Risk Assessment and Stability Analysis of a Recent Landslide at Vishnuprayag on the Rishikesh–Badrinath Highway, Uttarakhand, India

Abstract

The landslide blocked the Rishikesh-Badrinath highway and halted traffic for about 24 h till the debris was removed and the road reopened. The Hathi Pahar hill in Vishnuprayag has been a landslide-prone zone because of the presence of loose boulders and large rock blocks on very steep slopes. The site was visited immediately after the landslide and a rapid field assessment of slope stability was carried out. The stability analysis was performed with limited geological and geotechnical data collected from field and laboratory. Based on the two-dimensional finite element analysis, it was inferred that the slope is marginally stable under static load, but fails under seismic loading. The slope could fail in future due to triggering factors such as heavy rainfall, earthquake and anthropogenic activities. This communication presents field observations and the subsequent stability analysis along with possible suggestive control measures.

Monitoring and analysis of surface deformation in alpine valley areas based on multidimensional InSAR technology

“…1 ). The overall elevation of the mountain ranges from 1400 to 2300 m. It is mainly composed of a high density of discontinuous rocks such as quartzite, with frequent features such as faults, fractures, and joints, making the mountain particularly fragile and vulnerable to other factors 27 . In a recent study by Agarwal et al, the town is part of a hotspot that is experiencing rapid climate change and human activity.…”

A Generalized Stochastic Framework for Analyzing Rock Slopes Stability and Designing Reliable Remedial Measures with Limited Investigation Data: Theory and Field Implementation

“…From several decades, frequent mass movement phenomena has been observed along this highway due to weak geological formation, steep slopes, highly dissected topography, seismically active area and high rainfall, causing the major hindrance to ongoing traffic (Sarkar et al, 2005;Kanungo et al, 2013;Shukla et al, 2014). Efforts have been made by various researchers to assess the stability of slopes along this highway using landslide hazard zonation maps and providing required support measures for unstable slopes (Kanungo et al, 2013;Sarkar et al, 2018). However, massive rock-slides were observed very recently along some locations of the highway as shown in Fig.…”