Uttarakhand: Landslides, subsidence - Revision history

Jyoti: /* 2023, Aug */

2025-09-22T08:53:51Z

‎2023, Aug

Jyoti: /* Areas prone to landslides */

2025-08-21T18:50:06Z

‎Areas prone to landslides

Jyoti: /* Areas prone to landslides */

2023-11-19T22:21:06Z

‎Areas prone to landslides

Jyoti: /* 2007-11 */

2023-10-12T21:45:52Z

‎2007-11

Jyoti: /* As in 2023, March */

2023-09-13T20:48:04Z

‎As in 2023, March

Jyoti: /* Land subsidence */

2023-03-17T17:34:12Z

‎Land subsidence

Jyoti: /* Joshimath */

2023-02-06T16:17:11Z

‎Joshimath

Jyoti at 16:09, 6 February 2023

2023-02-06T16:09:17Z

Pdewan: /* See also */

2023-01-29T16:56:48Z

‎See also

Jyoti at 06:54, 29 January 2023

2023-01-29T06:54:36Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:53, 22 September 2025
Line 155:		Line 155:

	With inputs from Shivani Azad		With inputs from Shivani Azad
		+
		+	==Gangotri, Yamunotri highways==
		+	[https://epaper.indiatimes.com/article-share?article=29_08_2025_017_005_cap_TOI Ashish Mishra TNN, August 29, 2025: ''The Times of India'']
		+
		+
		+	Uttarkashi : Continuous rain in the Garhwal hills of Uttarakhand have sharply increased the number of danger-prone landslide zones on the Gangotri highway leading to Dharali, which was hit by devastating flash floods earlier this month. Also, there has been a rise in danger zones along the highway to Yamunotri where a temporary lake had formed in the Syanachatti area near the shrine town.
		+
		+	Officials said the Gangotri and Yamunotri routes now have “23 active danger spots”, up from 16 last year. On the Gangotri highway (NH-34), the number of vulnerable sites has risen from 10 to 15, with new slide zones reported at Dharasu, Nalupani, Naluna and Dabrani. The Yamunotri highway (NH-134) has seen a similar rise, with Kalyani and Jangalchatti added to the six pre-existing danger spots.  Disaster management officer, Uttarkashi, Shardul Gusain said that persistent rains in July-Aug have reactivated the old zones and triggered new ones, significantly heightening risks for pilgrims and motorists on these fragile stretches.
		+
		+	“The 15 danger zones are located along 128km of the Gangotri NH stretch from Dharasu to Gangotri, while eight such zones were detected along 105km of the Yamunotri highway from Dharasu to Yamunotri,” Gusain added.
		+
		+	“New landslide zones are becoming increasingly active due to heavy rains. We’ll start protective work in these zones once the rain subsides. Our priority is also to open the major roads at the earliest. Currently, the road near Yamunotri and Jangalchatti is closed, while work is ongoing in Harsil on the Gangotri route,” DM Prashant Arya told TOI .
		+
		+	The Met department forecast “heavy to very heavy rainfall” across the state till Sept 2, cautioning that “saturated slopes in hill districts could trigger fresh landslides and road blockages”.
		+
		+	[[Category:Development\|L UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDESUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE
		+	UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE]]
		+	[[Category:India\|L UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDESUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE
		+	UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE]]
		+	[[Category:Pages with broken file links\|UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE
		+	UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE]]

	=Landslides: the toll=		=Landslides: the toll=

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:50, 21 August 2025
Line 155:		Line 155:

