After Wayanad tragedy, Odisha Govt puts 6 hilly districts on alert

Bhubaneswar: In the wake of the devastating Wayanad landslide and rainfall forecast due back-to-back low pressure areas, the Odisha government has directed districts with hilly terrains to remain alert and evacuate people to safer places in the event of extremely heavy precipitation.

Collectors of Gajapati, Kandhamal, Koraput, Malkangiri, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj have been asked to be ready and take early measures to evacuate people from hilly areas.

With Mayurbhanj experiencing the highest 156 mm rainfall in last 24 hours, Special Relief Commissioner Satyabrata Sahu asked collector Dattatraya Bhausaheb Shinde to evacuate people from vulnerable areas in and around Similipal biosphere reserve to nearby shelter houses and school buildings, if need arose.

“Odisha is recognised for its robust disaster preparedness. Our focus is on to save the lives of people by taking early measures,” he said.

As per the landslide atlas of India released by ISRO last year, areas in the Himalayas and the Western Ghats are among the highly vulnerable areas. Although Odisha does not come under the landslide zone, some of the areas in the six districts are prone to extreme rain-induced landslides. While Gajapati district witnesses landslides during monsoon, Malkangiri district had seen landslide following heavy rains. Landslides have also been reported in Koraput and Kandhamal districts.

The state government has already collaborated with Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham to develop a Landslide Early Warning System (LEWS) under the World Bank-funded Odisha State Capability Resilient Growth Project in view of the past landslide events in Gajapati and other southern districts.

As part of the project, an IoT-based early warning system will be developed with four levels of warnings, each representing an escalating state of alert based on environmental and geotechnical indicators. Locations vulnerable to natural hazards such as landslides and floods will be identified through risk assessment frameworks to provide risk mitigation solutions.

Rayagada, Gumma, Nuagada, and R Udaygiri blocks located in Gajapati district are vulnerable to heavy rain-induced landslides. Most devastating landslide was reported in the district in October 2018 followed by cyclone Titili that killed 48 people and 1,003 animals and damaged 71,834 houses.