Lok Sabha Question No. 4532 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-20
Subject: Mapping of Landslide Prone Areas
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: Adv. Adoor Prakash

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4532

TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 20 th  AUGUST, 2025

## MAPPING OF LANDSLIDE PRONE AREAS

## 4532.  ADV. ADOOR PRAKASH:

Will the Minister of Earth Sciences be pleased to state:

- (a) the present status of the mapping of landslide prone areas in the country;
- (b) the details of areas identified with risk category of the same, State wise;
- (c) the details of measures taken/action plan proposed by the Government for high-risk areas considering the growing frequency of natural calamities; and
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  any  plan  to  provide  special  assistance  to  the  States having high risk landslide prone areas and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

- (a) Being  the  nodal  agency  for  landslide  studies,  Geological  Survey  of  India ( GSI)  has completed the landslide susceptibility mapping under the National Landslide Susceptibility Mapping (NLSM) programme on 1: 50,000 scale for the entire landslide prone  hilly/  mountainous  areas  of  the  country  including  the  Himalayan  region,  the Tertiary  Belt  of  North-eastern  India  and  Western  Ghats,  spreading  over  parts  of  19 states/ UTs covering an area of about 4.3 lakh sq. km. areas. The landslide susceptibility maps show the total area classified into high, moderate and low zones based on their relative  likelihood  of  susceptibility  to  landslide  initiation,  and  can  be  used  as  a  vital geo-information  tool  for  regional  land-use  planning  in  landslide  prone  fragile  slopes. GSI  also  collected  information  on  91,000  historical  landslides  using  both  remote sensing (RS) and field-based source data. A total number of 33,904 landslides are field validated and the database is continuously being updated with the new landslide data collected year-wise as part of post-disaster studies. The landslide susceptibility map and the landslide inventory generated are uploaded in the GSI's National Geoscience Data Repository (NGDR) and Bhukosh map portal for free download by all the stakeholders. This  is  also  available  for  viewing  in  GSI's  Bhusanket  portal as  well as  Bhooskhalan mobile app.

Building on the NLSM baseline, GSI has upscaled into meso-scale (1:10,000/1:5,000) landslide  susceptibility  mapping.  This  initiative  focuses  on  completing  200  critical sectors identified through NLSM and state government consultations by 2028. By the end of field season 2024-25, GSI has completed work on meso scale (1:10,000) in 160 critical  sectors/  localities.  These  high-resolution  maps  support  planning  in  vulnerable hill regions, allowing for more informed decisions in infrastructure development, even aiding in implementing zoning regulations and ensuring community safety.

In addition, GSI has carried out a number of post-disaster landslide studies as well as detailed site-specific landslide investigations on 1:1000/2000 scale to suggest suitable remedial  measures  for  landslides  and  unstable  slopes.  During  last  five  years  (20192024),  GSI  has  carried  out  45  detailed  site-specific  investigations  of  the  chronic landslides across the country.

- (b) The  entire  landslide  prone  areas  of  the  country  have  been  categorized  based  on  the landslide  susceptibility  status.  The  state-wise  details  of  landslide  susceptibility  status are provided in the table given below:
- (c) Considering the  growing  frequency  of  natural calamities  including  landslides,  GSI  is actively  involved  in  developing  Regional  Landslide  Forecasting  System  (RLFS)  for landslide  prone  areas  of  the  country  in  phased  manner  since  2020.  This  forecasting system  is  built  on  probabilistic  rainfall  thresholds,  Numerical  Weather  Prediction (NWP)  models  and  observed  rainfall  data  for  timely  forecast/  warnings  for  rainfall induced landslides. For this purpose, GSI has collaborated with Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF),  National  Remote  Sensing  Centre  (NRSC)  of  ISRO  and  all  concerned State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) for data integration, forecasting and model validation.

