National Level Seminar on Landslide, Earthquake and Climate Change

Rapid urbanisation in the hill areas of Darjeeling, Sikkim, and Kalimpong has led to an increase in the occurrence of anthropogenic natural disasters like earthquakes, landslides etc. It has been a new yet challenging decision for Caritas India to step into DRR interventions in the hills with its ‘Improving Disaster Risk Reduction Environment & Policy advocacy in Darjeeling & Sikkim’ Programme (IDRRE). IDRRE empowers communities to adopt and practice landslide and earthquake mitigation methods. There was a strong need to bring together all the key stakeholders to facilitate a round of discussions, knowledge sharing and most importantly recommendations to take the programme forward. Caritas India with its partner Anugyalaya Darjeeling DSSS in collaboration with the Darjeeling Himalaya Initiative held a National Level Seminar on Landslides, Earthquakes and Climate Change’ on 11th May in Darjeeling. The main purpose of the seminar was to bring together all the key stakeholders in Disaster Management of the Hills of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Sikkim.

The event was successful in getting together representatives from Disaster Management Department, Government of West Bengal, GTA , NIDM, IMD,  Calcutta University and the communities to discuss innovations, ideas and necessary action needed. The seminar recognised the community as actors of change and presented ideas that can be taken up by the people themselves to build a resilient community.

Ms. Sarita Rai, MLA Kalimpong too was present.

Bishop Stephen Lepcha, Bishop of Darjeeling and Sikkim, welcomed the dignitaries and different stakeholders in sharing, learning and strategizing for DRR, thus reducing risk in both Darjeeling and Sikkim.

Mr Anjan Bag, Thematic Manager (Technical) -Disaster Risk Reduction, Caritas India set the context of the seminar. IDRRE has run for nearly one and a half years in Darjeeling and Sikkim. It has been successful in reactivating the Darjeeling Inter-Agency Group and has even contributed in formulating the National Landslide Risk Management Component ‘v’- ‘Mountain Zone Regulations and Policies’ facilitated by NDMA. However, in order to go forward, it was necessary to carefully consider the recommendations of the community members, policymakers, scientists and other experts.

In the keynotes speech, AVM Dr Ajit Tyagi, Ex-Director General of the Indian Meteorological Department highlighted the importance of Early-Warning Systems as a core component of Disaster Risk Reduction. “Early Warning Systems should lead to action on the ground. They should include real-time monitoring and should be location, time and intensity specific predictions,” he said. Early warnings in the form of alerts have to be acted upon in order for them to be effective. Without action, the early warning serves no purpose.

Dr Chandan Ghosh, Professor Head of the Geo-Hazard Risk Management Division (National Institute of Disaster Management), presented economical and bioengineered solutions for landslide arresting, and water conservation in the hills along with working examples. These solutions can be applied to the hills context in landslide mitigation and water conservation.

“We are embarking upon taking some risk without knowing what will happen, Nature has that much power that we can accept it unknowingly. Nature is supreme. To understand nature in a befitting manner is a challenge, it is not earthquakes and landslides that are challenging.”

Retaining walls for landslide arresting may not be the most effective solution as they add more load and thereby increasing the risk. As an alternative, Vetiver grass proposed by Dr. Gosh is a tall, perennial grass with a lacework root system which offers a cost-effective and eco-friendly tool to combat soil erosion and thereby help in landslide mitigation. It can survive extreme climate conditions, conserve water and even helps in improving the water table. Studies have proved that numerous trials and applications of Vetiver grass in the last 3 decades show how the grass has been effective in landslide reduction. “We are embarking upon taking some risk without knowing what will happen, Nature has that much power that we can accept it unknowingly. Nature is supreme. To understand nature in a befitting manner is a challenge, it is not earthquakes and landslides that are challenging.”

Such practices can be adopted by the community itself not only in the mitigation of landslides but also in reviving the economy of the hills.

