At the 4th World Landslide Forum in Slovenia, the International Programme on Landslides (IPL) awarded this title as global recognition for Amrita University’s significant contribution towards landslide risk reduction. Amrita University has successfully deployed the world’s first wireless sensor network system for detection and early warning of landslides More than 12% of the land area in India is susceptible to landslides.
Recognizing Amrita University’s cutting-edge research on detection and early warning of landslides, the International Program on Landslides (IPL) has bestowed on it the title of “World Center of Excellence on Landslide Disaster Reduction.” The title, which the University will hold till 2020, was conferred at the 4th World Landslide Forum in Ljubljana, Slovenia. There are 20 such centres in the world, but none in India currently.
Amrita University has successfully deployed the world’s first wireless sensor network system for detection and early warming of landslides in Munnar, Kerala. At the request of the Government of India, they have also deployed a similar system in Sikkim, Northeast Himalayas. This applied research, with significant global value for all landslide prone areas, was directly initiated by Amrita University Chancellor Mata Amritanandamayi Devi to develop low-cost technologies for wide-area monitoring of landslides.
Dr. Maneesha Sudheer, Director, Center for Wireless Networks and Applications, Amrita University, who spearheads landslide research, explains, “Amrita University’s recognition as a World Center of Excellence will allow us to increase capabilities within India while working collaboratively with the United Nations and other globally renowned research centers. Building on our existing real-time monitoring and early warning system, we plan to develop a comprehensive framework including landslide hazard mapping, remote sensing, low-cost sensing, big-data analytics, and decision models. The next steps in our research will provide an opportunity to implement end-to-end systems for real-time monitoring, detection and early warning of landslides in India. We will also undertake development of low-cost MEMS sensors and big data analytics platform for disaster risk reduction.”
Amrita University was recently awarded another prestigious project by the International Programme on Landslides (IPL) to enhance the existing large-scale, real-time landslide monitoring and early warning system for landslide prone regions of the Himalayas and Western Ghats.
In 2008, Amrita University set up India’s first landslide laboratory, which serves as a test bed for development and validation of systems deployed in landslide prone areas.