Evaluation of landslide hazard and its impacts on hilly environment of the Nilgiris District - a geospatial approach

Abstract

AbstractLandslide Hazard Zonation (LSH) maps play a key role in landuse planning particularly in landslide prone areas. LSH mapping is globally accepted one for analyzing the area for landslide susceptibility. Different approaches were followed by many researchers in India to prepare landslide hazard zonation mapping depending upon their need and requirement. The Nilgiris district in Western Ghats of India is one of the severe to high landslide hazard prone areas of India. Many agencies have carried out research on LSH mapping for the Nilgiris district with different scales. A systematic study of inventory and zonation was 122carried out in 1980’s by government agencies. However there is no proper updation or documentation on landslides after 1980’s in the district The purpose of this paper is to review the existing landslide-related studies in the district of The Nilgiris and review the district’s existing landslide hazard map with updated information. Landslide hazard maps in The Nilgiris were compiled in the GIS platform from various authenticated sources. Data on landslides from 1824 to 2014 were collected and a spatial database on landslides was created. A detailed inventory was analyzed and used for revision of the district’s landslide hazard impact on the 2009 landslides.. Based on the landslide inventory and densely populated areas and repeated landslides at the same locations, the most landslide hazard areas were identified.