SMDS III, Kohima (Nagaland) 25-27Sep2013
Suggestions from SaveTheHillsfor Managing Landslides Disasters
- State/District DM plans needs to be revamped and made more proactive.
The District Disaster Management plan is based on the State Plan which should be a comprehensive document looking at the short, mid and long term policies for managing disasters in the state.
Unfortunately, most of our DM plans are staid copies of old ones with just the dates changed; hence the necessity of overhauling our plans to make them more proactive and imaginativeshifting the focus from relief to landslide prevention and preparedness. - Revamping the SDMA/DDMA, induction of modern technology at the DDMA level and strengthening of SDRF(the main stay of state level disaster response).
In many states the SDMA/DDMA are non-functional, unimaginative bodies – this will have to change to deal with disasters of the future.
In this regard the DDMA in most places, despite being the most vital part of the DM structure, utilizes archaic techniques and technologies. Use must be made of modern technologies such as GIS, GPS and landslide hazard zonation maps tomanage landslides in a more scientific manner.
Also in the event of a multiple or a mega disaster, the NDRF or the army may not be available at all places, in such a contingency a well trained and equipped(with modern power tools for SAR, small pontoon bridges etc) SDRF must be kept ready to deal with disasters at the state level. - Lessons from N Sikkim (Sep2011) and Uttarakhand (Jun2013).
i. Having seen the destruction/death caused by unfettered ‘developmental activities’ In Uttarakhand, we must specify what activities are permissible and draw redlines where necessary.
ii. Tourism/pilgrimage must be regulated in all mountainous regions as Bhutan is doing.
iii. The community is an important stake holder in disasters but also the weakest link. In order to motivate them and make them more resilient it is necessary to carry build their capacities and carry out intense and prolonged awareness programs.
In this regard creation of a well trained volunteer force within the community to respond large scale disasters is imperative in order to avoid over reliance on external relief agencies such as the NDRF or armed forces etc.
v.Disaster awareness programs to sensitize politicians and bureaucrats is most necessary if we are to respond to extreme events in a better way. - Early warning (EW).
A fail-safe early warning system which can reach all levels in the community needs to be developed.
In this regard an SMS based EW system which STH with the help of IMetD (Gangtok) established worked well in Darjeeling district for two years and also TV channels can be used to send targeted messages to specific areas.
Broadband internet can also be used very effectively as an EW tool.
Use of FM radio for this purpose may also be considered. - Doppler radar in mountainous areas.
As on date,Doppler radar stations are located either along the coast or around metros. This equipment must be installed in mountainous regions also in order to predict high intensity rainfall with more accuracy. - Technology driven approach to managing landslides.
Encardio Rites (Lucknow based Indian company) & Amrita university have developed equipment for landslide prediction and Geobrugg (Swiss) manufactures equipment for landslide control & slope treatment.
These and other state of art technologies for slope stabilization must be inducted and also methods used by countries such as Japan and Philippines should be looked at. - Updating landslide inventory: need for comprehensive survey of landslides around major towns.
The new danger is landslides caused by anthropogenic activity and these are not adequately mapped by GSI or any Govt body. These need to be surveyed since they are likely to affect populated areas and cause fatalities.
Involvement of local people in all landslide surveys by GSI should be made mandatory. - Drainage master planof towns
All of us live in areas which have heavy rainfall for at least 5 months of the year and the fatal landslides of 2011 in Darjeeling-Sikkim were due to drainage related problems, the trend being that it will be relatively small landslides caused by faulty drains which will kill people in urban areas.
A drainage master plan for our towns is therefore most imperative.
Local communities should be encouraged to clean drains in their areas well in time before the monsoons (ie Mar-April). - Study of changing rainfall pattern.
Rainfall pattern in the Himalayas are changing with extreme events becoming more the norm than the exception. Much more needs to be done regarding mapping our rainfall patterns and establishing rainfall thresholds.
ARGs (automatic rainfall gauges) installation need to be made compulsory in all educational institutions.
- Communication blackout during disasters.
During the earthquake of 18Sep2011, cell phones & Internet proved to be very unreliable.
Communities must be encouraged to use text messaging to avoid jamming circuits during a disaster scenario and to use voice calls only where absolutely necessary.
Solar powered wireless sets, battery powered community radios and ham-radios should be kept in readiness at the DDMA relief section for use during communication blackout. - Methods to reduce power outages.
State electricity board should incorporate trimming of trees and vegetation as a part of their pre-monsoon checklist. This will help reduce the number of days required to reinstall broken power lines in the event of a storm.
- Solar lighting/generators in lifeline buildings and also as a part of relief.
During the earthquake of 18Sep2011, solar power proved a dependable source of lighting and worked well. Therefore, life-line structures such as hospitals must have these installed as a standby power source.
Smaller solar units/generators may also be included in relief packages.
- Mock drills
Mock drills for disaster preparednessmust be carried outat least once in 6 months in schools/colleges and withcommunities.
- Land use & crop diversification.
Paddy cultivation in landslide prone areas must be discouraged as this maybe increasing the incidents of landslides. Crop diversification will have to be undertaken where necessary. - Relocating and rehabilitation.
Advance planning to relocate peopleliving in hazardous areasneeds to be donerather than a knee jerk response after a landslide.
Areas need to be identified for relocation and developed. - Afforestation.
Afforestation where possible should be undertaken with local community participationinvolvement.
Vetiver grass plantation maybe an effective way of checking soil erosion without endangering local varieties. - Bio-engineering methods and cost effective traditional methods of erosion control.
Pure engineering methods of landslide prevention are exorbitantly expensive and cannot be undertaken at the community level whereas bio-engineeringare more cost-effective do-able with minimal govt intervention. In this regard bamboo check dams, jute geotextiles is effective and affordable means of soil erosion control. - Use of NREGA resources.
NREGA manpower/resources should be used more intensively for landslide prevention work. - Satellite townships.
All major towns are bursting in their seams and there is an urgent necessity for planning/creation of satellite townships. - Proper road construction techniques.
Improper road construction is a major cause of landslides which destabilizes slopes for lengthy periods. PMGSY schemes especially cause many slides in rural areas because of inexperienced contractors taking up these works – this should be looked into. - Inclusion of landslide studies in schools.
Landslide studies and disaster educationmust be included as a part of Environmental Education in schools / colleges and universities must include Masters courses in DM.
- Speedy disbursement of compensation claims.
Compensation for loss/damage of houses during landslidesneeds to be enhanced and claims need to be paid with minimal delay.
Also landslides are the only disaster form where people lose land and have virtually nothing to return to after it occurs. Hence compensation of landlost to slides with land at a suitable place must be included in the relief policy.
- Post-disaster trauma and rumor management.
After any disaster, a large number of people are traumatized and anxious.
Post traumastress management of the community must also be addressed. - Conduct of landslide prevention work.
Landslide prevention work such as drainage correction, river training, & construction of protective structures etc needs to be prioritized and commenced on a war-footing immediately after the monsoons and continued thru the dry season (Oct-May).
The progress of these works needs to be monitored closely throughout, with the knowledge that the work has to be completed before the monsoons commence next year.
With this in mind District DM meetings should be held in
a) OCT (to assess damage and to take stock of successes and failures during the last monsoon season)
b) FEB – to review progress of preventive works and also to prepare a relief/reconstruction plan.
c) MAY – to review preparedness before the onset of monsoons and to check relief and reconstruction material and equipment.
(Praful Rao)
President
SaveTheHills
22Sep2013Kalimpong.