Geotechnical Investigations on

Landslides in Nilgiris
Dr. S. S. Chandrasekaran
VIT University, Vellore
chandrasekaran.ss@vit.ac.in

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The term landslide includes all varieties of mass movements of hill
slopes and can be defined as the downward and outward movement of
slope forming materials composed of rocks, soils, artificial fills or
combination of all these materials along surfaces of separation by
falling, sliding and flowing, either slowly or quickly from one place to
another.

Graphical illustration of landslide with commonly accepted terminologies.

Source: USGS
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The various types of landslides can be differentiated by the kinds of
material involved and the mode of movement.
Types of landslides (USGS)

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The most common types of landslides. Source: USGS

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Source : NASA map by Robert Simmon.
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Year Location No. of people killed
1948 Assam 500
1954 Himalayas 30
1956 Himalayas 27
1958 Himalayas 52
1968 Bihar, W.Bengal 1000
1978 Northeastern 64
1979 Lahaul,Pangi 230
1979 U.P 42
1980 U.P 150
1986 U.P,H.P 88
1988 U.P, Haryana, H.P, Punjab 255
1989 Himalayas 41
1989 North India 45

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Year Location No. of Killed
1990 Sikkim 30
1990 Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu 36
1992 Aizawal 60
1993 Bombay 20
1993 Nilgiris,Tamil Nadu 40
1995 Mizoram 40
1996 Kulla,H.P 400
1997 Darjeeling Hills 23
1997 Gangtok 28
1998 H.P 26
1998 Assam 48
1998 Malpa Village,U.P 239
1998 Masuna Village, U.P 37
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Year Location No. of Killed

2000 Moradabdad 43
2000 Ghatkopar 58
2001 Rudraprayag, 27
Uttranchal
2001 Chamba District, H.P 16
2001 Amboori Village, near 38
Trivandrum
2004 Joshimath-Badrinath 17
2004 Tehri Dam 9
2005 Assam 12
2009 Nilgiris 40
2013 Uttarakhand, Himachal, 5748
(Flood & Landslide)
2014 Malin, Pune, 151
Maharashtra 9
Location map of Nilgiris 10
 Nilgiris is a part of Western Ghats and one of the oldest mountain ranges
located at the tri-junction of Tamilnadu, Kerala, and Karnataka states of
India

The District is basically a hilly region, lying at an elevation of 1000 to

2600 meters above Mean Sea Level (MSL)

Its latitudinal and longitudinal location is (Lat 11 12 N to 11 37N) & (76

30 E to 76 55 E)

The District has an area of 2,552 km2

Nilgiris is an important tourist center in southern India

Nilgiris Mountain Railway (NMR) line declared as World Heritage site by

UNESCO

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Nilgiris Mountain Railway (NMR)

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Geological map of Nilgiris district
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 Landforms of Nilgiris region have been classified into two types namely
Dodabetta landform and Ootacamund landform

Dodabetta landform has many high peaks with steep slope and rock
escarpments with or without soil cover, whereas the Ootacamund landform
has gentle topography with a thick soil formation)

The rock formation of study area is mainly of charnockite and

granetiferous quartzo-felspathic gneisses belonging to Archaean
metamorphic rocks
The rock formation is overlain by lateritic soil. The soil is yellowish to
reddish brown in colour formed due to intense physical and chemical
weathering. As observed from cut slopes along the road and railroad, the
overburden thickness of soil varies from less than a meter to 32 meters

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 Since the Nilgiris district is located in the tropical zone, it receives rainfall
during both southwest and northeast monsoons

Southwest - (June to September)

Northeast - (October to December)

The average annual rainfall of this district is about 1700 mm

Generally, entire Coonoor, Kothagiri taluks and part of Udagamandalam

taluk receive rainfall from northeast monsoon and other parts of the district
receive rainfall from southwest monsoon

