Shivangi Singh (name changed), resident of Inner Akhara Bazar in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu, where twin landslides on September 2 and 3, 2025, happened, narrates, “We have lived all our life in the same place; nothing on such a scale has happened. The upper region of the place, called Math, has become overcrowded, with up to 350 houses. Most of them lack seepage and sewage lines, allowing water to flow deep into the mountains. Therefore, the mountain’s slopes are slipping away, and our houses have become the junction of the fallen slopes.”

These twin landslides in Kullu happened in Inner Akhara Bazar, which falls under the semi-urban zone of Kullu, Himachal. It killed two people on the first day. There were two renters in the building, and one home was demolished; the other two homes were half-fractured. While the second landslide on September 3 killed seven people, of which five were migrant labourers from Srinagar, two were residents of Kullu, and one home was completely demolished. The debris still lies at the spot, and with every rain, the residents flee to their one-room, congested rented places, as this is all they can afford.

Another mid-aged female resident of Akhara Bazar in Kullu, said, “In the last seven months and counting, we went to every district official, municipal corporation, and even connected with 1100 Himachal Pradesh grievance redressal.” Yet, no one came to their rescue. “Every time it rains, we pray that no more boulders fall on our home.” Another resident, who is the sole bread earner of her home, said, “I take care of my mother, who is an asthma patient and is aged 80. I am unable to find a better rental accommodation as my tuition classes are my only source of income. So, I stay in the same cracked, debris-ridden home and shift whenever rain pours.”

This commercial, semi-urban area of Kullu is just 1 km away from the district administration headquarters in Dhalpur. Still, the voices are unheard. The recent sanction of Rs 8.3 crore to stabilise the wrong town planning has still not been implemented.

Why are the disasters not completely natural calamities?

As seen in Akhara Bazar, Kullu, disasters in mountainous regions do not occur suddenly or without context. They are often described as natural events, especially when triggered by heavy rainfall, but the conditions that lead to them build over time. The landslides in this case were not shaped solely by rainfall. They were the result of changes that have been taking place in the hills over the past decade. The expansion of settlements into slope areas, increased construction in uphill zones, and the absence of proper drainage systems have gradually altered how the land responds to stress.

This particular case study of Akhara Bazar shows that no single factor triggers landslide activity. Landslides mainly occur due to factors such as land use, drainage, and slope modifications from construction. Some residents had experienced these conditions for four to five years before the landslide. It includes water leaking through their walls, structural fissures, and land displacement. These conditions clearly pointed to a weakening slope.

When rules exist but are not followed: The Himachal Pradesh Town and Country Planning Act 1977, which enables construction regulation according to terrain and risk. In principle, this should prevent people from constructing houses in unsafe zones. However, the development of new structures continues at points where the slopes have already developed strain. Construction continues at sites with cracks and seepage. Gradually, the gap between the rule and reality becomes inevitable.
Planning that does not read the slope: Mountain land does not act in one way; planning is usually done from the outside in. Permits are issued for one building at a time, without accounting for the entire slope’s load-carrying capacity. Each new building exerts slightly more pressure. Eventually, the ground refuses to adjust further.
Too much built into too little space: Slopes that once had scattered homes now carry dense clusters of buildings. Houses, shops, and small rental units stand close together. The increase increases both the weight on the land and the number of watts retained within it. The slope has very little room to adjust.
Water with nowhere to go: In the mountains, stability is depended on water movement. Where there are no drainage systems or the existing ones are in poor condition, water does not drain away from the slope. It is rather seeps back into the ground. Damp walls, constant seepage, and soil that does not dry for long after the people notice rain. These are internal signs that indicate that the slope is weakening.
Warnings ignored: The first signs come early. “Cracks in walls, slight shifts in the ground, water collecting where it should not”. These changes do not seem urgent; hence, they are often ignored. By the time such changes are taken seriously, the slope is already on the verge of failure.

Landslide mitigation

Mitigation efforts don’t start with ground-up or bottom-up hierarchical governance; they are rooted in a coordinated governance system that protects and nurtures the environment we live in.

Copenhagen 2009

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