On Tuesday, Wayanad in Kerala experienced severe landslides in the Meppadi and Chooramala areas, leading to over a hundred deaths and several people still missing. This incident highlights the ongoing challenges Kerala faces each monsoon season.
According to the Landslide Atlas of India released by ISRO in 2023, Wayanad is ranked 13th among the country’s most landslide-prone districts. Out of Kerala’s 14 districts, 10 are listed among India’s 30 most vulnerable areas for landslides.
Kerala has been facing significant property damage and casualties due to heavy rainfall and landslides every monsoon season since the major floods of August 2018. The number of landslide events has varied over the years, with 5,191 incidents in 2018, dropping to 756 in 2019, and further decreasing to nine in 2020. In 2021, there were 29 landslides, and in 2022, a year with lower-than-normal rainfall, there were fewer casualties.
The ISRO Atlas, covering landslides from 1998 to 2022, shows Kerala as the sixth most landslide-affected state in India, after Mizoram, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir. Kerala experienced 6,039 landslides during this period.
Here are the rankings of the most landslide-prone districts in Kerala:
1. Thrissur (3rd)
2. Palakkad (5th)
3. Malappuram (7th)
4. Kozhikode (10th)
5. Wayanad (13th)
6. Ernakulam (15th)
7. Idukki (18th)
8. Kottayam (24th)
9. Kannur (26th)
10. Thiruvananthapuram (28th)