Differentiate the causes of landslides in the Himalayan region and Western Ghats.
Approach · directive: “differentiate”
What it asks · Contrast the natural and human causes of landslides in the young, seismically active Himalaya with those in the older, monsoon-fed Western Ghats.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- Differentiate the natural causes of landslides in the Himalaya and the Western Ghats: rock, tectonics, relief, water and ice
- Differentiate the human causes and the resulting character of slides in each region
Open with · Both regions see slides after heavy monsoon rain on steep slopes, but the rocks, triggers and human pressures differ.
Cover
- Rock: Himalayan slopes are young, fractured and thrust-faulted; Ghats slopes are older basalt and crystalline rock under thick, weathered, easily saturated soil.
- Tectonics: the Himalaya is seismically active and earthquakes often trigger slides; the Ghats are comparatively stable, so slides are mostly rain-triggered.
- Water and ice: Himalayan slides also follow cloudbursts, snowmelt, freeze-thaw and glacial-lake outbursts; Ghats slides follow prolonged, intense monsoon rain saturating slopes.
- Relief: Himalayan slopes are higher and steeper and rivers cut deep gorges that undercut them; the Ghats' western escarpment is abrupt but lower.
- Human factors: in the Himalaya, road widening, tunnels, dams and unplanned towns (Joshimath); in the Ghats, deforestation for plantations, quarrying and construction on slopes (Wayanad).
- Scale: Himalayan slides can be huge and block rivers, causing flash floods; Ghats slides are often shallow slips and debris flows burying villages and plantations.
Close with · Himalayan landslides are driven by geology and earthquakes, Ghats landslides by rainfall and land use; both need hazard zonation, slope-safe construction and early warning.
Add value (verified)
- GSI's landslide-hazard portal places about 12.6% of India's land area (excluding snow cover) in the landslide-prone category: roughly 0.14 million sq. km in the North-West Himalaya and 0.09 million sq. km in the Western Ghats and Konkan hills, with a further 0.18 million sq. km in the North-East Himalaya. Landslide Hazard - Geological Survey of India (Bhusanket portal) ↗“0.14 million sq. km falls in North West Himalaya (Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir); 0.09 million sq. km in Western Ghats and Konkan hills (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra)”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2021, GS Paper I — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 229 words (UPSC limit 150) · Minimalist IAS
GSI hazard mapping puts about 12.6% of India's land area in the landslide-prone category, the North-West Himalaya (0.14 million sq. km) and the Western Ghats and Konkan hills (0.09 million sq. km) among the worst hit; the causes differ.
Geology and tectonics
- Himalaya: young fold mountains of fractured, thrust-faulted rock on an active plate boundary; earthquakes are a frequent trigger.
- Western Ghats: older, stable basalt and crystalline rock, so seismic triggers are rare; the hazard lies in the thick, deeply weathered soil that saturates easily.
Water, ice and relief
- Himalaya: cloudbursts, snowmelt, freeze-thaw cycles and glacial-lake outburst floods add to monsoon rain; high, steep slopes and rivers cutting deep gorges undercut slope bases.
- Ghats: prolonged, intense south-west monsoon rain on the abrupt but lower western escarpment saturates soil until slopes fail; slides are almost wholly rain-triggered.
Human pressures
- Himalaya: road widening, tunnelling, dams and unplanned hill towns destabilise slopes, as the subsidence at Joshimath shows.
- Ghats: deforestation for plantations, quarrying and construction on slopes, as in the Wayanad slides.
Character of the slides
- Himalayan slides can be massive rock falls and debris avalanches that dam rivers and unleash flash floods; Ghats slides are usually shallow soil slips and debris flows that bury villages and plantations.
Himalayan landslides are driven by geology and earthquakes, Ghats landslides by rainfall and land use; both need hazard zonation, slope-safe construction and early warning.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.