A Remote Sensing and GIS based Landslide Hazard Risk Assessment of Shivkhola Watershed, Darjiling Himalaya

Abstract

The land, soil and water are the basic resources on the earth, deserving proper maintenance in order to make those fit to offer utility in a sustainable way. Land, being the abode of other resources, is of extreme importance and requires proper care and maintenance. The southern escarpment slopes of Darjiling Himalaya shows extreme instability, particularly below Kurseong where the slopes are steeper enough. The landslide hazard analysis and risk assessment is of extremely importance to prepare a suitable management procedure for the concerned landslide prone region. The Remote sensing Technique and GIS tools are used for producing maps on 9 landslide inducing parameters like Lithology, Slope, Aspect, Curvature, Lineament, Drainage Density, Upslope contributing area, and Land use and land cover. After preparation of the landslide inducing factors map weighted overlay analysis is used using ARC GIS software and finally the landslide susceptibility map of the Shivkhola Watershed is extracted. Then a landslide hazard risk map is made analyzing settlement, land use and communication network for identifying site specific assessment of landslide risk and to make a brief comparison with landslide susceptibility.