NATIONAL CHENG KUNG UNIVERSITY

TAINAN, TAIWAN

MITIGATION METHOD AND TECHNOLOGY

IN METEROLOGICAL HAZARDS
HOMEWORK 1

NAME:RODRIGUEZ ARTHURS S A
STUDENT ID : N16057130
LECTURE : Dr. TINGYEH WU
LANDSLIDES IN INDIA:

India has the highest mountain chain on earth, the Himalayas, which are formed due to collision
of Indian and Eurasian plate, the northward movement of the Indian plate towards China
causes continuous stress on the rocks rendering them friable, weak and prone to landslides and
earthquakes. The slow motion of the Indian crust, about 5 cm/year accumulates stress to which
natural disasters are attributed. Some landslides make unique, and unparalleled catastrophes.
Landslides and avalanches are among the major hydro-geological hazards that affect large parts
of India besides the Himalayas, the Northeastern hill ranges, the Western Ghats, the Nilgiris,
the Eastern Ghats and the Vindhyans, in that order, covering about 15 % of the landmass. The
Himalayas alone count for landslides of every fame, name and description- big and small, quick
and creeping, ancient and new. The Northeastern region is badly affected by landslide problems
of a bewildering variety. Landslides in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal as also those in
Sikkim, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh pose chronic
problems, causing recurring economic losses worth billions of rupees. A different variety of
landslides, characterized by a lateritic cap, pose constant threat to the Western Ghats in the
South, along the steep slopes overlooking the Konkan coast besides Nilgiris, which is highly
landslide prone.

Some spectacular events of tragedies are reported as Varnavat landslide, Uttarkashi District,
Malpha landslide Pithoragarh district, Okhimath landslide in Chamoli district, UK and Paglajhora
in Darjeeling district as well as Sikkim, Aizawl sports complex, Mizoram. These are some of the
more recent examples of landslides. The problem therefore needs to be tackled for mitigation
and management for which hazard zones have to be identified and specific slides to be
stabilized and managed in addition to monitoring and early warning systems to be placed at
selected sites. The Photograph of Okhimath landslide which formed a lake in
Madhyamaheshwerganga, Rudraprayag district.
Landslide is a natural phenomenon which is caused majorly due to heavy rains, floods,
earthquakes, construction etc.

In past years, there have been some serious and fatal landslides in India. Here is a list of
worst landslides that you should know:

Guwahati landslide, Assam: The landslide took place on September 18, 1948 due to
heavy rains. Over 500 people died in the landslide and according to the reports, the
landslide buried an entire village

Darjeeling landslide, West Bengal: The landslide happened around October 4, 1968.
The landslide was triggered by floods and the 60 km long highway was cut in 91 parts.
As per reports, thousands of people died in the landslide

Malpa landslide, Uttarakhand: Consecutives landslides occurred between August 11

and August 17 in 1998 in the village of Malpa where over 380 people died as the entire
village washed away in the landslide. The landslide is one of the worst landslides in India

Mumbai landslide, Maharashtra: The landslide was caused in July 2000. The landslide
took place in the suburbs of Mumbai due heavy rains which was followed by land
erosion. As per reports around 67 people died and the local trains were also stricken

Amboori landslide, Kerala: The landslide was known as the worst landslide in Kerala's
history. The landslide occurred on November 9, 2001 due to heavy rains and around 40
people died in the incident

Kedarnath landslide, Uttarakhand: The landslide took place on June 16, 2013 and was
the result of Uttarakhand floods. Over 5700 were reported dead and over 4,200 villages
had been affected by the floods and post-floods landslide

Malin landslide, Maharashtra: The landslide occurred on July 30, 2014, in a village in
Malin. The landslide occurred due to heavy rainfall and around 151 people died and 100
people went missing after the disaster.

A landslide in the Malin village of Ambegaon Taluka in Pune on Wednesday that killed at least
30 people is an alarming sign for houses that are located in and near hilly areas. In the last 25
years, India has witnessed hundreds such incidents killing thousands of people. But we yet fail
to learn anything from these past incidents. Every year in India, especially in the mountain
regions like Himalayas, landslides damage and destroy many houses, and cause millions of
rupees damage to buildings, roads, railways, pipelines, agricultural land and crops.
According to research done by the Defence Terrain Research Laboratory, Landslides rank third
in terms of number of deaths due to natural disasters. While, Himalayan Landslides kill one
person per 100km.

The estimated average losses due to landslides in the Himalayas costs 200 lives and Rs 550
crore every year. Whereas, The hazard affects over 0.49 million km, over 15 % of our country's
area.

After the 1998 Malpa tragedy that killed 200 pilgrims of Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, widespread
awareness of the problem was created. The Disaster Management Act, 2005, (December 23,
2005) was passed by the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India, on 28
November, and by the Lok Sabha, the lower house, on 12 December 2005. It received the
assent of the President of India on January 9, 2006.

