Malpa landslide
Topic: Natural Hazards and Disaster Management in India · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 6 "Natural Hazards and Disasters: Causes, Consequences and Management"
Meaning
The Malpa landslide happened on 18 August 1998 at Malpa village in the Kali valley. This is in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand. A huge mass of rock and debris crashed down the steep valley side and buried the village. About 220 people died, including a group of Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims. The disaster shows how dangerous the young, steep and tectonically active (still being pushed up by moving plates) Himalaya can be. It is a classic NCERT case of a landslide disaster.
Example
Malpa lies in the Kali river valley in Pithoragarh district, eastern Uttarakhand. The Kali forms India's border with Nepal there, and the pilgrim route to Kailash Mansarovar passes through the valley.
Don't confuse with
- Joshimath land subsidence (2023): there the ground sank slowly and houses cracked. Malpa was a sudden, fast fall of rock and debris.
Related concepts
- Landslide
- Landslide vulnerability zones
- Landslides in the Himalayas and Western Ghats
- Landslide mitigation
- Landslide Atlas of India
- Land subsidence
- Joshimath land subsidence (2023)
- Wayanad landslides (2024)