors. The programme also facilitated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between KSNDMC and the Department of Agriculture to provide technical support for the successful implementation of the pilot project.
Based on the success of the pilot project, GoB has decided to expand the network to 33 other districts through the Department of Planning and Development, GoB. In addition, the Centre is being established and will be known as BMSK. It will provide meteorological and other disaster risk information services to various government departments and the general public.
KSNDMC has agreed to extend technical support and capacity building for BMSK. It will support capacity building by providing guidance and exposure visits to selected staff from the Planning Department. Development works best when partners with the same motivation work together.
Challenges Before BMSK
A source working closely on the installation of instruments in the field shared some of the following challenges in this early phase of establishment:
Land Acquisition: BMSK is not getting the desired land for installing the instruments in village Panchayats. It is mostly getting farmlands exposed to thefts or those difficult to look after.
Theft of Instruments: The ARG’s battery is being stolen as the instruments are installed on the open ground. Due to this, the data of that Panchayat is not received and the vendor has to install the instruments or tools again. One way to prevent this problem is to install equipment on the rooftops of government schools or Panchayat buildings.
Efficiency of Dissemination Process
BMSK would need to ensure their mass-messaging systems do not create panic or havoc among district or block level functionaries and the general public. At the same time, it must reach the right people at the right time.
Effective Partnerships to Improve Service Delivery
Partnership with other government institutions, the private sector, academia, international NGOs, and climate and development finance partners is crucial. Such partnerships help foster joint research and innovation, develop new or enhanced products and services, and improve service reach.
References:
https://www.adpc.net/igo/contents/Media/media-news.
asp?pid=1694&topic= https://ndmindia.mha.gov.in/images/pdf/01_ComprehensiveReportfor7citiesEWSReview.pdf