Last updated on November 13th, 2024 at 01:30 pm
Dr. Jitendra Singh, who is the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, inaugurated the 2-day Indo-UK Workshop on “Earth Hazards” today. He stressed the need to devise mitigation strategies to minimize the human consequences of natural disasters.
At the Joint Indo-UK Academic Workshop in Delhi, Dr. Jitendra Singh made these remarks, where the UK Delegation was led by Ms. Christina Scott, British Deputy High Commissioner to India at the British High Commission in New Delhi.
There is a critical need for fundamental research on the physical processes that lead to the failure of brittle layers beneath the crust and sub-crust in order to develop low-cost solutions to identify and mitigate geohazards over vast regions. Strategies that are appropriate for widely varying – and rapidly evolving – political, social, and economic contexts, as outlined by Dr. Jitendra Singh.
He said that scientific understanding of the processes behind disasters has increased significantly over the last 50 years and there is a need to further strengthen international cooperation, such as the India-UK initiative, to fight such disasters in the future.
The minister underlined that deeper collaboration of Indian scientists with their UKRI counterparts on solid earth hazards will enrich our understanding to develop a way to reduce the risk associated with natural disasters like earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis, etc.
During the two-day workshop, experts/scientists from both countries will deliberate on various aspects of the solid earth hazards.
Possible areas of focus for this program of research may include, but are not limited to, the physics of rock failure: earthquakes, landslides, combining data sets from laboratory, remote-sensing and field observations; the development of Earth observation and AI techniques to identify geo-hazards, map vulnerability, explore mitigation strategies and guide responses to disasters; sensor technologies for intensive monitoring of crustal deformation; Better quantification of threats and risks; Dynamic Landscapes – Guiding long-term development of cities and regions in response to geo-hazards; risk potential of tsunami-genic areas; Ionospheric turbulence study by studying TEC using GPS and focal mechanism study using real-time GPS and SMA data.
