BHUBANESWAR: The disaster management wing of the Odisha government will soon institute a comprehensive study on landslides to effectively deal with the geological hazard in the state.
The Revenue and Disaster Management department is set to hold discussions with the Works, Urban Development and other departments besides the NHAI and agencies concerned to take up the landslide study, pipelined by the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA).
Special relief commissioner (SRC) and OSDMA managing director Rajesh Prabhakar Patil said the study will be part of a multi-department preparedness plan to identify vulnerable areas and focus on developing resilient infrastructure.
“The OSDMA is also studying the landslide cases of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and North East states and will rope in expert agencies to take up the study in Odisha to minimise their impact,” he said.
Sources said annual cyclone events and changing patterns of intense rainfall, that have increased manifold in the recent years, have made the state’s hilly regions more vulnerable to landslides. The most highly vulnerable districts to this calamity include Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal and parts of undivided Koraput.
The state had witnessed a fatal landslide in October 2018 when Cyclone Titli had hit Ganjam and Gajapati districts. The disaster had claimed around 14 lives in Barghara village under Gangabada panchayat in Gajapati.
There have also been other instances of landslides causing significant damage to road infrastructure and increasing the risk for commuters. Heavy rain resulted in two back-to-back landslides on the 47-kilometre Kalinga Ghati mountain road (NH-157) in Kandhamal district last year, affecting road communication on the stretch for one-and-a-half month till October end.
Cyclone Montha also triggered multiple landslides in Ganjam, Gajapati and Kandhamal, disrupting road connectivity and damaging property in hilly areas of these districts in October 2025.
In view of such rising incidents of landslides, the Revenue and Disaster department has decided to prepare a comprehensive master plan to prevent loss of human lives due to this geological hazard in hilly areas of the state. The department has also initiated steps to come up with a landslide early warning system (EWS), especially for the vulnerable areas of Gajapati district.
The Special Relief Commission said following last year’s landslide cases, the authorities of the Works department have started taking measures for development of resilient road infrastructure in affected areas. Stress will be laid on creating disaster resilient infrastructure in the upcoming years.
