Landslides in India Explained

Across the Himalaya, the north-eastern hills and the Western Ghats, landslides in India are the downhill movement of rock, soil and debris on steep slopes, and they are triggered most often by heavy monsoon rain and made far more likely by road cutting, construction and the loss of forest cover. They kill people every year, bury roads and villages and cut off remote valleys, and the disasters at Malin in Maharashtra in 2014 and Wayanad in Kerala in 2024 showed how quickly an apparently quiet hillside can turn deadly.

Last updated: 2 November 2026. This explainer covers what a landslide is, where India’s hotspots lie, why the monsoon is the main trigger, how human activity raises the risk, what happened at Malin and Wayanad, and how mapping, early warning and individual precautions can reduce the toll.

Key Takeaways

• Landslides affect a substantial share of India’s land, with the GSI estimating that roughly one eighth of the country, excluding snow-covered areas, is prone to them.
• The Himalaya, the north-eastern hills and the Western Ghats are the main hotspots, because steep slopes, weak rock and intense rainfall coincide there.
• Heavy and prolonged monsoon rain is the commonest trigger, as water saturates soil, adds weight and reduces the friction that holds a slope in place.
• Human activity such as unplanned road cutting, quarrying, building on slopes and clearing forests has sharply increased landslide risk in many areas.
• The 2014 Malin disaster in Maharashtra and the 2024 Wayanad disaster in Kerala each killed many people and became turning points in how India thinks about hill-slope safety.
• Landslide mapping, rainfall thresholds, early warning systems and community awareness can save lives, but they work only when warnings lead to early evacuation.

What is a landslide?

A landslide is the movement of a mass of rock, earth or debris down a slope under the influence of gravity, and the term covers everything from a slow creeping slope to a sudden, fast-moving torrent of mud and boulders. The slope fails when the forces pulling material downhill become greater than the strength and friction holding it in place.

Geologists recognise several types. Falls and topples involve rock breaking away from a cliff or road cutting. Slides move as a coherent block along a surface. Flows, including debris flows and mudflows, behave like a thick slurry and can travel long distances at high speed, which makes them especially deadly. Creep is a slow, continuous movement that cracks roads and tilts houses over years.

The same slope can show more than one type. In many monsoon disasters a small slide at the top turns into a debris flow as it picks up water, soil and trees on the way down, reaching settlements far below the point where it started.

Where are landslides most common in India?

Landslides are most common in the Himalaya, the north-eastern hill states and the Western Ghats, with smaller but significant clusters in the Nilgiris and the Eastern Ghats. These regions combine steep terrain, fractured or weathered rock, heavy rainfall and growing populations and infrastructure.

• Himalaya: Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Sikkim are young, tectonically active mountains where rock is fractured and rivers cut deep valleys. Pilgrimage roads in Uttarakhand and highways in Himachal Pradesh see repeated slides each monsoon.
• North-eastern hills: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam’s hill districts, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur receive some of the highest rainfall in the world, and slides regularly block roads and isolate villages.
• Darjeeling and the sub-Himalayan belt: The hills of north Bengal are densely settled and are hit by slides almost every year.
• Western Ghats: Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra have steep escarpments with thick weathered soil that becomes unstable under the heavy south-west monsoon.
• Nilgiris and Eastern Ghats: The Nilgiri hills of Tamil Nadu and parts of the Eastern Ghats in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha also experience slides, usually after very heavy rain.

Studies by the Geological Survey of India and the National Remote Sensing Centre have ranked districts such as Rudraprayag and Tehri Garhwal in Uttarakhand among those with the highest exposure, and have found that a large number of districts across many states carry some landslide risk.

Why does the monsoon trigger so many landslides?

The monsoon triggers so many landslides because intense, prolonged rain saturates the soil, adds weight to the slope and raises water pressure inside it, which reduces the friction that keeps the slope stable. In the Western Ghats and Himalaya the south-west monsoon delivers most of the year’s rainfall in just a few months.

The process usually unfolds in stages. Early-season showers wet the ground and open cracks. Later, a spell of very heavy rain pushes soil past its limit, particularly where it sits on impermeable bedrock, so the water has nowhere to drain and pressure builds in the slope. Landslides then often occur hours after the heaviest rain, or even a day later, as the water slowly works through the ground.

Researchers use rainfall thresholds, meaning combinations of rainfall intensity and duration beyond which slides become likely, to anticipate danger. A short burst can be less dangerous than moderate rain falling for several days on already wet ground. Climate change is expected to make extreme rainfall events more frequent, and recent studies have linked a warming Arabian Sea to more intense bursts of rain along the Western Ghats.

How do roads, construction and deforestation raise landslide risk?

