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.
It asks 3 things — 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 · On 30 July 2024 multiple landslides struck Wayanad in Kerala and Army rescue columns were requisitioned within hours; preparedness that begins at rescue is too late, it begins with knowing where slopes can fail, which is what landslide hazard zonation maps.
Cover
- Zonation: terrain graded from very low to very high hazard using slope, geology, drainage, land use, rainfall and past slides.
- National baseline: GSI's susceptibility mapping at 1:50,000 covers about 4.3 lakh sq km in 19 States/UTs; NDMA's 2019 strategy makes mapping its first component.
- Mitigation uses: land-use control, safer alignments and slope engineering, priority funding for high-hazard zones with people at risk.
- Early warning: maps anchor rainfall thresholds; GSI's Landslide Early Warning System issued forecast bulletins for 21 districts in eight States in 2025.
- Awareness: maps free on GSI's Bhusanket portal and Bhooskhalan app; can back building codes and insurance.
- Limits and way forward: maps are static and scale-dependent; GSI's 1:10,000 mapping of 200 critical sectors by 2028 must enter building bye-laws.
Close with · Zonation is the Sendai Framework's first priority, understanding disaster risk, made local: it shows where not to build, where to protect and whom to warn, and saves lives only when updated and enforced.
Add value (verified)
- Multiple landslides struck Wayanad, Kerala, on 30 July 2024; the Army deployed six HADR columns on the civil administration's requisition that morning.PIB (Ministry of Defence), 31 Jul 2024 — Indian Army intensifies rescue operation in areas affected by landslide in Wayanad ↗“the Indian Army has intensified its efforts to rescue people stranded after multiple devastating landslides struck Wayanad in Kerala on 30 th July 2024.”
- GSI completed National Landslide Susceptibility Mapping at 1:50,000 for all landslide-prone hilly areas (Himalaya, North-East Tertiary belt, Western Ghats), about 4.3 lakh sq km in 19 States/UTs, zoned high, moderate and low.PIB (Ministry of Mines), Aug 2025 — Parliament question on landslide susceptibility mapping ↗“including the Himalayan region, the Tertiary Belt of North-eastern India and Western Ghats, spreading over parts of 19 states/ UTs covering an area of about 4.3 lakh sq. km. areas. The landslide susceptibility maps show the total area classified into high, moderate and low zones”
- GSI's prototype regional Landslide Early Warning System has issued forecast bulletins for 21 districts in eight States since the 2025 monsoon.PIB (Ministry of Mines), Aug 2025 — Parliament question on landslide susceptibility mapping ↗“GSI, as part of the multi consortium LANDSLIP project, developed a prototype regional Landslide Early Warning System (LEWS) for India. Since 2025 monsoon, GSI has been providing operational and experimental landslide forecast bulletins for 21 districts in eight states.”
- Susceptibility maps are free on GSI's Bhusanket portal and Bhooskhalan app; GSI is upscaling to 1:10,000 mapping of 200 critical sectors by 2028.PIB (Ministry of Mines), Aug 2025 — Parliament question on landslide susceptibility mapping ↗“This is also available for viewing in GSI’s Bhusanket portal as well as Bhooskhalan mobile app. Building on the NLSM baseline, GSI has upscaled into meso-scale (1:10,000/1:5,000) landslide susceptibility mapping. This initiative focuses on completing 200 critical sectors identified through NLSM and state government consultations by 2028.”
- Sendai Framework Priority 1 is 'Understanding disaster risk'.UNDRR — What is the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction? ↗“Priority 1 Understanding disaster risk Disaster risk management should be based on an understanding of disaster risk in all its dimensions of vulnerability, capacity, exposure of persons and assets, hazard characteristics and the environment.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2019, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 368words · Minimalist IAS
On 30 July 2024 multiple landslides struck Wayanad in Kerala, and Army rescue columns were requisitioned within hours. Preparedness that begins at rescue is too late; it begins with knowing where slopes can fail, which is what landslide hazard zonation maps.
What landslide hazard zonation gives
- Graded terrain: classes from very low to very high hazard, built from slope, geology, drainage, land use, rainfall and past slides.
- A national baseline: GSI's National Landslide Susceptibility Mapping at 1:50,000 covers about 4.3 lakh sq km in 19 States/UTs across the Himalaya, the North-East and the Western Ghats, zoned high, moderate and low; NDMA's 2019 strategy makes such mapping its first component.
✏️ Map to sketch in the exam · Landslide-prone belts mapped by GSI
- Shade: Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura, Assam = Himalayan and North-Eastern States
- Shade: Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu = Western Ghats States
- Mark: Joshimath (30.56, 79.57), Wayanad (11.50, 76.15)
- Legend: Joshimath 2023, Wayanad 2024
Draw on India's official outline (Survey of India boundary).
How zonation helps disaster mitigation
- Land-use planning: keeps settlements, schools and hospitals out of high-hazard zones and regulates slope cutting and debris dumping in hill towns.
- Infrastructure: guides safer alignments for roads, railways and hydel projects and, where risk remains, drainage, retaining walls, rock bolting and bio-engineering.
- Prioritising money: high-hazard zones with people and assets at risk get stabilisation, drainage and relocation funds first, so limited budgets save the most lives.
- Early warning: susceptibility maps anchor rainfall thresholds; GSI's regional Landslide Early Warning System issued forecast bulletins for 21 districts in eight States in the 2025 monsoon.
- Awareness and enforcement: maps are free on GSI's Bhusanket portal and Bhooskhalan app, and can back building codes, insurance pricing and local enforcement.
Limits and way forward
- Static and coarse: maps need updating after heavy rain, earthquakes or construction, and 1:50,000 cannot site a house.
- Go finer and bind it: GSI is mapping 200 critical sectors at 1:10,000 by 2028; States must write these zones into building bye-laws and master plans, with drills in high-hazard villages.
Zonation is the Sendai Framework's first priority, 'understanding disaster risk', made local: it shows where not to build, where to protect and whom to warn, and it saves lives only when it is updated and enforced.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 3 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
