Motorists escaped with minor injuries after several vehicles were buried in a large landslide on National Highway 75 in Karnataka’s Hassan district on Tuesday, July 30. The drivers of the vehicles were rescued and taken to hospitals immediately, according to media reports.

The landslide, which buried two heavy vehicles and a car, occurred in Doddathappale village near Sakleshpur in Hassan district. 

Traffic on the highway came to a halt, with vehicles backed up for many kilometres for several hours on Tuesday morning. 

Just the previous day — July 29 — a landslide occurred near Harle estate. A small section of the road had collapsed, disrupting connectivity. This section of the road too connects Bengaluru and Mangaluru. 

The landslide in Doddathappale village follows another one that occurred on the same stretch of July 18, after which district administration allowed vehicles to ply in the ghats only between 6 am and 6 pm. 

Landslide-prone area

Shiradi ghat — the section of NH 75 that connects Bengaluru and Mangaluru — is a landslide prone area, according to a 2022 report prepared by the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority. The Hindu reported that the recommendations of this report only remained on paper.

The Karnataka State Action Plan: Management of Landslides 2022 report said that the Western Ghats are highly prone to landslides. It identified 29 taluks in the Western Ghats — forming 15.3% of the state’s land area — as vulnerable to landslides. 

Between 2009 and 2021, of the 1,272 landslides in the state, the highest occurred in Uttara Kannada district (439), followed by Shivamogga (356), Chikkamagalur (193), Udupi (99), Dakshina Kannada (88), Kodagu (79) and Hassan (18). 

However, the data in the report showed a sharp spike in landslides since 2016. Between 2009 and 2015, the highest number of landslides was 27 in 2009. The number shot up to 125 in 2016, and peaked at 462 in 2018. 

Analysing the landslides that occurred in the 29 taluks, the report found that certain areas were more prone to landslides. These include places where landslides had occurred before,  areas where the slope inclination is more than 45 degrees, areas that fall under blockage of natural drainage, areas receiving high intensity or prolonged rainfall, and others. 

Other than the locations in the 29 taluks, the report listed some roads as vulnerable to landslides because the inclination of the slope which had been cut to make way for the road was more than 45 degrees. These include Charmadi ghat (Mudigere to Belthangady), the Gundya-Nelliyadi section of the Shiradi Ghat, the Sakleshpura-Subrahmanya section of Bisile Ghat, the Madikeri-Sullia section of Sampaje ghat, Madikeri-Talacauvery road, and Yellapur-Karwar road.