Explained: Danger from landslides
- Six people were killed in West Bengal in incidents triggered by cyclone Remal that struck the coastline.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- One event can trigger another, and can lead to multiple disasters simultaneously.
- Over the last few years, India has witnessed events in which heavy rainfall has resulted in a breach of glacial lakes, causing flash floods that have resulted in landslides and flooding.
- Massive power outages, transport and communication failures, disruption of health services, and difficulties in rescue and relief operations have followed.
- About 0.42 million square km of India’s landmass, or about 13% of its area, spread over 15 states and four Union Territories, is prone to landslides, according to the Geological Survey of India (GSI).
- This covers almost all the hilly regions in the country.
- About 0.18 million square km, or 42% of this vulnerable area is in the Northeastern region, where the terrain is mostly hilly.
Government efforts
- The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has been working with GSI and other agencies to mitigate and manage the risks from landslides.
- A National Landslide Risk Management Strategy was finalised in 2019, which talked about vulnerability mapping, identifying the most vulnerable locations, development of an early warning system, and preparation of mountain zone regulations.
- But most of the work still remains to be done.
- Most landslides in the hilly regions are caused by heavy rainfall.
- Earthquakes can trigger landslides too, but we do not see that very often.
- In the Northeastern region, for example, no major landslide has been triggered by an earthquake in the last one or two decades
- There is the need for building resilience to multi-hazard disasters.