Monitoring, Control and Mapping of Landslides in Goa

Natural disasters like earthquakes, landslips, avalanches, floods, cyclones, droughts and volcanic eruptions have been distressing mankind since the commencement of civilization which credit up to 4% of total yearly deaths. Worldwide, landslides are assessed to cause about 1000 deaths annually apart from destructing resources worth millions of dollars. Landslides are one of the many natural disasters causing immense destruction and loss of lives civil structure, communication routes, agricultural and forestland across the earth. Approximately 15% of the land area of India is susceptible to landslide out of which 0.09 million sq. km come under Western Ghats and Konkan hills including Goa. Goa contains hilly mountainous terrain, in combination with sandy coastal plains. Being one of the most beautiful places, it is now facing serious scarcity of land to be used for residential purpose. Construction activity on hilly areas has been exploiting the scenic view which has also led to a number of landslides during rains. Slopes have been cut for many recent developments in the state which can pose a great threat to inhabitants living there due to lack of stability checks of the slopes. Landslide countermeasure is a strong issue hence there is crucial need for enhanced and modern techniques for steadying slopes and to avert landslides which serve the drive for this study. In the present study, various slopes in the state are being examined. Literature have been reviewed on various landslide related topics. In the present work, the stability of landslide-prone sites in Goa is studied. The work presents mapping of various landslides that occurred in Goa which is not mentioned in the Geological survey of India.