NIDM holds conference on Landslides Risk Reduction and Resilience: Know here why it’s a hope-raising step

New Delhi, November 29: National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) held the first International Conference on Landslides Risk Reduction and Resilience in New Delhi. Minister of State for Home Affairs, G. Kishan Reddy inaugurated the Conference yesterday. 

 

 

 

The conference offered a valuable opportunity to network with colleagues from many countries who share the same goals. Scientists, experts and functionaries in hazards and disaster risk management had participated in the conference. The Conference explored the issues from the view point of SFDRR, SDGs, climate change, urbanization, ecosystem and community based approach for enhancing the resilience. The role of science and technology as well as governance and administration role along with affected community was the focus of the conference. 

 

Landslide disasters have fetched global concern in recent years. The ubiquitous disasters cost enormous human fatalities and billions of economic losses around the world. Based on Global Fatal Landslide database 2004-2016, globally in 4,862 distinct landslide events 55,997 fatalities were recorded (earthquake triggered landslide events were not taken in account in this study). 

 

 

 

Continent-wise, Asia suffers the maximum damages due to landslides and among the Asian countries, South Asian nations are the worst sufferers and even among South Asian countries India is one of the worse affected by landslides. As landslides are frequent and widespread, the annual cumulative losses worldwide amount to tens of billions of USD in terms of lost property, environmental damage, repair works, and the maintenance of defence measures. 

 

As per Geological Survey of India, the window of economic loss due to landslides may reach between 1-2% of the gross national product in many developing countries. India, the seventh-largest country in the world apropos of area, is persistently being knocked by landslides of varied magnitude throughout the history. The landslides vulnerable areas are spread over 21 States and 4 Union Territories including J&K, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andaman & Nicobar and Puducherry.

 

The aim of the first International Conference on Landslides Risk Reduction and Resilience was to explore and debate the most recent advances in a discipline. The conference was held with the objectives of enhancing the understanding of the issues and solutions on governance and administration for landslides risk reduction and resilience; discussing about current practices in the landslides risk assessment, mitigation and monitoring technologies for landslide risks and resilience with case examples; highlighting the environmental and emerging issues in context with urbanization, development and climate change; sharing experiences related to community based landslides risk reduction and resilience, disseminating information related to national and local strategies for landslides risk reduction and resilience as well as to develop a network mode roadmap for addressing the gaps by engaging with the institutions, researchers and experts.

 

 

 

The Minister while congratulating the National Institute of Disaster management (NIDM) for organizing the first of its kind conference in the country, called for making extensive collaborative programs involving international community and all the stakeholders at national, state and regional levels to tackle the problem. He expressed hope that deliberations in this conference will go a long way in finding long term solutions to natural disasters.