Placed above is an edited version of a map (from http://www.daveslandslideblog.blogspot.com)
showing fatalities due to landslides in 2007. Each black dot represents a single fatal landslide.
The above map from a person who is a specialist on landslides only substantiates what STH has been stating all the while. That we live in one of the most hazardous landslide areas of the world...
having said that I would also like to add that in 2007, our fatalities were minimal.
Yes! mountains cracked open, a dam got submerged and roads were washed away but mercifully not many died...
After 6 months of the dry season where virtually NOTHING was done with respect to landslide prevention, the monsoon clouds are thickening over the Bay of Bengal once again....
Having seen the devastation last year, I am afraid what we witnessed in 2007 may just be the trailer...
the real movie is yet to begin...
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Dave or more correctly Professor David Petley is a Wilson Professor of Hazard and Risk at Durham University, UK and specializes on landslide mechanisms. I came across his site (which provides a commentary on landslide events occurring world wide along with information on latest research, conferences and meetings) quite by accident and have subsequently been in contact with him. He has kindly allowed me to use his maps and data for STH.
praful rao
1 comment:
This map indeed puts the whole thing in perspective - that Himalayas is one of the worst places in the world in terms of fatal landslides. The combination of a proliferating population and a degrading geology is lethal. The map prompts one of think that it would be easy to draw the world's attention to the problem. However, the thought seems like a joke in the face of apathy witnessed at local, regional and national levels to the issue.
What a sterling job you have been doing Praful Daju!
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