Using GIS for assessment of terrorists attack risk along a major road and to propose security options

Abstract

In Colombo and its suburbs, the risks of terrorist attacks are increasing day by day. The risk of civilians coming under attack is greater in areas that are with a greater presence of key decision makers. Therefore, in each of such locations the government has an obligation to assess the associated risk and then to facilitate with sufficient security to ensure civilian safety at least during the presence of key decision makers.

The parliament road from the Colombo Fort passing Kollupitiya and reaching the parliament at Sri Jayewardenepura can be considered as a major road that faces a significant risk due to the frequent presence of important decision makers. Hence it is necessary to identify the risk factors associated with the parliament road. GIS provides a significant advantage when assessing the risk ratings of an associated geographic area and then identifying a suitable security system for public safety.

The present work describes the terrorists attack risk status along the parliament road determined through a simple GIS overlay model. The project area covers a road length on 12km. Data used for the GIS model were 1:50,000 maps of roads, GN boundaries, Land use, Population, Previous Incidents, waterways Spatial distribution of risk indicators were overlaid with a conceptual security deployment. The present work has not considered the present deployment along the parliament road due to security reasons.

The GIS model demonstrates that it can be effectively used to plan and deploy security to ensure the safety of road users.