Even though we have the teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the biggest
challenge for the government is to ensure that landslide prone areas are evacuated and are not
encroached again. Also, it is necessary to ensure that the trees are planted on such plots to
avoid encroachment and to prevent soil erosion and, in turn, landslides.

Some of the Major Landslides that have taken place in the last 25 years:

June 16, 2013 Kedarnath, Uttarakhand In June 2013, a multi-day cloudburst centred on the
North Indian state of Uttarakhand caused devastating floods and landslides in the country's
worst natural disaster, which saw more than 5,700 casualties

Fig 1. Landslide in uttrakhand

September 24, 2012 Northern Sikkim 27 people diad, including members of the Indo-
Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)

July 27, 2007 Dasalgaon-Maharashtra 50+ casualties.

July 26, 2005 Raigad 54 people were killed in landslides, floods in Maharashtra in Raigad

July 26, 2005 Sakinaka, Mumbai More than 74 people were dead in a landslide.

Fig 2. Landslide in mumbai

November 2001 Amboori in Kerala 40 people were killed

August 1998 Malpa Entire village was wiped out. The landslide saw approximately 400
casualties.

August 14, 1998 Okhimath 69 people were killed in the incident

Pune 1994 Konkan Coast 20 people were killed, breaching of ghat damaged road to an
extent of 1km.

Fig 4. Landslide in Train tracks

August 1993 Nagaland 200 houses were destroyed, 500 people died, about 5km stretch of
road was damaged

August 1993 Kalimpong, West Bengal About 40 people were killed, leading to heavy loss of
property.

July 1993 Itanagar 25 people were buried alive.

July 1991 Assam 300 people were killed, road and buildings were damaged.

In a study done on landslides, the Defence Terrain Research Laboratory and DRDO have
observed following things that triggers landslides:

Most landslides are triggered by rains.

High intensity rainfalls are related with debris flow.

High amount of rainfall and duration are responsible for deep seated landslides.

Instrumental set up monitoring ground water regime, surface and sub-surface

movements found suitable for realization of Early Warning System

Data driven (statistical), Knowledge driven (heuristics) and,

Deterministic (process) models are being evaluated

Natural causes include:

Elevation of pore water pressure by saturation of slope material from either

Intense or prolonged rainfall and seepage

Vibrations caused by earthquakes.

Undercutting of cliffs and banks by waves or river erosion.

Volcanic eruptions.

Human causes include:

Deforestation

Interference with, or changes to, natural drainage

Leaking pipes such as water and sewer reticulation

Modification of slopes by construction of roads, railways, buildings

 Overloading slopes

Mining and quarrying activities

Vibrations from heavy traffic, blasting, etc

Excavation or displacement of rocks

327 hilly areas are dangerous in Mumbai:

According to the information obtained under RTI, Over 22,483 hutment in 327 hilly areas across
25 Assembly constituencies in the city, including Western and Eastern suburbs, are dangerous
and the people living there need to be shifted as soon as possible. In the main city, 49 spots are
dangerous in which total hutments are 3986, while in Mumbai Suburb 278 spots are most
dangerous.

the BMC and the Mumbai Suburban Collectorate had jointly carried out a survey of hutments
and submitted findings in a report to the state Housing Ministry on April 17, 2010.This report
had been sent to the Government for final consideration, but it is still awaiting the state nod.
said RTI activist Anil Galgali,

Galgali further added, "As per the survey report, there are 327 hilly, which areas classified as
dangerous. Out of the 22483 huts in these areas, the authorities recommended shifting 9,657
huts on a priority basis, while the remaining could be protected by constructing retaining walls
around the hills."

Since 1995, an amount of Rs 200 crore has been spent on constructing retaining walls, but the
government could not prevent natural disaster from claiming lives.

"I believe the state government, instead of spending crores of rupees constructing retaining
walls, should shift slum-dwellers to the 15,000 vacant MMRDA and BMC tenements across the
city," said Galgali.

Source: Thu, 31 Jul 2014-02:58pm , Mumbai , DNA webdesk

The Kedarnath debris flow disaster in Uttarakhand:

Information about impacts of the early monsoon floods and landslides in Uttarakhand in
northern India is slowly emerging. The tardiness of the information flow undoubtedly reflects
both the exceptionally difficult terrain in this area and the magnitude of the damage, with for
example few roads having been left intact. What is emerging is that the losses of this disaster
are high probably much higher than the current estimate of about 170 people although at
this stage it is hard to know if this will be a few hundred or more. A search on Twitter for either
Uttarakhand or Kedarnath (see below) brings home the likely consequences. There are
numerous reports, and photos, of people (and in some cases whole families) who have not
been heard of since the disaster. In some cases there are young children missing,

One of the largest impacts appears to have occurred at Kedarnath, a Hindu shrine high in the
mountains, which at this time of year is an important pilgrimage destination. The site is just a
short distance from the snout of two mountain glaciers, as this image from 50 or so years ago
shows:
A couple of things to note here first, the amount of debris below the glacier on the left side of
the image suggests a pretty active, and quite steep, sediment transport system. Second, there
are rocks and boulders in the fields in the foreground.

