Landslide warning systems to be installed in Mandi

Tribune News Service

Mandi, February 9

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mandi, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) here yesterday for the installation of landslide monitoring and early warning systems at some places in the district.

Laxmidhar Behera, Director of the IIT, and Deputy Commissioner Arindam Chaudhary signed the MoU.

Varun Dutt, Associate Professor in the School of Computing and Electrical Engineering, and KV Uday, Assistant Professor, School of Engineering, IIT, have developed the landslide monitoring and early warning system.

Behera said, “The IIT, Mandi, is delighted to partner with the state government to address the issue of landslides through the innovation of monitoring systems to be installed at critical sites. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also reviewed the system during his recent visit to Mandi. I will personally oversee the progress of the project. The IIT will work towards a robust technology solution to make the innovation one of a kind”.

“We have robust data analytics on landslides with us, and it should not fail in any situation. When we give any technology, we strive to make it the best and useful for the benefit of Himachal Pradesh,” he added.

Chaudhary said, “Saving human lives is a matter of utmost concern, and the alert system will allow the administration to evacuate people more efficiently. The state invests extensively in addressing landslide and road-related issues and this initiative will be useful in protecting lives”.

Rajiv Kumar, Additional District Magistrate, Mandi, emphasised the need for a full-proof evacuation system and suggested increasing the warning range for the system from 1.5 hours to 2 hours, which would be useful in timely evacuation”.

Landslides are at present predicted 10 minutes before occurrence by monitoring changes in soil movement. The landslide monitoring system developed by the IIT provides soil movement alerts via hooters and blinkers mounted on the road and dispatched remotely via text messages. Also, the system sends rainfall alerts if more than 5 mm of rain is forecast.

The Deputy Commissioner requested the IIT Director for a solution to protect these warning systems from theft or mischievous conduct. He also asked the institute to develop low-cost processing units for cereals such as corn that are healthy and easy to procure. The Director suggested sharing a low-cost and improvised ropeway in small villages for easier transportation.

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