Sandip Dighe

Himalayan ranges

Development Organisation

DRDO

LIS

Ravi Kumar Gupta

scientist and director

scientist

Kolkata

Indian Army

Lieutenant General

D B Shekatkar

commander

Jammu and Kashmir

Considering the severe casualties among Indian soldiers and widespread damage to roads regularly caused by landslide through the entire stretch of the, the Defence Research and) has developed a versatile ‘Landslide Information System ()’ to provide accurate information about landslideprone zones.DRDO scientists are of the opinion that this system will definitely help the Indian armed forces save lives of soldiers deployed in tough terrains, while also assisting operation-preparedness in such regions.Directorate of Public Interface, DRDO Hqrs, told Mirror, “The new system will provide prior information about hazardous zones to the armed forces — operations will then be launched accordingly. Moreover, if the armed forces want to build permanent establishments like radar installations, buildings, etc. in any area, thesystem will inform them as to whether the terrain is suitable.”The Himalayan range stretches from west to east with an average width along the entire longitudinal extension ranging from 100-400 km. The vast area covered by the mountainous range contains some fascinating altitude gradients, said DRDO scientists.“However, recurrent landslides or slope failures cause widespread damage to roads, disturbing the movement of vehicles and creating immense problems for supply of aid/ materials to troops in border areas. Besides, a huge sum is required for the removal of debris and prevention of further landslides. This system will play a vital role in the future,” a DRDOtold Mirror on condition of anonymity.Elaborating on the system, the scientist added, “It is basically a decision support system to generate landslide hazard donation, landslide hazard management maps, and to query thematic data in a user-friendly manner. The software implements analytic hierarchy processes and ideal-point analysis-based spatial multi-criteria decision analysis.”A scientist and landslide expert from the Geological Survey of India (GSI) based insaid, “This is indeed a welcome development for the armed forces. The terrain and properties of soil in the Himalayan region are different from any other part of the country. It will be interesting to see how this system works for the armed forces in the future.”Gupta added, “Our rate of avalanche forecasting is 85 per cent and it has played a significant role for the armed forces. We are quite confident that this system will also play a similarly big role.”As per data available with the, as many as 50 soldiers were killed in the last three years in the Siachen Glacier region, owing to landslides, floods and avalanches and climatic conditions.Speaking to Mirror,(Retd), awith vast experience in combating insurgency inand the North East, said, “This system will not only be useful for the armed forces but for civilians as well in the future. In the monsoon, the states of the North East reel under landslides very often, affecting routines of the armed force and civilians.”