The North Cotabato Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (PDRRMO) will implement a landslide warning system to strengthen the readiness of landslide-prone communities.
Engr. Arnulfo A. Villaruz, the PDRRMO chief for operation and warning, said Monday the DYNASLOPE Project aims to establish community-based early warning systems (EWS) that would assist the local government units (LGUs) with quick responses and decision-making to mitigate the impacts of landslides.
DYNASLOPE (Development of Early Warning System for Landslides) was developed by the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (DOST-Phivolcs) national office.
It features a newly-developed deep-seated early warning device (sensor), visible steel bars mounted on-site, and a well-organized procedure set for responding to landslide incidents.
“This electronic sensor will be mounted in landslide-prone areas which will send real-time data to Phivolcs national office if any significant changes will be detected”, he said.
He said Phivolcs personnel from the national office will assess the information and later send a warning to the LGUs on possible landslides.
Along with its process, DYNASLOPE also designed protocols for coordination with all concerned agencies and sector tasks to respond to calamities, particularly the on-site validation.
“Steel bars will be mounted in the area as a visible indicator for the responders to assess if there are any significant changes as to the gaps and distance between each other,” Villaruz said.
As much as they wanted to mount all landslide-prone areas in the province with the device, he said the DYNASLOPE entails a million-peso allocation to acquire.
Phivolcs initially installed the device in the upland villages of Kinarum and Bacong in the towns of Magpet, and Tulunan, respectively, which are both considered mountainside landslide-prone areas.
On Sept 23, DOST-Phivolcs representatives led by Science Research Specialist II Christelle Juin R. Ancha, and Senior Science Research Specialist Harianne J. Gasmen presented the DYNASLOPE project before provincial officials and PDRRMO personnel here. (PNA)
