Explained: What is the landslide early warning system being developed by India
This monsoon season has been one of the busiest for rescue and relief workers, who have been deployed across India as incessant rain has triggered fatal landslides. While they have been able to save some lives, the death toll has been increasing. Organisations like the National Disaster & Relief Force (NDRF) will soon be equipped with information about imminent landslides as an early warning system begins to take shape.
Currently in the experimental phase, scientists at the Geological Survey of India (GSI) are hopeful of activating the landslide early warning system in some parts of India as soon as 2025. The newly developed system will work on the lines of cyclone warning systems and attempt to forecast the possibility of landslides in a particular region, providing crucial information to authorities to initiate preparedness activities.
The GSI has begun experimental operation of two such systems in West Bengal's Darjeeling and Tamil Nadu's Nilgiri districts, coordinating with the organisations from the Ministry of Earth Sciences including the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) to forecast landslides.
What is the early warning system for predicting landslides?
Dubbed as Regional Landslide Warning System, the tool is being developed by the Geological Survey of India and will forecast slope specific and site-specific landslide possibilities once operational. The decision to raise the new facility came out of the Landslip European Consortium, which has been researching slope movements since 2017.
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