International Conference on “Landslides Risk Reduction and Resilience | 29 Nov 2019
The National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) organized the 1st International Conference on “Landslides Risk Reduction and Resilience" on 28th November, 2019 in New Delhi.
- The aim was to bring together all stakeholders including relevant ministries, universities, as well as experts to discuss/debate/disseminate practically useful knowledge, experiences, information and innovations for landslides risk reduction and resilience at national and international levels.
National Institute of Disaster Management
- NIDM comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs and is located in New Delhi.
- Under the Disaster Management Act 2005, NIDM has been assigned nodal responsibilities for human resource development, capacity building, training, research, documentation and policy advocacy in the field of disaster management.
Landslides
- A landslide is defined as the movement of a mass of rock, debris, or earth down a slope. Landslides are a type of "mass wasting (a geomorphic process)," which denotes any down-slope movement of soil and rock under the direct influence of gravity.
- Several things can trigger landslides, including the slow weathering of rocks as well as soil erosion, earthquakes and volcanic activity.
- Loss Due To Landslides
- Based on Global Fatal Landslide database 2004-2016, globally in 4,862 distinct landslide events 55,997 fatalities were recorded (earthquake triggered landslide events were not taken in account in this study).
- Continent-wise, Asia suffers the maximum damages / losses due to landslides.
- Among the Asian countries, South Asian nations are the worst sufferers and India is one of the worst affected by landslides.
- As landslides are frequent and widespread, the annual cumulative losses worldwide amount to tens of billions of USD in terms of lost property, environmental damage, repair works, and the maintenance of defence measures.
- As per Geological Survey of India, the window of economic loss due to landslides may reach between 1-2% of the gross national product in many developing countries.