Early weather warning systems strategic investments in resilience: P K Mishra

New Delhi, Oct 13 (PTI) India on Monday asserted that early weather warning systems were not technological luxuries but strategic investments in resilience and urged G20 member nations to strengthen interoperable regional platforms and shared data protocols for the purpose.

Addressing the G20 Disaster Risk Reduction Ministerial in South Africa, P K Mishra, the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, highlighted India's shift from a relief-centric to a risk-informed paradigm.

Mishra represented India at two high-level events -- 'Solidarity and Resilience: Advancing DRR in International Collaboration and Solidarity for Early Warning Systems' and 'Bridging Technical Innovation and Political Leadership for Scaling DRR Investment.' At the session on Solidarity and Resilience, he said that early warning systems were not technological luxuries but strategic investments in resilience.

He showcased innovative local-level mechanisms, dedicated mitigation funds, hazard-specific programmes, and community-based preparedness through Aapda Mitra volunteers that embed resilience directly into public finance and governance.

At the event on Financing DRR, Mishra also spoke about India's constitutionally anchored model under the Finance Commission, which ensured multi-year, rules-based DRR allocations, decentralised funding to the states and local bodies, and evidence-based prioritisation through a national Disaster Risk Index.

Mishra outlined India's multi-agency architecture integrating meteorological, hydrological, seismic, and oceanographic institutions through a Common Alert Protocol-compliant Integrated Alert System, which had already issued over 109 billion alerts.

He urged the G20 grouping to strengthen interoperable regional platforms, shared data protocols, and joint capacity-building initiatives under the global Early Warnings for All framework.

"India viewed early warning as a global public good; inclusive, multilingual, and anticipatory," Mishra said.

On the sidelines, he also interacted with ministers from South Africa, Brazil, Australia and the Netherlands.

Mishra highlighted strengthening early warning systems, technology for its dissemination and promoting institutional collaboration in enhancing disaster resilience at the regional and international levels in his meeting with the Netherlands Vice Minister Maarten Van Aalst. PTI SKU NSD NSD