49% of Himachal prone to landslides: IIT-R

FORTY-nine per cent of Himachal Pradesh is prone to medium-risk and 40 per cent to high-risk landslides, floods and avalanches, according to a recent study by the Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar.

- HARPREET BAJWA @Chandigarh

The conclusions were presented at the Indian Cryosphere Meet (ICM) held at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, last week, attended by 80 glaciologists, researchers, scientists, and other experts from around the world.

The IIT is now conducting similar studies in the northeast, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand, adding another criterion to examine GOLF (Glacier Lake Out Burst Flood).

MTech scholar Daishisha Lawphniaw conducted this study under the guidance of Reet Kamal Tiwari, an associate professor at IIT, Ropar, using GIS-based mapping; the study classified hazard-prone regions.