India is among the top four countries in terms of its risk of landslides, and 12.5% of the country’s land is prone to such events (Jain et al., Landslide atlas of India (mapping, monitoring and R&D studies using remote sensing data), 2023). In the past, landslides have been responsible for claiming numerous lives, wiping out entire villages, damaging properties, and causing devasting consequences. Landslides can also be secondary consequences of other hazards such as earthquakes or floods and affect the already struggling communities. As major landslides wash out entire regions under mud and debris, infrastructure and livelihoods are completely disrupted. Families are forced to relocate, even as they are already coping with their losses. This produces additional challenges associated with the disruption of place identity. In India, the Himalayas and Western Ghats are among the mountain ranges that are highly susceptible to landslides due to their topographies and the heavy rainfall they experience (Jain et al., Landslide atlas of India (mapping, monitoring and R&D studies using remote sensing data), 2023). The Uttarakhand landslide of 2013 was one of the most significant landslides witnessed in India in the last decade or two. Heavy rainfall in June 2013, triggered a major flood and numerous landslides in five districts. Cumulatively, cloudbursts, landslides and flash floods were responsible for claiming more than 1000 lives in the area (Caritas India, Rapid assessment report of landslide and flash flood in Uttarakhand—India, 2013). In the following year, a landslide triggered by heavy rainfall destroyed the entirety of Malin village in Pune, Maharashtra, leading to 151 deaths. In these disasters, the team from NIMHANS conducted assessments to explore the psychological and social impact on the survivors and to support the need for long-term rehabilitation (Mandal et al., Indian Journal of Health and Wellbeing, 6(7), 747–748, 2015). Over the years, landslides in the Western Ghats have increased considerably. In response to the rising numbers of landslides and other hazards in the state of Kerala, the state government announced its efforts to bring psychosocial support closer to people’s doorsteps through the establishment of a District Mental Health Program, along with school and home visits (Rajendran, In Kerala, doctors are helping survivors deal with the aftermath of disasters, 2019). Thus, psychosocial and mental health support after disasters such as landslides has slowly evolved from centralized assessment programs to locally integrated public health interventions in the last 15 years. Today, newer technologies are developed to detect and monitor landslides and develop early warning systems for such events. Questions about relocation, displacement, and place identity resurface. Would early detection and warning signs alone be enough to encourage people to leave their ancestral lands and move to “safe” locations? It is now important to integrate psychosocial understanding and support interventions alongside technologies during the preparedness phase.