|                     | area in 1000 sq. Km.   | area in 1000 sq. Km.   | area in 1000 sq. Km.   | area in 1000 sq. Km.   | area in 1000 sq. Km.   | area in 1000 sq. Km.   |
|---------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|
| State               | Low                    | Low%                   | Moderate               | Moderate %             | High                   | High %                 |
| Andhra Pradesh      | 1                      | 48                     | 1                      | 46                     | 0                      | 6                      |
| Arunachal Pradesh   | 33                     | 47                     | 27                     | 38                     | 10                     | 15                     |
| Assam               | 21                     | 87                     | 3                      | 11                     | 1                      | 2                      |
| Goa                 | 3                      | 71                     | 1                      | 26                     | 0                      | 3                      |
| Himachal Pradesh    | 17                     | 41                     | 12                     | 30                     | 12                     | 29                     |
| Jammu &Kashmir (UT) | 19                     | 65                     | 7                      | 23                     | 3                      | 12                     |
| Karnataka           | 26                     | 82                     | 4                      | 14                     | 1                      | 4                      |
| Kerala              | 10                     | 52                     | 7                      | 35                     | 3                      | 13                     |
| Ladakh (UT)         | 17                     | 42                     | 15                     | 37                     | 8                      | 21                     |
| Maharashtra         | 15                     | 53                     | 12                     | 41                     | 2                      | 6                      |
| Manipur             | 13                     | 54                     | 7                      | 28                     | 4                      | 18                     |
| Meghalaya           | 20                     | 90                     | 2                      | 9                      | 0                      | 1                      |
| Mizoram             | 13                     | 59                     | 6                      | 25                     | 4                      | 16                     |
| Nagaland            | 8                      | 48                     | 5                      | 31                     | 4                      | 21                     |
| Sikkim              | 2                      | 40                     | 2                      | 42                     | 1                      | 18                     |
| Tamil Nadu          | 8                      | 75                     | 2                      | 19                     | 1                      | 6                      |
| Tripura             | 1                      | 93                     | 0                      | 5                      | 0                      | 2                      |
| Uttarakhand         | 18                     | 46                     | 12                     | 32                     | 9                      | 22                     |
| West Bengal         | 1                      | 42                     | 1                      | 41                     | 1                      | 17                     |
| Total               | 245                    | 56                     | 126                    | 29                     | 63                     | 15                     |

In  line  with  this  effort,  GSI,  as  part  of  the  multi  consortium  LANDSLIP  project, developed  a  prototype  regional  Landslide  Early  Warning  System  (LEWS)  for  India. Since 2025 monsoon, GSI has been providing operational and experimental landslide forecast bulletins for 21 districts in eight states. The State-wise details of districts where forecast bulletins are being issued during 2025 (both experimental and operational) are as follows:

| State (No. of Districts)                                                                      | District Name (s)                                                                             |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Operational forecast and ground testing                                                       | Operational forecast and ground testing                                                       |
| West Bengal (02)                                                                              | Darjeeling, Kalimpong                                                                         |
| Tamil Nadu (01)                                                                               | Nilgiris                                                                                      |
| Experimental forecast for ground testing (shared with SDMAS & DDMAs for testing purpose only) | Experimental forecast for ground testing (shared with SDMAS & DDMAs for testing purpose only) |
| Sikkim (06)                                                                                   | Soreng, Pakyong, Mangan, Gyalshing, Gangtok, Namchi                                           |
| Kerala (02)                                                                                   | Wayanad, Idukki                                                                               |
| Karnataka (01)                                                                                | Kodagu                                                                                        |
| Uttarakhand (04)                                                                              | Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Tehri Garhwal                                               |
| Himachal Pradesh (02)                                                                         | Shimla, Kinnaur                                                                               |
| Nagaland (03)                                                                                 | Peren, Dimapur, Kohima                                                                        |

- (d) Yes. The Government of India does provide special assistance to states with high-risk landslide-prone areas.  This  includes  financial  support  through  the  National  Landslide Risk Mitigation Programme and the Aapda Mitra scheme implemented by the National Disaster  Management  Authority  (NDMA),  trains  community  volunteers  in  disaster response. It aims to equip volunteers with the skills to address immediate community needs after a disaster, focusing on disaster prone areas. The scheme is a central sector scheme, meaning it's fully funded by the central government.

*****