Introduction: India''s Evolving Risk Landscape

• Multiple Natural Hazards: India faces various location-specific natural hazards with a rapidly evolving risk landscape.
• Components of Risk: Risks arise from a combination of weather events, local population vulnerabilities, and exposure levels.
• Response Management: Effective risk management requires well-planned responses, with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) playing a crucial role, despite facing knowledge gaps and operational barriers.

India''s Weather Extremes

• Increasing Weather Extremes: Different regions in India are experiencing extreme weather events throughout the year, including heatwaves, wildfires, heavy rains, landslides, droughts, and cyclones.
• Role of IMD: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is improving weather forecasts, but these predictions often lack the local scale required for effective disaster response.
• Advances in Academia and Research: Academic institutions and government research facilities are key in improving the process and predictive understanding of weather patterns, and are working on downscaling global forecasts to hyperlocal levels.

Impact of Climate Change

• Local Climate Manifestations: Climate change in India manifests as cooler and warmer temperature trends in different regions, alongside more unpredictable rainfall patterns.
• Exacerbation of Weather Extremes: Changes in climate patterns have led to increased landslides and wildfires.

Vulnerability and Development

• Human-Induced Vulnerability: Rapid population growth and economic development have led to the establishment of unsafe housing in vulnerable areas like unstable slopes and flood-prone regions.
• Tourism and Infrastructure: The influx of tourists into exotic locations has prompted infrastructure development, which sometimes exacerbates vulnerabilities, as evidenced by recent landslides in Wayanad.
• Combination of Factors: Vulnerability in India is a mix of poverty, population density, unsafe development, and potentially risky insurance policies that may encourage greater exposure to climate risks.

Challenges in Translating Climate Research

• Investment in Climate Research: India is heavily investing in climate research and services, but the practical application of this knowledge is limited.
• Low Uptake of Climate Services: The low adoption of climate services is due to the lack of location-specific and sector-specific information, as well as a shortage of skilled personnel to utilize the data.
• Role of Academia and Private Ventures: These entities are pushing the boundaries in translating IMD’s forecasts into hyperlocal scales, but operational challenges remain.

Case Studies: Irrigation and Urban Flood Predictions

• Irrigation Advisories: Weather forecasts are being used to manage farm-scale irrigation, as demonstrated by a tool developed for grape farmers in Nashik. This tool showed a potential 30% water savings without yield loss.
• Challenges in Large-Scale Implementation: The scaling of such tools requires collaboration with local governments, NGOs, and farmer organizations, but there is a lack of extension agencies to facilitate this.
• Urban Flood Predictions: For effective flood control, predictions need to be downscaled to street-level, with flood managers using these forecasts to plan infrastructure operations.
• Institutional Gaps: Current academic and urban government structures are inadequate to fully translate downscaled forecasts into practical urban flood management.

From Research to Operations

• Siloed Climate Research: Climate research in India is currently too isolated, focusing more on academic achievements rather than practical applications.
• Need for Sector-Specific Extension Agents: There is a clear need for trained professionals who can bridge the gap between research and operations, particularly in disaster management and risk mitigation.
• Hyperlocal Weather-Readiness: India’s weather-readiness and climate resilience must be hyperlocal, with sustained financing and capacity-building to ensure effective disaster management across all regions.

Conclusion: Ensuring Sustainable Development

• Capacity-Building: Training sector-specific extension agents who can communicate in local languages and navigate cultural nuances is essential.
• Sustainable Development: Achieving weather-readiness and climate resilience is crucial for India’s sustainable development and the safety and security of all its citizens.