	With inputs from Shivani Azad		With inputs from Shivani Azad
		+
		+	=Landslides: the toll=
		+	==2010- 2020==
		+	[https://epaper.indiatimes.com/article-share?article=10_08_2025_018_010_cap_TOI Gaurav Talwar, August 10, 2025: ''The Times of India'']
		+
		+	Dehradun : The flash flood that flattened Dharali village this week is the latest in a deadly pattern of natural disasters in Uttarakhand. Flash floods and landslides have claimed 705 lives in the hill state over the past decade, with flash floods alone killing 389, disaster management data shows.
		+
		+	As per details accessed by TOI , 316 people lost their lives in landslides during the same period. The twin disasters — typically triggered by intense rainfall, glacial activity or cloudbursts — have emerged as the most lethal consequences of the region’s rapidly changing climate. Overall, nearly 3,500 people have died in incidents of natural disasters in Uttarakhand in the last 10 years, the data shows.
		+
		+	The alarming death toll aligns with recent scientific studies that flag Uttarakhand as a hotspot of extreme hydrometeorological events, with increasing frequency and intensity since 2010.
		+
		+	A study published in the Journal of the Geological Society of India in July warned of a sharp spike in cloudbursts, flash floods and surface runoff events across state over past 15 years. The study examined 140 extreme hydro-meteorological events recorded in nearly four decades of climate data, most clustered between 30°–31°N latitude and 79°–80.5°E longitude — a zone aligned with the Main Central Thrust, a major geological fault line. Rudraprayag and Bageshwar emerged as key hotspots, owing to the region’s geological fragility and the influence of orographic lifting.
		+
		+	An intergovernmental panel on climate change report on ‘Changes in Climate Extremes and their Impact on Natural Physical Environment’ notes that climate change is altering the frequency, intensity, spatial extent, duration and timing of weather extremes — leading to unprecedented events.
		+
		+	Published in Natural Hazards, another study by IIT Gandhinagar researchers warns that flash floods — sudden, high-intensity events triggered by extreme rainfall — are becoming more frequent and severe across India.
		+
		+	Himalayas, west coast and central India have emerged as key flash flood hotspots, with steep terrain and dense drainage systems in the Himalayas intensifying the threat.
		+
		+	Experts say the growing risk from extreme weather events demands urgent action — including climate-resilient infrastructure, updated dam design standards, district-level early warning systems and a halt to unchecked development in hazard-prone zones.
		+
		+	[[Category:Development\|L UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDESUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE
		+	UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE]]
		+	[[Category:India\|L UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDESUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE
		+	UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE]]
		+	[[Category:Pages with broken file links\|UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE
		+	UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE]]

	=Subsidence=		=Subsidence=

@@ Line 155: / Line 155: @@
  With inputs from Shivani Azad
 [[Category:Development|L UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDESUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE
 UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE]]
 [[Category:India|L UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDESUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE
 UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE]]

@@ Line 164: / Line 164: @@
 ==2007-11==
 [[File: monsoon landslides, uttarakhand.jpg|Uttarakhand: Landslides,year-wise: 2007-11; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, Sep 6, 2011|frame|500px]]
 See graphic, 'Uttarakhand: Landslides,year-wise: 2007-11'
 =See also=

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:48, 13 September 2023
Line 119:		Line 119:

