Himachal Pradesh prone to natural disasters, says study
Himachal Pradesh prone to natural disasters, says study
Subject :Geography
Section: Physical Geography Context:
Context: As Himachal Pradesh experiences the fury of nature in the form of landslides, cloud bursts, flash floods, snow avalanches and droughts year after year, natural hazards have become a matter of immediate concern, the hilly region’s latest State of Environment report shows.
The report, released by the Department of Environment, Science and Technology.
What is Landslide?
A landslide is defined as the movement of a mass of rock, debris, or earth, down a slope due to the action of gravity. Areas with steep slopes, for example, mountainous regions, are particularly susceptible to landslide hazards. Earth flow, mass movement, mudflow, rotational slip, and avalanches are all examples of landslides.
Types of Landslides
- Falls: It happens due to the abrupt movements of the mass of geologic materials, such as rocks and boulders, that become detached from steep slopes or cliffs.
- Topples: It happens due to the forward rotation of a unit or units about some pivotal point, under the actions of gravity and forces exerted by adjacent units or by fluids in cracks.
- Slides: In this type, rocks, debris, or soil slide through slope forming material.
- Spread: It usually occurs on very gentle slopes or flat terrain.
NDMA Landslide Zonation Map of India
National Landslide Risk Management Strategy
- National Landslide Risk Management Strategy was made by NDMA.
- It clearly brings out the message for the need to strengthen and mainstream landslide disaster preparedness, mitigation, response and relief mechanism through mapping, early warning system (EWS), awareness generation, capacity building, formulation of mountain zone regulations / policies and mitigation of problematic landslides.
National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM)
- The National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) was constituted under an Act of Parliament with a vision to play the role of a premier institute for capacity development in India and the region.
- The efforts in this direction that began with the formation of the National Centre for Disaster Management (NCDM) in 1995 gained impetus with its redesignation as the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) for training and capacity development.
- Under the Disaster Management Act 2005, NIDM has been assigned nodal responsibilities for human resource development, capacity building, training, research, documentation and policy advocacy in the field of disaster management.
Geological Survey of India (GSI),Ministry of Mines in collaboration with the British Geological Survey (BGS) under the National Environmental Research Council (NERC), UK funded, multi-consortium LANDSLIP project has developed a prototype regional Landslide Early Warning System (LEWS) for India, and the same is currently being evaluated and tested by GSI in two pilot areas in India(Darjeeling district. West Bengal, and the Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu).GSI has not developed any early warning system for glacier related disasters in the country. GSI has conducted studies on melting of the glaciers by assessment of mass balance studies and monitoring the recession/ advancement of selected Himalayan glaciers.
GSI through the LANDSLIP project is engaged in developing an experimental regional Landslide Early Warning System (LEWS) based on rainfall thresholds since 2017. The LANDSLIP research has developed a prototype model in 2020 based on the terrain-specific rainfall thresholds for two test areas (Darjeeling district, West Bengal, and the Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu).
LANDSLIP has been funded under the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)/Department for International Development (DFID) Science for Humanitarian Emergencies & Resilience (SHEAR) programme.
SHEAR aims to support improved disaster resilience and humanitarian response by advancing monitoring, assessment and prediction of natural hazards and risks across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and, through working with users, bringing this into use to reduce the impacts of disasters.