Spatio-temporal occurrences of landslides in the Himachal Himalaya

Landslides are destructive geological processes that have globally caused deaths and destruction to property worth billion dollars. Landslide occurrences are widespread and prolific in India covering more than 15 per cent of the total area. These are mostly concentrated in the Himalayan belt, parts of Meghalaya Plateau, Nilgiri Hills, Western and Eastern Ghats. The slope failure in the hilly terrain is due to geological processes and events. The frequency and magnitude of slope failure also increased due to anthropogenic activities such as road construction, deforestation and urban expansion. Keeping all these problems in mind research focusses on the Himachal Himalaya as it falls under very high risk zone in case of landslides and comprise of three objectives. They are: a) to record the temporal incidences of landslides in Himachal Himalaya, b) to analyse the spatial temporal pattern of landslides in the Himachal Himalaya. In this work an attempt has been made to collect data on landslides incidences and damage from the secondary sources like Geological Survey of India, Building Material and Technology Promotion council from Ministry of Urban Affairs and annual reports of disastrous weather events from Indian Meteorological Department. The methodologies adopted for data analysis are simple tabulations, bar diagrams, statistical and mapping techniques to represent the Landslide vulnerability of the Himachal Himalaya. The analysis of the study reveals that there is increase in the number of landslides. The spatial pattern of landslide incidences is positively correlated with susceptibility zones in terms of geology, geomorphology and anthropogenic activities.