13% of land mass in Kerala vulnerable to landslips
- January 19, 2024
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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13% of land mass in Kerala vulnerable to landslips
Subject :Geography
Section: Indian Physical geography
Context:
- An artificial intelligence based map of Kerala has revealed that 13% of the land mass is extremely vulnerable to landslips, forming part of a multifaceted crisis gripping the region.
- The vulnerability map, prepared under the aegis of Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, is the first AI based landslip susceptibility map.
What is a Landslip/Landslide?
- A landslide is a geological phenomenon involving the downward movement of a mass of rock, soil, and debris on a slope. This movement can vary in scale from small, localized shifts to massive and destructive events.
- Landslides can occur on both natural and man-made slopes, and they are often triggered by a combination of factors such as heavy rainfall, earthquakes, volcanic activity, human activities (such as construction or mining), and changes in groundwater levels.
Reasons behind Landslides in Himalayan region
- Fragile Ecosystem: Tectonic or neo-tectonic activities, associated with numerous subsurface processes like rock deformation, exhumation and reworking of rocks and surface processes such as erosion, weathering and rain/snow precipitation make the ecosystem inherently fragile.
- Earthquakes: The convergence of the Indian plate with the Eurasian plate in the Himalayan region has created subterranean stresses that get released in the form of earthquakes which, in turn, cause fractures and loosen the litho-structures near the mountain surface. This increases the possibilities of rock movement along the slope.
- Climate Induced Excessive Events: Climate-induced excessive events like freezing/thawing and heavy rain/snow precipitation lead to avalanches, landslides, debris flow, glacial lakes outburst floods, landslide lakes outburst floods and flash floods.
- Anthropogenic Factors: Human activities such as road construction, tunneling, mining, quarrying, deforestation, urbanization, agriculture, excessive tourism and hydroelectric projects can also cause or worsen landslides in the Himalayas. These activities can disturb the natural balance of the slopes by removing vegetation cover, altering drainage patterns, increasing soil erosion, creating artificial cuts and fills, blasting rocks, and generating vibrations.
- Geological Composition: Some of the Himalayan rocks are made of limestone, which is more prone to water and landslides than other types of rocks because it can dissolve in weakly acidic rainwater or groundwater. This process creates caves, sinkholes, and other karst features that weaken the stability of the slopes.
- Westerly Disturbance & Monsoon: Confluence of Westerly Disturbance — a low-pressure system, originating from the Mediterranean Sea, moving eastward across central Asia and northern India — and the South West Indian Summer Monsoon cause excessive and concentrated rainfall in parts of J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand leading to landslides and flash floods.
What are the Initiatives taken by the Government to mitigate the risk of landslides?
- National Landslide Risk Management Strategy (2019): This is a comprehensive document that addresses all the components of landslide disaster risk reduction and management, such as hazard mapping, monitoring, early warning system, awareness programs, capacity building, training, regulations, policies, stabilization and mitigation of landslides, etc.
- Landslide Risk Mitigation Scheme (LRMS): This is a scheme under preparation that envisages financial support for site specific landslide mitigation projects recommended by landslide prone states, covering disaster prevention strategy, disaster mitigation and R&D in monitoring of critical landslides, thereby leading to the development of early warning system and capacity building initiatives.
- Flood Risk Mitigation Scheme (FRMS): This is another scheme under preparation that covers activities like pilot projects for development of model multi-purpose flood shelters and development of river basin specific flood early warning system and digital elevation maps for preparation of inundation models for giving early warning to the villagers for evacuation in case of flood.
- National Guidelines on Landslides and Snow Avalanches: These are guidelines prepared by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to guide the activities envisaged for mitigating the risk emanating from landslides at all levels.
- Landslide Atlas of India: The Landslide Atlas of India is a document that provides the details of landslides present in landslide provinces of India, including damage assessment of specific landslide locations. It is prepared by the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), one of the centers of ISRO.