How can Kerala prepare for future Monsoon disasters. This is what expert says

As Kerala reels from yet another disastrous monsoon—with landslides and flash floods claiming more than two dozen lives and causing widespread destruction—the state is once again confronted with a familiar question: What is the way forward?

To explore the answer, THE WEEK spoke to Dr K.G. Thara, former Director of the Kerala State Disaster Management Centre and a disaster management expert, on how Kerala can move beyond its largely reactive approach to disasters and build a proactive, resilient model of disaster management. Excerpts:

Q. How can we shift from a reactive approach to a proactive model in terms of disaster management?

Disaster risk reduction has to become an integral part of planning. Whether it is construction, urban planning, water management, or any other sector, disaster resilience must be embedded into the planning process.

For example, if an area is prone to drought, planning interventions should be tailored accordingly. It could involve regulating construction, changing agricultural practices, or adopting measures to improve groundwater recharge. Some disasters may not be preventable, but many can be mitigated. Planning has to move in that direction.

Q: Does this also require decentralised thinking? Can all of this really be planned from the top, or should planning itself be decentralised?

Policy-level planning and coordination have to happen at the state level through an appropriate agency, but implementation should happen at the district and panchayat levels.

Q: How can we improve models for predicting hyperlocal weather events?

That can be done by creating networks involving scientific institutions, government departments and local communities. The need of the hour is to have ample data. So, the biggest requirement is data collection at the decentralised level.

That is where we are lacking. The data we have right now is not enough for a location-specific action plan.

Q: So, are you saying we never really started thinking along those lines even after the 2018 floods?

We didn't have such a system before 2018, and we still don't.

Q: AI-based models are also emerging. If we feed them more data, could prediction improve?

AI models may help in prediction, but it all depends on the extend of data that we feed. The best approach is to talk to the people on the ground. They have very good observations and local knowledge, which needs to be integrated into the scientific models.

Communities should be well informed about the four pillars of disaster management—prevention, preparedness, mitigation, and response—to build resilience and reduce disaster risks.

Q: One final question. If Kerala has to become a truly resilient society, should disaster management become part of school and college curricula?

Absolutely. It has to be brought into the education system. We once had an institute for training—Institute of Land and Disaster Management—but it no longer has adequate funding or support.

Disaster management should become a core component across all sectors—police, fire and rescue, health, agriculture, industry and others. It should also be integrated into school and college curricula.

Building resilience at the panchayat level is already part of various plans. The framework exists on paper, but it has not yet been implemented at the scale or level that is actually needed.