Kolkata (West Bengal) [India]: Union Minister of Coal and Mines, G. Kishan Reddy, inaugurated the National Landslide Forecasting Centre (NLFC) in West Bengal’s Kolkata on Friday.
He said that the centre aims to provide advanced landslide forecasts, enabling state governments and district administrations to take the necessary precautions.
Speaking to media, Reddy said, “On the instructions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this National Landslide Forecasting Centre has been inaugurated today by the Geological Survey of India (GSI). Landslides cause major accidents in different places in the country like Uttarakhand and innocent people lose their lives.”
He added, “Through this centre, we will be able to tell in advance to the state government, district administration, and NGOs if there is a possibility of a landslide and we can ask them to stay alert and take precautions.”
The Union Minister said that while landslides cannot be prevented, the loss of lives can be. “Landslides cannot be stopped, but the loss of lives due to the accident can be prevented. Properties can be saved and the state government and district administration can take precautions in the coming days.”
Earlier in the day, the minister visited the Geological Survey of India campus. The visit commenced at the Central Headquarters (CHQ) campus, where the minister was welcomed by Director General, GSI, Shri Janardan Prasad, according to the press release of the Ministry of Mines.
The minister chaired a review meeting to assess the ongoing activities and achievements of GSI. During this meeting, he underscored GSI’s pivotal role in baseline data generation, augmenting the mineral resources of the country and policies, particularly focusing on landslides, and congratulated the officers for their tireless efforts in advancing geological studies and mineral exploration, the press release added.
GSI has significantly expanded from its initial focus on coal exploration to include mapping rock types, geological structures, and exploring strategic and critical minerals. Notably, the number of exploration programs for critical minerals has increased from 127 last year to 196 out of total number of 450 exploration programmes this year. The successful launch of the National Geoscience Data Repository (NGDR) and the migration of the OCBIS portal to the OCI cloud are testaments to GSI’s commitment to innovation and efficiency.