Experts: Continuous monitoring needed to avert landslides in Karnataka

New Indian Express

a day ago

BENGALURU: While technological interventions and continuous relaying of information can help avert tragedies, experts point out that it is also imperative to have a dedicated team of people to continuously monitor and analyse data.
Experts point out that there are multiple government and private agencies working, but there is a lack of coordination. There is also a major lack of scientific input across the country. Prof GL Sivakumar Babu, Geotechnical Engineering Division, Civil Engineering Department, IISc, said there is a need to create a group of people who will be dedicated to studying the same.
Stability in data management and working is needed. Government officials are posted for a short duration, and they lack the expertise. The government should consider investing in such long-term interventions rather than focusing more on compensation and loss mitigation, he said.
Experts pointed out that there is a growing need to invest more in technology. Prof Sajeev Krishnan from the Centre for Earth Sciences, IISc, said that landslides are more likely to occur in the Western Ghats because of the steep slopes. Thus, areas like Coorg, Mangaluru, Idukki and Goa are vulnerable. Similar is the case with the Himalayan regions in India, where the slopes are steeper.
Another expert geologist, working with the government, said, 'One of the prime reasons for landslides to occur is the lack of creation of a small drainage system in the hills when they are cut for civil works. This is the basic mistake which is being consistently made, apart from the improper cutting of the slopes. It is common sense to understand that when a terrain is cut or drilled, you are making the region vulnerable to tragedies. Putting pipes to drain out water from the saturated soil during monsoon is one simple solution which has been suggested but not followed. Another crucial negligence is not undertaking regular carrying capacity studies. Each time a terrain is altered, the carrying capacity and environmental impact change. Thus, a dedicated team to study all this regularly is needed.'
An official from the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre said a simple method of averting tragedies is not to undertake any construction or repair works during monsoon. They should be completed and tested before monsoon, but how projects are approved, executed and how tenders are released, inadvertently works are undertaken during monsoon, making areas more vulnerable to tragedies.