The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is progressing towards developing a regional Early Warning System for landslides in 11 states, including Uttarakhand. Dr. Bahuguna mentioned that as a pilot project, this initiative has been initiated in four districts: Rudraprayag (Uttarakhand), Nilgiris (Tamil Nadu), Darjeeling, and Kalimpong (West Bengal). They are actively working to implement this system in selected states by the next year.
Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand are highly prone to landslides. According to the data from the Geological Survey of India (GSI) regarding the national landslide susceptibility mapping, these states, covering an area of 39,000 square kilometers out of a total area of 53,483 square kilometers, are classified as landslide-prone.
Until the year 2021-22, a total of 14,780 landslide incidents have occurred in this region. In this context, Uttarakhand ranks third in the country, while Arunachal Pradesh holds the first position and Himachal Pradesh holds the second position. These statements were presented by Dr. Harish Bahuguna, Deputy Director-General of the Geological Survey of India, during the 6th World Disaster Management Conference, discussing the status of landslides.
The GSI has categorized regions at the tehsil level based on high, moderate, and low landslide susceptibility. In terms of landslide susceptibility, 22% of the sensitive areas in Uttarakhand are classified under high susceptibility.
GSI is actively working towards developing a regional Early Warning System for landslides in 11 states, including Uttarakhand. As a pilot project, they have initiated this initiative in four districts: Rudraprayag (Uttarakhand), Nilgiris (Tamil Nadu), Darjeeling, and Kalimpong (West Bengal). They are actively making efforts to implement this system in selected states by the next year.
Under the Regional Landslide Early Warning System, GSI will issue bulletins related to landslide warnings 48 hours in advance for the susceptible areas of the respective states. GSI has collaborated with the Meteorological Department for this purpose. Once the rainfall forecast is available, GSI will issue bulletins based on the intensity of rainfall and the probability of landslides.
The bulletins will also indicate the areas with high and medium-to-low landslide probabilities. The Regional Landslide Early Warning System will be developed in Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Sikkim, Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and Karnataka.