COALITION FOR DISASTER RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE (CDRI)
- CRDI is an India-backed international platform, announced by the Prime Minister of India at the UN Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit in New York in 2019.
Secretariat of CDRI would be based in New Delhi.
TASKS WITH CDRI
Taking forward the initiative of the India-backed Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) announced a
5-year program to establish early warning systems around the world.
The proposal calls for a $3.1 billion investment between 2023-27 to increase infrastructure and capacity in early warning systems.
The above program was announced by the UN Secretary General at the COP27 climate change conference at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
WHY IS EARLY WARNING SYSTEM IMPORTANT?
- Many countries, including India, have established robust disaster management practices that have significantly reduced human casualties in disasters.
- However, the economic costs of a disaster remain enormous, owing primarily to the destruction of large infrastructure.
- According to the WMO, nearly half of the world’s countries, the majority of which are least developed and small island states, lack early warning systems.
- Early warning systems save lives and give significant economic advantages. For example,
- A mere 24 hours’ notice of an upcoming hazardous occurrence can reduce the resulting harm by 30%.
- Spending roughly $800 million on early warning systems might save up to
$3-16 billion in damages per year.
THE GLOBAL COOPERATION UNDER CDRI?
- CDRI is an attempt to bring countries together to share and learn from the experiences of one another to protect their key infrastructure – highways, railways, power stations, communication lines, etc., against disasters.
- It aims to assist member nations in integrating disaster management policies into all of their activities.
- CDRI members include not just countries, but UN bodies, financial institutions, groups working on disaster management, etc.
SIGNIFICANCE
- To identify and promote best practices: This means, the platform is not meant to plan, execute or finance infrastructure projects.
- To provide access to capacity building.
- To work towards standardisation of designs, processes and regulations relating to infrastructure creation and management.
- To make entire networks resilient, as modern infrastructure is also a web of networked systems, not always confined to national boundaries.
A RECENT STUDY BY CDRI
CDRI carried out a study of the electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure in Odisha, a state at high risk from cyclones. It found that the state’s infrastructure was extremely fragile.
The study, which was published in June 2024, revealed that
- More than 30 per cent of the distribution substations were located within 20 km of the coastline.
- 80 percent of the electricity poles were susceptible to high wind speeds.
- More than 75 percent of distribution lines were installed more than 30 years ago, and do not have the capacity to withstand cyclonic winds.
The situation is unlikely to be very different in other coastal states.
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