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S.No Location Event date Landslide Cause Remarks
type
1 Marappalam 11-11-1993 Debris Heavy Eleven people were killed. Three zigs of road network
flow rainfall (NH-67) and a rail network damaged for about 300 m.
Two busses with passengers have been buried in the
debris.
2 Metuppalam- 11-11-1998 Rock fall Heavy A massive rock weighing about 20m tonnes fell on the
Coonoor road rainfall road network and traffic has been closed for two days.
network (NH-67) The rock has been blasted and removed from the road
(Ganapathy et al. 2010).
3 Pudukadu Dec 2001 Debris Heavy Deries flow damaged two bridgegs at pudukadu along
flow rainfall Mettupalayam Coonoor road network and resulted in
Complete clousere of traffic (Ganapathy et al. 2010).
4 Silver bridge 13-11-2006 Debris Heavy A bridge located along Mattupalayam- Coonoor stretch
flow rainfall has been completely washed away. Transport has been
cut off for about two weeks.
5 Burliyar 13-11-2006 Debris Heavy Debries flow damaged the road network and disturbed
flow rainfall the traffic for a week and damaged one check post
located at Burliyar
6 Kallar 13-11-2006 Debris Heavy A hundred year old fruit farm located at kallar has been
flow rainfall completely collapsed.
7 Burliyar 13-11-2006 Rock fall Heavy Under heavy rainfall a massive rock fell on road at
rainfall burliar near hairpin bend number two. The same
phenomena has been observed in many places along
Mettupalayam - Coonoor rail route and closed the traffic
for a week 16
8 Hillgrove 10-11-2009 Debris flow Heavy rainfall Railway track near Hillgrove station dislocated and
washed away. Rail service has been stopped for about
two weeks
9 Kurumbadi 10-11-2009 Debris flow Heavy rainfall Landslide damaged the resort located at kurumbadi and
killed one security guard of that resort.
10 Lovedale 10-11-2009 Earth slide Heavy rainfall Earth slide removed the mass of the soil surrounded the
(Rotational) and loading at foundation of a local shop. About half portion of shop
slope crest left hanging at the slope crest.
11 Manjur 10-11-2009 Earth flow Heavy rainfall Improper planning and cutting of slope for tea plantation
and improper led to landslide under heavy rainfall. Houses were buried
cutting of slope into the debris and the residents of those houses were
for tea plantation killed due to landslide.

12 Kothagiri 10-11-2009 Earth slide Heavy rainfall The building foundation exposed due to slope failure
(Translational) and loading at under heavy rainfall and vertical cut at the toe and
slope crest loading at the slope crest.
13 Marappalam 10-11-2009 Debris flow Heavy rainfall A portion of road and rail network at marappalam has
been damaged and completely washed away. Transport
has been cut off for about a month.
14 Achanakkal 10-11-2009 Debris Heavy rainfall Due to blocking of drainage above the slope crest and
avalanche and Blocking of accumulation of water at slope crest led landslide. Seven
drainage above people were killed due to collapse of a house during the
slope crest landslide.

15 Madithorai 10-11-2009 Earth slide Heavy rainfall Slide occurred at Madithorai along Kothagiri - Ooty road
network. Half of the road has been slided and transport
has been cut off for about two weeks.
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 Marappalam - debris flow Silver bridge - debris flow Burliar - debris flow

Lovedale- earth slide Manjur earth flow Burliyar Rock fall

Marappalam- Debris flow Achanakkal - debris avalanche Madithorai - Earth slide 18

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GROUND CONDITIONS GEOMORPHOLOGICAL PROCESSES
Plastic weak material Tectonic uplift

Sensitive material Volcanic uplift

Collapsible material Glacial rebound

Weathered material Fluvial erosion of the slope toe

Sheared material Wave erosion of the slope toe

Jointed or fissured material Glacial erosion of the slope toe

Adversely oriented mass Subterranean erosion (solution,

discontinuities piping)
Adversely oriented structural Deposition loading of the slope or its
discontinuities (including faults, crest
unconformities, flexural shears, Vegetation removal (by erosion, forest
sedimentary contacts) fire, drought)
Contrast in permeability and its
effects on ground water contrast in
stiffness (stiff, dense material over
plastic material)
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PHYSICAL PROCESSES MAN-MADE PROCESSES
Intense, short period rainfall Excavation of the slope or its toe

