Indian national agenda for landslide disaster mitigation: challenges and recommendations

Current Science, Vol. 109, No. 5, 10 Septemer 2015:

This article presents a set of concrete recommendations for actions to further develop the Indian national agenda for landslide disaster mitigation following devastating landslide occurrences in India. The recommendations are based on input collected by the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) at a round-table meeting of landslide experts convened on 11 May 2015 in New Delhi that was convened after a series of nationwide consultations.

The recommendations of the round table held the unanimous view that a pro-active strategic and determined approach, with a strong political and administrative will, would put India back on the path to safety. This is due to the fact that unlike earthquakes and tsunamis, most landslides are predictable, preventable and controllable if managed with appropriate interventions of science and technology.

Recommendations include: 1) Establish a national centre for landslide management; 2) Prepare multi-tier, dynamic and holistic short-, medium- and longterm landslide management plans; 3) Launch a national programme to control major landslides; 4) Fortify landslide management; 4) Ensure that dprs are eco-friendly and techno-economically sound; 5) Insist on cost-benefit analysis of technological options; 6) Connection landslide investigation with landslide management; 7) Promote community-centric early warning; 8) Review and revise NDMA guidelines and landslide related BIS codes; 9) Accord the highest priority to R&D; and 10) Prepare monographs on landslide disasters.