A meeting of the high power committee constituted by the High Court of Uttarakhand regarding the treatment of the fragile site at Baliyanala, Nainital to prevent further damage was held at the Forest Research Institute (FRI).
Presiding over the meeting, FRI director Savita said that the mountains around Nainital township are fragile and vulnerable to landslides. It has been reported that half of the area of the township is covered with debris generated by landslide. As a matter of fact, habitation in Nainital started only after 1841 and the township has been repeatedly devastated by landslides since 1867. A report has been prepared following the directive of the High Court, with the mandate to treat the fragile site at Baliyanala from further damage and an objective to find out permanent solution to prevent further damage.
The court constituted high power committee visited the affected site and after studying the possible causes of the landslide has suggested suitable measures to address the issue in its report.
She remarked that population expanding onto new land and creating neighborhoods, towns, and cities is the primary means by which humans contribute to the occurrence of landslides. Disturbing or changing drainage patterns, destabilising slopes and removing vegetation are common human-induced factors which are responsible for causing landslides.
It includes oversteepening of slopes by undercutting the bottom and loading the top of a slope in excess of the bearing strength of the soil. However, landslides may also occur in once-stable areas due to other human activities such as irrigation, lawn watering, draining of reservoirs, leaking pipes and improper excavating or grading on slopes. A committee was constituted for the first time in August 1867 to consider the safety of the hill slopes. The committee considered drainage improvement as the most important aspect to be dealt with for preventing landslides.
After the landslide, that struck in September 1880 which killed 151 persons, further erection of buildings, quarrying and digging of terraces or platforms were prohibited on the slopes.