Rapid melt of deep snow Loading of the slope or its crest

Prolonged high precipitation Drawdown (of reservoirs)

Rapid drawdown following Irrigation

floods, high tides or Defective maintenance of drainage
breaching of natural dams systems
Earthquake Water leakage from services (water
Volcanic eruption supplies, sewers, storm water drains)
Breaching of crater lakes Vegetation removal (deforestation)

Thawing of permafrost Mining and quarrying (open pits or

Freeze and thaw weathering underground galleries)

Shrink and swell weathering Creation of dumps of very loose waste

of expansive soils Artificial vibration (including traffic, pile

driving, heavy machinery)

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Landslide causing factor - Rainfall

Average monthly rainfall plot for November

month in Nilgiris district
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Landslide causing factor - Rainfall

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Excavation of slope at toe

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Unplanned vertical cut

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Loading the slope at crest

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Blocking of drainage systems

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Vegetation removal and Dumping of loose soil

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 Mettupalayam Coonoor Ooty national highway
had landslides at many places
The road got completely washed away at few
locations and remained cutoff for three months.
Nilgiris Mountain Railway (NMR), declared as World
Heritage Site by United Nations, suffered severe
damages
The railway track was hanging at many places with
the supporting subgrade washed away and few
bridges completely destroyed
The direct and indirect losses incurred by the
landslides estimated to be more than rupees 200
crores

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Location of study areas within: (a) India (b) Tamilnadu state and (c)
Nilgiris District 30
Landslide along railway track at Aravankadu (a) view of slide and
hanging of railway track and (b) view of mud flow 31
 Building supported on retaining walls in Coonoor: (a) overall view of buildings
with retaining walls, (b) view of three levels of retaining walls, (c) view of sliding
of soil and surcharge load on retaining wall and d view of tilting and failure of
retaining walls 32
Slope and retaining wall failure along national
highway at Chinnabikatty:

(a) view of failure of slope supporting road in

2009, (b) view of mud flow and retaining wall
under construction in 2009 and (c) overall
view at present (2012) showing retaining
walls, road and building above

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Daily rainfall data

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Properties of soil samples at different
locations

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Construction of bridges retaining walls and gabion walls 36
Defects in adopted remedial methods

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 Subsurface drainage technique needs to be implemented in other locations
in Nilgiris

In addition to the sub surface drainage system some of the additional

techniques including internal slope reinforcement consist of soil nails and
stabilizing piles have to be explored

Slope failure due to vertical cut can be controlled by adopting nailing

technique

The sliding mass above the failure surface can be strengthened by placing
passive piles embedded into sufficient depth in the stable layer below

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Slope stabilization piles

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Sub surface drainage system Soil Nailing

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The present study gives an over view of factors causing landslides in Nilgiris.
The detailed analysis on Marappalam 2009 rainfall induced landslide is
summarized below
The analysis gives the clear idea on subsoil profile of Marappalam slope
which consist of information on nature and sequence of various subsoil
material (soil and rock) that might be useful to perform slope stability
analysis
The rainfall threshold identified from this study can be used in landslide
early warning systems precisely for Marappalam location to guide the
traffic and provide safety to the public
The field, laboratory and numerical landslide simulation analysis elaborates
the cause and failure mechanism of Marappalam 2009 landslide in detail
The findings of the present study will be useful to develop guidelines to
evaluate suitable preventive measures to avoid recurrence of such failure in
future
The present study discuss the remedial measures practiced so far in Nilgiris
and their defects. The study also gives the suggestion on adopting site specific
remedial measures in Nilgiris.
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Thank you.

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