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Time of India
a day ago
- Climate
- Time of India
Forest dept, BITS tie up to devise an early warning system for fires in Goa
Panaji: The Goa forest department is in the process of collaborating with the ecology and climate lab of BITS Pilani's Goa campus to develop an early warning system for forest fires in the state. In this system, the experts of BITS Pilani will be able to detect the emergence of conditions related to forest fires up to a few days in advance. Variables such as temperature, humidity, and biomass load on the forest floor will be calculated, and the percentage of fire probability will be shared with the forest department. 'Humidity is one of the critical weather parameters that is linked to the ignition and spread of forest fires,' associate professor of BITS Pilani's Goa campus, Rajiv Chaturvedi, said. 'Goa has 'high to very high' humidity; however, climate change means that the frequency of 'very dry' days within the fire season will be increasing,' Chaturvedi said. 'Maximum temperatures, which routinely touch 38C, are expected to rise to 40C and beyond in the coming decades.' He added, 'All these evolving conditions mean that in the coming years, there will be a critical window for forest fire spread, and we need to be prepared for it by putting robust systems in place.' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch vàng CFDs với mức chênh lệch giá thấp nhất IC Markets Đăng ký Undo The early warning system will also identify vulnerable locations and suggest mitigation measures for forest fires. The trigger for this initiative was the 2023 forest fires that impacted the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary. The new technology is different from the existing system with the forest department, which issues alerts after a fire is detected using satellite-based systems. 'We have obtained govt approval to collaborate with BITS Pilani Goa campus for the early warning system. We will soon enter into an MoU with the institute to take this project further,' principal chief conservator of forests, Kamal Datta, told TOI. The forest department has six weather stations across Goa. The stations' data will be made available to BITS Pilani on a real-time basis, in addition to which BITS Pilani will source information from Indian Space Research Organisation's satellite data to enhance prediction accuracy. So far in this fire season (Nov 2024 to June 2025), the state recorded 25 fire alerts. The alerts are received from satellite-based systems of the Forest Survey of India (FSI). Of these, ten pertain to forest areas, while 15 are outside such areas. 'Goa is classified as a 'very low' fire-prone area for 98% of its forest area,' Datta said. 'We have excellent cooperation from the villagers in detecting fires. We are able to douse fires within two hours with the help of visual detection by the forest department's watchers and trekkers.' A vulnerability mapping study by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Goa, revealed that as much as 39% of Goa's forest cover is 'very highly' vulnerable to fires. 'The forests of Goa have historically not been affected by forest fires due to the high annual rainfall,' the ICAR report says. However, it notes several anthropogenic disturbances that have been occurring over the past decade. They include land use changes due to increasing demand, land use conversion, infrastructure development, limited fodder availability, and increasing cases of 'arson by vested interests at the village level'. Moreover, the report says, '…changing climate (increased dry periods, high rainfall in fewer rainy days, and high diurnal temperatures) contributed to an increased frequency of forest fires at various extents.'
Time of India
30-05-2025
- Climate
- Time of India
May brings record rain, climate alert for Goa
Panaji: The month of May this year gave Goans a volatile mix of blistering heatwave-like conditions and torrential rain — both in the pre-monsoon and early monsoon phases. The early arrival of the southwest monsoon, which made landfall in Goa on May 26 — 12 days ahead of schedule — marked a rare meteorological event for the coastal state. Prior to the monsoon's onset, Goa was hit by a surge in the pre-monsoon showers, with a total of 462.3mm recorded till May 25. A single-day downpour on May 21 brought 139.5mm, 'pushing the pre-monsoon rainfall figure to nearly 900% above normal,' said meteorologist and retired National Institute of Oceanography chief scientist, Ramesh Kumar. 'Two weather systems played a critical role in this precipitation surge. On May 24 and 25, a depression in the Arabian Sea near the Goa coast acted as a catalyst for early monsoon currents,' he said. 'A deep depression over the Bay of Bengal on May 29 and 30 brought further monsoonal intensification.' As of May 30, the official monsoon rainfall total for Goa stands at 208mm, just four days into the season. The most intense single-day rainfall so far was recorded in Sanquelim on May 28, with 178mm in 24 hours. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch vàng CFDs với mức chênh lệch giá thấp nhất IC Markets Đăng ký Undo That same day, Panaji received 138mm, Canacona 117.2mm, and Margao 104.2mm. May did not start wet — quite the opposite. The first half of the month was dominated by widespread discomfort and heat stress. Then, almost overnight, the heavens opened. 'This dramatic transition from intense heat to extreme rainfall fits precisely into climate change projections,' associate professor at BITS Pilani's Goa campus Rajiv Chaturvedi said. 'The extremes are becoming the new normal. We are, without a doubt, in the middle of climate change.' The report of the State Plan for Action on Climate Change, 2023, warned that Goa could experience maximum temperatures crossing 40°C and minimum temperatures rising at an even higher rate over the next decade. 'Such an increase will make nights extremely uncomfortable and amplify the risk of heat-related illnesses,' Chaturvedi said. More alarmingly, he noted that while daily rainfall events exceeding 150mm used to be rare in Goa, they are now becoming more frequent — a trend expected to continue as global temperatures rise. 'There is an urgent need to climate-proof our state,' he said. 'From heat action plans to flood management strategies and disaster preparedness, we must build climate resilience now. The evidence is not just in climate models anymore — it's in our daily weather.'
Time of India
24-05-2025
- Climate
- Time of India
Pre-monsoon rain total this year 3rd highest in 64 years
Panaji: In the peak summer month that witnessed sweltering heat for 12 days, anomalously high rainfall for just four days logged an incredible surplus of almost 1,000%, as the unseasonal total soared to a record of third highest in six decades. On Saturday, with a week remaining for the summer to end, the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Panaji, recorded a mammoth total of 436.1mm since March 1. In the past, the pre-monsoon total of 662.2mm recorded in the summer of 1961 was the highest, followed by 591.9mm of pre-monsoon rain recorded in 2006. While an extremely severe storm, Cyclone Tauktae, turned the summer of 2021 into a typical monsoon-like month, swelling the unseasonal total to 394.3mm, it had ended as the third wettest pre-monsoon season in Goa. The frequency of rainy days outside the normal rainy season is increasing phenomenally the world over, said Rajiv Chaturvedi, associate professor of BITS Pilani, Goa. 'The Goa State Action Plan on Climate Change (GSAPCC) found that the exceptionally heavy rainfall events in the state have increased by more than 100%,' Chaturvedi said. This summer, a depression and an associated cyclonic circulation have triggered copious rainfall activity, creating havoc in the state. The rain was light and moderate for most of the 12-day phase — barring a dry day on May 14 — since the pre-monsoon activity resumed on May 13. Only 65.1mm was added to the total during the first eight of the 12 days. But extremely heavy rainfall of 207.4mm in Pernem and very heavy to heavy rainfall in several centres during the 24-hour phase till the morning of May 21 shot up the daily average to 139.2mm. On following days, the IMD recorded state average rainfall of 95.3mm on May 22, 80.9mm on May 23, and 55.6mm on Saturday morning — an unusually high 371.1mm in just four days. While the surplus soared to 983.4% on Saturday — the normal value is just 40.2mm — a week of pre-monsoon activity is expected to push it still higher. Multiple reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suggest that human-induced greenhouse gas emissions are the main driver of the changes witnessed in extreme weather events, including heavy unseasonal rain, Chaturvedi said. 'It is important to limit warming to safe levels by reducing emissions the world over so that such extreme and exceptional events don't become a norm,' the expert member for the implementation of GSAPCC said.
