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Time of India
2 days ago
- Climate
- Time of India
AMC to install 150 rain sensors to track ward-wise showers in Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad: By the time the monsoon gathers force this year, the city is likely to be equipped with a smarter rain tracking system. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), with help from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), is all set to install 150 advanced rain gauge sensors across the city's 480 sq km area. This is a significant leap from the current 27 sensors and will enable hyperlocal rainfall tracking across wards, helping predict rainfall with greater accuracy and speed. The new system will work with weather forecasting software provided by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), allowing AMC to monitor and predict rainfall at the ward level in real time. A tender worth Rs 10 to 12 crore will be floated soon for the installation of the new sensors and integration of the software. Officials say the upgrade is crucial to prevent urban flooding and improve disaster response. However, before the next monsoon, 150 sensors with rain gauges will be installed across different areas of the city with a grant from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), said AMC officials. Additionally, software for weather forecasting will be obtained from CDAC, with a Rs 10 crore tender to be floated soon. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 차량 구매하지말고 간편한 렌트 하세요 카올리 더 알아보기 Undo Once this system is in place by June 15, the corporation will be able to predict specific rainfall in different wards in the upcoming monsoon. Currently, the AMC rents software to collect rain data from existing sensors, which are few and far between. With each rain gauge ideally needed per 5 sq km, the city has been under-equipped for years, said civic officials. "The city's area has been expanding continuously over the past two decades. From 1990 to 2006, Ahmedabad's area was 190.84 sq km. In 2006-07, the city expanded to include seven municipalities and 34 village panchayats, increasing the area to 464.16 sq km by 2020. In 2020-21, additional areas, including Bopal Ghuma municipality, were added, bringing the total to 480.88 sq km. Additionally, large village panchayats surround Ahmedabad. "With the city's expansion, more rain gauge stations are needed to understand the rainfall pattern. Currently, when the meteorological department predicts rain for Ahmedabad, some areas receive rain while others do not. Sometimes, some areas receive more rain while others receive less. We are working towards enabling ward-specific rainfall predictions," the official said on condition of anonymity. With the new installation, even areas like Bopal, Shela, Manipur, Nandoli, Charodi, Tragad, Nana Chiloda, and Ognaj are likely to get rain gauges.
USA Today
3 days ago
- Health
- USA Today
Elon Musk, the Trump campaign and ketamine: What to know about the powerful drug
New details about Elon Musk's relationship with ketamine have emerged a few days after the tech entrepreneur announced his departure from the White House. Although Musk had previously mentioned using a "small amount once every other week," the billionaire X owner may have been using ketamine frequently enough on President Donald Trump's campaign trail for the drug to start causing some health issues, according to reporting from The New York Times. Musk previously mentioned using the drug as a medical prescription to treat depression in an hour-long interview with former CNN host Don Lemon in March 2024, where he also denied abusing the drug. Musk is not the only celebrity who has used ketamine. The late actor Matthew Perry was using ketamine under the care of a physician for the treatment of depression, although the levels of ketamine in his system at the time of his death in October 2023 weren't related to his last infusion. Other celebrities who have used the substance include Chrissy Teigen and Sharon Osborne. Here's what to know about ketamine. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. What is ketamine? Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. It binds to the NDMA receptors and is essentially a 'stop' signal. It starts to interfere with the connection between your brain and your body. The effects are dose-dependent, but it generally leads to a 'disconnected' feeling from you, your person – and your body. Symptoms range from unconsciousness (like when used in general anesthesia) to an 'out of body' experience or hallucinations. Is ketamine legal? Ketamine is a legal medication and is used as an injectable, short-acting anesthetic for use in humans and animals, the DEA says. A ketamine derivative, esketamine under the brand name Spravato, is FDA-approved as a nasal spray to treat depression in adults, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Ketamine has also been used off-label in dozens of clinics across the U.S. to treat other mental health conditions, such as anxiety, in combination with talk therapy. However, most of the ketamine distributed in the U.S. is done so illegally, per the DEA. It's often diverted or stolen from legitimate sources, like veterinary clinics, or smuggled into the country. Ketamine is classified as a Schedule III drug by the agency, which denotes substances "with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence." In case you missed: Sharon Osbourne says ketamine helped her depression. Is this the next big trend? Short- and long-term effects of ketamine Short-term side effects of ketamine use may include headache, dizziness, sleepiness, feeling strange or 'loopy,' difficulty speaking, numbness, blurred vision or nausea, according to NIDA. Long-term, heavy ketamine use is associated with memory problems, depression and anxiety. The drug may also cause gastrointestinal problems, abdominal pain popularly known as 'k-cramps' and uropathy, which is a blockage in the urinary tract that can lead to infections, or UTIs. Contributing: Delaney Nothaft and Emily DeLetter, USA TODAY.
