Natural calamities are the most unwanted thing that can ever happen to humankind. They occur in any form such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, and landslides. Landslide is considered to be one of the worst natural calamities. They are characterised by the movement of rocks, debris, and the earth brought down a slope, usually caused due to the earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc. that make the slope unstable.
Landslides have many different forms such as Mudslide, Earthflow, Deep-seated landslide, etc. Tom Sheahan, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northeastern University, states that a mudslide is a subset of a landslide in which a huge amount of soil is carried down the slope due to the heavy rain. Earthflow is the downslope movement of mostly fine-grained material. This type of landslide moves at a speed within a wide range at a very slow speed. Deep-seated landslides are those in which the sliding surface is mostly deeply located below the maximum rooting depth of trees. This type of landslide usually occurs in a tectonic active region such as Zagros Mountain in Iran.
However, they can also occur due to the irresponsible activities of human beings. Activities like aggressive mining, deforestation, increased number of construction, aggressive ground-penetrating radar, etc. can disturb the natural balance of the rocks causing the most dangerous and life-threatening landslide. According to research, more than 50,000 people were killed by the landslide around the world between and 2016. The study also revealed that for the first time landslides due to human activity has increased over time. The landslides that occurred in this period had a human fingerprint. Asia is the most active continent for human-made landslide, ranking India the first country followed by Pakistan, Myanmar, and the Philippines.
Landslide is one of the most dangerous calamities but can be avoided by taking proper precautions. It’s a high time where humankind is required to find a sustainable way of developing themselves without harming nature.
Mrinal Garg