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.
ADVERTISEMENT
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.
ADVERTISEMENT
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.