According to ‘Landslide Atlas of India’ by the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of ISRO, landslides mainly occur along slope of hills due to natural triggering factors such as heavy rainfall and earthquake or due to anthropogenic activities such as construction of roads, buildings and mining.
- Nearly 80,000 landslides occurred in India during 1998-2022. Most landslides occur between June and September.
- In India, more than 0.42 million sq km (12.6 per cent) of land area, excluding snow-covered area, is prone to landslide hazards. Of this, 0.18 million sq km area is in North East Himalaya. Another 0.14 million sq km falls in North West Himalaya. Nearly 0.09 million sq km of land area in Western Ghats and Konkan hills is prone to landslides. Around 0.01 million sq km in Eastern Ghats of Aruku area in Andhra Pradesh are also prone to landslides.
- This database covers landslide-vulnerable regions in 17 states and two Union Territories in the Himalayas and Western Ghats.
- Rudraprayag district in Uttarakhand is at the top of this ranking having the highest landslide density in India.
- In terms of number of districts, Arunachal Pradesh has a maximum of 16 districts in this ranking, followed by Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir at 14 each. Uttarakhand has 13 districts ranked as vulnerable to landslides.
- States such as Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, and UT of Jammu and Kashmir, are the worst affected by the landslides disasters as the majority of the vulnerable territory falls within the Himalayas.
- Although the North Eastern states have many landslides every year, they are not particularly vulnerable to them in terms of socioeconomic factors due to their lower population density and wide unoccupied mountain areas.
- Vulnerability of the inhabitants and households is more significant in the Western Ghats due to the very high population and household density, especially in Kerala, even though landslides occur here, when compared to Himalayan regions.
(Source: Business Line)
