Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag, Tehri top landslide index: ISRO report

Tags: INDEX

According to the recently released 'Landslide Atlas' report of ISRO's Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Center (NRSC), the two hilly districts of Uttarakhand, Rudraprayag and Tehri, are most prone to landslides.

An overview of the news

• The National Remote Sensing Center has released a list of 147 districts prone to landslides across the country, in which Rudraprayag is at number one and Tehri at number two.

• Kerala's Thrissur and Palakkad districts are at 3rd and 5th spots respectively.

• Rajouri and Pulwama (J&K), Kozhikode and Malappuram (Kerala), and South Sikkim and East Sikkim (Sikkim) are the other high risk districts.

• Rudraprayag, which tops the list, is also home to the famous Kedarnath shrine, which witnessed a devastating disaster in 2013 that killed thousands.

• Sirobgarh and Narkota areas of Rudraprayag are most affected by landslides. Landslides are reported here throughout the year.

Landslide Prone Districts

• According to the District Emergency Operation Centre, Rudraprayag has 32 old landslide zones, the maximum of which are located on NH-107.

• Tehri district has over two dozen landslide zones, including Totaghatiwhich has been identified as a "very chronic landslide site".

• Chamoli district, which recently came into limelight due to landslides in Joshimath, is at number 19 among the districts at risk of landslides.

• As per the State Emergency Operation Center data, between 2018 and 2021, 253 landslides occurred in Uttarakhand, resulting in 127 deaths.

• Over 11,000 landslides were recorded in Uttarakhand in the last two decades.

• Among these, maximum landslide areas fall on Rishikesh-Rudraprayag-Chamoli-Badrinath, Rudraprayag-Ukhimath-Kedarnath, Chamoli-Ukhimath, Rishikesh-Uttarkashi-Gangotri route.