Landslide Early Warning System (LEWS)
Recently the Landslide Early Warning System (LEWS) is being tested.
It is being developed by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) under the aegis of the UK Landslip (LANDSLIP) project since 2017.
It is based on the extent of rainfall.
LANDSLIP is working to develop an understanding of the factors that trigger landslides. This includes the weather system, rainfall and geological conditions.
Landslide is the downward movement of rock, piece of land, or debris on a slope of land.
Major causes of landslides:
- Geological (weak or fragmented soil/rock), morphological (slopes where vegetation has become extinct or more vulnerable to igneous drought), human activity (deforestation, quarrying, etc.).
About 12% of the Indian landmass is prone to landslides. The Himalayas and the Western Ghats are particularly prone to this. Since the southwest monsoon of the year 2020, the GSI has started issuing daily landslide forecasts for the district administrations in Darjeeling and Nilgiris. In addition, GSI plans to cover five more states- Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram by the year 2022 under LEWS.
Other Initiatives taken in India:
Landslide susceptibility mapping of GSI has been done in different parts of the country. Guidelines have been issued by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) for landslide disaster zoning.
Source – The Hindu
