Landslide prediction mechanism, safe structures needed urgently in highly vulnerable Kerala: Experts

Scientists and experts on Tuesday called for a landslide prediction mechanism and construction of safe structures for the vulnerable population after over a hundred people were killed in a series of landslides in Kerala.

Madhavan Rajeevan, former secretary of the Union Earth Sciences Ministry, said weather agencies can predict extremely heavy rainfall events, but whether that would trigger a landslide cannot be said with certainty.

"Heavy rainfall does not lead to landslides every time. We need a separate mechanism for landslide prediction. It is difficult but doable," Rajeevan told PTI.

The conditions that lead to landslides, including soil texture, soil moisture and slope are known, and it is important to put all this knowledge into an operational system, he said.

"Unfortunately, we have not done that yet." "When a river is in spate, we shift people to safer places. We can do the same thing if there is heavy and continuous rainfall. We have good science and good capability; we just have to convert that into practice," Rajeevan said.

Sreekumar, a disaster risk management expert at the Kerala Institute of Local Administration, told PTI that rainfall above 120 mm for two to three days is enough to trigger landslides in the fragile terrain of the southern coastal state.

"There are many landslide-prone areas in Wayanad. The only thing we can do is move people to safer areas. The authorities should build monsoon houses for people living in such areas," Sreekumar said.