IIT to come up with solution to prevent mudslides

The state government has appointed the Indian Institute of technology (IIT) to look for ways to prevent mudslides in case of hills that are more than three-storey high- almost 9 m. This will involve looking at solutions like putting up wire or nylon mesh over the hills to prevent loose soil and stones from giving way.

The state government has appointed the Indian Institute of technology (IIT) to look for ways to prevent mudslides in case of hills that are more than three-storey high- almost 9 m. This will involve looking at solutions like putting up wire or nylon mesh over the hills to prevent loose soil and stones from giving way.

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"For smaller hills we usually put up protection walls but the most dangerous are the taller ones which give way soon. We had asked them to take a cue from technology used around Konkan railways when it was built," said Naseem Khan, minorities minister and Guardian Minister of Mumbai suburbs after a District Planning and Development committee (DPDC) meeting on Wednesday.

Every monsoon, people living along the hills in the suburbs lose their lives due to to mudslides. This year, the Mumbai civic body has identified 88 landslide-prone areas in the suburbs, with 23 slum areas along the hillocks tagged "extremely dangerous and unsafe". It has given eviction notices to 2,903 hutments that have come up along hillocks in Kurla, Ghatkopar, Bhandup, Mulund, Chembur and Dahisar, but none has shifted.