Shimla

Saturday, September 8, 2001

F E A T U R E

Queen of hills loses grip... ...in the wake of landslips S.P. Sharma SHIMLA, the queen of hills, is sinking at several places due to indiscriminate digging of hill slopes for construction of multi-storey buildings and also because of weathering of rocks. The road near the State Assembly on The Mall has caved in due to erratic digging for constructions on the Cart Road below Several landslides have occurred in the town and there are frequent reports of landslips at one place or another. The first major landslide in Shimla occurred in 1971 when a large portion of the northern part of the Ridge, which is the centre of activity in the town, slumped down. This posed a threat to the reservoirs below the Ridge which were the main source of water in the town. Since then many areas of the town have become prone to landslides and the situation worsens during the rain. Roads are also washed away at many places and these have to be reconstructed.

Experts point out that unplanned expansion of the town is overloading and destabilising the slopes. Overloaded slopes may initially cause minor landslides, but later these could trigger larger landslips. Corrective measures can stabilise the slopes and stem further damaged. Recent landslides below the Baljee's Flats, Dayanand Public School and near IGMC caused a lot of damage and it took quite a long time to repair these roads. Although the area between the Central School and the Grand Hotel has been declared slide-prone, constructions are still being undertaken in the area despite a ban by the government. The Lakkar Bazaar road has sunk to such an extent that shopkeepers have to use iron steps to reach their establishments  The road in Lakkar Bazaar has sunk about 2 ft in the past few years and shopkeepers in the Regal building have got iron ladders fabricated to reach their establishments. The area is the worst-affected and the road is still sinking at several places. The hillside of the busy Cart Road below the High Court recently collapsed because of the construction of a multi-storey parking. The Forest Road below the Baljee's Flats collapsed completely and it took several months to construct a new road. Many landslides have occurred on The Mall, the latest one near the Accountant General's office which was the result of haphazard digging of the hill slope below the road for the construction of a building. Sometime ago, a major portion of The Mall sank near the State Bank of India. A major portion of the road leading to the Central School has collapsed because of the construction of a house adjoining it. Ironically, authorities are sleeping over this damage and are trying to push these incidents under the carpet because of political pressure. The Academy for Mountain Environs at Dehradun, has in its report stressed that slide-prone areas need to be identified with the assistance of state geologists and any construction in these areas should be permitted on the basis of a detailed survey. The Journal of Engineering Geology has pointed out that the sinking of a part of Shimla in 1971 gave rise to speculations about the stability and geo-environmental balance of the city. It said that large scale creeps (the slow, imperceptible downslope movement of mineral, rock and soil particles under gravity) were observed below the Circular Road between the Rivoli bus stand, State Bank of India and Elysium hill on the northern slopes of the town in the vicinity of the thrust zone of Lakkar Bazaar. The Forest Road below Baljee's Flats was washed away recently as a result of a landslide  A chapter on the geo-environmental degradation of Shimla in the journal pointed out that downward movement of slopes was indicated in Lakkar Bazaar and Rivoli due to weathering of rocks. Most of the slopes below Lakkar Bazaar are covered with drifted debris which in due course of time has attained an apparent compaction (reduction in pore space between individual grains from pressure of overlying sediment or earth movement). A huge concrete retaining structure has been erected, yet the possibility of slides in the future cannot be ruled out. Creep movement has been witnessed in Sankli from the Summer Hill post office to Boileauganj and some other areas. A planar slide on the right side of the Victory Tunnel and the path joining the Cart Road from the accountant general office is dangerous. Wedge failures were observed on the slopes east of the Himland Hotel on which the forest office is located. A planar failure was also observed near tunnel number 103.