Roads, construction and deforestation raise landslide risk by cutting into slopes, removing the roots and vegetation that bind soil, and disrupting natural drainage. Many Indian hill slopes were stable for centuries and became unstable only after people altered them.

Experts often note that the problem is not roads or houses themselves but building without geological assessment, without retaining walls and drainage, and in areas already mapped as hazardous. Well-designed roads with proper drains, benching and vegetation cover remain far safer than hurried cuts.

What happened in the Malin landslide of 2014?

The Malin landslide struck the tribal village of Malin in Pune district, Maharashtra, on the morning of 30 July 2014, when a slope of the Sahyadri range collapsed after days of heavy rain and buried most of the settlement. More than a hundred and fifty people are estimated to have died, making it one of the deadliest landslides in the Western Ghats in recent decades.

The village lay at the foot of a steep hill that had been affected by heavy rain for several days. Investigations pointed to a combination of intense rainfall, changes in land use on the slope, and loss of tree cover as contributing factors. Rescue was slow and difficult because the village was remote and the debris was thick, and the disaster became a national reminder that the Western Ghats were not immune to mass-casualty slides.

Malin triggered new attention to hazard mapping in the Ghats and to the rehabilitation of communities living under unstable slopes. Residents who survived were later resettled elsewhere.

What happened in the Wayanad landslide of 2024?

The Wayanad landslide struck the hill villages of Mundakkai and Chooralmala in Kerala in the early hours of 30 July 2024, when several linked landslides after extremely heavy rain swept down from the Punchirimattom slope along the Iruvanjippuzha river valley, burying homes, a school and roads. The death toll rose above two hundred, and many people were missing for days, making it among the deadliest landslide disasters in modern Indian history.

The region had received several hundred millimetres of rain over a couple of days, on top of an already wet monsoon. A debris flow gathered rocks, mud and uprooted trees as it descended and surged into the settlements below. A bridge was washed away, delaying early rescue, until the Army built a temporary bridge to reach the cut-off area.

Wayanad followed earlier Kerala disasters, including the 2019 slide at Puthumala and the 2020 slide at Pettimudi in Idukki. Experts argued that rainfall extremes, steep terrain, quarrying and land-use change all played a role, and the Kerala government and central agencies reviewed zoning and safe-settlement policies afterwards.

How does India map and monitor landslide hazard?

India maps and monitors landslide hazard mainly through the Geological Survey of India, which prepares landslide susceptibility and zonation maps, with support from the National Remote Sensing Centre of ISRO, the India Meteorological Department and state disaster agencies. Hazard zonation divides terrain into zones of low, moderate and high susceptibility so that planners can avoid the riskiest slopes.

The GSI has carried out national landslide susceptibility mapping at a broad scale and has worked on larger-scale local mapping for towns and corridors. The National Remote Sensing Centre has published a landslide atlas of India based on satellite imagery and inventories of past events across many states. The National Disaster Management Authority has issued guidelines on landslides and snow avalanches and a national landslide risk management strategy.

Monitoring tools include rain gauges, slope sensors, crack metres and satellite radar, which can detect millimetre-scale ground movement. Even so, a lack of detailed, village-level maps remains a gap, since most past maps were too coarse to guide decisions about individual houses.

Can landslides be predicted or given early warning?

Landslides cannot be predicted to the hour, but their likelihood can be forecast in advance from rainfall and slope conditions, and early warning systems can give communities time to move. India has been building such systems in recent years, with the GSI and the India Meteorological Department piloting rainfall-based landslide warnings for hill areas such as Darjeeling and the Nilgiris.

• Rainfall thresholds: Warnings are issued when forecast or observed rain crosses a level linked with past slides.
• Soil moisture and slope data: Combining rain with soil saturation improves accuracy.
• Sensor networks: Ground sensors on high-risk slopes can trigger alarms when movement begins.
• Local alert systems: Sirens, mobile alerts and village volunteers are essential, since remote communities may not see official bulletins in time.
• Evacuation plans: A warning saves lives only if people know where to go and trust the instruction to leave.

The hardest cases are small catchments where a debris flow forms within minutes, leaving little lead time. For these, long-term land-use control matters as much as warning technology.

How can people stay safe from landslides?

People can stay safe from landslides by learning the signs of an unstable slope, avoiding hazardous areas during heavy rain and leaving early when warned. Warning signs include new cracks in the ground or walls, tilting trees and poles, sudden changes in the colour or flow of a stream, springs appearing on a slope and a faint rumbling or the sound of cracking trees.

