The Himachal Pradesh authorities has urged the Geological Survey of India (GSI) to speed up the mapping of landslide zones within the state, notably within the ecologically susceptible Lahaul and Spiti, Chamba and Kinnaur districts.

“Unlike Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh has no sinking zones at present but we certainly have land-sliding zones, which is equally worrying. We have asked the GSI to speed up the mapping of land-sliding zones and complete the exercise before the monsoon so that construction activity can be planned accordingly,” State Disaster Management Authority director Sudesh Mokhta said on Wednesday.

The GSI has identified 17,120 land-sliding zones in Himachal Pradesh. The state government had urged the GSI to map the sinking zones after the landslide in Nigul Seri in Kinnaur left 28 bus passengers dead in 2021.

Bilaspur district has 446 sites prone to landslides, Chamba 389, Hamirpur, which is in a low-lying area has 137, while biggest district Kangra has 1,779 slide prone areas. Kinnaur, known as the powerhouse of the Himalayas due to its hydel projects, has 1,595 sites. Kinnaur is also in seismic zone 5. Kullu is equally susceptible to landslides with 1,337 such sites. Lahaul and Spiti has 2,295 sites, Mandi 1,799 sites, Shimla 1,357, Sirmaur 2,559, Solan 1,036 and Una 391 such sites.

Impact on power projects

There were 117 incidents of landslides in the state last year, Mokhta said.

After the increased incidence of landslides in the Batseri and Nigulseri areas of Kinnaur, local residents launched the ‘no-means-no’ campaign against hydel power projects given the fragile ecology.

“Over the past year, all power projects that have come up in Kinnaur got a no-objection certificate not only from government agencies but villagers, too. It’s time the government assesses the impact on power projects,” said state tribal development and revenue minister Jagat Singh Negi.

Environmental concerns grew after cracks were seen in houses at the village located near the 180 MW Bajoli-Holi hydroelectric projects in Chamba district. “There is extensive use of explosives in building roads and tunnels that loosens the soil strata. Construction companies building power projects should use tunnel boring machines,” mentioned Negi.

Onus on Centre, State

Environmentalists have sought a moratorium on giant dams within the Himalayas. “The writing is on the wall. We do not want scientific correlation that sure sort of building disturbs the geology, hydrology and ecology in mountains and may have long-term, usually irreparable, penalties. The accountability lies squarely with the worldwide monetary establishments, central and state governments who’re pushing this infrastructure within the title of growth,” mentioned Manshi Asher, an environmentalist and researcher.

Himdhara Environment Research and Action Collective, an advocacy engaged on environmental justice and forest rights within the Himalayas, carried out a research from 2012-16 on the impression of hydel tasks on the setting. The research discovered that of all Himalayan states within the Indian subcontinent, the tempo and magnitude of hydropower growth in Himachal Pradesh was the quickest. It mentioned that the very best recognized potential of hydropower among the many 5 river basins of Himachal Pradesh lies within the Sutlej valley and if all tasks materialise, 22% of the river can be dammed and 72% flowing in tunnels.

Kinnaur, positioned within the higher reaches of the Sutlej basin, is the state’s hydropower hub. It has 53 hydel tasks, of which 17 are giant with a producing capability of above 25 MW. Fifteen tasks of various capacities, totaling 3,041MW, are already operational. This is the very best amongst all districts within the state.