NLFC marks first anniversary, strengthens India’s disaster preparedness

Kolkata: The National Landslide Forecasting Centre (NLFC), located at the Geological Survey of India’s (GSI) Dharitri Campus in Salt Lake City, Kolkata, celebrated its first anniversary on 19 July 2025.

Developed and implemented by SCS Tech India Pvt. Ltd. as the system integrator, the NLFC was inaugurated on 19 July 2024 by Union Minister of Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy as India’s first centralized hub for real-time landslide forecasting, early warning, and disaster risk mitigation.

Operationalized in record time, the NLFC has quickly established itself as a critical national capability, integrating meteorological, satellite, terrain, and demographic data with advanced forecasting algorithms, GIS tools, and high-performance computing.

The platform delivers science-based advisories to government authorities and vulnerable communities, enhancing preparedness and response on the ground.

“India has long needed a system capable of detecting landslide risks with accuracy and speed,” said Sujit Patel, CEO and MD of SCS Tech. “The NLFC equips district authorities, state agencies, and communities with the time and knowledge they need to respond effectively.

Our partnership with GSI is not just about building a platform, but about shaping a long-term resilience framework for disaster preparedness.”

In its first year, the NLFC has issued timely alerts in high-risk districts adjoining the Darjeeling and Nilgiri hills, enabling preventive evacuations, safeguarding infrastructure, and saving lives during extreme rainfall events.

Its automated dissemination channels – including SMS, email, mobile apps, and web portals – ensure that daily bulletins and urgent warnings reach disaster management bodies and vulnerable populations seamlessly.

Highlighting the system’s technical strengths, Dhiraj Udapure, VP Technology at SCS Tech, said, “By combining rainfall thresholds, terrain models, and vulnerability data into a single operational framework, the NLFC delivers real-time, actionable forecasts. This is a scientific achievement now put into practice – enabling safer planning, stronger infrastructure, and informed development in fragile regions.”

Beyond forecasting, the NLFC functions as a national repository of landslide inventories, susceptibility maps, and risk models, while also supporting research, training, and capacity-building for disaster response agencies.

It forms a vital pillar of GSI’s Vision-2030, which aims to roll out Regional Landslide Early Warning Systems (LEWS) across all landslide-prone states and Union Territories by the end of the decade.