• Follow official rainfall alerts and local evacuation orders without delay.
• Avoid travel on hill roads during very heavy rain, particularly at night.
• Do not build or live directly below steep slopes, cuttings or seasonal streams.
• If a slide begins, move sideways, out of the path of the debris, rather than running downhill along it.
• Keep drains and culverts around hill homes clear and avoid dumping soil on slopes.
• After a slide, stay away from the area, since further movement is common.

Communities in the Himalaya and Ghats have often kept traditional knowledge about safe building sites and signs of danger, and planners increasingly try to combine that knowledge with modern maps.

Bottom Line

Landslides in India are not purely natural disasters, because rainfall is the trigger but slope cutting, construction and forest loss often load the dice. With reliable hazard maps, strict control of building on risky slopes, better road engineering and warnings that lead to early evacuation, the Himalaya and the Western Ghats can become far safer places to live and travel.

Frequently Asked Questions

What causes landslides in India?

Landslides in India are caused mainly by heavy monsoon rain on steep, weak slopes, and they are made more likely by road cutting, construction, quarrying and deforestation. Earthquakes and snowmelt can also trigger them in the Himalaya. Often several factors combine, with rain acting as the final trigger.

Which states in India are most prone to landslides?

The states most prone to landslides are those in the Himalaya and north-east, including Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Meghalaya, along with the Western Ghats states of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra. Parts of Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris and West Bengal’s Darjeeling hills are also at high risk.

What was the Wayanad landslide of 2024?

The Wayanad landslide of 2024 was a set of linked landslides on 30 July that struck the Mundakkai and Chooralmala villages in Kerala after extremely heavy rain. More than two hundred people died and many were missing, making it one of India’s deadliest landslide disasters. It prompted reviews of hazard zoning and safe settlement in the Western Ghats.

How many square kilometres of India are landslide prone?

The Geological Survey of India estimates that roughly 0.42 million square kilometres of India, about 12 to 13 per cent of the land area and excluding snow-covered regions, is prone to landslides. Most of this lies in the Himalaya, the north-east and the Western Ghats. The figure is a broad estimate and is refined as mapping improves.

Can landslides be predicted in India?

Landslides cannot be predicted exactly, but the risk can be forecast using rainfall thresholds, soil moisture and slope monitoring. The Geological Survey of India and the India Meteorological Department have run pilot rainfall-based landslide warnings in areas such as Darjeeling and the Nilgiris. Warnings are most useful when paired with village-level evacuation plans.

How can I stay safe from a landslide?

You can stay safe from a landslide by avoiding steep slopes and hill roads during heavy rain, watching for warning signs such as new cracks or muddy streams, and leaving at once when officials issue an alert. If a slide begins, move sideways out of its path rather than downhill, and keep away from the area afterwards in case of further movement.

{“@context”:”https://schema.org”,”@graph”:[{“@type”:”FAQPage”,”mainEntity”:[{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”What causes landslides in India?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”Landslides in India are caused mainly by heavy monsoon rain on steep, weak slopes, and they are made more likely by road cutting, construction, quarrying and deforestation. Earthquakes and snowmelt can also trigger them in the Himalaya. Often several factors combine, with rain acting as the final trigger.”}},{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”Which states in India are most prone to landslides?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”The states most prone to landslides are those in the Himalaya and north-east, including Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Meghalaya, along with the Western Ghats states of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra. Parts of Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris and West Bengal’s Darjeeling hills are also at high risk.”}},{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”What was the Wayanad landslide of 2024?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”The Wayanad landslide of 2024 was a set of linked landslides on 30 July that struck the Mundakkai and Chooralmala villages in Kerala after extremely heavy rain. More than two hundred people died and many were missing, making it one of India’s deadliest landslide disasters. It prompted reviews of hazard zoning and safe settlement in the Western Ghats.”}},{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”How many square kilometres of India are landslide prone?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”The Geological Survey of India estimates that roughly 0.42 million square kilometres of India, about 12 to 13 per cent of the land area and excluding snow-covered regions, is prone to landslides. Most of this lies in the Himalaya, the north-east and the Western Ghats. The figure is a broad estimate and is refined as mapping improves.”}},{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”Can landslides be predicted in India?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”Landslides cannot be predicted exactly, but the risk can be forecast using rainfall thresholds, soil moisture and slope monitoring. The Geological Survey of India and the India Meteorological Department have run pilot rainfall-based landslide warnings in areas such as Darjeeling and the Nilgiris. Warnings are most useful when paired with village-level evacuation plans.”}},{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”How can I stay safe from a landslide?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”You can stay safe from a landslide by avoiding steep slopes and hill roads during heavy rain, watching for warning signs such as new cracks or muddy streams, and leaving at once when officials issue an alert. If a slide begins, move sideways out of its path rather than downhill, and keep away from the area afterwards in case of further movement.”}}]}]}