Roads leading to McLeodganj hill in Dharamsala sinking

Main roads leading to McLeodganj, the prime tourist destination of Kangra, are sinking at many places. Public Works Department (PWD) officials are feeling helpless as the roads, even after they are repaired, are sinking, damaging the road infrastructure.

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The main Dharamsala-McLeodganj road is sinking near the Army cantonment and Forsythganj areas. The alternative Khara Danda road from the Kotwali market to McLeodganj is also sinking at many places. The PWD authorities have to repair it almost every year.

Sanjay Kumbhkarni, a former scientist of the Geological Survey of India (GSI), says that the roads are sinking as the entire hills were nano tectonically active. He adds that an active ''Shaki Thrust'' is passing through the McLeodganj hills, making them nano tectonically active. The present technology being used by the PWD authorities to erect stone crate retaining walls or concrete retaining walls along the roads is not going to stem the sliding areas.

He says that long-term solutions that include a detailed geological study of the entire hills can help mitigate the problem of landslides and damage to roads. The government should hand over the geological study of the McLeodganj hills to a professional agency so that a holistic solution to the problem can be found.

Kumbhkarni says that one probable solution to the problem can be designing a drainage system for the McLeodganj hills so that rainwater does not enter the upper crust of the soil. If a drainage system is constructed around the hills, it can help mitigate the problems of landslides, he adds.

A scientific study conducted by Dr AK Mahajan, Professor of Environment Sciences Department, Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP), who had earlier worked for the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, had put many zones in Dharamsala, including Tirah Lines, Barakoti, Kajlot, Jogiwara, Dhial, Gamru and Chohla, in the category of active sliding zones.

Experts had warned that construction should not be carried out in the active sliding zones of the city as they can threaten the life and property of people. However, all these areas now have multi-storey buildings and are thickly populated. As per the experts, many buildings constructed in the active sliding zones are threatened, as they have not been constructed after seeking proper advice from geological experts.

As per the study, main factors for the areas being active sliding zones are geology, topography, high slope gradient, thick loose soil deposits made of clayey material mixed with non-uniform cobbles and blocks. The study states that Dharamsala town is located between two major thrusts. These tectonic thrusts have developed a number of splays that cause a lot of tectonic material in the area. Due to tectonic movement, rocks in Dharamsala are highly deformed, folded and fractured. The fracturing of rocks and the presence of loose material coupled with high seepage leads to very high landslide hazard, Mahajan’s study states.