For the first time, NRSC (National Remote Sensing Centre) scientists did risk assessment on the basis of 80,933 landslides recorded between 1988 and 2022 in 147 districts in 17 states and two union territories to build a Landslide Atlas of India.
- The risk analysis was based on human and livestock population density, which indicates the impact these landslides have on people, and shows the most landslide vulnerable spots in the country.
Key points
- Rudraprayag and Tehri Garwhal districts of Uttarakhand have the highest landslide density in the country.
- The western Himalayan region is most vulnerable to landslides.
- Among the 10 most landslide prone districts, four are in flood prone areas of Kerala, two in Jammu and Kashmir and two in Sikkim.
- After the Himalayas, the Western Ghats has high landslide density.
- The new study recorded 80,933 landslide hot spots between 2000 and 2022, with the maximum of 12,385 in Mizoram, followed by 11,219 in Uttarakhand, 7,280 in Jammu and Kashmir and 1,561 in Himachal Pradesh. Among the southern states, the most number of landslide hot spots have been recorded in Kerala (6,039).
- Between 2010 and 20222, Uttarakhand recording the maximum landslides in this period. Within the state, Rudraprayag and Tehri districts recorded the highest number of landslides.
- The atlas used satellite data of ISRO to map all seasonal and event-based landslides like the Kedarnath disaster in 2013 and landslides triggered due to Sikkim earthquake in 2011.
- The landslide risk has intensified over the years due to environmental degradation and extreme weather events such as high intensity rainfall, which have increased due to climate change.
