Geologists, engineers to visit landslide prone areas in Dakshina Kannada, submit action plan: Deputy Commissioner

Mangaluru: Following incidents of landslides in several locations of the district, Dakshina Kannada district administration held discussions with the Geological Survey of India (GSI) and the National Institute of Rock Mechanism (NIRM) on Friday to prevent possible landslides in future.

The district administration as per the guidelines of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has formed a committee comprising officials from various departments to prepare an action plan to prevent landslides.

Deputy Commissioner Mullai Muhilan MP said, "Discussions with scientists of the GSI and NIRM were held on technical aspects pertaining to the identification of areas prone to landslides and measures to be taken to mitigate such disasters. The meeting decided to seek approval from the secretary to the revenue department (disaster management) to arrange suitable training for geologists and engineers in Dakshina Kannada district through the GSI and NIRM on precautionary measures to be taken to check landslides."

The public works department (PWD), Panchayat Raj Engineering Department, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and urban/ rural local bodies have been directed to upload geo-tagged photographs of the hillocks cleared by the side of roads to facilitate the works and furnish details of the houses in the locations to the web portal by August 15. Later, geologists and engineers will have to visit those areas between August 16 and 21 in each taluk in the district to conduct studies on landslide prone areas and submit reports with action plans to prevent landslides,” the DC said. It was also decided to prepare a map of the 28 landslide prone areas identified by the GSI for further technical studies.

The DC said that officials from PWD, panchayat raj engineering department, NHAI, national highway, and local bodies also should submit details with conditions of all bridges in their respective jurisdiction before August 10. Further, joint director, Urban Planning, Commissioner of MUDA also have been directed to hold a discussion with the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI) and prepare guidelines to prevent landslides during construction works, the DC added