Student-made atlas to guide Attingal projects

T'puram: Attingal municipality has decided to adopt a ward-level land suitability atlas prepared by students at the Govt Model Boys Vocational Higher Secondary School, Attingal, to guide the siting of waste management and infrastructure projects that often encounter public opposition.Municipality chairperson M Pradeep said the civic body would rely on the atlas and its dataset while planning upcoming projects, particularly those that tend to face resistance from residents.
He said several waste management and public infrastructure initiatives were in the pipeline and that scientifically backed data would help the municipality explain the rationale behind selecting specific locations. Suresh Kumar S, a Geography teacher at the school, who led the project, said the increasing incidence of erratic rainfall and waterlogging in Kerala highlighted the need for hyperlocal planning. He said the project aimed to help students understand their local landscape and apply their findings in a socially relevant manner. The atlas maps terrain features, soil conditions, elevation patterns and flood vulnerability across all 31 municipal wards. It identifies low-lying areas, flood-prone zones and drainage-sensitive regions, and highlights comparatively safer locations suitable for development. According to Pradeep, access to ward-level scientific data would help authorities justify project-siting decisions and improve public acceptance, especially in environmentally sensitive areas. The atlas will serve as a reference document for future infrastructure planning and disaster mitigation efforts in the municipality, he added. The atlas was prepared as part of an academic geography master plan with support from Samagra Shiksha and technical guidance from climate experts. The student-led initiative combined field surveys, soil analysis, satellite imagery and GIS-based mapping to generate detailed ground-level data. The study flags valley-fill zones and naturally low-lying areas where construction could disrupt drainage systems, while also identifying areas more suitable for development. The initiative was designed to translate classroom learning into practical, community-oriented knowledge by examining physical and human geography at the municipal level. The atlas will be formally inaugurated by general education minister V Sivankutty in the coming days.