STH Stormwatch : Cyclone 'NADA' brews up in the Bay of Bengal (30Nov2016)

Cyclone 'NADA' has  formed in the Bay of Bengal and is expected to make landfall in Tamil Nadu in the early hours of the morning on 02Dec2016.
Thus far in 2016, we have had 3 Cyclones forming in the Bay of Bengal - Roanu, Kyant and now Cyclone NADA

Praful Rao.
Kalimpong,
Dist Darjeeling

STH Activities : With Component 'V' of NDMA team for drawing up a National Strategy on Landslide Risk Managment (24-25Oct2016)

Subsequent to the first meeting called by NDMA for the Formulation of a National Strategy on Landslide Risk Management, Component 'V' which is responsible for preparation of Mountain Zone Regulations and Policies met for two days in Kalimpong.
Being a member of this Component,I am extremely happy that the 6 member team could visit the Chibo-Pashyor landslide area in Kalimpong and also interact with affected members of the community in a focused group discussion.

For those interested, the following six major components have been formed for formulating the National Landslide Strategy by the NDMA :-

I. Generation of User-Friendly Landslide Hazard Maps

II. Development of Landslide Monitoring and Early Warning System (EWS)

III.Awareness Programmes

IV. Capacity Building and Training of stakeholders

V. Preparation of Mountain Zone Regulations & Policies

VI. Stabilization and Mitigation of Landslides & Creation of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for Landslide Management 

Praful Rao,
Kalimpong,
Dist Darjeeling

STH Activities : With IIIT (Hyderabad) team for landslide familiarization (08/09Oct2016)

One of the central roles of STH has been spreading awareness about landslides - a hazard form whose impact on mountain communities has been neglected and under-estimated to a large degree the world over.
As such we have used every opportunity to engage with visiting teams both from India and abroad in the many landslide familiarization visits we have made over the years - records of all such visits are documented in this blog. In Oct 2016 as a part of this program, we took two visiting delegates of IIIT (Hyderabad) for a tour of landslides in and around Kalimpong on 08/09Oct2016. The institute is working on landslide prediction equipment which they would probably be installing in the Chibo-Pashyor landslide zone.

Praful Rao,
Kalimpong'
Dist Darjeeling

STH Stormwatch : Low Pressure in Bay of Bengal (01Nov2016) and update (04Nov2016)

The system has intensified into a depression and is expected eventually become a cyclone.

Praful Rao
Kalimpong,
Dist Darjeeling