GEOTECHNICAL ASSESSMENT OF GOPESHWAR LANDSLIDE, UTTARAKHAND

Abstract

Mountains were always a separate part of the nation. In the recent past all industrialized countries had very well-planned and well-established communication between the mountains and the rest of the country's mainland. All previous studies show that mountainous terrain is highly unstable geologically, and it experiences landslides, flash floods, and plenty of other natural catastrophes in a relatively short period of time. There are several elements that encourage failure, such as gravity or water saturation etc., but usually every time it is detected, there is a triggering component that produces instability, eventually leading to a mass movement. Slope collapses can be caused by natural or human-induced forces or a mix of the two. We cannot, however, permanently halt them; instead, we must create corrective strategies to reduce the consequences of natural catastrophes as much as feasible. The geology of the Himalayas, unlike that of other mountainous locations across the world, is too simple to comprehend. In addition, our research region is in a tectonically unstable zone with complicated geology. Landslides have always been one of the most prevalent natural disasters in Himalayan India's steep terrain, and they have always been the sole cause of death and property destruction, making them a major source of concern for both the people and the government. In this Dissertation, an attempt is made to analyse the slope present in the Gopeshwar region of Chamoli district, Uttarakhand. We aimed for an unbiased investigation for identifying the factors that contribute to mass destruction so that disaster management plans could be introduced for the study area with a better understanding of the geology of the area and analysis of engineering properties with extensive field samples, followed by slope modelling with advanced Finite element modelling software using high performance computers for prediction of potentially weak zones. From the experimental analysis and simulation results, the slope is found to be stable however it has witnessed a very devastating landslide in recent years. The reason is that water saturation and weathering in this area has high influence on changing the properties of the materials present on the slope triggering landslides. So, for the public safety measures inspections should be carried out in regular intervals. For now, the aim should be to maintain the stability with prior importance as, we can never control nature but with remedial measures, during disasters and loss of life and public properties can be avoided.