Mapping danger: Experts build a free open-source model to assess landslide risks Premium

In Kerala disaster struck in the early morning of July 30 in the Mundakai-Chooralmala region near Meppadi in Wayanad, resulting in the death of more than 200 people as per government estimates. Exactly two weeks before the incident, on July 16, similar landslides struck Shirur Village in Uttara Kannada washing away 13 people. All the locations were situated along the Western Ghats. 

The wounds of the tragic landslides that struck Kerala and Karnataka in July have not healed yet. 

In Kerala disaster struck in the early morning of July 30 in the Mundakai-Chooralmala region near Meppadi in Wayanad, resulting in the death of more than 200 people as per government estimates. Exactly two weeks before the incident, on July 16, similar landslides struck Shirur Village in Uttara Kannada washing away 13 people. All the locations were situated along the Western Ghats. 

India is among the top four countries with landslide risk according to the Landslide Atlas of India published by the Indian Space Research Organisation and National Remote Sensing Centre. Between 1998 and 2022 around 80,000 incidents occurred in the country causing severe casualties to lives and livelihoods.  

This also underscores the importance of publicly available data on landslide risks and cumulative rainfall to form effective mitigation strategies. 

Climate Software Lab (CSL), the climate technology arm of Bengaluru-based clean fuels company GPS Renewables, has come up with a Landslide Risk Assessment model that maps landslide risks in some of the most eco-sensitive and fragile regions of the Indian subcontinent. 

A free open-source software available for the public and policymakers, the tool was developed by a team of AI experts and scientists. 

The model can map landslide risks in regions including the Western Ghats, Himalayas, and Northeast India covering around 40 lakh people. It grades places from ‘low susceptibility’ to ‘very high susceptibility’ and has a web interface which helps to visualise the same.