Disaster preparedness is the first step in any disaster management process. Explain how hazard zonation mapping will help disaster mitigation in the case of landslides.
Approach · directive: “explain how”
What it asks · Explain how landslide hazard zonation, which grades terrain by relative hazard, supports mitigation through land-use planning, safe siting, engineering, warning and preparedness.
The question has 3 parts — answer each
- Explain landslide hazard zonation and its place in preparedness
- Explain how zonation helps mitigation: land-use planning, infrastructure, prioritising works, early warning, awareness and law
- Note its limits
Open with · Preparedness begins with knowing where and how badly a hazard can strike; landslide hazard zonation divides hilly terrain into zones of relative hazard, from very low to very high.
Cover
- What it is: terrain graded from very low to very high hazard using slope, geology, drainage, land use, rainfall and past slides.
- Land-use planning: keep settlements, schools, hospitals and industries out of high-hazard zones; regulate construction in hill towns; restrict slope cutting and debris dumping.
- Infrastructure: choose safer alignments for roads, railways and hydel projects, and design slope protection where risk remains: drainage, retaining walls, rock bolting, bio-engineering.
- Prioritising mitigation: high-hazard zones with people and assets at risk get funds first for stabilisation, drainage and relocation, so limited money saves most lives.
- Early warning and response: zones guide rainfall thresholds, monitoring with sensors and satellites, alerts, evacuation routes, shelters and drills for high-hazard villages.
- Awareness and law: published maps build awareness and can back building codes and insurance; GSI, the nodal agency, has completed national landslide susceptibility mapping of the hilly areas at 1:50,000 scale, and NDMA's 2019 strategy makes mapping its first component.
- Limits: maps are static and scale-dependent, need updating after rains, earthquakes or construction, and must be combined with risk assessment and local enforcement.
Close with · Zonation turns landslide preparedness from reaction into planning: it shows where not to build, where to invest in protection and where to warn first, but works only if updated and enforced.
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2019, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 264 words (UPSC limit 250) · Minimalist IAS
Preparedness starts with knowing where a hazard can strike and how badly. Landslide hazard zonation grades hilly terrain into classes from very low to very high hazard, using slope, geology, drainage, land use, rainfall and the record of past slides.
What zonation gives
- A map that ranks terrain by relative hazard at a usable scale; the Geological Survey of India, the nodal agency, has been mapping landslide susceptibility of the hilly areas at 1:50,000 (since then completed nationwide), and NDMA's 2019 National Landslide Risk Management Strategy makes mapping its first component.
How it helps mitigation
- Land-use planning: keeps settlements, schools, hospitals and industries out of high-hazard zones; regulates construction in hill towns; restricts slope cutting and debris dumping.
- Infrastructure: guides safer alignments for roads, railways and hydel projects, and where risk remains, the design of drainage, retaining walls, rock bolting and bio-engineering.
- Prioritising money: high-hazard zones with people and assets at risk get funds first for stabilisation, drainage and relocation, so limited budgets save the most lives.
- Early warning and response: zones anchor rainfall thresholds, sensor and satellite monitoring, alerts, evacuation routes, shelters and drills for high-hazard villages.
- Awareness and law: published maps inform residents, and can back building codes, insurance pricing and enforcement.
Limits
- Maps are static and scale-dependent, need updating after heavy rain, earthquakes or construction, and work only when combined with risk assessment and local enforcement.
Zonation turns landslide preparedness from reaction into planning: it shows where not to build, where to invest in protection and whom to warn first, but it protects lives only if it is updated and enforced.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify). UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.