Dr Abdul Matin, Department of Geology, University of Calcutta presented his study titled, “Structural insights from geodetic Global Positioning System measurements in the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalayas”, and stated that there is the possibility of occurrence of a large Earthquake that would affect the hills of Darjeeling and Sikkim due to the convergence of the Indian plate and the South Tibetan plate. Therefore, there is a need to prepare the people of the hills for this so that the impact of the earthquake can be significantly reduced to the adoption of community-based DRR practices.

Earthquake resilient shelter models are the need of the hour in the hills. consultant Mr. Anshuman Shukla engaged for technical support for making low-cost EQ resilient houses as one of the model under the project from TESRA presented his Earthquake resilient model built with RETROTA, a chemical they developed that is three times stronger than steel. This chemical can be carried in portable systems for easy application on any kind of structure (bamboo, brick masonry etc). The first working model of this type of shelter developed with RETROTA was constructed as part of Caritas India’s IDRRE Programme in Darjeeling. The couple has also designed an App which allows users to assess the seismic vulnerability of their homes through an Earthquake-Resistant Rating System. The user simply answers a few questions about the structure on the app, which gets fed into the system and generates a report with a rating that will determine whether the building would be safe in the event of an earthquake. These Automatic Weather Stations may be very effective as an early warning system, however, they can run very expensive. IIT Mandi research student Subham Agarval has developed an automatic Weather Station which can detect soil movements prior to the occurrence of a landslide. The model of this AWS was presented and demonstrated at the seminar. The AWS’s run on solar energy and are available at a very reasonable price of 20,000 rupees. The stations record rainfall and store the data to determine the occurrence of a landslide. An Alert will then be sent out as a warning. At this price communities can take it upon themselves to purchase these AWS in their own localities and receive alerts about landslides of high intensities. Two of these AWS were installed at Kurseong after the seminar concluded.

Mr. Prasunna Mondal, Joint Secretary Disaster Management, Government of West Bengal also addressed the attendees. “The Government Of West Bengal has emphasized the issue of building stronger disaster response system by amalgamating two departments under one umbrella. Department of Disaster Management and Civil Defence to effectively co-ordinate in crisis.”

He raised concern for the increased occurrence in Landslides in the hills of Darjeeling, and stated that effective Disaster Risk Reduction can only be achieved if the efforts of the key stakeholders are co-ordinated.  He lauded Caritas India and Anugyalaya for their effort in bringing together these major stakeholders to discuss the current situation in Darjeeling and the way forward.

The National Seminar was successful in bringing together all the key stake holders of the hills of Darjeeling, Sikkim and Kalimpong, which is a crucial step in DRR of the hills. After the knowledge sharing presentations,  Dr. Pallab Kumar De, Thematic Manager-East, Caritas India facilitated a round of discussions where representatives of the Government of West Bengal, Gorkha Territorial Administration, National Institute of Disaster Management, Indian Metrological Department, World Wildlife Fund and community representatives had some recommendations to share.

  • Firstly, it is of utmost importance that the community is mobilised and sensitised about the hazards in their locality. Community members are the most important stakeholders, therefore information dissemination should keep in mind that technical jargon may not be understood by everyone and therefore they need to be communicated in simple terms.
  • The government of West Bengal is now prioritising Early Warning Systems, for which they have engaged a consultant for a project. If successful, it will be replicated in the Hill areas. The government is also working with the National Disaster Management Authority on a Detailed Project Report on Landslides. Plans for mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change are also in the pipleline.
  • The Gorkha Territorial Administration is also in search of alternatives to the retaining wall when it comes to landslide arresting models. They also stated that drainage systems in villages need to be improved.
  • Lastly vulnerability and safety audit initiatives need to be considered by the Government of West Bengal and the GTA. Thus, both the government and the communities will be sensitized about the hazards that surround them.

These recommendations from the seminar will be carefully considered and acted upon as the programme continues.