Latest news with #V.Vigneshwari
The Hindu
3 days ago
- General
- The Hindu
Idukki turns to AI to face disasters
In the lush, hilly district of Idukki, where nature's beauty meets frequent danger, authorities are turning to technology for protection. A new high-tech system using Artificial Intelligence (AI), sensors, and satellite maps will soon help predict landslides, flash floods, forest fires, and droughts in real time — part of an ambitious plan to make Idukki the most disaster-resilient hill district in the country. The innovative Idukki Disaster Resilience and Information System (IDRIS) — a first-of-its-kind early warning and planning platform — will be rolled out this monsoon as a pilot project, said District Collector V. Vigneshwari here on Tuesday. The pilot rollout will begin in Adimaly and Rajakkad, two areas often hit by landslides, floods, and rising conflict between people and wildlife, an official release said. IDRIS is the first system of its kind in India, combining real-time data, satellite maps, and advanced tools like AI to send early warnings for natural disasters such as landslides, flash floods, wildfires, and drought, the release claimed. The system will help local leaders and government officials make better, faster decisions. It does this by using GIS-based risk maps to guide where roads, buildings, and water systems should be built — keeping both people and nature in mind, officials said. The system is being developed under the leadership of the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA). The system uses AI , sensors and satellite maps to monitor and predict hazards like landslides, flash floods, forest fires and droughts in real time, the release said. 'Forty-six sensors will monitor soil movement, rain and moisture levels. Forty-eight river gauges will track water levels in key tributaries such as the Thodupuzha River and Pamba. Data will be fed live into a GIS-based control room at the District Emergency Operations Centre. Officials will use this information to send early warnings and guide safer infrastructure planning,' it said. Alerts will be sent through SMS, sirens, radio and a mobile app, in Malayalam, English, Tamil, Hindi, and tribal languages. 'The development of the IDRIS software and its field-level testing will begin soon,' the District Collector said. The aim is to transform Idukki into India's most disaster-resilient hill district by combining sensor technology, GIS-based risk layers, and machine learning, she added. Officials said Idukki is a district highly prone to disasters. Since 2000, it has faced over 600 landslides, recurring floods, rising incidents of wild animal attacks, unsafe constructions, and forest fires, they said. Taking all these risks into account, a comprehensive multi-hazard monitoring system is being set up in the district, officials added.
The Hindu
22-04-2025
- The Hindu
Special team to complete initial probe into Parunthumpara land grab before May 5
A Revenue department special team, headed by the Idukki Sub-collector, which is probing the land grab on Parunthumpara hills at the Peerumade taluk in Idukki will complete the first phase of the probe before May 5. According to District Collector V. Vigneshwari, the people who are holding plots in survey number 441 of Manjumala village and survey number 543 in Peerumade taluk have been asked to submit their land-related documents. The revenue team will verify the land records, and those who have valid documents can hold possession of the land. 'The revenue team will take action against those who hold land in these survey numbers without valid documents,' said the Collector. Notice to 1,000 people According to Revenue department officials, the special team has issued notices to nearly 1,000 people in both survey areas to produce their documents within 15 days. On March 6, the Idukki district administration imposed Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) on five survey number areas in the Peerumade taluk to prevent illegal construction and encroachments. Ms. Vigneshwari issued prohibitory orders preventing the assembly of people across survey number 441 of Manjumala village, 534 of Peerumade village, and survey numbers 724, 813, and 896 of Wagamon village from March 6 to midnight of May 2. According to Revenue department officials, the special team plans to complete the first-level probe before the prohibitory order is withdrawn. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by K. Sethuraman, Director, Police Training College, found large-scale land encroachments and illegal construction on the government lands on Parunthumpara hills.
