CELEBRATION OF INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR REDUCTION OF NATURAL DISASTER
Gujarat Science City is celebrating the International Day for Reduction of Natural Disaster (IDRND) on 11th October 2006 to increase understanding and awareness about various natural disasters and its mitigation plans. The programme has been designed in association with Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA) and UNDP Gujarat State Project Office, Gandhinagar.
The IDRND celebrated each year on the second Wednesday of October, is a vehicle to promote a global culture of natural disaster reduction, including prevention, mitigation and preparedness. The theme of this year celebration is 'Disaster risk reduction begins at school'.
A one-day workshop on the theme has been organized among the Science Advisors of District Institute of Educational & Training (DIETs), working with the Gujarat Council on Educational Research & Training (GCERT) and the primary school teachers, science communicators on the above subject. The workshop will dealt with various activities on disaster risk reduction and safety aspects in school curriculum. In addition, visitors to the Science City could see the illustrative poster exhibition on the above theme and screen disaster science movies in LED screen.
Nature is always changing and moving. This happens in different ways, for instance through natural phenomena that occur quite regularly, such as rain, winds, earth tremors or the natural processes of soil erosion. Earthquake, floods, fires, volcanic eruptions, tropical storms, tornadoes, electric storms, landslides, droughts, plagues and other phenomenon such as El-Nino and La-Nina are a part of nature, just like the sun and the rain.
These natural phenomena affect almost the entire Earth. In ancient time, people used to come with legends to explain these phenomena. They would say the volcano was angry, or that the gods were demanding a sacrifice. Today, science, technology and history help us to understand these events instead of merely fearing them. The Gujarat Science City is developing the Planet Earth pavilion for the awareness and understanding of various natural calamities with financial assistance from Asian Development Bank and GSDMA.
Children are especially vulnerable to the threats posed by natural hazards. At the same time, they can be powerful agents of change, provided they are well armed with knowledge about how to prepare in advance, how to act on warnings and how to reduce risk at home and in their communities. So as to promote a culture of school safety in schools, GSDMA has launched two major school safety initiatives on a pilot basis. The programs shall train teachers and students about basics of disaster management, prepare school disaster management plans, undertaking mock drills etc. UNDP Gujarat is a partner of GSDMA in supporting the program wherein teachers are being trained in all the districts of the state. GSDMA has made disaster risk education as a component of school curricula in Gujarat to ensure that children understand how natural hazards interact with the environment.
We can not stop natural phenomena from happening, but we can make them less damaging if we understand better, why they happen and what we can do to prevent or mitigate them. There is a great role for the scientific community for bring proper awareness, understanding about various natural phenomena and to orient the local people to face the situation.
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