	It further shows that “over 11,000 landslides were recorded in Uttarakhand in the last two decades”, and the routes with maximum landslide zones includes Rishikesh-Rudraprayag-Chamoli-Badrinath, Rudraprayag-Ukhimath-Kedarnath, Chamoli-Ukhimath, Rishikesh-Uttarkashi-Gangotri-Gaumukh and Pithoragarh-Khela-Malpa.		It further shows that “over 11,000 landslides were recorded in Uttarakhand in the last two decades”, and the routes with maximum landslide zones includes Rishikesh-Rudraprayag-Chamoli-Badrinath, Rudraprayag-Ukhimath-Kedarnath, Chamoli-Ukhimath, Rishikesh-Uttarkashi-Gangotri-Gaumukh and Pithoragarh-Khela-Malpa.
		+
		+	==2023, Aug==
		+	[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/article-share?article=20_08_2023_023_004_cap_TOI Gaurav Talwar, August 20, 2023: ''The Times of India'']
		+
		+	[[File: 5 worst landslide zones in Uttarakhand, July 9- August 14, 2023.jpg\|5 worst landslide zones in Uttarakhand, July 9- August 14, 2023 <br/> From: [https://epaper.timesgroup.com/article-share?article=20_08_2023_023_004_cap_TOI Gaurav Talwar, August 20, 2023: ''The Times of India'']\|frame\|500px]]
		+
		+	This is proving to be one of the deadliest monsoons in Uttarakhand with more than 75 people killed in natural disasters since the rains started two months ago. Over 80% of them have died in landslides.
		+
		+	The Geological Survey of India says 72% of Uttarakhand – nearly 39,000 sq.km area – is landslideprone. Isro’s ‘Landslide Atlas of India’ also says Uttarakhand had the second highest number of landslides – 11,219 to Mizoram’s 12,385 – between 1988 and 2022.
		+
		+	When it comes to districts, Rudraprayag and Tehri in Uttarakhand’s Garhwal region are the most landslide-prone in India. Tehri alone has 96 of the 333 landslideprone ‘danger zones’ identified in the state.
		+
		+	''' Toll Was Never So High '''
		+
		+	Landslides on roads and in inhabited areas can be deadly, and more than 300 people have died in such incidents in Uttarakhand since 2015. This year, there have been 19 confirmed deaths in natural disasters since June 15 in Rudraprayag district alone. Another 15 people are missing since the August 4 landslide at Gaurikund near the Kedarnath trek route.
		+
		+	Scientists and local people are alarmed because there have been almost five times as many landslides as last year with more than a month of the monsoon remaining. Data from the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) shows 1,123 landslides this year compared with 245 in 2022.
		+
		+	''' Human Hand In Disasters '''
		+
		+	Yashpal Sundriyal, professor at the HNB Garhwal University in Srinagar (Pauri Garhwal), says both natural and manmade factors have caused this increase: “The change in rain pattern, rise in extreme weather events like cloudburst, flash flood and torrential rain, and unscientific infrastructure development involving relentless road construction and tunnelling in the hills have led to this situation.”
		+
		+	Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority executive director Piyoosh Rautela told TOI: “Landslide denotes any down-slope movement of soil and rock under the direct influence of gravity. Being a hill state, Uttarakhand is vulnerable to natural disasters, including landslides. The problem increases with rain as continuous precipitation disturbs the natural stability of a slope.”
		+	A recent study by a group of Indian and foreign scientists identified 309 “fully or partially road-blocking landslides” along the 247km road stretch between Rishikesh and Joshimath, which translates into an average of 1.25 landslides per km.
		+
		+	The study, which was introduced for discussion at the European Geosciences Union, pointed out that, besides natural conditions like rain, road construction and widening under the ongoing Char Dham road project may have formed new landslide areas.
		+
		+	''' Making Hills Safer '''
		+
		+	Experts say careful planning is a must in the hills as haphazard development is a recipe for disaster. “Himalayan states – be it Uttarakhand or Himachal – are built on slopes. Each area has different magnitudes of slope, curvature, rock lithology, rock strength, etc, so a geo-technical study to make risk maps and landslide susceptibility and landslide vulnerability maps could ensure safety in events of heavy rainfall and landslide in the Himalayan region,” says Kalachand Sain, director of Doon-based Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG).
		+
		+	Veteran activist and environmentalist Ravi Chopra, who headed the Supreme Court-appointed high-powered committee on the Char Dham all-weather road project, stresses on ‘mindful’ construction in the hills. “Himalayas are young mountains and still not very well-formed. So we need to be careful in how we undertake development, particularly infrastructure development. We must remember that forests are the backbone of the mountain environment… but Uttarakhand has lost the maximum amount of forest land in recent times. This has exposed the mountain slopes to weaknesses.”
		+
		+	Chopra says climate change could make the situation dire. “In a desire to boost tourism, we have rapidly built major highways without taking adequate geological and ecological care. As a result, our slopes are getting weaker. As rain intensity increases with climate change, we will probably see many more disasters of the type we have begun to witness now.”
		+
		+	With inputs from Shivani Azad

	[[Category:Development\|L UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDESUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE		[[Category:Development\|L UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDESUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:34, 17 March 2023
Line 100:		Line 100:

	NTPC, India’s biggest power producer, has denied its construction activities led to land subsidence.		NTPC, India’s biggest power producer, has denied its construction activities led to land subsidence.
		+
		+	=Areas prone to landslides=
		+	==As in 2023, March==
		+	[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/article-share?article=10_03_2023_018_001_cap_TOI Gaurav.Talwar, March 10, 2023: ''The Times of India'']
		+
		+
		+	Dehradun : The two hill districts of Rudraprayag and Tehri in Uttarakhand have the “maximum exposure to landslide risk in the country”, according to the ‘Landslide Atlas’ report prepared by Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of Isro.
		+
		+	Rudraprayag has 32 chronic landslide zones, with the maximum located on NH-107 that leads to the holy town, according to the District Emergency Operation Centre. Similarly, Tehri including Totaghati, which has been identified as a “very chronic landslide site”.
		+
		+	Rudraprayag and Tehri have been ranked first and second respectively among 147 districts from across the country, which are prone to landslides. Chamoli, which houses subsidence-hit Joshimath, is at 19th position.
		+
		+	District disaster management officer of Rudraprayag, NK Rajwar, said, “The Sirobagad and Narkota landslide zones are the most problematic as they remain active almost throughout the year. On the other hand, maximum landslide zones are activated during the monsoon season. ”
		+
		+	According to data from the State Emergency Operation Centre, between 2018 and 2021, Uttarakhand reported 253 landslides, which resulted in127 deaths.
		+
		+	Rajouri and Pulwama (J&K); Kozhikode, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram (Kerala); and South Sikkim and East Sikkim (Sikkim) are the other high risk districts , according to the Landslide Susceptibility Zonation Map. In one of the major disasters, on June 29, 2022, at least 79 people were killed in a landslide in the Noney district of Manipur.
		+
		+	It further shows that “over 11,000 landslides were recorded in Uttarakhand in the last two decades”, and the routes with maximum landslide zones includes Rishikesh-Rudraprayag-Chamoli-Badrinath, Rudraprayag-Ukhimath-Kedarnath, Chamoli-Ukhimath, Rishikesh-Uttarkashi-Gangotri-Gaumukh and Pithoragarh-Khela-Malpa.

