KSNDMC, an Autonomous organisation of the Revenue Department (Disaster management), is one of the first Institutional mechanisms in the Country established in 1988 to monitor drought in the Karnataka State. With an enhanced role of monitoring all Natural Disasters in the State, Organisation renamed as Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) in 2007. KSNDMC has played a significant role in Natural Disaster monitoring for more than three decades. KSNDMC has been serving as a common platform to the various stakeholders in the field of Natural Disasters and its management by providing timely proactive & innovative Science and Technology inputs. Every year, Karnataka has been subjected to various Natural Disasters, both Hydro-Meteorological and Geological disasters.

Devastating weather phenomena like successive Drought, Flood, Hailstorms, Strong surface winds, intense surface winds and vertical wind shear have been causing massive loss of life and property in the State. The management of such Natural Hazards requires a strong Network of Sensors, Forecasting, Monitoring, Early Warning, Early Recognition and providing Advisories to the response players-Governance & Community towards Preparedness and Mitigation measures. The State of the Art innovative approach & methodology adopted by KSNDMC using ICT Tools & Technology is a unique model in the Country for monitoring and disseminating timely Alerts, Early Warnings & Advisories to various response players in the State. The Centre's main objectives are Monitoring and impact assessment of Natural Hazards, Strengthening Information Technology for Natural Disaster Management, Hazard mapping and Vulnerability Studies, Human Resource Development, mainly by imparting training and Natural Disaster Early Warning System.

KSNDMC has taken up pioneering initiatives towards monitoring natural disasters and risk reduction by establishing a network of GPRS enabled and solar-powered Telemetric Rain Gauges at all the 6,500 Gramapanchayaths (25 sq. km each) and 962 Telemetric Weather Stations at all the 747 Hoblis (250 sq. km each) and 176 Micro-Watersheds in the State. Weather data comprising temperature (⁰C), Relative Humidity (%), Wind Speed (m/s), Wind Direction (Degrees), Rainfall amount (mm) and intensity (mm/hr) has been collected every 15 minutes through these network of stations. The data is analysed, information and advisories are generated and disseminated to the Stakeholders in near real-time.

The near-real-time data collected through this network of stations are being used for monitoring and assessing the impact of Drought at Hobli level through its indicators; Flood forecasting, monitoring and dissemination of Alerts & Early Warnings; Urban Flood Monitoring and fore-casting; Monitoring of Hailstorms, gusty winds etc., KSNDMC, to mitigate the losses due to Lightning strikes in the State, has established a network of 11 Lightning Detection Sensor stations in the State to provide location-specific Early Warnings to the Government Executives and general public. The Thunderstorm and lightning data (Cloud to Cloud & Cloud to Ground) is received to the KSNDMC server in real-time, wherein Advisories are generated to the public. KSNDMC has developed a Mobile App, "SIDILU", for disseminating locationspecific information & advisories on Lightning Strikes.

KSNDMC has established Seismic Monitoring Stations in the State and is receiving data in real-time. The seamless data is being monitored continuously. Information about earthquakes is being marked for analysis and accordingly disseminated to District & Taluk administration and Dam Authorities through SMS initially followed by a Technical Report. The high-resolution weather data collected from the ground level is being used to implement the Crop Insurance Scheme in the State under the Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (R-WBCIS), wherein area & crop-specific term sheets are designed by using high-resolution historical weather data by the Insurance agencies. Accurate weather information and related advisories with high spatial and temporal resolution can improve farmers' decisionmaking and management of agricultural risks. To disseminate the Agro-Met information, forecast and advisories directly to the farmers, a 24x7 Interactive Help Desk “Varuna Mitra” has been functioning at KSNDMC through interactive telephony, wherein information on rainfall, temperature, humidity, cloud cover, wind speed and the weather forecast is made available at Gramapanchayath level along with Alerts on extreme weather events, information on reservoir status, streamflow etc.,

The Flood Forecast Cell constituted at KSNDMC analyses the weather condition in the State and facilitated issuing customised weather forecasts, alerts, early warnings, and updates on regular inflows and outflows of Reservoirs. The Drought Monitoring Cell at KSNDMC scientifically reviews all the drought indicators and provides technical input to the government weekly. KSNDMC is supporting Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), Govt. of Karnataka by providing technical support in preparing various State Action Plans, Disaster Management Plans, conducting Capacity Building / Training programmes. KSNDMC also helps prepare event-based Memorandums being submitted to Govt. of India for assistance, preparing for Review Meetings at the State & National level on Disasters, organising Conferences & workshops.