Landslides – Major roadblock to DRR

Mitigating disaster risk has been a challenge for India in both natural and human induced incidents and it has affected our cities on a large scale. After the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change seems to have come with full force and it is high time that we realise the need for disaster risk reduction (DRR) techniques.

Landslides have been a regular occurrence in India, but 2021 can be termed as a turning point as the country witnessed landslides and other rain-related disasters in almost every region, including Mumbai, Pune, Kerala, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh. According to the United Nations Office for DRR, India suffered 79,732 deaths due to natural disasters in 300 incidents between 2000 and 2019, which is the third highest in the world, after the United States of America and China.

Climate and landslides

According to the United States Geological Survey, landslides occur when forces under the Earth’s gravity exceed the strength of materials which make the slope. Snowmelt, stream erosion, heavy rainfall, change in water level, etc., are some of the factors which trigger this slope movement. In India, excessive rainfall is the key concern which triggers devastating landslides in various places. This, in turn, is linked to climate change, as suggested by a study named ‘Robust Increase of Indian Monsoon Rainfall and Its Variability’ published in Earth System Dynamics Journal. The study clearly states that there will be a surge in monsoon rainfall by 10 per cent at least, even if the two degree Celsius rise in temperature target of Paris Agreement is met. In case of failure to comply by the target, the mean rainfall can go up by 24 per cent, the study suggests.

We are at fault

In addition to natural causes such as rainfall, various human induced events also add to the frequency of landslides. Geological Survey of India said in a statement that encroachment activities in hilly areas, excessive deforestation and developmental projects in Western Ghats have made the region vulnerable to landslides. The State Environment Division of Himachal Pradesh had prepared a strategy and action plan in 2012 as part of the National Climate Change Action Plan, which clearly states that major challenges faced by the Himalayan environment are the escalation of landslides and other disasters through atmospheric and man-made interventions.
A report by India Spend clearly states that the primary cause of landslides in India is human intervention and cites the report of Copernicus Publications which tells us that 18 per cent of the global human-induced landslides occur in India. The report mentions that activities like construction, mining, quarrying, and hydro-power projects loosen and remove soil, gravel, and vegetation, leading to lower groundwater retention capabilities, which increases the risk of flooding.

Need for government intervention

Together with mitigating climate risks, policy formulation is the first step in order to streamline the process of risk reduction due to landslides. They are a region specific hazard and in India, most of them occur in states with hilly terrain. According to Geological Survey of India, almost 15 per cent of landmass in India is prone to landslides. In this regard, localisation of state policies is important as awareness needs to seep down to ground level so that it can help people inhabiting such areas.
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the nodal agency for disaster risk reduction under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, has formulated specific guidelines to help the people and states in tackling landslides. These guidelines, formulated with the help of the National Remote Sensing Centre, Department of Science and Technology, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and other universities, are actively followed in Landslide Hazard Zonation (LHZ) areas, according to the NDMA.
In order to enforce these guidelines, National Green Tribunal plays a major role in regularising encroachment activities in such susceptible states. It also rebuked the Shimla administration in July this year in order to eradicate encroachment activities in the city.

Solutions and way forward

Talking about the administrative level of solutions, there can be two important ways to go about it. Firstly, policy formulation for DRR in vulnerable regions of the country. Secondly, there is a need to shift the approach of policy formulation from response-based to prevention-based. DRR must adopt a prevention-based strategy in order to make cities more resilient towards future disasters.
Recent devastating landslides in Himachal Pradesh have once again sparked off discussions calling for a directional policy framework at the local level for disaster resilient infrastructure in such regions as well as for urgent evacuation of people at risk during such events. In this regard, NDMA has also released an exhaustive document for ‘Landslide Risk Management Strategy’ (LRMS) which covers various aspects of risk reduction for landslides. Generation of user-friendly landslide hazard maps, development of landslide monitoring and early warning systems, awareness programmes, capacity building and training of stakeholders, etc., are some of the measures elaborated in the strategy.
Development of an effective early warning system is one of the most important and challenging tasks of landslide mitigation efforts. The LRMS suggests the adoption of Rainfall-based Early Warning System (EWS) for landslides, especially for Himalayas and the Western Ghats regions.

Conclusion

Mitigating the risk of landslides in India is a long awaited and urgent issue. The COVID-19 infection with such disasters has caused huge loss of lives in the country. Various factors affecting landslides are natural but DRR is a viable way to tackle this through reforms in policies and effective EWS. Innovative reforms such as the EWS by IIT-Mandi and disaster-proof infrastructure in cities, especially those in vulnerable regions, are some of the ways to mitigate the risk. Together with DRR, reducing the consequences of such disasters with the support of administration and special forces such as the National Disaster Relief Force is also important as they are the first responders. Climate change is the major contributor to these natural disasters which has to be addressed without any further delay.

IIT-Mandi to the rescue
After the devastating landslides in Himachal Pradesh, two professors of the Indian Institute of Technology-Mandi (IIT-Mandi), Dr Varun Dutt and Dr KV Uday, created a device that could provide early warning before landslides. Their 13 monitoring devices are deployed in the vulnerable areas of Himachal Pradesh and the duo has planned to develop 20 more devices for the district administration in the next three years.
The device is made with the help of accelerometers through Internet of Things (IoT). Accelerometers are motion sensor devices which detect small movements and IoT is a system that sends and receives data through the cloud. The system collects the information on soil movement in the area and issues a warning few minutes before the disaster, giving time to the administration to clear the nearby area.
Developers of the system informed that with all its sensors and alerting mechanisms, the device costs around `1 lakh. On the other hand, it is almost 200 times cheaper than the conventional counterparts, which are priced in crores.