HYDERABAD, MAY 30, 2024: Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) conducted the inaugural meeting of the “People-Centered Tsunami Early Warning for the Indian Coastlines (PCTWIN)” project of the United Kingdom and India. This pivotal initiative represents a strategic collaboration between the University College London, UK and INCOIS, India, underpinned by the support of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), UK and the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Govt. of India.
In January 2023, a foundational step was taken during the joint UK-India scoping workshop in New Delhi, facilitated by UKRI and MoES. The workshop highlighted the urgent need for a collaborative effort to de-risk the impact of solid earth hazards. The ideas and partnerships fostered during this session laid the groundwork for the current endeavour.
Following a call for proposals in July 2023, by UKRI and MoES, a joint project proposal was crafted with the vision to enhance the understanding and management of geohazard events in India and its neighbouring regions. Out of several proposals received from the UK & India, the UCL & INCOIS proposal stood up through high competition and was accepted in February 2024.
The kick-off meeting held on May 28-30, 2024 aimed at several critical aspects of advancing the tsunami early warning system across the Indian Coastline. The meeting set up a stage for discussing the computational frameworks, the groundwork for future operations, and formalizing the working plans. During breakout sessions, vibrant discussions convened among the groups on tsunami evacuation strategies, identifying vulnerable groups and integrating warning systems to strengthen coastal resilience.
The major outcome of the project is to catalyze the concept for the next generation of the Indian National Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC). The long-term impacts include (1) reducing the number of casualties due to tsunamis (2) contributing to collective knowledge of the processes generating tsunamis and their potential risks to the communities and (3) increasing the capacities of the local communities to be prepared for tsunami threats.
At a global level, the project also aligns with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO)’s Ocean Decade Tsunami Programme (ODTP), approved in 2021, aimed at 100% of communities at risk be prepared and resilient to tsunamis by 2030, United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the UN Early Warnings for All (EW4ALL, 2023-2027). Since 2011, India has been the official Tsunami Service Provider (TSP) for 27 countries in the Indian Ocean Region.
Also, the project contributes to all seven quantifiable targets of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) 2015- 2030, by achieving substantial reductions in disaster mortality, number of affected people, economic losses, damage to infrastructure and disruption of services, and achieving a substantial increase in: number of countries with national and local Disaster Risk Reduction strategies, international cooperation to developing countries, and access to multi-hazard warning and disaster risk information. Around 40 experts from International, National and local communities participated in this hybrid meeting.
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