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Credits: India Today
IIT Mandi's Low-Cost Landslide Monitoring System Predict Movements In Mins; Can Help Avoid Disasters
Writer: Devyani Madaik
A media enthusiast, Devyani believes in learning on the job and there is nothing off limits when it comes to work. Writing is her passion and she is always ready for a debate as well.
Himachal Pradesh, 30 Dec 2021 11:11 AM GMT | Updated 31 Dec 2021 9:42 AM GMT
Editor : Palak Agrawal |
Palak a journalism graduate believes in simplifying the complicated and writing about the extraordinary lives of ordinary people. She calls herself a " hodophile" or in layman words- a person who loves to travel.
Creatives : Devyani Madaik
A media enthusiast, Devyani believes in learning on the job and there is nothing off limits when it comes to work. Writing is her passion and she is always ready for a debate as well.
The Landslide Early Warning System detects soil movements and alerts via hooters and blinkers installed on the road through a test message. The system predicts landslides 10 minutes before their occurrence.
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi has developed a landslide and early warning system to prevent natural disasters and various tragedies in higher altitude areas. The device is reported to be a one-of-a-kind system globally.
The device was developed by Associate and Assistant Professor of the School of Computing and Electrical Engineering, Dr Varun Dutt, and Assistant Professor, Dr KV Uday.
How Does It Work?
According to the report, the device detects soil movements and alerts via hooters and blinkers installed on the road through a test message. The system predicts landslides 10 minutes before their occurrence, India Today reported.
Besides preventing landslides, the system also cautions about the rainfall in advance if more than 5 mm of rain is forecast. The report reads that it also alerts about extreme weather conditions with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.
Low-Cost Device
It is low-cost equipment and a great alternative to the conventional monitoring system we have in place currently. Reportedly, the selling price of the system with its sensors and alerting mechanism is Rs 1 lakh, which is 200 times lesser than the conventional one, which costs crores of rupees.
System Deployed So Far
The device prototype was first installed in 2017, in a landslide-prone area, on Gharpa hill near the campus. A year later, the system was deployed at Kotropi Landslide.
So far, 18 devices have been established across the district, three in Balianala in the Nainital district. Uttrakhand deployed three devices at Dharampur along the Kalka-Shimla track of the Indian Railways, and the Sirmaur district installed three, IT reported.
The team has received orders from other states as well.
System Prevent 2018 Disaster
Reportedly, IIT's early warning system proved to be a boon in 2018 and helped avert a tragedy by alerting about the flash floods due to incessant rains at the Kutropi along the Mandi Joginder Nagar National Highway.
The police were able to stop the traffic minutes before the disaster. The heavy rains caused the roads to wash away, but no casualty was reported.
The group has filed four patents and plans to make it commercially available through a start-up by the faculty, Intiot Services Pvt. Ltd., India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also reviewed the system during his recent visit to Himachal Pradesh.
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