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Business Standard
6 days ago
- Climate
- Business Standard
Burning issue: Govt adds financial muscle to heatwave plans for states
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), which has 250 heat action plans for cities, is not only aiming to expand those to the district level but is also planning to incorporate financial mechanisms or mitigation funds into heat action plans to deal with rising heatwaves, said a senior executive on Tuesday. This comes at a time when recent studies indicate a trend of general warming in mean annual temperature over the Indian subcontinent, threatening economic growth and a better quality of life. This assumes significance as the disaster management authority faces challenges in implementing heat action plans on the ground. India's average temperature has risen by around 0.7 degrees Celsius between 1901 and 2018, and by the end of the 21st century, it is projected to increase further by 4.4 degrees Celsius. This means vast stretches of India are now expected to face prolonged heatwaves lasting 30–40 days or more. 'One major problem that has always been flagged is how we implement the heat action plan on the ground. Our heat action plans don't have a financial mechanism, and we have kind of addressed that. We have been working hard to get the mitigation fund to support the heat action plan, and that has been allowed,' Krishna S. Vatsa, member of NDMA, said at the India Heat Summit organised by Climate Trends, a research-based consulting organisation. He added that the NDMA is currently working on the policy guidelines, and those will be issued soon. With this, there will now be financial resources available at the state level, but government resources would not suffice, he said, adding, 'There has to be a wider mobilisation of resources from the private sector, non-governmental organisations, local governments, and citizens. So, hopefully within a year or two, we will see many more innovative experiments and interventions happening at the grassroots level, which would reduce the impact of heatwaves.' Vatsa also highlighted the need to improve our technical backstopping for heatwave preparedness and mitigation in the country. About 57 per cent of Indian districts, home to 76 per cent of the country's population, are currently at high to very high risk from extreme heat. According to a report, mortality rates because of heatwaves in India have gone up by 62.2 per cent. According to a United Nations report, India reported 40,000 cases of suspected heat strokes and over 100 deaths between March and mid-June last year. Heatwaves are known to be a silent killer among natural disasters triggered by human-caused climate change. The effect of rising temperatures and the increasing frequency, duration, and intensity of hot spells poses a challenge to human safety and sustainability. Bharat Lal, secretary-general of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), at the summit, pointed out seven challenges to mitigating the effects of heatwaves. The list includes the absence of occupational heat exposure data, poor socioeconomic vulnerability mapping, inadequate urban heat island mapping, non-integration of real-time meteorological and health data, and limited use of remote sensing data. Lal informed that the commission had identified 10 solutions to address these challenges and had been working on them for the last three months. 'The first is expanding and scaling up this heat action plan. A heat action plan helped to an extent that mortality in Ahmedabad went down by 30–40 per cent. So, it means the heat action plan should be further expanded,' Lal said.
