Lok Sabha Question No. 2301 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-03
Subject: Landslides in the Himalayan Region
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Raju Bista

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2301

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 03 RD  AUGUST, 2021/ SRAVANA 12, 1943 (SAKA)

LANDSLIDES IN THE HIMALAYAN REGION

2301. SHRI RAJU BISTA:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware that landslide tragedies are frequent in the districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong in West Bengal and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government has conducted any study on the occurrences of landslides in the Himalayan regions of the country including Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts;
- (c) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (d) whether the Government has prepared landslide hazard mapping for the Himalayan  region  of  West  Bengal  and  other  States  if  so,  the  details thereof; and
- (e)  whether  the  Government  is  considering  to  develop  a  detailed  and holistic  Disaster  Mitigation  and  Management  Plan  for  the  Himalayan districts of West Bengal and Sikkim, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI NITYANAND RAI)

(a): Yes  sir.    As  reported  by  Ministry  of  Mines,  both  the  districts  are perennially landslide-prone. Landslides of varying magnitudes are triggered predominantly by monsoon rainfall. As per Geological Survey of India  (GSI)'s  National  Landslide  Geodatabase,  Darjeeling and Kalimpong

## L.S.US.Q.NO.2301 FOR 03.08.2021

districts  of  West  Bengal  contain  about  15%  and  22%  areas  as  'highly susceptible to landslides' respectively.

(b), (c) & (d): GSI  has  conducted  varied  types  of  scientific  studies  on landslides  in  the  Himalayan  regions,  including  Darjeeling  and  Kalimpong districts.  Between 2016 and 2020, GSI has published five region-specific Landslide  Compendiums  as  GSI's  Special  Publications,  covering  all  the landslide-prone  regions  in  the  country,  including  the  Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalayas.  As  part  of  the  baseline  and  national-level  landslide  data generation,  GSI  had  launched  a  nation-wide  national  mapping  program  National  Landslide  Susceptibility  Mapping  (NLSM)  in  2014.  Under  NLSM, GSI has completed 1: 50,000 scale landslide susceptibility mapping of the entire  landslide-prone  areas  of  Northwest  Himalayas  and  the  DarjeelingSikkim  Himalayas,  which  covered  both  the  Darjeeling  and  Kalimpong districts      in      West      Bengal.      All      the      above      vital      GIS-enabled geodata    are      uploaded      on      GSI's      Bhukosh      Map      Portal (http://bhukosh.gsi.gov.in/Bhukosh/Public).

(e): As  informed  by  the  State  Government  of  West  Bengal,  Landslide Management Plan is included in the District Disaster Management Plans (DDMP) for Darjeeling and Kalimpong Districts.

National  Disaster  Management  Authority  (NDMA)  has  approved Landslide Risk Mitigation Scheme (LRMS) having financial outlay of Rs. 43.92 Crore under Improving Disaster Risk Governance of State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) / District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs) in July,  2019  to  provide  financial  and  technical  support  to  landslide  prone States  for  site  specific  landslide  mitigation.   It  is  a  pilot  scheme  to demonstrate benefits of landslide mitigation measures along with landslide  monitoring,  awareness  generation,  capacity  building  /  training etc.  Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) have been signed with SDMAs of the States of Sikkim, Mizoram, Nagaland and Uttarakhand for implementation of the scheme and Rs. 29.60 Crore have been released to these States.

In  addition,  Fifteenth  Finance  Commission  has  also  recommended  an allocation  of  Rs.  750  crore  from  the  National  Disaster  Mitigation  Fund (NDMF) for seismic and landslide risk reduction  in  the  Himalayan  region and for all the States in north-east during the next five years.

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