THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Geological Society of India is bringing out ‘Landslide Atlas of Kerala’, a collection which will help in devising management plans to minimise the effects of landslides.
Works Minister G Sudhakaran will release the atlas at the seminar hall of Department of Geology, University of Kerala, on September 19 at 2 pm.
The authors of the atlas are Thomas Oommen, Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences, Michigan Technological University, USA and Sajinkumar K S, Department of Geology, University of Kerala.
According to the authors, approximately 12 percent of land area in India is under the threat of landslides, and hence it is critical to develop workable management plans to minimize its effects.
“The goal of this atlas is to accomplish the first step towards managing landslide hazards in Kerala, ie, producing an easily accessible jargon-free atlas that marks out the spatial landslide hazard potential for each district of the state,” the authors said.
The atlas is divided into 15 chapters, designed mainly in the form of illustrations with description. Chapter 1 provides a holistic introduction to landslides, Chapter 2 deals with the landslides in Kerala in general whereas Chapters 3 to 15 looks into the 13 landslide-prone districts of Kerala. Alappuzha, the coastal district free of landslides is excluded.
Each chapter (3-15) highlights a district and consists of a district-wide landslide susceptibility map, major locations of landslides and its description, any one of the influencing factor that is dominant or any manifestations of that factor in the area, and mentions about major engineering projects, if any. A fact file showing main features of the district is also provided.