With the threat of El Nino looming large and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting a harsh summer this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today directed the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to ensure optimal storage of grains in extreme weather conditions and also stressed the need for detailed fire audits and mock drills in hospitals by firefighters, along with wide circulation of protocols to deal with harsh weather.
Modi also instructed officials to track the availability of fodder for animals and water levels in reservoirs on a regular basis and stressed on the need for a coordinated effort to deal with forest fires.
The IMD was directed to prepare daily weather forecasts which were easy to interpret and disseminate, an official statement released today said.
The directions were issued by Prime Minister Modi during a high-level meeting chaired by him in the capital to review the preparations for hot weather in the coming summer season.
He was also briefed about the impact of weather on the standing rabi crops and the expected yield of major crops.
Modi also reviewed the preparedness of states and hospital infrastructure in terms of the availability of required supplies and preparedness for emergencies.
Modi meanwhile, urged officials to prepare separate awareness material for different stakeholders including citizens; medical professionals; municipal and panchayat authorities; disaster response teams like firefighters etc.
He also instructed them to incorporate some multimedia lecture sessions in schools to sensitise children about dealing with extreme heat conditions.
The officials also discussed that TV news channels, FM radio etc. could spend a few minutes daily to explain the daily weather forecast in a manner which would allow citizens to take necessary precautions.
Senior officials of the PMO including principal secretary to the PM and cabinet secretary along with secretaries to the ministries of home, health and family welfare, agriculture, earth sciences and member secretary of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) participated in the meeting.
Late last month, the IMD in its seasonal outlook for the months of March to May predicted that maximum and minimum temperatures over most parts of East, North-East, Central and North-West India is expected to remain above normal.
Only in Southern Peninsular India, both the maximum and minimum will remain normal to below normal, the met department had said.
In the month of March, IMD said that both the maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to remain above normal in most of the country except southern peninsular.
In February this year, as per the met department, the monthly averaged maximum temperature over Indian region was the highest since 1901 while the monthly averaged minimum temperature was the fifth highest for February since 1901.
Region-wise, the met said that the average minimum temperature was the second highest in February 2023 over North-west India, third highest for east and North-East India and fifth highest for all India since 1901.
Experts are fearing that a sharp spike in temperatures in March could have a damaging impact on the yields of the standing wheat crop mainly in areas where sowing has been late, that is in the states of Punjab, Haryana and west Uttar Pradesh, where it has reached the grain filling stage.
The high temperatures in March to May could also push up demand for electricity and have a negative impact on the inflation, which was just showing some signs of moderation.
Dry winds and very high temperatures are considered to be bad for the wheat crop at its grain filling stage.
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