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Landslides in Himalayas
On August 20, 2024, a significant landslide struck East Sikkim, damaging nearly 20 houses and a hydropower project.
The landslide occurred in Dipu Dara, Gangtok district, impacting the powerhouse of the Teesta Stage V hydroelectric project managed by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) and blocking access to a main road.
Meanwhile, in Tripura, heavy rainfall and flooding since August 19 triggered around 2,000 landslides, resulting in the deaths of about a dozen people and displacing over 30,000 residents.
The state government prepared for further disasters as the India Meteorological Department forecasted heavy rainfall in the region until the end of August.
Simultaneously, in Himachal Pradesh, multiple landslides struck Shimla district on August 22 claiming 20 lives.
These landslides are part of a series of disasters recorded in these states since June highlighting a broader pattern in the Himalayan region.
According to the Geological Survey of India, the region accounted for 38 of the 41 landslides reported in the country during 2021-22, with Sikkim experiencing the highest number totaling 11.
NASA's Landslide Reporter recorded 1,121 landslides in the region between 2007 and 2017.
The Wayanad Landslides
Quarries scattered across ecologically sensitive areas may have contributed to the landslides in Wayanad.
Nevertheless, states continue to advocate for changes in these regions of the Western Ghats.
The Wayanad landslides on July 30 were not solely due to the district in Kerala receiving 6% of its annual rainfall in just a few hours. They were also the result of years of continuous exploitation of the region's delicate ecosystem. The disaster, which resulted in over 400 fatalities can be attributed to activities that have progressively undermined the natural defenses of the plateau located in the Western Ghats. Analysis of satellite images reveals that Wayanad has at least 48 stone quarries. The presence of these quarries in the satellite images indicates that they are either operational or have been abandoned without the required back-filling and reforestation as legally mandated to maintain the stability of the landscape.
In its report released on August 14, World Weather Attribution, a global group of climate scientists examining the effects of global warming on extreme weather noted that factors such as quarrying for building materials might have increased the vulnerability of slopes to landslides during heavy rainfall. To investigate the extent of quarrying in Wayanad, which is ranked 13th out of 147 landslide-prone districts in India according to the Landslide Atlas of India, satellite imagery of quarry sites was analyzed from the OpenStreetMap database. This imagery was overlaid on a map of the district to determine if the quarries were in ecologically sensitive areas (ESAs) identified by a High-Level Working Group in 2013.
The High-Level Working Group established by the Union Ministry of Environment in April 2012 aimed to create a comprehensive and sustainable development plan for the Western Ghats. Led by Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, former chairperson of the Indian Space Research Organisation, the group identified 4,156 villages across 59,940 square kilometers-37% of the mountain range as ESAs and recommended banning environmentally harmful activities in these areas. These villages were characterized by having at least 20% of their land under natural landscapes, including regions of high biological richness, wildlife corridors, or heritage sites. In response to these recommendations, the Union Ministry of Environment issued directives in November 2013 under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (EPA), prohibiting new quarrying, mining and other environmentally damaging activities in ESAs.
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