Explain steps taken to curb landslides in Nainital: HC
Secretary, disaster management, asked to be present in court on November 24
DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand high court has issued summons to the secretary, disaster management department, to remain personally present in the court on November 24 to explain what measures the state government has taken so far for to check landslides in Nainital.
A division bench of chief justice RS Chauhan and justice Alok Kumar Verma gave the direction on Wednesday while hearing a PIL filed in 2018 by Nainital-based advocate Sayed Nadim Khurshid. In the PIL, Khurshid had sought directions to the authorities concerned to take urgent steps for landslide mitigation in Nainital.
Khurshid apprised the HC that Baliyanala in Nainital has been frequently witnessing landslides, especially during monsoons, endangering the lives of the people living in the area. He said nearly 65 families had been shifted to safe areas after Baliyanala again witnessed landslides during the rain fury in the district last month.
Khurshid said despite the landslides endangering the lives of the people in the area, the state government has not taken any action on the ground to treat the fragile mountainside to check landslides in the area.
In September 2018, HC had constituted a high-power committee for studying and suggesting a treatment plan for landslide-prone Baliyanala. The committee of experts, constituted by the government after landslides at Baliyanala site in September, came up with its report in November 2018 on how to treat the fragile mountainside in the Himalayan hill station. The 60-page report by the committee of experts was submitted to the HC on November 30, 2018. After that the court directed the chief secretary that he discuss the report with senior officials and come up with a concrete plan for treating the Baliyanala mountainside and submit the same to the court.
The main remedial measures suggested in the report include planning and design of surface drainage network by strengthening the existing drainage network in the catchment area to channelise the rainwater and household discharge that is weakening the slope.
The report had recommended that the initiation zone at the crown (top) of the mountainside be treated with the soil nailing technique, which may be a feasible and cost-effective solution. It was also recommended that the toe (base) of the mountainside be treated with construction of retaining walls with adequate provision of weep holes. The inclined perforated drainage pipes should be installed in between nails to drain out the seepage water from the slope.
Stressing that a permanent solution was required to be evolved to protect Baliyanala from further erosion, HC had noted in its 2018 order, “Himalayas were the youngest mountain range and still rising. The strata of Nainital town is also fragile. It is prone to landslides, erosions, creeping and sinking. The area adjacent to Baliyanala has human establishments. The residents of this area are shifted temporarily whenever there is largescale landslide.”
Since 2018, this small hill station and the areas around it are again witnessing landslides and cracks on the roads, with experts terming them as warning signs that all was not geological terrain in and around the lake area. The recent landslide which occurred on one side of Nainital lake and in Baliyanala area again put spotlight on how fragile the slopes around the lake was and how they were susceptible to major damage in case a big earthquake rocks the area or a major landslide is triggered by heavy rains. According to geologists, the area around Nainital lake is laden with soft sedimentary rocks, which makes them very fragile and prone to cave-ins Given the fragile geological terrain, small area and high density of concrete structures over the slopes, Nainital has become one of the most prone to damage by landslides in the state. In 1880, 151 people were killed in a major landslide in Nainital’s Sher Ka Danda area. After the 1880 tragedy, Britishers had developed a 79 km drain network on the hill slopes around
Nainital and divided Nainital into safe and prohibited zones for constructions. But constructions have come up in the same zones as well. And some constructions are over three storeys.
Vishal Singh, executive director, Centre for Ecology, Development and Research (CEDAR), Dehradun said though Nainital area falls in zone IV of earthquake zoning map of India, the small town has a history of geological disturbances.
“Nainital has witnessed landslides in 1867, 1880, 1893, 1898, 1924, 1989 and 1998. The Britishtime drainage system built to stabilise the slopes lie choked with debris of garbage and concrete, dumped by mindless house and road builders. The recent landslide is an example of an approach where geological history, slope instability and aspects of sustainable development have been ignored, despite warnings from the experts” said Singh
A few years ago, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee had conducted a study on the vulnerability of the slopes and roads around Nainital Lake, especially the section of the famous Mall Road adjoining it. Based on the report, public works department had sent a detailed project report of Rs 41 crore to the state government, but not much materialised on the project so far. The report clearly mentioned that 200 metres high and 165 metres long patch on the slope above the Mall Road was highly fragile and vulnerable up to 22 metres depth and as such it needed immediate reinforcement.
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