Kerala to build the country’s best disaster management programme, says Chief Minister

Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan has said Kerala will put in place the country’s most comprehensive programme for disaster management and resilience. Details of the programme were not immediately available.

Why it matters

Kerala has faced a disaster almost every year since the floods of August 2018, the worst in nearly a century, which killed close to 500 people. In July 2024, landslides at Mundakkai and Chooralmala in Wayanad killed more than 200 people and wiped out entire villages. Heavy rain, landslides, coastal erosion and sea surges now recur with each monsoon, and scientists link the rising intensity of rainfall to a warming climate.

A comprehensive programme would typically cover early warning systems, mapping of landslide- and flood-prone areas, rules on building in those areas, relocation of families at risk, and training of local volunteers and panchayats to respond in the first hours.

What’s next

The government is expected to set out the programme’s elements, its cost and its timeline. The United Democratic Front government, in office since May, has made disaster preparedness one of its priorities.