Land Slide At Malpa, Uttarakhand

Shilpi Aggarwal, MURP-III Date: 06.12.13 Disaster Mitigation & Management1

Index
 Landslide phenomena
 Indian Profile
 Malpa
 Cause and effect
 Negligence
 Cost Analysis
 Efforts made by Government
 Remedies
 Mitigation measures for landslide
 Case history
 Govt. initiatives

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 Landslide?
 Mass movements generally downward and outward movement of hill slopes
 Composed of rocks, soils, artificial fills or combination of all these materials
 Along surfaces of separation by falling, sliding and flowing, either slowly or
quickly from one place to another.

Causative factors of Landslide

Natural Anthropogenic

• Change in slope/
Inherent External
• Land use pattern,
• Gravity • Earthquake • Deforestation
• Litho logy • Forest fire • Deep excavation on slopes for
• Land form • Wave action • Buildings, roads, canals and mining
• Land cover • Rainfall • Inappropriate drainage system,
• Geological • Precipitation • Agricultural practices on steep slopes
• Hydrological • Volcanoes
conditions
• Slopes
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Type of Landslides
Falls:
Free-fall, bouncing, and rolling of materials
from steep slopes or cliffs.

Flows: Debris flow & avalanche: very rapid to

extremely rapid debris flow.

Creep: Slow, steady Downslope movement

of soil or rock

Slides:
1. Rotational 2. Translational 3. Topple
Rotational: Surface of rupture is curved concavely
upward (spoon shaped) and slump is created.
Translational: The mass of soil and rock moves
outward with little rotational movement & tilting.
Topple: A block of rock that tilts or rotates forward
and falls, bounces, or rolls down the slope
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 Landslides Occurrence, Affects and Parts
Occurrence Parts of Land slide
1. On steep slopes Crown: un-displaced material still in
2. Failure of drainage system place
3. Where certain geologic Main scarp : A steep surface on the
conditions exist undisturbed ground at the upper edge
of the landslide
Affects of land slide
1. Life threatening & causes injuries
2. Property damage- Resources like
1. Houses,Forests, dams, Roadways,
2. Water supply, Crown cracks
3. Sewage disposal systems Crown
3. Negative economic affect-
1. Loss of property value, Head
2. Medical cost
Transverse crack
3. Repair of structures,
4. Disruption in transportation routes, Transverse ridge
5. Indirect cost of loss of livestock and Radial
resources crack
4. Compromised quantity and
quality of land Toe Surface of
5. Costly Geotechnical studies Main body Rupture
Foot
For engineering projects to access a
stabilize potentially dangerous sites Surface of separation 5
Indian Profile Indian Profile

Annual rainfall
landslide zones
Seismic zones
India
India
India

Zone II up to 4.9
Zone III up to 6.9
Zone IV up to 7.9
Zone V 8 and more

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 Himalayan Tragedies
Indian Profile
Aug 12: Aug 19:
Landslide location
69 killed near >25 killed near
Rudraprayag Ukhimath

Aug 19: 18 august 1998, at 3:00 a.m. MALPA, Uttarakhand

6 killed in the hills
 Massive rock fall killed 210 people in the Kali Valley
of Dehradun Dist.
 15 M high heap of debris
 The village was wiped out in the event.
 Disrupted Road network to Man-Sarovar
 Prolonged Heavy rains 13-16 Aug, decreased cohesion and
shearing resistance, leading to instability, slope failure and free
falls of rock masses on the dip slope 60°–70° north-eastward 7
 Malpa Tragedy
Malpa Gad
Before Landslide

Malpa Gad
after Landslide

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Rainfall in the month of August

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Tectonic setting of the Kali Valley
Tectonic setting of the Kali Valley
Tethyan Super Group Tethyan Sediments
1954 Earthquake
Tethyan Shear Zone
magnitude 6.2
Martoli Formation Grey quartzite schist
Pindhari Formation Calc-silicate
Pandukeswar Formation Quartzite
Joshimath Formation Migmatite
Malpa
Main central Vaikrita Thrust

1916 Earthquake
magnitude 7.5

Causes of land slide

 Malpa located along major fault

 neo-tectonic strike-slip movements
 Extreme shear of rocks and
 Prolonged heavy rain fall

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event took about 2.30 hrs,
Rock Fall Scar
MALPA
00.30 AM to 3.00 AM on (3000M)
Debri Channel
I
August 17–18, 1998
Debri Channel II Dam Lake

