The last week saw a number of landslides being reported

from the Western Ghat region of Kerala, the most significant of them

from the Pettimudi region of the Idukki district. Pettimudi is not far from the tourist hotspot of Munnar. The

death toll in Pettimudi itself is likely to cross 50. In the last year

as well, a number of landslides had taken place in the northern districts of Kerala,

particularly in the districts of Wayanad and Kozhikode.

To speak about the increasing incidence of landslides in Kerala, we are

joined today by Dr KP Sudheer, who is the Principal Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of Kerala and the Executive Vice President of the Kerala State Council for

Science, Technology and Environment. Dr Sudheer is an engineer by training

who completed his PhD from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi. He

was earlier a Scientist at the National Institute of Hydrology, Rourkee;

a Visiting Faculty at the IIT Kanpur; and a Professor at the IIT Madras.

In his official capacity, in 2019, he was the Chairperson of an

expert committee appointed by the State Planning Board, Government of Kerala to study the

increasing incidence of floods and landslides and provide

recommendations.