Mass Movement Vulnerability Assessment Of Uttrakhand And Sikkim, India Using Geospatial Technology

Mass movement is a major problem in mountainous regions of India. Mass movements cause road blockage, causality and property loss which affects the economic development of that region. The use of Remote Sensing and Geographical Informatics System (GIS) can be highly useful for prediction of mass movement in vulnerable regions and it is also time and cost effective. This information can be used by natural hazard planners and decision makers for proper management of mass movement related hazards. In this paper a comparison between Uttrakhand and Sikkim state of India is studied in terms of its vulnerability for mass movement using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Parameters which trigger the occurrence of mass movement such as rainfall, slope angle, aspect, geology, landuse landcover (LULC), proximity to drainage and road network was considered in this study. The results show that Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a good tool for remote prediction of mass movement. In this study Sikkim shows more vulnerability for mass movement then Uttrakhand.