Safety nets are to protect slopes in slums of India

To minimise risk from landslides caused by monsoons, which are common on unstable terrains, the Indian state government will now put up nets instead of constructing retaining walls, to protect slum-dwellers. At a meeting held between Mhada officials, the BMC and the police on Wednesday, it was found that the nets may work as an alternative to safeguard places where a retaining wall cannot be built. There are 49 landslide-prone spots, out of a total of 107, where it is technically not possible to construct a wall.

There are 77 slums, most of them located in the eastern suburbs like Kurla, Ghatkopar and Chembur, where 9,904 hutments dot the hillsides prone to landslides during the monsoon.

Landslides during the monsoon, in the last 17 years, at the seven hillocks in Kurla-Saki Naka claimed 220 lives. The maximum number of fatalities occurred during the 26/7 floods when 73 people died.

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