Why mountains in Himachal are rolling down

They say anthropological intervention along with climate change have worsened it further. Be it development of hydropower projects or tunnels or roads.

Shimla: While cloudbursts and flash floods in recent years have become a regular feature in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh, the loss of life caused by natural calamities can be mainly attributed to the increasing human interference, particularly in eco-sensitive Himalayan zones.

Experts said that since mountains in Himachal Pradesh are part of Himalayan range that are young and fragile in nature, creating cracks and fractures in the rock could widen in future and create a rockfall or slope failure zone — a phenomenon in which a slope collapses abruptly under the influence of rainfall or an earthquake.

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They say anthropological intervention along with climate change have worsened it further. Be it development of hydropower projects or tunnels or roads.

This monsoon the heavy rains also caused major landslides in the state’s Kangra district, claiming 10 lives. Terrifying videos capturing massive landslides in Sirmaur district are common these days.

Explaining why flooding and landslides are common in the hill states, Y.P. Sundriyal of the Department of Geology with Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University in Uttarakhand said, “Higher Himalayas, both climatically and tectonically, are highly sensitive, so much so, that at first stance the construction of mega hydro-projects should be avoided.

Or else they should be of small capacity. Secondly, the construction of roads should be done with all scientific techniques. At present, we just see roads are being made or widened without taking proper measures such as no slope stability, lack of good quality retaining wall and rock bolting. All these measures can restrict the damage done by landslides up to some extent.”