Given the number of people who make the pilgrimage to this site each summer, a degree of
development around the temple was inevitable, although the pre-disaster images suggest that
this has occurred in an entirely haphazard manner. There are some excellent images of the
town here, from which this one is taken. The temple is on the right side of the image,
surrounded by buildings:
 http://www.sacredyatra.com/kedarnath-pictures.html

The level of destruction of the town by the debris flow is very high, and is quite shocking. There
are several images of this floating around the internet, such as this one:

http://www.twylah.com/divakarssathya/tweets/347957857922187264
The upslope end of the temple, which has survived the flood intact though damaged, is buried
in debris. Many of the surrounding buildings have been entirely destroyed. Given that many of
these were hotels and hostels, which would have been full at this time of year, the high level of
potential loss is clear.

The question of course is what happened. Many Indian newspapers have a commentary,
although it is not clear as to whether this is based on fact or speculation. Up-valley from
Kedarnath, above the western glacier shown above, is a peak known as Kedar Dome. The
suggestion is that the rainfall triggered a collapse event on the mountain, which turned into a
debris flow downstream that struck the town. Certainly some of the images suggest that the
debris flow came from this valley above the town, so the account is credible, but the degree to
which it is verified is unclear. Unfortunately, the Google Earth imagery of this area was taken in
winter, so it is covered in snow. Bing has a better image, which shows the geometry of the
glaciers and peaks up-valley from the town (which is marked with the blue dot):

In terms of lives lost, this is probably the worst landslide since the August 2010 Zhouqu
landslide in China. There are some similarities between the events.
 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on 26 December with the
epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The shock had a moment magnitude of 9.1
9.3 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The undersea megathrust earthquake was
caused when the Indian Plate was subducted by the Burma Plate and triggered a series of
devastating tsunamis along the coasts of most landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing
230,000280,000 people in 14 countries, and inundating coastal communities with waves up to
30 metres (100 ft) high. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history.
Indonesia was the hardest-hit country, followed by Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand.

It is the third-largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph and had the longest duration
of faulting ever observed, between 8.3 and 10 minutes. It caused the entire planet to vibrate as
much as 1 centimetre (0.4 inches) and triggered other earthquakes as far away as Alaska. Its
epicentre was between Simeulue and mainland Indonesia.The plight of the affected people and
countries prompted a worldwide humanitarian response. In all, the worldwide community
donated more than US$14 billion (2004) in humanitarian aid.The event is known by the
scientific community as the SumatraAndaman earthquake. The resulting tsunami was given
various names, including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, South Asian tsunami, Indonesian
tsunami, the Christmas tsunami and the Boxing Day tsunami.

Fig 1. Destruction Due to Tsunami

Indian Ocean (Jan. 2, 2005) A village near the coast of Sumatra lays in ruin after the Tsunami
that struck South East Asia. Helicopters assigned to Carrier Air Wing Two (CVW-2) and Sailors
from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) are conducting humanitarian operations in the wake of the
Tsunami that struck South East Asia. The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is currently
operating in the Indian Ocean off the waters of Indonesia and Thailand. (South-West suburb of
Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Village of Lampisang is visible in the upper-right corner) U.S. Navy
photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Philip A. McDaniel

Mainland India:

The tsunami arrived in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu along the southeast coast
of the Indian mainland shortly after 9:00 a.m. At least two hours later, it arrived in the state of
Kerala along the southwest coast. Tamil Nadu, the union territory of Pondicherry and Kerala
were extensively damaged, while Andhra Pradesh sustained moderate damage. There were two
to five waves of varying height that coincided with the local high tide in some areas.

Tsunami destruction in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.

The tsunami run-up was only 1.6 m (5.2 ft) in areas in the state of Tamil Nadu that were
shielded by the island of Sri Lanka, but was 45 m (13.1 ft-16.4 ft) in coastal districts such as
Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu that were directly across from Sumatra, which happen to be the
highest on the Indian mainland. On the western coast, the runup elevations were 4.5 m (14.8 ft)
at Kanyakumari District in Tamil Nadu, and 3.4 m (11.2 ft) each at Kollam and Ernakulam
Districts in Kerala. The duration between the waves also varied from about 15 minutes to about
90 minutes.[85][87][89] Additionally, the tsunami varies in height when it struck the Indian
coast, ranging from 210 m (6.6 ft-33 ft) on average based on survivor's accounts.

