Dehradun: Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan held a meeting with national-level institutions, including the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, the GSI, the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, and the Central Water Commission, on Tuesday regarding landslide mitigation. During the meeting, all scientific institutions discussed solutions to landslide mitigation issues.
The Chief Secretary directed all scientific institutions to identify landslide-prone areas within the state and develop a prediction model. He stated that a mechanism needs to be developed that, based on satellite images and a module developed after ground testing, can predict the likelihood of a landslide in a particular location, enabling the evacuation of low-lying areas and the evacuation of people to safer locations.
The Chief Secretary directed the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, the Geological Survey of India, the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, and the Central Building Research Institute to work together in this direction. He stated that large-scale and immediate action is needed in this direction.
The Chief Secretary assigned the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology the responsibility of installing sensors in 13 glacier lakes across the state. He stated that sensors should initially be installed after conducting satellite and surface testing of six sensitive lakes in the state. He also stated that work should be done to determine how the sensitivity of sensitive lakes can be reduced. He stated that the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology will receive assistance from essential scientific institutions such as the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, the Geological Survey of India, the Central Water Commission, and U-SAC. He assured the Wadia Institute that the necessary funds for this work will be available and will be made available.
The Chief Secretary stated that this is a multi-institutional task and requires all of us to take this seriously and work on it immediately.
Present on this occasion were Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman, IG SDRF Arun Mohan Joshi, Director General UCOST Prof. Durgesh Pant, scientists from Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Geological Survey of India, Central Water Commission and other senior officials were present.
