Union Minister inaugurated National Landslide Forecasting Centre (NLFC) in Kolkata | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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    Union Minister inaugurated National Landslide Forecasting Centre (NLFC) in Kolkata

    Posted 20 Jul 2024

    2 min read

    NLFC is aimed at landslide hazard mitigation in India and will in due course issue early warning bulletins for all landslide-prone states, operationalizing the regional Landslide Early Warning System (LEWS) nationwide by 2030.

    Other Initiatives

    • Bhusanket Web Portal: Will facilitate dissemination of relevant information on landslide hazards, initiating short-range and medium-range landslide forecasting.
    • Bhooskhalan Mobile App: Quick dissemination of daily landslide forecasts.

    About Landslides

    • Landslides, a type of mass wasting, is defined as the rapid movement of a mass of rock, debris, or earth down a slope.
    • India’s Vulnerability: Approximately 0.42 million sq. km (12.6% of land area), excluding snow covered area, is prone to landslide hazard.
      • Himalayas and Western Ghats are particularly susceptible to landslides due to hilly topography and heavy rainfall. 
    • Causes of landslides
      • Natural: Heavy rainfall, undercutting of slopes due to flooding or excavation, earthquakes, snowmelt etc. 
      • Anthropogenic: Overgrazing by cattle, soil erosion due to loss of vegetation, terrain cutting and filling, excessive development etc. 
    • Effects of landslides: 
      • Loss of life and infrastructure, cultivable land etc.
      • Disruption of traffic and isolation of habitations in hilly regions.
      • Floods due to diversion of river courses, channel blockages or reducing effectiveness of dams by adding silt load. 

    Components of National Landslide Risk Management Strategy (2019) 

    • Hazard Zonation: Making use of advanced tools such as UAVs, Terrestrial Laser Scanner, and very high-resolution Earth Observation data for zoning.
    • Monitoring and EWS: Fixing of early warning alert thresholds and improvements in early warning practices.
    • Preparation of Mountain Zone Regulations: Formulation of land use policies and enforcement of building regulations. 
    • Stabilization and Mitigation of Landslide and Creation of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for Landslide Management.
    • Tags :
    • Landslide
    • Himalayas
    • Western Ghats
    • Landslide Atlas of India
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