Updated Orange Book suggests curbs on new constructions in areas hit by landslips in the 2018 floods

After a delay of over two months, the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) has issued the updated Orange Book 2025, the monsoon preparedness and disaster-response guidelines for various State and Central agencies.

The major highlight of this year’s Orange Book is that it has replaced the landslide-susceptibility map of Kerala published by the National Centre for Earth Science Studies (NCESS) in 2010 with the landslide-hazard susceptibility mapping done by the Geological Survey of India (GSI), the national nodal agency.

Three categories

The GSI has published the latest landslide susceptibility map of Kerala, replacing all other maps used by the KSDMA. The GSI map has put the landslide-susceptible zones mainly into three categories—high-, moderate- and low-hazard zones. The District Disaster Management Authorities will have the power to ban construction activities and use of existing buildings in these zones during the days when red and orange alerts have been issued by the weather agencies or up to two days prior to or after the extreme weather events.

Further, a checklist has been prepared by the agency for issuing permit for new constructions in such areas. According to the new document, no new permission shall be given for new constructions in the susceptible zones if the area had witnessed landslips or landslides in the 2018 monsoon period. In addition, people living in the existing building in the affected areas should be taken to safer places during every monsoon period, the document insists. Along with this, the families should be advised continuously to shift to safer zones.

The KSDMA has also brought new departments such as the Scheduled Tribes development department under the purview of the Orange Book of Disaster Management Kerala, which deals with the standard operating procedures and emergency support function plan.

The book is updated periodically taking into account the inputs from various departments and district administrations every year for strict compliance by the departments concerned, Central agencies and the District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMA). Normally, the orange book is issued before the beginning of every southwest monsoon.