Every monsoon, Wayanad's hills carry the risk of disaster.

Steep slopes, saturated soil and increasingly erratic rainfall have made this Kerala district the most landslide-prone in the state, according to a 2024 study by Indian researchers.

The danger has grown over decades. Studies show that around 62 percent of Wayanad's green cover disappeared between 1950 and 2018, as tea plantations expanded nearly 18-fold. With forests cleared, many hillsides lost the deep root systems that once held the soil together.

When a landslide strikes, it often comes with little warning.

Today, however, a network of local residents armed with simple rain gauges is helping change that. Their daily observations are giving scientists a clearer picture of when slopes are approaching a dangerous tipping point — sometimes buying precious hours for people to move to safety.

A network born from tragedy

The story began after Kerala's devastating floods in 2018, which claimed more than 400 lives.

In the aftermath, the Hume Centre for Ecology and Wildlife Biology, a research institute based in Kalpetta, set out to build a community-driven rainfall monitoring system for Wayanad.

Led by director C K Vishnudas, the team started with a handful of rain gauges. The network expanded rapidly after the 2019 Puthumala landslide, which killed 17 people.

Working with farmers, tribal communities and environmental groups, the Hume Centre gradually installed around 200 rain gauges across the district.

The strength of the system lies in........

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