Seven people, including at least one child are known to have died following a landslide which destroyed four houses at Laldan in the Budgam District of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday 30 March 2015. It is feared at least 10 other people are trapped in the remains of the buildings. The incident happened after 36 hours of heavy rainfall, which has caused widespread flooding in Jammu and Kashmir, resulting in a number of other deaths. Landslides are a common problem after severe weather events, as excess pore water pressure can overcome cohesion in soil and sediments, allowing them to flow like liquids.
Damage caused by the 30 March 2015 Laldan landslide. Umar Ganie/Rediff.
The Jammu and Kashmir region is extremely prone to landslides, due to a number of active faults in the area, these being driven by the northward movement of the Indian Plate, which is pushing into Eurasia at a rate of 40 mm a year. This causes earthquakes on both plates, as well as the folding and uplift that has created the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. Typically this is more of a problem in the monsoon season in July and August, when rainfall often exceeds 650 mm per month in many areas, but the state has a fairly wet climate year round and rainfall in excess of 40-50 mm per month in January-March is not unusual.
The approximate location of the 30 March 2015 Laldan landslide. Google Maps.
See also...
At least 19 people have been killed in landslides and flooding along the border between the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and the Pakistan State of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, associated with the monsoon rains this week. On the Pakistani side of the...
Two people were killed in a landslide at Lohar Gali near Muzaffarabad in Azad Kashmir on Wednesday 19 March 2014. Dr Mohammed Ashraf Quraishi...
Two teenage girls were killed by a landslide at Mundral in Kishtwar District, Jammu and Kashmir, on Sunday 7 July 2013. The two have been named as Sushma...
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