Use of remote sensing and GIS in disaster management in Gangtok area, Sikkim

Geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) are very useful and effective tools in disaster management. Various disasters like earthquakes, landslides, floods, fires, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and cyclones are natural hazards that kill lots of people and destroy property and infrastructures every year. Landslides are the most regular geological vulnerabilities in mountain regions, particularly in Sikkim Himalaya. Remotely sensed data can be used very efficiently to assess severity and impact of damage due to these disasters. In the disaster relief phase, GIS, grouped with global positioning system (GPS) is extremely useful in search and rescue operations in areas that have been devastated and where it is difficult to find one’s bearings. Disaster mapping is the drawing of areas that have been through excessive natural or man-made troubles to the normal environment where there is a loss of life, property and national infrastructures.