PROTECT SOIL AFTER A YEAR OF LANDSLIDES

This year has seen unprecedented losses from landslides across India. No wonder that World Soil Day passed with a whimper on December 5. We need to protect and renew this most tangible of natural resources for our future.

- NANDITHA KRISHNA

EAR 2024 saw huge landslides in several places across India, causing death, injury and devastation to people and animals. July was perhaps the cruellest month for it. On the 16th of the month, a landslide in Shirur in Karnataka resulted in nine deaths. According to the Geological Survey, it was caused by a mix of construction work being carried out by the National Highways Authority and heavy rainfall.

It was a similar story in some other parts of the country, too. A series of nine landslides caused by heavy rains occurred in Vilangad, Kerala at the end of the month, resulting in several deaths. Thirteen houses were destroyed and many were partially damaged.

India's deadliest landslide ever also occurred at the end of this July in Wayanad. Again, heavy rains made the hillsides collapse. It caused 254 fatalities and 397 injuries. Heavy rains are common in this region of Kerala, but landslides of such a scale were unknown. Deforestation and excessive construction were the main causes.

In December, a landslide occurred in the rocky Thiruvannamalai on the slopes of the Annamalaiyar Hill, after a heavy rainfall unusual for the region. Seven persons died after a boulder fell on their house. Another landslide occurred the next day. The cause, again, was excessive construction.