Research project to develop early landslip warning systems to be undertaken

December 20, 2017 08:01 am | Updated 08:01 am IST - UDHAGAMANDALAM

A research project to develop landslip hazard assessments and early warning systems is to be undertaken in the Nilgiris as well as in Darjeeling-East Sikkim districts in the Eastern Himalayas.

In a press release by the British Geological Survey, it was revealed that “physical scientists, engineers and social scientists” from nine organisations in the United Kingdom, Italy and India would be collaborating to improve the assessment of landslip hazards and early warning systems.

It was hoped that the research, carried out through LANDSLIP (Landslide multi-hazard assessment, preparedness and early warning in South Asia) project, funded by the UK NERC/DFID SHEAR (Science for Humanitarian Emergencies and Resilience) programme, would help develop methodologies for the dissemination of information through the early warning systems.

Such methodologies, it was hoped, would be replicable in other landslide-prone areas elsewhere in India and South Asia.

The project will be undertaken over a 4-year period and the first Nilgiris stakeholder meeting took place recently on the Keystone Foundation campus in Kotagiri.

Members of the LANDSLIP consortium consist of 34 scientists and engineers led by Dr. Helen Reeves from the British Geological Survey and Professor Bruce Malamud from King's College London (KCL) with the other project partners from Amrita University, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection), the Geological Survey of India (GSI), Newcastle University, the UK Met Office, Practical Action Consulting India and Practical Action Consulting UK.

At the meeting, Dr. Helen Reeves, science director for Engineering Technology, British Geological Survey, said that LANDSLIP “...will provide new knowledge and information on landslide risk reduction in India and South Asia.”

Collector Innocent Divya spoke of the “rampant construction” in the Nilgiris, which was weakening the slopes, leading to increased risks of landslips. She added that the administration had identified 233 locations, which had been deemed to be vulnerable to landslips.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.