NEW DELHI: Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Earth Sciences, and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy, and Space, stressed the importance of developing mitigation strategies to lessen the effects of natural disasters on people.

These remarks were made by Dr. Jitendra Singh during the Joint Indo-UK Academic Workshop in Delhi, where Ms. Christina Scott, the British Deputy High Commissioner to India at the British High Commission in New Delhi, headed the UK delegation.

Ms. Sukanya Kumar, Acting Director, UK Research and Innovation India, Dr. M. Ravichandran, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Dr. O. P. Mishra, Director, National Center for Seismology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, and Ms. Wendy Matcham, Head of Resilient Environment, Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), joined Ms. Scott in the discussion.

The Joint Geoscience Workshop on "Earth Hazards" taking place as India deals with the Joshimath event in Uttarakhand, where the Ministry of Earth Sciences is working with other authorities to handle the situation, is a fortunate coincidence, according to Dr. Jitendra Singh.

Dr. Jitendra Singh stated that the Ministry of Earth Sciences, taking a cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, adopted a proactive stance and established 37 New Seismological Centers (Observatories) in the last two years, bringing the total number of such centres in India to 152, providing extensive observation facilities and generating a significant amount of data for outcome-oriented analytics. He stated that 100 more such seismological centres will be established across the nation in the upcoming five years to enhance real-time data collection and monitoring. The Minister continued that India is getting closer to having a significant impact on the development and knowledge of seismology.

Dr. Jitendra Singh emphasised the urgent need for fundamental research into the physical mechanisms that cause the brittle layers beneath the crust and sub-crust to fail. This research will help to create low-cost methods for identifying and quantifying geohazards across vast regions and for developing mitigation strategies that are suitable for contexts with widely divergent - and quickly changing - political, social, and economic conditions. In addition, he noted that over the previous 50 years, scientific knowledge of the disaster-cause processes had greatly expanded, and that in order to combat future disasters, international cooperation like the Indo-UK effort needed to be strengthened.

The Minister emphasised that close cooperation between Indian scientists and their counterparts at UKRI on solid earth hazards will deepen our understanding and help us find new solutions for reducing the risk of natural disasters like earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis, among others.

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