Himalayan communities are under siege from landslides – and climate change is worsening the crisis

By Ashutosh Kumar, Assistant Professor, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi
Eedy Sana, PhD Candidate, Geotechnical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi
Ellen Beatrice Robson, Postdoctoral research associate, Durham University

Three-quarters of annual rain in the Himalayas arrives in the monsoon season from June to September. Within this rainy period are sudden and extremely intense cloudbursts, which often “pop” over a relatively small area (akin to a cloud bursting open like a balloon).

As climate change is making these cloudbursts and other forms of heavy rainfall more intense and more frequent in the Himalayan foothills,…

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