The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO recently recognised two communities from Odisha, namely Venkatraipur and Noliasahi, as “Tsunami Ready Communities”. This accolade singles out India as the first country within the Indian Ocean Region to be honoured by the UNESCO-IOC. Even within India, Odisha stands out as the inaugural state to have such distinguished communities.
Tsunami Ready Initiative Explained
“Tsunami Ready” is a performance-based program put forth by the IOC of UNESCO. Its intent is promoting active participation among the public, community leaders, and various emergency management agencies, both nationally and locally, to prepare for potential tsunamis.
The primary objective is to bolster coastal community readiness for tsunami emergencies, aiming to reduce life and property loss via a strategic and systematic approach. This necessitates adherence to the best-practice indicators established by UNESCO-IOC’s Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/IOTWMS).
The Execution of Tsunami Ready in India
The National Board (Ministry of Earth Sciences- MoES) oversees the Tsunami Ready initiative in India, under the chairmanship of the Director of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Centre (INCOIS). Members are drawn from different sectors including MoES, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA), Andaman & Nicobar Islands Directorate of Disaster Management (DDM), and INCOIS.
Notably, INCOIS, an autonomous entity within the Ministry of Earth Sciences, also serves as a Tsunami Service Provider to the Indian Ocean region, a role assigned by UNESCO-IOC. It provides tsunami advisories to 25 countries in the region.
The Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC), managed by INCOIS, functions as the primary agency issuing tsunami advisories in India. It cooperates with Disaster Management Officials (DMOs) for the execution of the Tsunami Ready program in the country. The centre carries out biannual IOWave Tsunami mock exercises in association with ICG/IOTWMS, and national level drills every alternate year with MHA, NDMA, and State Disaster Management Agencies (SDMA) to ensure stakeholder readiness for potential emergencies.
Understanding Tsunamis
Tsunamis are wave series typically triggered by sea floor motions, which can be caused by various geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, landslides, or volcanic eruptions. The term ‘tsunami’ is Japanese in origin, with ‘tsu’ meaning ‘harbor’ and ‘nami’ meaning ‘wave’.
The behaviour of these waves alters significantly based on water depth, which influences their speed. They are common in the Pacific due to the sliding of dense oceanic plates under lighter continental ones. When these plates fracture, it allows swift and effective energy transfer from the solid earth to the ocean.
