Landslide:

Landslides are simply defined as the mass movement of rock, debris or earth down a slope and have come to include a broad range of motions whereby falling, sliding and flowing under the influence of gravity dislodges earth material. They often take place in conjunction with earthquakes, floods and volcanoes. At times, prolonged rainfall cause heavy block the flow or river for quite some time. The formation of river blocks can cause havoc to the settlements downstream on its bursting. In the hilly terrain of India including the Himalayas, landslides have been a major and widely spread natural disaster the often strike life and property and occupy a position of major concern. The two regions most vulnerable to landslides are the Himalayas and the Western Ghats. The Himalayas mountain belt comprise of tectonically unstable younger geological formations subjected to severe seismic activity. The Western Ghats and Nilgiris are geologically stable but have uplifted plateau margins influenced by neo- tectonic activity. Compared to Western Ghats region, the slides in the Himalayas region are huge and massive and in most cases the overburden along with the underlying litho logy is displaced during sliding particularly due to the seismic factor.