The chart was developed by Palghar District Disaster Management Officer Vivekanand Kadam to make disaster preparedness familiar to children through simple words, repetition and visual learning.For children in several government schools in Maharashtra, the alphabet no longer stops at Apple, Ball and Cat. A colourful classroom chart begins with A for Alert, B for Bunker and C for Cyclone, and introduces terms such as evacuation, mitigation, search and rescue, and tsunami early warning systems.The chart was developed by Palghar District Disaster Management Officer Vivekanand Kadam to make disaster preparedness familiar to children through simple words, repetition and visual learning.The idea took shape in 2024, when Kadam began thinking about the impact of climate change and disasters over the next two to three decades. He first made the alphabet for his toddler, Vedansh, and later expanded it into a school learning tool. It was formally launched on July 26, 2025, Kargil Vijay Diwas.Kadam, who studied disaster management as part of his policy and management education, said he consulted a United Nations climate dictionary while selecting the terms.Each letter pairs a term with a short explanation. Some cover natural hazards: F for Flood, L for Landslide, G for Glacier Melting and Z for Seismic Zone, which explains that regions differ in their vulnerability to earthquakes. E for Environmental Degradation links damage to forests, soil and water to higher disaster risk.Others introduce the people and systems that respond to emergencies: N for National Disaster Response Force, O for Operation Centre, P for Public Address System, Q for Quick Response Team and V for Very High Frequency, the radio band used by emergency teams. U stands for United Nations Office, and W for World Meteorological Organization.The chart also covers the ideas behind preparedness, such as D for Disaster Management Cycle, H for Hazard, M for Mitigation and R for Risk Reduction. K for Know Your Strengths asks children to understand their abilities and limits so they can act safely and seek help.Story continues below this adSome letters are more specific. I is for Isolation Ward, J for Jumping Net, a safety net used in rescues from heights, X for Xylene, which introduces chemical hazards, and Y for Yachting Accident, on water safety while boating.The alphabet is not part of the formal syllabus. It is used as a supplementary resource, with teachers explaining the terms in Marathi.Other districts have taken it up. Parbhani District Disaster Management Officer Pawan Khandke said the charts had been distributed in 50 Zilla Parishad primary schools. Children are given homework and assignments based on the alphabet, and those who do well are recognised, he said.