Putin to attend conf on better forecasting of calamities

MOSCOW, April 5 (Itar-Tass) - Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
is expected to visit the Veliky Novgorod region in the country's northwest
Tuesday where he will chair a conference on improving the methods of
forecasting of dangerous natural calamities.
The government press service said the participants in the conference
plan discussing a package of measures aimed at an early identification and
forecasting of, as well as alerting on the devastating natural calamities.
The measures will hopefully raise the degree of protection against the
aftermath of the calamities and reduce the material expenses.
Also, officials of the Ministry for Emergency Situations and Civil
Defense /EMERCOM/, representatives of a number of federal agencies of
powers, and regional governors will join the discussions though a
videoconference.
More specifically, the participants will look at the measures to curb
the impact of spring floods and the efforts taken by the authorities of
some regions to organize an accident-free release of floodwaters.
The list of other issues includes the efforts at all levels of state
power and administration to avert the outbreak of peat bog fires.
Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev, Telecommunications and Mass
Communications Minister Igor Shchegolev, EMERCOM chief Sergei Shoigu, and
a number of other officials are due to take part in the discussions,
either physically or online.
Most dangerous natural calamities occurring on Russia's territory -
hurricanes, storms, torrential rains, blizzards, droughts, mudslides,
floods, tsunamis -- result from hydrometeorology processes.
In 2010, a total of 972 dangerous calamities were registered and 467
of them inflicted substantial damage on the economy.
The authorities note a tendency towards an increase of the number of
such calamities by 6% to 8% annually.
In part, the unprecedented high air temperatures and the long absence
of rains in the European parts of Russia produced a devastating drought.
Wildfires in a number of regions led to human casualties and destruction
of housing -- sometimes whole townships.
Risks for health also grew because of the atmospheric pollution
produced by the contamination of atmospheric air by fire smog.
To raise the efficiency of operations of hydrometeorology services,
the government endorsed a strategy in the field of hydrometeorology and
inter-disciplinary activities through to 2030.
The document makes stress on modernization and technological
overhauling of Russia's weather monitoring network, the pooling of a
united radiolocation field in the Kaliningrad exclave that will stretch
however to Vladivostok, and development of the national grouping of
weather forecasting satellites.