The tsunami runup height measured in mainland India by Ministry of Home Affairs:

3.4 m (11.2 ft) at Kerala, inundation distance of 0.51.5 km (0.310.62 miles) with 250 km
(155.3 miles) of coastline affected.

4.5 m (14.8 ft) at southern coastline of Tamil Nadu, inundation distance of 0.22.0 km (0.12
1.24 miles) with 100 km (62.1 miles) of coast affected.

5 m (16.4 ft) at eastern coastline of Tamil Nadu facing tsunami source, inundation distance of
0.41.5 km (0.250.93 miles) with 800 km (497 miles) of coastline affected.

4 m (13.1 ft) at Pondicherry, inundation distance of 0.22.0 km (0.121.24 miles) with 25 km

(15.5 miles) of coast affected.
 2.2 m (7.22 ft) at Andhra Pradesh, inundation distance of 0.21.0 km (0.120.62 miles) with
985 km (612 miles) of coast.

The tsunami traveled 2.5 km (1.55 miles) at its maximum inland at Karaikal city.[88] The
inundation distance varied between 100500 m (0.062 miles-0.311 miles) in most areas, except
at river mouths, where it was more than 1 km (0.62 miles). The inundation distance varied with
topology and vegetation. Areas with dense coconut groves or mangroves had much smaller
inundation distances, and those with river mouths or backwaters saw much larger inundation
distances.[citation needed]Presence of seawalls at the Kerala coast and some of Tamil Nadu
coast helped to reduce the impact of the waves. However, when the seawalls were made of
loose stones, the stones were displaced and carried a few metres inland.

The state of Kerala experienced tsunami-related damage in three southern districts, Ernakulam,
Alappuzha, and Kollam, which are densely populated with villagers, due to diffraction of the
waves around Sri Lanka. The southernmost district of Thiruvananthpuram, however, escaped
damage, possibly due to the wide turn of the diffracted waves at the peninsular tip. Major
damage occurred in two narrow strips of land bound on the west by the Arabian Sea and on the
east by a network of backwaters Kerala backwaters. The waves receded before the first
tsunami with the highest fatality reported from the densely populated Alappad panchayat
(including the villages of Cheriya Azhikkal and Azhikkal) at Kollam district, caused by a 4 m (13.1
ft) tsunami.

The worst affected area in Tamil Nadu was Nagapattinam district, with a reported 6,051
fatalities caused by a 5 m (16.4 ft) tsunami, followed by Cuddalore district, with many villages
destroyed.The 13 km (8.1 miles) Marina Beach in Chennai was battered by the tsunami which
swept across the beach taking morning walkers unaware. Besides that, a 10 m (33 ft) black
muddy tsunami reportedly ravaged the city of Karaikal, where 492 lives were lost. The city of
Pondicherry, protected by seawalls relatively escaped unscathed in comparison to other areas
in the state.

Fig 2. Tsunami destruction in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.

At the same time, many villages from many districts at the state of Andhra Pradesh were
destroyed. In the Krishna district, the tsunami created havoc in Manginapudi and on
Machalipattanam Beach, which came like a running wall at the latter. The most affected was
Prakasham District, recording 35 deaths, with maximum damage at Singraikonda, a beautiful
beach hamlet.

Given the enormous power of the tsunami, the fishing industry suffered the greatest. Moreover,
the cost of damage in the transport sector was reported in the tens of thousands.[88] Many
buildings and infrastructures near the coast were obliterated.

Conclusively, the tsunami effects varied greatly across different parts of the coast according to
the number of waves experienced, the inundation distance and height of waves, and the
population density of the area, as well as topological and geographical features that made
some areas more vulnerable than others. Besides these factors, the number of lives lost was
influenced by exposure to previous disasters and the local disaster management capability.
Most of the people killed were members of the fishing community and, in some cases such as
Marina Beach at Chennai and Velankanni in Nagapattinam, they were visitors on the beach.[88]

It has been twelve years since the tsunami which originated in the Indian Ocean brought its
havoc on 14 countries including Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and others. On December 26, 2004
the world's deadliest tsunami killed over 230,000 people in 14 different countries, mostly in
Indonesia.

Fig 3 :During the tsunami

The tsunami was a result of a megathrust 9.1 earthquake with the epicentre off the west coast
of Sumatra, Indonesia. This was one of the highest rating the Richter Scale had ever shown in
recent history. Waves of up to 15 meter hit the coastlines of Thailand, India, Sri Lanka and
Sumatra.

Minutes after the earthquake the waves hit Andaman and Nicobar islands. In mainland India,
Tamil Nadu and Andhra were worst affected. Chennai was one of the most major cities to be
affected by the tsunami. The death toll in India alone is above 18,000.

Interestingly, the tsunami managed to travel 5,000 km to Africa with sufficient force to cause
casualty and damage property. The Indian Ocean tsunami is also known as Boxing Day tsunami
since it occurred on December 26.