STH activities : Awareness programs undertaken by us (Jan2020)

Praful Rao,
Kalimpong district
Darjeeling- Sikkim Himalaya

SaveTheHills activity Dec2018-Jan2019

Praful Rao
Kalimpong district,
Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya

STH Activities (18/19Jan2017) : Participating in Project 'LANDSLIP' and an awareness program with Colby College (USA)

In the bottom slide (with Colby College) STH President is 1 and Prof Roy 2.

An excerpt from the Telegraph on Project 'Landslip' is reproduced below :-

"Darjeeling, Jan. 19: An international science consortium has picked Darjeeling in north Bengal and the Nilgiris in south India to test a new mechanism for landslide risk reduction through better assessment, early warning systems, and improved community preparedness.
Scientists from India, Italy, and the UK plan to combine terrain geology with weather data to improve their understanding of landslide dynamics and use that information for risk assessment and alert local communities to potential hazard zones.
Tracts of the Darjeeling hills are highly vulnerable to landslides that have killed many people over the years. In July 2015, more than 40 people died or went missing in landslides across the hills. Some areas of eastern Sikkim will also be included in the project.
The scientists caution that their four-year project, funded by the UK's Natural Environment Research Council, the Department for International Development, through the Science for Humanitarian Emergencies and Resilience programme, does not seek to predict landslides.
"First and foremost, we are not predicting landslides. What we are doing is looking at and collecting information on landslide hazards," said Helen Reeves, the director of science for engineering geology with the British Geological Survey.
The Geological Survey of India, a major partner in the project, will provide the landslide data available for the area since 1899.
"One of the reasons for choosing this area is that data availability, landslide susceptibility, and varied terrain conditions," said Saibal Ghosh, the director of GSI. "Tea gardens here, too, have maintained rainfall data for decades and it will also be useful."
Bruce Malamud, professor of natural and environmental hazards at King's College, London, said: "The project will look at a combination of things such as elevation, geology, and landslide susceptibility. We are basically saying there could be an elevated chance here, and a reduced chance there."
The scientists plan to generate early warning systems to disseminate potential hazard information among local communities. The Italian National Research Council has already developed a forecasting system that regularly alerts local governments.
The India project will also seek to involve district administrations to reach out to communities, although the medium of communication is yet to be determined. "We will look for what best suits the local communities," said Malamud. "Maybe, we could work out a system that could use text messages, social (media), smartphones, radio, or other wireless systems."
Scientists from India's Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University, the UK Met Office, Newcastle University, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy, among other institutions are also collaborating on the project.
Praful Rao of Save the Hills, an NGO based in Kalimpong which is working on natural disasters, said: "The very fact that an international consortium is working on landslides in the region is a major development. This would lead to a better understanding and preparedness for risk reduction."
The project also plans to invite experts from Afghanistan to share experiences with regard to landslides."

Praful Rao,
Kalmpong,
Dist Darjeeling

STH Activities - Dec2015 and Jan2016

Prof Subrat Kar of IIT Delhi who is a part of the Ulster University team visiting Kalimpong in early Mar2016 was with us for 3 days to reccee landslide areas of Darjeeling district in advance and to report back to the team. We showed him most of the landslide areas around Kalimpong town and also Balasun landslides in Kurseong.

I attended the Meeting of the Mountain states (MoMs) in New Delhi on 11Dec2015, representing the Darjeeling Mountain Initiative which is a part of the IMI. Placed below is the press release from the MoMs meet :-

The Integrated Mountain Initiative held its annual Meet of the Mountain States in New Delhi on 11 December 2015 celebrating International Mountain Day, at the VishwaYuvak Kendra, Chanakyapuri. The Meet followed up on the successful conclusion of the 4th Sustainable Mountain Development Summit held in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh in October 2015. The central theme of the Summit was Disaster Risk Reduction, which is particularly crucial for the mountains which face increasingly frequent large- and small-scale disasters such as earthquakes, flash-floods, and landslides. Natural disasters result in loss of lives, and set back the economy of the region by destroying assets, interrupting school education and livelihoods.

To follow up the recommendations made during the Summit, the Meet of the Mountain States was held in the format of a workshop which discussed the implementation of these resolutions, by identifying the implementing bodies, liaison mechanism, resources required, and timelines. The Meet was attended by Lt Gen Marwah and Dr Kamal Kishore, Members of the NDMA, as well as representatives from the NDRF, the State and Disaster Management Authorities from Sikkim, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh. Grassroots organizations working on disasters on the ground, All India Disaster Mitigation Institute, Delhi and SaveTheHills, Kalimpong participated.

The Chief Guest, Mr KirenRijiu, Hon’ble Minister of State for Home Affairs, recently declared the Champion of DRR for the Asia-Pacific region by the United Nations, gave rousing address espousing his concern about disasters and offering his full support for mitigation and preparedness measures. Mr PD Rai Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) Sikkim updated the gathering about his participation at the UNFCC COP 21 in Paris, particularly the keen interest in supporting measures for disaster risk reduction in mountain states shown by Margareta Walhstrom, Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the UN for Disaster Risk Reduction.

IMI is a collective initiative of a wide range of stakeholders from across the Indian mountain states, who gather together to deliberate and advocate mountain-centric development policy.

Prof Sarah Besky, an anthropologist and author from Brown University and her husband Al (also an anthropologist) were in Kalimpong for a day to learn more about STH activities and also to do field work on landslides.
Spent much of the day discussing impact of landslides in the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya and also went out for field work on the western and easterns faces of the Kalimpong ridge.

3 Gap students from Colby College (USA) were with us for 3 days on environmental /landslide hazard studies. While they were here the horrible fatal landslide occurred at Rangpo. We were able to see first hand the impact on the unfortunate victims and the community at large.

Praful Rao,
Kalimpong,
Dist Darjeeling

STH activities (15/16Jan2015) : Focus on Chibo-Pashyor region of Kalimpong

 

Chibo - Pashyor region located in the south-western tip of the Kalimpong town ridge-line consist of a number of villages and overlooking these areas are the urban settlements on the southern tip of Kalimpong town.
Due to a number of reasons, anthropogenic interference being one of them, this area has had a severe landslide problem for many decades now -
with virtually nothing being done to mitigate or otherwise control the instability of the area. Over the years, STH has highlighted (1,2 and more) the plight of this village to innumerable people including scientists, students, media people and politicians to say the least.
On 15Jan2015, STH had approx 17 students and 2 lecturers from Colby College (USA), visiting the area after an hours talk by the undersigned on 'Critical Environmental issues facing the Himalayas'. The landslide tour was conducted by Mr Subhas Lepcha, a person who belongs to Chibo village.
On 16Jan2015, STH accompanied two officials from Geological Survey of India for a tour of the affected areas.

Praful Rao,
Kalimpong,
Dist Darjeeling