Anticipating and avoiding landslides

Landslides during the monsoon season impact lives in Nagaland every year, causing damage to properties, farmlands and roads, cutting off lifelines to many places in the state. The Himalayan region is tectonically active and characterised by steep slopes and high rate of surface erosion. This, combined with heavy precipitation during the monsoon poses a high risk for landslides and flash floods in the region. Now, with the arrival of the year’s monsoon season, disaster in the form of landslides have begun to hit several districts of Nagaland, to the extent of cutting off road traffic and even isolating some villages as frequent roadblocks due to landslides are already being reported. Landslides poses a risk to many people, but more so to those needing emergency medical services. It also has more impact on the people in remote areas as their food security is likely to be affected due to both decreased food (agricultural) production, when their agricultural lands are hit, and lack of access to rations or markets from the nearby sub-urban areas. Towards this scenario, the two-day workshop on Disaster Risk Reduction which was held recently in the month of July in Kohima is a welcome step taken by the Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority in collaboration with the Sustainable Development Forum Nagaland, Integrated Mountain Initiative and North East Centre for Technology Application & Research. The workshop involved the participation of policy makers and analysts, administrative heads and heads of departments from all the 11 districts, with an objective to bring about pragmatic plans and policy for the state in the face of disasters and to strategize various measures to build a resilient Nagaland. During the culminating session of the two-day programme, the Chief Secretary had rightly pointed out that, what the state has been doing so far when faced with disasters is “reactive”, and he underscored that we need to move forward and further plan how to reduce our disasters. The event had called for a collaboration of all stakeholders in all aspects such as commitment, engagement, action and periodical review of strategies. While mitigation strategies to support contingency planning are the need of the hour, long-term protection measures of soil instability and erosion, and conversion of the affected areas for sustainable land-use are also as important. Relocation and resettlement issues are another aspect that the state government needs to consider seriously and put into place a related policy. As clichéd as it might sound, we must learn from the past experiences and prepare ourselves for a better present and the future. Take for instance, the major landslide which devastated Phesama village last year, displacing about 250 people. The recurrent Phesama landslide keeps affecting the National Highway-29, a lifeline to not just Southern Angami villages but the neighbouring Manipur state as well. It is estimated that about 1200 public service vehicles including goods carrying trucks, traveller buses, schools and college buses ply daily on this highway on normal days along with a threefold number of light vehicles. While the villagers are still trying to recuperate from the previous year’s devastation, the affected area including the National Highway still looms with uncertainty as to whether it could withstand this year’s monsoon or not. Sustainable programs have to be initiated for affected areas to address and mitigate such devastating natural disasters like landslides, while also taking into account the rights and needs of vulnerable groups to ensure equitable access to services.