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Business Standard
6 days ago
- Climate
- Business Standard
Govt to incorporate financial mechanism into states' heat action plans
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), which has 250 heat action plans for cities, is not only aiming to expand those to the district level but is also planning to incorporate financial mechanisms or mitigation funds into the plans to deal with rising heatwaves, said a senior official on Tuesday. This comes at a time when recent studies indicate a trend of general warming in mean annual temperatures over the Indian subcontinent, threatening economic growth and quality of life. This assumes significance as the disaster management authority faces challenges in implementing heat action plans on the ground. India's average temperature has risen by around 0.7 degrees Celsius between 1901 and 2018, and by the end of the 21st century, it is projected to increase further by 4.4 degrees Celsius. This means vast stretches of India are now expected to face prolonged heatwaves lasting 30–40 days or more. 'One major problem that has always been flagged is how we implement the heat action plan on the ground. Our heat action plans don't have a financial mechanism, and we have kind of addressed that. We have been working hard to get the mitigation fund to support the heat action plan, and that has been allowed,' Krishna Vatsa, member of NDMA, said at the India Heat Summit organised by Climate Trends, a research-based consulting organisation. He added that NDMA is currently working on policy guidelines and that these will be issued soon. With this, financial resources will now be available at the state level, but government resources would not suffice, he said, adding, 'There has to be a wider mobilisation of resources from the private sector, NGOs, local governments, and citizens. So, hopefully within a year or two, we will see many more innovative experiments and interventions happening at the grassroots level, which would reduce the impact of heatwaves.' Vatsa also highlighted the need to improve technical backstopping for heatwave preparedness and mitigation in the country. About 57 per cent of Indian districts—home to 76 per cent of the country's population—are currently at high to very high risk from extreme heat. According to a report, mortality rates due to heatwaves in India have risen by 62.2 per cent. A UN report stated that India recorded 40,000 suspected cases of heat stroke and over 100 deaths between March and mid-June last year. Heatwaves are known to be a silent killer among natural disasters triggered by human-caused climate change. The effect of rising temperatures and increasing frequency, duration and intensity of hot spells poses a serious challenge to human safety and sustainability. Bharat Lal, Secretary-General of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), at the summit, pointed out seven key challenges in mitigating the effects of heatwaves. These include the absence of occupational heat exposure data, poor socioeconomic vulnerability mapping, inadequate urban heat island mapping, non-integration of real-time meteorological and health data, and limited use of remote sensing data. Lal informed that the commission has identified 10 solutions to address these challenges and has been working on them for the past three months. 'The first is expanding and scaling up the heat action plan. A heat action plan helped to the extent that mortality in Ahmedabad went down by 30 to 40 per cent. So, it means the heat action plan should be further expanded,' Lal said. Other solutions or opportunities that NHRC is working on include data-driven vulnerability mapping for integrated interventions, investment in passive cooling infrastructure, public awareness and behavioural change campaigns, and integration of operational heat safety with labour laws.
Arab News
6 days ago
- Business
- Arab News
Pakistan's largest port operator issues monsoon safety measures
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's largest port operator, the Karachi Port Trust (KPT), on Tuesday issued a list of precautions to be taken in case of heavy rains, winds and flooding during the upcoming monsoon season, including monitoring the safety of ships and boats and securing dredges, barges and cargo. The upcoming monsoon season is expected to begin earlier than usual and bring heavier rainfall, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said last week. The season is likely to begin around June 26–27, roughly three to four days ahead of its typical onset. Rainfall across the country is likely to exceed normal levels by up to 5 percent, with northeastern Punjab bracing for a 50 percent increase. 'Monitor the safety of ships at berths closely and assess their security and ensure mooring lines are properly set,' the KPT said in an advisory. 'Pilots should be on standby to cast off vessels to sea in heavy weather. Tugs, pilot boats, and shipping boats must be ready for emergencies.' Small boats should be parked in less exposed locations and properly secured and dredgers and barges must also be well secured, with doubled-up mooring ropes and manned appropriately, KPT said. All cargo such as vehicles, appliances, sensitive and lightweight goods, should be secured and covered with tarpaulin. 'Ensure technical staff is available 24/7 for support. Medical team and ambulance must be on standby,' the advisory added. 'Roofs should be maintained to prevent leakages and seepage. High winds and lightning can damage power lines and transformers; maintenance of electrical items is necessary.' KPT also recommended the availability of standby generators and backup power on short notice during heavy rain. Pakistan is one of the most vulnerable nations to climate change. In 2022, devastating floods blamed on climate change killed more than 1,700 Pakistanis, affected another 33 million and caused the country over $30 billion in economic losses.
