Wake-up call: On Manipur landslides
#GS-03 Disaster Management
Context
The recent landslides in Manipur have opened the peoples eyes to a deeper underlying issue i.e. the risk of heavy construction on unstable land areas.
For Prelims
- Ijei river aka Ejei River is a tributary of the Irang river which in turns joins with Barak River.
- 20 landslides have happened in Manipur between 2014 and 2020.
For Mains
Concerns:
- Majority of landslides have happened in the Himalayan States of North India or Hilly states such as Kerala.
- River was polluted due to construction works going on in the 111km Railway line as part of Act East policy.
- States in Northeast have to balance the economic benefits coming from better connectivity with the environment damage being done.
- Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has itself acknowledged that the disasters were “anthropogenically” induced.
- The Ministry has stated that the landslides were “a result of modification of slopes for construction, widening of road, quarrying for construction materials, fragile lithography, complex geological structures and heavy rainfall”.
Suggestions
- Identifying susceptible areas through the National Landslide Susceptibility Mapping project.
- An early warning system for landslides is still being developed and refined by the Geological Survey of India.
- Sufficient soil and stability tests must be done before choosing the site for railway/ roadways construction work.
