BENGALURU: Tuesday’s landslide near Ankola on Karwar-Kumta road in which around 12 people are feared buried, has raised serious concerns.
In the background of the unprecedented and constant rain and poor civil works, experts, geologists and civil engineers caution that unless required, do not use the ghat roads till the monsoon ends.
They say while taking up infrastructure works, various government and private agencies do mere soil testing but do not conduct soil chemistry studies.
An expert from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) recollected a conversation with a government official: “One of the engineers asked whether such a study is required because it is not mentioned in their list of parameters. Soil testing is the only parameter given importance.”
Checking ghat roads, preparing audit report: NHAI
This is the reason for roads caving in, buildings tilting, snail-paced underground works, landslides and cracks being reported, not just in Karnataka, but across India. Such incidents point to an urgent need to take up thorough region-based capacity studies, soil chemistry studies and geographical terrain studies before starting projects, said a geologist from the Mines and Geology Department.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has asserted that Ankola stretch, where the landslide took place, was built four years ago. The road was in good condition and the landslide happened because of heavy rainfall. But geologists said no landslide occurs only because of natural causes. It is also man-made.
“Every time a big tree is cut, be certain of a road cave-in or a landslide because the soil becomes loose and the water holding capacity of the soil weakens. The ghat roads in Karnataka, Kerala, Goa and Tamil Nadu have become vulnerable due to increased and unplanned civil works. The slopes are exposed to road-cutting and deforestation, causing more landslides. The government is planning to take up widening of various ghats roads, but looking at this, they should now be cautious,” said the expert from IISc.
The angles at which slopes are cut into for laying roads or widening them are also important. The natural angling, tilting, dip and placement of boulders should be studied. The amount of water in the soil and the rainfall pattern of at least two decades should be studied, the geologist said.
An official from the NHAI, however, said India is a developing country and road works are happening across the country. NHAI’s job is to implement projects and give good roads. In the case of the current tragedy, water falling from a height of 25 metres and the high currents in the river that was in spate are the conditions that could have weakened the hills. There could be gaps in the hills which led to the landslide, the official said. “We are now checking all the ghat roads and preparing an audit report,” he added.
