Thiruvananthapuram : The Norwegian Geotechnical Institute(NGI) in Norway expressed willingness to cooperate with Kerala in areas of natural disasters, construction of Wayanad railway tunnel and stemming of coastal erosion. The gesture to work together came following Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s request for cooperation with state. Teams of experts in varied fields will visit Kerala in this regard, assured Disaster Management Expert Dominic Lain.
There presently is assistance from NGI for the ongoing Railway tunnel project in Wayanad. However, it came to notice of CM how uthorities in Ladakh are utilising NGI expertise for exploring characteristics of a 7-km deep rock there, thus prompting to approach the Institute for government’s own Wayanad tunnel project.
NGI has successfully implemented mudslide forewarning systems in several parts around the globe. The institute is also associated with a number of Central establishment government in our country. The institute has devised modern but natural methods to check coastal erosion.
At the table, CM enumerated the multiple natural disasters that struck Kerala in recent times, pointing out that NGI projects would prove helpful for the state.
NGI said it will help with flood mapping for Kerala. After the expert teams conduct their visit, avenues for associating with the various universities and research centres in the state shall also be considered, said Dominic Lain.
The six-member panel including a technical expert of Indian origin, Rajendra Kumar, took part in the discussions.
