A Study of Landuse/ Landcover Pattern in Inducing Landslide Hazards in Parts of Almora and Nainital Districts of Uttarakhand

Abstract

 Land degradation is a common phenomenon in mountainous region. Although the casual factors are mainly natural and man induced, inappropriate landuse enhances the degradation process. In some interior village areas of Nainital and Almora, many denuded and deforested slopes are found, which further accelerate the process of ecological degradation. In this paper many landuse/ landcover categories have been identified which is mainly responsible for having a landslide. In the present study most of the landslide has an association with open to degraded vegetation. Simultaneously some of the slides are occurring in the scrubby and barren lands. In the same way, hilly urban areas of Uttarakhand like Nainital and Almora towns which are popular for its tourism activity are facing the problem of land degradation. Due to continuous flow of tourists throughout the year many tourism based developmental activities have continued un-debated during the last few decades, leaving practically no space for further expansion. Despite such situation the towns continue to expand at the cost of local environment. Consequently with little scope for further expansion, these towns presently face a variety of problems.....those of landslides, destabilization of slopes, scarcity of water and sewage problem etc. Such type of land use process has direct effect on soil loss and mass movement. Here an attempt has been done to analyze what kind of landuse/ landcover is affecting the general topography of the area and become a notable factor for landslide hazards.