Community participation in landslide early warning

The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) and the Geological Survey of India on Landslide Early Warning System (LEWS) is a laudable initiative to address the problem of landslides in the state. While the early warning system will help communities and administrations remain better prepared, the community can play a crucial role in reporting landslides that go unnoticed to the disaster management authorities to take note and initiate mitigation measures. The MoU is part of the central government’s initiative to roll out regional LEWS by 2030. It has raised hopes of reducing the period of disruption in road and railway communications between the Brahmaputra and Barak valleys due to the multiple episodes of landslides that occur every monsoon in Dima Hasao district. The disruption also snaps railway connectivity to Tripura, while frequent landslides on the alternative route to the Barak valley through Meghalaya at the same time cut off supplies to Tripura and Mizoram, besides the valley’s three districts. The central government informed the Lok Sabha on July 31 that the GSI has collected data on 592 new landslides that occurred between April 2017 and July 2024 in different states of the Northeast region and that have impacted lives and infrastructure. Analysis of the data shows a mixed trend with periodic ups and downs in the number of occurrences of landslides. The Ministry of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences also informed the Lok Sabha that to infer conclusively about the exact nature of the trend of landslide incidents, long-range (at least 20 years) landslide occurrence data with an exact date of occurrence is required. Landslide studies carried out by GSI include pre-disaster studies that cover multi-scale landslide susceptibility mapping and conducting a landslide awareness programme; post-disaster studies that include landslide inventory mapping and site-specific detailed geological mapping; slope stability analysis and landslide monitoring; and regional landslide forecasting. According to the Ministry, the GSI provides suitable recommendations for landslide risk reduction, which also include both natural and traditional methods as per the site conditions, and wherever soil erosion is found to be the cause of the landslide, suitable measures as per site requirements are also suggested. Besides, the GSI provides recommendations on both structural and non-structural and natural methods for reducing landslide hazards in the northeast, which are based on knowledge of site conditions, as landslides are very site-specific disasters. The pertinent question remains: where have the local disaster management authorities built adequate capacity in terms of mobilizing resources, equipment, and human resources to implement the recommendations for reducing landslide hazards? Long delays in the restoration of connectivity in Dima Hasao are reflective of the gaps bridging, which is critical to achieving optimal benefits when LEWS for the entire state is developed and rolled out. The GSI’s “Bhooskhalan” app provides the space for people, institutions, and government agencies to upload landslide incidences in their areas so that it enriches the landslide studies by experts and they can make more accurate predictions. The experts say that if small landslides go unnoticed and unreported, they give rise to bigger landslides, and this is also the reason why large landslides keep recurring in a specific area every year. In hilly districts, where the population is sparse and the government presence is also quite low, developing landslides going unreported is quite natural when the community is not made aware of the importance of reporting cracks developing or small landslides developing in their area. As hill dwellers commute over large areas for farming and other activities and observe closely the hills, forests, and nature, the chances of them observing small landslides that have the potential to develop into large landslides are high. Hence, building awareness and landslide reporting among the hill dwellers must be prioritised. Awareness building needs to be followed up with building a proper communication mechanism, particularly for areas without mobile connectivity, so that information reaches the ASDMA and GSI experts in time. Wider publicity for the GSI app will aid in awareness generation. Cutting up hill slopes for infrastructure development, such as the construction of highways and railway lines, is another trigger for new landslides. Building awareness among construction workers to report developing landslides along their worksite can help the authorities seek timely advice from experts for mitigation and take precautionary measures to protect lives and properties. Roping in construction companies and contractors in the rollout of LEWS for the state will go a long way in increasing the flow of landslide data required by GSI experts. Often, the motive of profit maximization of construction companies influences their investment decisions by aligning a highway or railway line and ignoring the landslide susceptibility of the area. As infrastructure projects in the state have gotten a boost, avoiding construction in alignment with high landslide susceptibility is crucial to prevent recurring landslides, negating the gains of infrastructure development.