Debri Channel III

Mansarovar Yatri Old Landslide Deposit

CampSite 1998

PWD Rest House

Kali River Old stream Malpa Village

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 Cost Analysis
1. Personal interviews, and field surveys: To collect primary information, and
extent of losses
2. land-use pattern study: from the records of State Govt. tehsil office, Dharachula
3. Past events: 1977 Tawaghat landslide took a toll of 44
4. Total cost involved
– number of persons and animals killed in the accident
– annual income by earned porters and horses and mules keepers
– disruption to communication routes Landuse at Malpa

• Public cost: Footpath

7%
Streams
4%
Cultivable waste land
– Compensation paid for the loss of River
16%
34%

human and animal lives by the

Govt. Settlement
Land under cultivation
– cost of lost public properties i.e. 17%
22%

KMVN huts, PWD Office building, Cultivable waste land Land under cultivation Settlement River Footpath Streams

army huts, transport routes, etc.

• Private cost:
– cost incurred by the local people,
for which no compensation was
paid by the govt.
Cost not included:
rescue operation,
investigation costs,
>65% cost is due to damage to settlements &
livestock population
could have been minimized if the hazard prone
areas had been timely recognized
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 Damage and Estimated Cost
Table 1. Damage as per official records at Malpa Estimated Cost of Landslide Damage at Malpa

Particulars Damage (no./ Area Ha.) Particulars Public Cost Private Cost Total Cost
(Rs.) (Rs.) (Rs.)
Missing persons ( M182 M+ 25 F)=207
Livestock 1,38,000 9,22,650 10,60,650
Animals 69
Setlement 21,55,000 4,90,000 26,45,000
Houses 5
Agricultual land - 60,430 60,430
Huts (KMVN*+PWD*+Army) 2+2+1)=5
Barran Land - 1,08,000 1,08,000
Wooden Bridge 1 Plants/Vegetatio - 28,500 28,500
Cultvable Land 0.408 Ha n
Wooden Bridge 1,00,000 - 1,00,000
Barran Land 1.701 Ha
Porter’s Income - 3,26,700 3,26,700
Total Land 2.951Ha Other Items 6,00,000 7,64,923 13,64,923
*KMVN: Kumaun Mandal Vikas Nigam , PWD: Public Works Dept.
Total 29,93,000 27,01,203 56,94,203
Source: Tahsil Office, Dharachula and field survey, 1998.

Private cost not compensated by Govt.

Missing persons included: 118 local people,
(207) 60 pilgrims,
12 Nepal citizens,
8 Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel,
5 Staff members of KMVN,
4 Police personnel,
As per official records: 69 animals,
As per Field Survey: 125 Domestic animals 12
 Reasons for Malpa tragedy
 Himalayan ranges are susceptible to landslides, rock fall and flash floods.

 Responsible reasons for tragedy:

 Negligence of the recommendations made by the geological experts
 overlooking the early signals of the catastrophe
 Knowledge gaps:
 Non-availability of scientifically collected data related to
 Past events,
 Landslide costs, and
 Absence of hydro-meteorological data, etc. which withheld advance
planning for hazard mitigation.
 Awareness among locals
 educate the people about mountain risks and hazards
 Possible ways of living with these hazards.
 Site-specific hazard zone maps to give a broad picture, useful for
regional planning.
 Mitigation measures
 To reduce the risk of such events in the future.
 Effective R&D efforts for management of the natural mountain
environment. Programmes for identification of hazard zones,
 Regular monitoring of deformation patterns
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 Landslide Risk Management
• Landslide Classification based on
– Velocity (m/sec) of landslides,
– depth of landslides: surface, shallow, deep, and very deep
– Area affected by landslides: volume of landslide and mud flow cubic meter
• Principle Landslide driving force is the gravitational force
• Identifying Landslide Areas: costly procedures as surveying, monitoring or soil testing, not
affordable/feasible in rural regions

Simpler effective methods are: Potential landslide risk indicators:

 Existing or historic landslides  New cracks or unusual bulges in the

 Hollow Areas at the base of slopes, top of
a slope or cut slope,
 V-shaped valleys, canyon bottoms, and
steep stream channels
 Fan shaped areas of sediments and
boulders accumulation at the outlet of
canyons
 Areas with large boulders (2’-20’diameter)
suspended on soil or adjacent to creeks
 Logjams in streams or Steep hill slopes
above a home or hamlet
 Areas by excavation, Steep road cuts,
sunk or down-dropped road beds,
 Moderate slopes exposed to high water
flow
ground, roads or pavements
 Movement of furniture in relation to house
 Sticking doors/windows,
 Soil moving away from foundations
 Tilt or crack in floors/foundations
 Broken underground utilities
 Leaning telephone poles, trees, retaining
walls or fences
 Offset fence lines or retaining walls

