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Landslides
2024 JAN   9

Landslide Atlas of India

2023 MAR 14

Preliminary   > Disaster Management   >   Disasters   >   Avalanches & Landslides

Why in news?

  • Recently, National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) under ISRO has released the Landslide Atlas of India.

About Landslide Atlas of India:

  • It is a detailed guide identifying landslide Hotspots in the country.
  • For the first time, scientists did a risk assessment on the basis of 80,000 landslides recorded between 1998 and 2022 in 147 districts in 17 states and two Union Territories to build a "Landslide Atlas" of the country.
  • 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 the Sikkim earthquake in 2011.
  • The pan-India landslide database classifies landslides into:
    • Seasonal (2014, 2017 monsoon seasons)
    • Event-based and route-based (2000 – 2017).

Key highlights:

  • Mizoram topped the list, recording 12,385 landslide events in the past 25 years.
  • Mizoram is followed by Uttarakhand (11,219), Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir,  Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura
  • The number of districts with the maximum landslide exposure:
    • Arunachal Pradesh (16)
    • Kerala (14)
    • Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir (13 each)
    • Himachal Pradesh, Assam and Maharashtra (11 each)
    • Mizoram (8)
    • Nagaland (7).
  • Rudraprayag and Tehri Garhwal districts of Uttarakhand have the highest landslide density and landslide risk exposure in the country.

India’s Vulnerability to Landslides:

  • India is considered among the top five landslide-prone countries globally.
    • Where at least one death per 100 sq km is reported in a year due to a landslide event.
  • Rainfall variability pattern is the single biggest cause for landslides in the country, with the Himalayas and the Western Ghats remaining highly vulnerable.
  • Excluding snow covered areas, approximately 12.6 % of the country’s geographical land area is prone to landslides.
  • As many as 66.5 % of the landslides are reported from the North-western Himalayas, about 18.8 % from the North-eastern Himalayas, and about 14.7 % from Western Ghats.
  • In the Western Ghats, despite fewer events, landslides were found to be making inhabitants significantly vulnerable to fatalities, especially in Kerala.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Consider the following statements:

1. Majority of India’s landslide are reported from Western Ghats

2. Among the states, Mizoram reported the highest number of landslide events over the last two decade

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer