IIT Delhi team makes first hi-res landslide risk map for India
- January 8, 2024
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
No Comments
IIT Delhi team makes first hi-res landslide risk map for India
Subject: Geography
Section: Geomorphology
In the news:
- North India faced severe floods and landslides in 2023, prompting the recognition of a national landslide susceptibility map.
- IIT Delhi’s Manabendra Saharia, an assistant professor in the civil engineering department and head of the HydroSense Lab at IIT Delhi, initiated its creation due to the absence of comprehensive country-wide data.
About ‘Indian Landslide Susceptibility Map’:
- The difficulty arose due to the localized nature of landslides, impacting only 1-2% of India.
- Data collection involved 150,000 known landslide events and 16 factors affecting susceptibility like soil type, tree coverage, road proximity, and slope steepness.
- The use of GeoSadak, an online system that has data on the national road network in India,aided in obtaining crucial road network data for remote areas.
- Ensemble machine learning was employed to analyze this data and estimate susceptibility.
- Finally, the ‘Indian Landslide Susceptibility Map’ with a 100m resolution, set to be published in Catena, is recognized as a significant contribution.
- The significance lies in its aid to policymakers, vulnerability assessment, and mitigation strategies.
- It identified both known and previously unknown high-risk landslide areas.
- Future plans include a ‘Landslide Early Warning System’ using map data and its usefulness for organizations like GSI and disaster management authorities.
- Map and data are made freely accessible online for public use without the need for technical expertise.
Source: The Hindu