Estimating Landslide Risk Management Index for Nilambur Taluk, Kerala Using Analytic Hierarchy Process—A Case Study

Abstract

The Western Ghats of Kerala are extremely vulnerable, with landslides posing a persistent danger. In the last few years, Kerala has faced several landslides. As many as 145 people have died in landslides over the last two years in Kerala. The occurrence of natural events is uncontrollable, landslides can be mitigated by good risk control. For reducing the risk of disasters in a particular area, they need to estimate the extent of risk and the various types of vulnerabilities correlated with it. No specific indicators exist in India for the assessment of landslide risk management. The deficiency of a formal conceptual structure of disaster risk that could enable a multidisciplinary assessment and intervention has hampered successful disaster risk management. Cardona et al. (Disaster risk and risk management benchmarking: a methodology based on indicators at national level. IDB-IDEA Program on Indicators for Disaster Risk Management, Universitad National De Colombian, Manizales, 2004) [12] put forward the Risk Management Index (RMI) to satisfy these requirements. Four public policies were used to calculate the RMI, and each of them is calculated by the weighted values of its indicators. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to distribute the weights. The study focuses on developing a replicable methodology to determine RMI at the local level. The procedure for estimating this index is centered on surveys of professional personnel, deciders, and stakeholders engaged in risk mitigation activities at all times. The area selected for this study is Nilambur Taluk of Malappuram district and its majority falls under the landslide susceptible area.