	[[Category:Development\|L UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDESUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE		[[Category:Development\|L UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDESUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:17, 6 February 2023
Line 74:		Line 74:
	(With inputs from Kautilya Singh and Pankul Sharma in Dehradun, Gaurav Talwar in Karnaprayag, Sonali Mishra in Nainital, Abhyudaya Kotnala in Uttarkashi & Pramod Dalakoti in Almora)		(With inputs from Kautilya Singh and Pankul Sharma in Dehradun, Gaurav Talwar in Karnaprayag, Sonali Mishra in Nainital, Abhyudaya Kotnala in Uttarkashi & Pramod Dalakoti in Almora)

		+	=Land subsidence=
		+	==Places at risk: As in 2023 Jan==
		+	[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/joshimath-sinking-town-in-indian-himalayas-spotlights-risks-of-development/articleshow/97018583.cms Bloomberg, January 17, 2023: ''The Times of India'']
		+
		+
		+	A sinking Himalayan town is highlighting the dangers posed to the region and the fragile ecology of the mountain range disturbed by a proliferation of dams, roads and military sites near the border with China.
		+
		+	The risks, flagged for decades by environmentalists and activists, came to the fore recently after land subsidence — gradual sinking due to displacement of underground earth layers — led to cracks in hundreds of homes in the tiny town of Joshimath, located at an altitude of over 6,000 feet (1,830 meters) in the northern hill state of Uttarakhand.
		+
		+	The high seismic risk zone is dotted with several picturesque towns and villages that are gateways to hiking trails, Hindu pilgrimage sites and strategic outposts in India’s lingering border dispute with China. The region is already vulnerable to frequent extreme weather events and landslides. A massive cloudburst in 2013 left more than 5,000 dead in the state.
		+
		+	The risks, flagged for decades by environmentalists and activists, came to the fore recently after land subsidence — gradual sinking due to displacement of underground earth layers — led to cracks in hundreds of homes in the tiny town of Joshimath, located at an altitude of over 6,000 feet (1,830 meters) in the northern hill state of Uttarakhand.
		+
		+	The high seismic risk zone is dotted with several picturesque towns and villages that are gateways to hiking trails, Hindu pilgrimage sites and strategic outposts in India’s lingering border dispute with China. The region is already vulnerable to frequent extreme weather events and landslides. A massive cloudburst in 2013 left more than 5,000 dead in the state.
		+
		+	“The villages and townships in the northern part of Uttarakhand are located along the major active thrust zones within the Himalayas and are very sensitive because of the fragile ecosystem of the region,” said Rajeev Upadhyay, professor of geology at the Kumaun University in Nainital. “Many habitations, which are built on the debris of old landslides, are already under natural stress and man-made constructions are adding further stress to the region.”
		+
		+	Incidents of land sinking in the Joshimath area were reported as early as the 1970s. A rapid subsidence of a maximum of 5.4 centimeters was triggered in Joshimath town in the 12 days up to Jan. 8. Slow subsidence of a maximum of 9 centimeters (3.5 inches) was recorded in the seven months leading to November last year, according to a statement and satellite images released by the National Remote Sensing Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation.
		+
		+	“If you do a lot of excessive mechanical activities in the region, the land will be prone to slide,” said Upadhyay. “The whole area is vulnerable to subsidence.”
		+
		+	''' Here are some places in Uttarakhand that could be at risk: '''
		+
		+	Joshimath: The site of the current disaster is a major military and administrative hub. Millions of devotees cross this garrison town each year to reach Badrinath, a holy town for Hindus. The state-run NTPC Ltd. is working on a hydroelectric power project nearby. India’s top court will hear a petition from a local religious leader next week seeking to halt construction of the power project blaming it for the damage.
		+
		+	NTPC, India’s biggest power producer, has denied its construction activities led to land subsidence.
		+
		+	[[Category:Development\|L UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDESUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE
		+	UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE]]
		+	[[Category:India\|L UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDESUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCEUTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE
		+	UTTARAKHAND: LANDSLIDES, SUBSIDENCE]]

	=YEAR-WISE=		=YEAR-WISE=