Prediction and Mapping of Shallow Landslides in Kashmir Himalayas Using Remote Sensing and Geospatial Tools

The high susceptibility to landslides of the Himalayan terrain is mainly due to a complex geological setting combined with contemporary, varying slopes and relief, heavy rainfall, along with every increasing human interferences in the ecosystem. The Liddar valley in Jammu and Kashmir is undergoing very rapid development following completion of various tourists ’ spots. This development is adjacent to a range of steeply sloping hills that experiences levels of annual rainfall. Rainfall induced landslides on this steeply sloping natural terrain are therefore potential hazards to property developments downslope. To take a quick and safe mitigation measures and future strategic planning, identification of landslide prone areas and Landslide Hazard Zonation (LHZ) are carried out. The growing availability of digital topographic data and the increased reliability of precipitation forecasts invite modeling efforts to predict the location of shallow landslides in hilly and mountainous areas in order to reduce risk to an ever expanding human population. The various data layers generated and co-registered were: lithology, drainage map, slope angle and relative relief. The different landslide zones were identified namely, Fully stable, Stable, Partially stable, Unstable, Very unstable and Chronic instability. Field data on landslides were employed to evaluate and validate landslide hazard Zonation map. It is interpreted that the distribution of landslides is largely governed by a combination of geoenvironmental conditions like slope angle, distance from drainage line and barren or less- vegetated areas. 1