Brief communication on the NW Himalayan towns; slipping towards potential disaster
- 1Department of Geology, HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar, India
- 2Department of Geology, Doon University, Dehradun, India
- 3Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway
- 4National Geotechnical Facility, Dehradun, India
- 1Department of Geology, HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar, India
- 2Department of Geology, Doon University, Dehradun, India
- 3Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway
- 4National Geotechnical Facility, Dehradun, India
Abstract. The NW Himalaya has been one of most affected terrains of Himalaya subjected to frequent disastrous landslides owing to active tectonics and multiple precipitation sources. This article aims at two towns (Joshimath and Bhatwari) of the Uttarakhand in the NW Himalaya (India), which have been witnessing subsidence for decades. In the last 1–2 weeks, Joshimath has witnessed widespread cracks in more than 500 houses that has created the social unrest. The hillslopes accommodating both the towns comprise highly jointed gneisses with schistose interlayers rockmass, subsidence in road, broken retaining wall, holes, displacing boulders, and cracks in the houses. Recently, such slope instability phenomena have increased that is leading to social movements in the region seeking government action for possible evacuation and rehabilitation. Present study has involved continuum modeling-based slope stability simulation to determine the response of these hillslopes under various loading conditions; gravity, rainfall, building load, domestic discharge, and seismic load. Results revealed that the displacement in these hillslopes might reach up to 20–25 m that will further aggravate the situation. Occurrence of frequent extreme rainfalls in these towns and three major earthquakes i.e., 1 Sep. 1803 (Mw7.8), 20 Oct. 1991 (Mw 6.8), and 29 Mar. 1999 (Mw 6.6) having hypocentral distance less than 30 km make such study more viable for decision making.
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Yaspal Sundriyal et al.
Status: open (until 23 Feb 2023)
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AC1: 'Comment on nhess-2022-296', Vipin Kumar, 20 Jan 2023
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The supplementary data uploaded earlier had some typing error and missing values. Here is an updated version of supplementary data.
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RC1: 'Comment on nhess-2022-296', Anonymous Referee #1, 26 Jan 2023
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Title: Brief communication on the NW Himalayan towns; slipping towards potential disaster
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Decision: Minor revision
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The authors have performed a slope stability evaluation of two important towns of the NW Himalaya (India) that have been witnessing subsidence and cracks for many years. They have used different loading conditions to evaluate the response of the hillslopes accommodating these towns. Though it’s a brief communication and involves all possible aspects in its scope, certain issues require proper explanation.
Comments:
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- Why did the authors consider only these two towns in the NW Himalaya when many other towns might be facing similar problems?
- Why did authors use continuum modeling even for the seismic loading, which has been considered mostly using discontinuum modeling?
- How did the authors decide the value of extreme rainfall and domestic discharge in these towns?
- The topography (ALOS-PALSAR RTC DEM) that the authors used for the slope stability simulation does not comprise present changes of subsidence. How will the authors justify their displacement findings?
- Authors have used 2D slope stability evaluation, which might not cover all aspects of the instability of a slope and 3D modeling could be considered. Please justify the usage of 2D modeling.
Yaspal Sundriyal et al.
Yaspal Sundriyal et al.
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