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
