Kerala’s Disaster Management Challenges

• Kerala, once considered a relatively disaster-free zone, is facing increasing disasters, particularly floods and landslides.
• The intensity and frequency of disasters have increased in recent decades, with coastal erosion, sea surge, and floods affecting over 250 kilometers of the state’s coastal length.
• Landslides in the Western Ghats are becoming more frequent during every monsoon.
• A spatial correlation exists between tremors and landslides, with incidents of fractures/cracks reported from Wayanad and Idukki post landslides.
• There is a need for a landslide inventory map of each region/area, factoring in geological set up, slope, soil characteristics, hydrologic parameters, drainage and infiltration, vegetation cover, human activities, and agricultural activities.
• Rapid warming of the Arabian Sea has increased the risk of extreme weather and climate events, such as floods, heat waves, and cyclones.
• The’safe operating space’, a term coined by Johan Rockstrom and the Stockholm Resilience Centre, is shrinking in Kerala, with staggered events of floods and landslides and simultaneous landslides on either side of the hill ranges.
• A paradigm shift in disaster management practices is needed, moving from a reactive, top-down approach to a more proactive approach addressing all aspects of a disaster cycle.
• Kerala needs to work out disaster risk zones based on multiple criteria, generating a permanent database, and involving the people in preparing disaster risk maps.
• A community-based disaster risk management model involving community and social organizations, academia/research institutes, the government, and business and industry may be useful.