7 September 2021
Jeori: a large highway landslide in Shimla district, Himachal Pradesh
Posted by Dave Petley
Jeori: a large highway landslide in Shimla district, Himachal Pradesh
Yesterday (6 September 2021) a large landslide blocked National Highway 5 at Jeori in Shimla district, Himachal Pradesh in northern India. The landslide, which occurred at about 9 am, did not cause any casualties. This landslide is particularly interesting as it was caught on video from at least four different angles. The first was collected by someone located on the road itself, fortunately a safe distance away:
A landslide occurred near Jeori , #Shimla, #Himachal Pradesh, #India. No casualties reported. Video source: V.S. Negi. pic.twitter.com/k05o5EdBBq
— Vipin Kumar (@chauhanVKgeo) September 6, 2021
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Meanwhile, another video was captured from a greater distance away, which provides less detail but gives a better appreciation of the process:-
Earlier today, a massive landslide occurred at Jeori in Himachal Pradesh's Shimla. The Shimla-Kinnaur national highway has since been closed. No loss of life reported yet. #Landslide #HimachalLandslide
Video source: @TOIChandigarh pic.twitter.com/YLzS3bKGKA
— The Weather Channel India (@weatherindia) September 6, 2021
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And a third video was captured from the other end of the road:-
Shimla-Kinnaur national highway closed after massive landslide at Jeori. No loss of life reported.#Shimla #Kinnaur #landslide #nationalhighway pic.twitter.com/d1q5MDFf4k
— Rajinder S Nagarkoti रजिन्दर सिंह नगरकोटी (@nagarkoti) September 6, 2021
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And a further video was captured further along the road:-
Today's Landslide video Near Jeori , Shimla . NH 5 blocked (Shimla-Kinnaur)
Vc- Deepak Passan#Himachallandslide #HimachalPradesh #Shimla #Kinnaur pic.twitter.com/ilaAfHwsf5
— Weatherman Shubham (@shubhamtorres09) September 6, 2021
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I am not sure I’ve seen a landslide captured from four different perspectives before, so this is a cool event.
Photographs of the site in the aftermath of the landslide site, extracted from one of the videos, suggest that the road was on an artificial bench with an unsupported cut slope above:-
The site of the landslide close to Jeori in northern India. Still from a video posted to Twitter
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Note the small pile of debris on the road before the main collapse occurred. This indicates that there was some precursory deformation, which presumably provided warning of an impending collapse.
The landslide appears to have occurred in dry weather, but we are in the tail end of the monsoon, which may have played a role in progressively weakening the hillslope.
Works are under way to reopen the road. As usual, these operations carry considerable risk.
Dave Petley is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hull in the United Kingdom. His blog provides commentary and analysis of landslide events occurring worldwide, including the landslides themselves, latest research, and conferences and meetings.
There is a lot of traffic backed up prior to the main slide, and a lot of people watching and waiting (with cameras).
This suggests that there had been an earlier fall – stopping the traffic – and that previous experience meant people were waiting until things stabilised (or otherwise). The fact that 4 videos were posted suggests plenty of warning / anticipation of the ‘main event’
Massive Slide!! Thank you for sharing.
It is always the same reason – unsecured cuts in steep rock slopes, which show a limited state of safety, lead to devasting slides or rockfall events. There is no understanding of the clients responsible for design, erection and running those roads in high alpine areas.