The waxing and waning of Nimbong landslides (Kalimpong district) thru the years.

The ZERO landslide at Nimbong in 2018 

Nimbong in Kalimpong district is no stranger to landslides and one reason for this (besides the geology and anthropogenic causes) could be its location on the sub-Himalayan ridge line overlooking the plains of the Dooars, where it is the first mountainous obstruction to the SW monsoon currents rolling in from the Bay of Bengal. 
As such this region receives the full blast of the SW monsoons each year - annual rainfall is around 4000mm with the area being prone to major thunderstorms.
Being around 70 kms from Kalimpong, I have visited the area quite often and the roads which were a mess once, are now good with the newly constructed NH 717A running thru Nimbong.
My first visit to Nimbong was on 06Jul2009 and I have chronicled the same here. 
In that report, there is no mention of the ZERO landslide because the slope failure had not occurred then and my focus was on the huge CENTRE gaon landslide. Google Earth images from 2010 to 2015 seem to bear me out and show the area below Anuj SUMI school was stable with no trace of any landslide (see below).

The slope failure at ZERO seems to have commenced in 2016 and increased to its maximum size of approx 800m X 150m in 2018 (see top image). Fortunately, I visited Nimbong on 08Jan2018 and have uploaded a drone video showing the gigantic size of the landslide in YouTube. 
Photos of the landslide (of approx 2018), near Anuj SUMI school showing the soil texture and proximity of the landslide was to human habitation are placed below:

 

 

My most recent visit to the  ZERO landslide at Nimbong was on 03Nov2026 and drone photos of the above area near Anuj SUMI school reveal how the entire area has been re-vegetated  and the landslide seems to be healed (see below) and with it human habitation in the area has increased.

The re-vegetated and 'healed' ZERO landslide

Other landslide areas in the vicinity of NIMBONG

The image shows: ZERO landslide, the Centre Gaon landslide and a new landslide (A) on NH717A which seems to be growing.

New Landslide (A). 26° 58' 11.046" N 88° 34' 1.962" E, Elevn 1287.50 m
This landslide is a fresh landslide and is not visible in the satellite image of 2022. It is undoubtedly caused by the road construction and seems to be growing upwards - Google Earth dimensions of the slide are approx 86mX51m.

New landslide on NH717A below Anuj SUMI school at Nimbong being checked by Prof Balamurugan (CUTN) and STH member Tashi Ongmu

Centre gaon landslide 26.963255 N 88.579111 E.
My personal observation seems to be borne out by the Google Earth image of this huge landslide which seems to getting re-vegetated although at a much slower pace than the ZERO landslide. 
Drone images taken on 03Nov2026 also show fairly extensive vegetation surrounding the slide and within it. Hopefully this landslide will also be controlled like the ZERO landslide.

Crown of Centre Gaon landslide at Nimbong.

Midsection of the landslide.

 

Our visit on 03Nov2026 showed that nature working in tandem with technology and some luck from the monsoons can bring even truly massive landslides undercontrol within a finite amount of time. This is good news for us living in the mountains.

My thanks to Dr Peter Mcgowran and Tashi bhai of DDMA, Kalimpong,who's photos I have used here.

Praful Rao
SaveTheHills
savethehills@gmail.com
9475033744.