Landslides in India:Issues and Perspective

Abstract

Landslides in India are one of the major hydro-geological hazards affecting large parts of landmass of the country. The landslide hazards in mountainous environment are the threat to our infrastructure, communication, water resources, transmission line projects, open cast mines, tunnels, heritage buildings and urban development etc. About 0.42 million sq. km or 12.6% of land mass, in India is prone to landslide hazard. As per the estimates of the Geological Survey of India (GSI) 0.18 million sq. km falls in Northeast Himalaya, including Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalaya; 0.14 million sq. km falls in Northwest Himalaya; 0.09 million sq. km in Western Ghats and Konkan hills (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra) and 0.01 million sq. km in Eastern Ghats of Aruku area in Andhra Pradesh.