 Sunken or displaced road surfaces
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Hazard zonation mapping
Hazard zonation mapping involves: Five strategies comprising:

i) Creation of landslide inventory. i) Treating vulnerable slopes and

existing hazardous landslides.

ii) Selecting scales for mapping ii) Restricting development in landslide-

depending upon end-user requirements. prone areas.

iii) Selecting landslide hazard zonation iii) Preparing codes for excavation,
methodologies for different scales. construction and grading.

iv) Protecting existing developments.

iv) Multi-hazard integration especially
integrating seismic hazard. v) Monitoring and warning systems.

v) Prioritisation of areas for landslide vi) Putting in place arrangements for

hazard zonation mapping. landslide insurance and compensation
for losses.
vi) Landslide risk zonation.

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Monitoring of landslides includes: Early warning :
i) Surface measurements of landslide activity. i) Scientific and technical communities.
ii) Sub-surface measurements of landslide activity. ii) Government authorities and civil agencies.
iii) Total regime measurements. iii) Local communities.

Highlights of Important Recommendations

i) Development and continuously updating the inventory of landslide
ii) Identification and prioritisation of the areas and mapping in consultation with the Border
Roads Organisation, state govts. and local communities.
iii) Taking up pilot projects in different regions of the country with a view to carry out detailed
studies and monitoring of selected landslides to assess their stability status and estimate risk.
iv) Setting pace setter examples for stabilisation of slides and also setting up early warning
systems depending on the
risk evaluation and cost-benefit ratio.
v) Site specific studies and encourage state governments to carry out treatment measures
vi) Institutional mechanisms to generate awareness and preparedness among various
stakeholders.
vii) Education, training of professionals and capacity development of organisations working
in the field of landslide management.
viii) Capacity development and training to make the response regime more effective.
ix) Development of new codes and guidelines on landslide studies and revision of existing ones.
x) Establishment of an autonomous national centre for landslide research, studies and
management.

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Landslide Risk Management
 The Malpa landslide tragedy brought the attention of the Central Government to the
problem of landslides
 3 national level task forces constituted by Dept. of Sc.& Tech.
 Enactment of disaster management act in 2005,
 Establishment of National Disaster Management Authority (NIDM) under the
chairmanship of Hon’ble Prime Minister
 NIDM mandated to organize training programmes, seminars, workshops and
conferences on disaster management
 International Recognition to NIDM

International Authority Recognition to NIDM

International Consortium on Landslides (ICL)
Global Promotion Committee
International Progarmme on Landslides by
International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
(IPL-ISDR),
World Centre of Excellence on Landslide
Disaster Reduction (WCoE-LDR)
For training and capacity development for
landslide risk reduction

Training Module on Comprehensive Landslides Risk Management

Developed by Dr. Surya Prakash. Asso. Prof. NIDM, New Delhi
Covers
 Morphology of landslide
 Landslide scenario in India and other countries
 Impact and hazard management in India
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Cause & effects of landslides
Cause Effect

Rock cutting Sudden and fast drawdown Agricultural practices on hills

resulting Landslides

Ruptured joints in pipelines De-aligned Retaining walls Monitoring wall cracks using
paper slips with markings
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 Minimize the effect
• Role of Planners and Decision Makers
• Implementation of regional hazard and risk assessments into land planning policies.
• Slope stability issues and zoning for future development is directed towards areas with
a low risk of slope instability.
• Engineering and geotechnical investigation defining landslide hazard and risk at site
specific levels of investigation.
• Mapping of landslide vulnerability to help the emergency response scenarios.

Net barriers to reduce the impacts

of debris flow,

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Minimize the effect of Landslide

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Instruments used for measurement and control

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Instruments used for measurement and control

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 Post disaster efforts

Rapid Damage Assessment Report

Event Details: Geographic Location (Longitude, Latitude, Altitude) -
Event Type (Slide/Flow/Fall/Subsidence) –
Landslide Dimensions (Length, Width & Depth in meters)
Magnitude of Disaster (Scale & Level)-
Response (Community/Agency)-
Chronology of events
Impacts on Life: Deaths and injured
Impacts on Buildings / Structures:Infra-structure
Landscape Changes / Ground Failures / Environmental Impacts:
Projects/Activities affected:
Total Losses (Approx.): Tangible (in rupees)
Intangible (in brief description)

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