PORTAL RASMI
JABATAN PERDANA MENTERI
AGENSI PENGURUSAN BENCANA NEGARA
JABATAN PERDANA MENTERI
AGENSI PENGURUSAN BENCANA NEGARA
Snow crisis in the Himalayas: 23-year low threatens water supply for two billion people
- Admin UKK
- Berita
ISLAMABAD, April 22 — Snowfall in Asia’s Hindu Kush-Himalayan mountain range has reached a 23-year low, threatening nearly two billion people dependent on snowmelt for water, scientists warned in a report on Monday.
The Hindu Kush-Himalayan range, which stretches from Afghanistan to Myanmar, holds the largest reserves of ice and snow outside the Arctic and Antarctica and is a vital source of fresh water for about two billion people.
Researchers found “a significant decline in seasonal snow across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, with snow persistence (the time snow remains on the ground) 23.6 per cent below normal — the lowest in 23 years,” the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) said.
“This trend, now in its third consecutive year, threatens water security for nearly two billion people,” it said in its Snow Update Report.
The study also warned of “potential lower river flows, increased groundwater reliance, and heightened drought risk”.
Sher Muhammad, the lead author of the ICIMOD report, told AFP that “this year the snowfall started late in January and remained low in the winter season on average”.
Several countries in the region have already issued drought warnings, with upcoming harvests and access to water at risk for populations already facing longer, hotter, and more frequent heatwaves.
The inter-governmental ICIMOD organisation is made up of member countries Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.
It urged countries that rely on the 12 major river basins in the region to develop “improved water management, stronger drought preparedness, better early warning systems, and greater regional cooperation”.
The Mekong and Salween basins — the two longest rivers in South-east Asia supplying water to China and Myanmar — had lost around half of their snow cover, it noted.
Pema Gyamtsho, ICIMOD’s director general, called for changes in policy to address the low snow levels in the long term.
“Carbon emissions have already locked in an irreversible course of recurrent snow anomalies in the HKH (Hindu Kush-Himalayas),” Gyamtsho said.
Asia is the region most affected by climate-related disasters, according to the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation, which reported last month that five of the past six years have seen the most rapid glacier retreat on record. — AFP
PETALING JAYA – Jabatan Meteorologi (MetMalaysia) mengeluarkan amaran ribut petir susulan jangkaan hujan lebat berserta angin kencang di empat negeri sehingga pukul 1 tengah hari ini.
MetMalaysia dalam satu kenyataan berkata, cuaca buruk itu dijangka melibatkan Terengganu, Pahang, Sarawak dan Sabah.
Antara kawasan yang terlibat di Terengganu ialah (Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu, Marang, Dungun dan Kemaman) manakala di Pahang, membabitkan daerah Kuantan.
“Ribut petir pula dijangka berlaku di Sarawak membabitkan Sibu (Selangau), Mukah (Dalat dan Mukah), Kapit (Kapit) dan Bintulu serta di Sabah, melibatkan kawasan di Kudat (Pitas dan Kudat),” kata kenyataan itu.
Menurut MetMalaysia, amaran dikeluarkan apabila terdapat tanda-tanda menunjukkan ribut petir dengan intensiti hujan melebihi 20 milimeter per jam yang hampir atau dijangka berlaku melebihi sejam. – KOSMO! ONLINE
JAKARTA: Indonesia, negara yang begitu rentan dengan bencana memiliki pengetahuan dan pengalaman mendalam dalam aspek pengurusan bencana.
Untuk rekod Indonesia merupakan negara kelima tertinggi di dunia mengalami pelbagai bencana seperti letusan gunung berapi, tsunami, gempa bumi, banjir dan tanah runtuh serta kebakaran hutan.
Pada 2024 sahaja, sebanyak 472 bencana berlaku dan sejumlah 5,400 bencana dicatatkan pada tahun sebelumnya di seluruh Indonesia.
Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana (BNPB) merupakan agensi nasional yang bertanggungjawab tentang pengurusan bencana dan mengkoordinasi program pengurusan bencana dengan semua pemegang taruh , holistik dan mampan.
Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi dan delegasi melakukan kunjungan ke ibu pejabat BNPB dan AHA Centre di Jakarta untuk melihat secara dekat fungsi dan operasi BNPB yang boleh dipelajari dan diadaptasi oleh Agensi Pengurusan Bencana Negara (NADMA).
Beliau selaku Pengerusi NADMA berkata, penyelarasan yang kemas dan cekap memperlihatkan keupayaan BNPB menguruskan semua bentuk kecelakaan bencana sebelum, semasa dan pasca bencana.
“Koordinasi yang mantap ditunjukkan oleh badan nasional bencana seperti BNPB menggunakan data sains, teknologi dan pelaburan besar dalam meramalkan dan pencegahan bencana dapat mengurangkan korban nyawa dan kerugian harta benda akibat malapetaka bencana alam boleh dicontohi oleh Malaysia” ujar Ahmad Zahid
Tambah Ahmad Zahid: “Lawatan ini amat berharga kita rasa kagum dengan kesiapsiagaan BNPB dan banyak perkara boleh dipelajari oleh Agensi Pengurusan Bencana Negara untuk menyelaras gerak kerja pengurusan kecemasan.”
“Pasukan SMART kita memang telah diiktiraf antara terbaik didunia untuk operasi dan menyelamat tetapi BNPB memiliki pasukan khas bagi menangani pelbagai bencana seperti kebakaran, banjir , bencana geologi dan kemalangan di laut,” ujar beliau lagi
Malaysia turut memuji kepantasan Pusat Koordinasi ASEAN bagi Bantuan Kemanusian (AHA Centre) dalam menangani gempa bumi yang melanda Myanmar pada hujung bulan Mac lalu.
Ahmad Zahid berkata, penyelarasan yang pantas dan cekap tersebut jelas membuktikan peranan penting AHA Centre dalam rangka kerja tindak balas bencana secara kolektif ASEAN.
Pasukan SMART NADMA turut diterbangkan ke lokasi terjejas gempa bumi bagi operasi mencari dan menyelamat dan bantuan kemanusiaan serta keperluan penting dihantar dengan segera sebagai solidariti melampaui retorik dizahirkan dengan komitmen setiap negara ASEAN.
Gempa bumi yang bermagnitud 7.9 skala richter itu melanda Myanmar pada 28 Mac lepas telah meragut 3,726 nyawa dan mencederakan 5,105 orang manakala ratusan lagi yang hilang setakat 18 April.
Ahmad Zahid kini dalam rangka lawatan rasmi ke Indonesia selama tiga hari yang berakhir hari ini.
Malaysian Armed Forces field hospital begins operations in Myanmar’s Sagaing district
- Admin UKK
- Berita
KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 — The Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF)-operated Field Hospital (HMM), which began operations yesterday in Myanmar’s Sagaing district, received a steady stream of patients from surrounding areas.
The MAF Headquarters said in a statement that, through the Humanitarian Aid Operation (Operation Starlight III), the Level Two Field Hospital is equipped with 20 beds and wards, operation rooms, intensive care units, radiology unit, laboratories as well as offering two specialists facilities, namely general surgery and orthopaedics.
It also said that on its first day of operation, the Operation Starlight III team successfully performed its first surgery at 10.30 am local time (noon Malaysian time).
“The HMM is capable of carrying out various forms of critical treatments, including surgical procedures and comprehensive patient care, including performing two surgeries simultaneously at any one time,” it added.
In addition, the field hospital provides outpatient clinic services and is expected to receive about 80 to 100 outpatients from the surrounding areas.
Sagaing Region Chief Minister Myint Naing and Yangon Region Special Operations Bureau Commander Lt-Gen Thet Pon were also present during the opening of the field hospital
On April 18, Malaysia sent the MAF medical team to Myanmar to carry out the Humanitarian Aid Operation (Operation Starlight III) following the devastating earthquake on March 28. — Bernama
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGJ14lY1FLE