NEW DELHI: Landslides in Manipur, which claim many lives during the monsoon every year, are mostly triggered by human intervention, the environment ministry has said."Landslides in the environmentally sensitive hilly areas of Manipur occur frequently during monsoon. Studies have indicated that these landslides are mostly anthropogenically induced, caused as a result of human intervention such as modification of slopes for construction, widening of road, quarrying for the construction materials, fragile lithology, complex geological structures and heavy rainfall," minister of state for environment, Mahesh Sharma, said in the Rajya Sabha on August 6.Triggered by heavy rains, a massive landslide claimed nine lives in Tamenglong district on July 11. Manipur has witnessed six massive landslides in 2018, three in 2017, one in 2015 and four in 2010, according to the data provided by the Union ministry. The six massive landslides in Manipur this year occurred in Tamenglong in July, on NH-102 in East Imphal, NH-37 in Noney district, NH-102A in Ukhrul district and NH-37 in Noney district in June, and on NH-37 near Makru bridge in Tamenglong district in May, according to data provided by the ministry.Sharma, in a written reply, pointed out that the weathered sedimentary (shale) rocks of Disang formation and thick, loose overburdened deposits on the slopes make the state very vulnerable to landslides.Sharma also said the Centre promotes and supports research related to landslides with remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS)-based mapping for proper management of landslide-sensitive zones. He added that GSI was actively engaged in carrying out landslide inventory mapping, national landslide susceptibility mapping on 1:50,000 and 1:5,000 scales, and site-specific study of a landslide, including monitoring, to minimize environmental degradation. "These landslide studies are carried out according to the framework laid down in the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Landslide Disaster Management Plan of the GSI," he said.In addition, the National Disaster Management Authority, under the Union home ministry, has conceptualised an umbrella pilot scheme - Landslide Risk Mitigation Scheme - to demonstrate benefits of landslide mitigation measures under a Centre-sponsored scheme for providing financial support to states, including Manipur, for disaster preparedness and mitigation, the minister said.An expert in this field, Himanshu Thakkar of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, said there is a need to realise that the entire Himalayan region and some hilly areas in the Western Ghats and elsewhere are inherently landslide prone. "We need to clearly classify such highly landslide-prone regions and also update the reviews every decade. Secondly, we should understand what increases the landslide potential of a place. Deforestation, blasting, tunnelling and encroachments on drainage systems, rivers and streams leave a place vulnerable to landslides," he said. PTI

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