Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 5 (PTI) Citing Odisha’s success in disaster management, Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Wednesday said Kerala would roll out an AI-backed disaster management and resilience
programme, which he said would be among the country’s most effective.
The CM said the proposed system would be designed keeping in mind Kerala’s unique topography and would significantly strengthen early warning systems for sudden weather changes.
Citing Odisha as an example, he said official figures showed that thousands of people had died in the devastating 1978 cyclone. Yet, through effective disaster management, the state limited the death toll to just two during a cyclone a few years ago, he said.
Kerala, too, should bring about such a transformation in disaster management, he said.
Satheesan said the state would establish one of the country’s most advanced weather forecasting systems with the support of globally renowned climate and disaster management experts to strengthen early warning systems. As part of the initiative, flood mapping would be undertaken to identify disaster-prone areas across the state.
He said desilting of dams and the removal of accumulated silt, sand and waste from rivers and other water bodies would be undertaken to improve their carrying capacity and mitigate flooding.
Alleging that no desilting exercise had been carried out since 2018, Satheesan said silt and debris had accumulated in riverbeds, reducing their water-carrying capacity.
“It will lead to flooding or waterlogging even during moderate rainfall,” he said.
The CM said the government would not wait for another flood to act and that urgent desilting work across the state would begin once the monsoon subsided.
He added that directions in this regard had already been issued to the Revenue and Water Resources departments.
Satheesan also announced that an AI-driven dam management system would be introduced as part of the disaster resilience initiative.
A team of eminent disaster management experts would assist the government in implementing the programme, he said.
The CM further said a land audit would be conducted to identify encroachments along riverbanks as part of efforts to reduce disaster risks and improve flood management. PTI LGK SSK
