Landslide hazards and mitigation measures at Gangtok, Sikkim Himalaya

Landslides and other mass movements are serious geo-environmental hazards in the Himalayas. Massive landslides killing tens of thousands of people with catastrophic damages have occurred in the Eastern Himalayan State of Sikkim, which shares common borders with Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan. This paper describes the investigations carried out on recent landslides in Gangtok, Sikkim, India, with emphasis on the triggering mechanisms that have contributed to the release and creep of natural slopes in the region. It is believed that the intense rainfall in the region not only contributes to rapid erosion and weathering of the rock mass, but also increases the groundwater level that leads to reduction in the stability of natural slopes. A landslide instrumentation programme that includes placement of settlement pillars and piezometers is underway to predict the behaviour of landslides in the area.     

Closing temperatures of different fission track clocks

The fission track closing temperatures of the minerals which are found to be suitable for fission track geochronology have been calculated for various cooling rates using the stepwise cooling. Biotite is found to have the lowest closing temperature whereas the sphene is having the highest. The closing temperature falls with decrease in cooling rate.     

Engineering geological characterization of low strength anisotropic rocks in the Himalayan region for assessment of tunnel support

A detailed engineering geological assessment of low strength (6–35 MPa) anisotropic rocks at an ongoing Hydroelectric Project in the Himalayan Region has been carried out. The project (the Nathpa Jhakri Hydroelectric Project) will have one of the world's largest and longest water conducting systems, consisting of a 10.15 m diameter and 27.3 km long head race tunnel, a 942 000 m³ underground desilting complex and a 20 × 49 × 216 m powerhouse cavern in the area. Because these constructions are made in low strength metamorphosed anisotropic rocks like quartz mica schists, biotite schists and muscovite schists, it seemed necessary and worthwhile to undertake a comprehensive study of such rocks. The studies include petrographic and petrofabric analyses of the rocks, geo-mechanical properties, rock stress measurements, rock mass classification using the Q-System and data concerning joint geometry, joint roughness and joint strength. The use of mapped geological and geotechnical data along with the experimental and modelling studies have helped to better understand the behaviour of these rocks in underground openings.     

Delineating key determinants of domestic fuelwood consumption of rural households in western Himalaya-policy implications

A study was carried out in district Samba of Western Himalayan province of Jammu and Kashmir of India.The data were collected in an interview schedule in personal interview with 180 household heads.The association between the level of fuelwood consumption（low versus high consumption） and different factors,each individually,was investigated using chi-square test of association at 0.001 level of significance.It was found that out of 25 socio-economic,biophysical and alternate fuel factors,15 factors（each individually） significantly influenced the domestic fuelwood consumption.Logistic regression models of alternate fuel use,social,economic and biophysical factors were developed to identify key variables influencing fuelwood consumption levels within each respective category.A composite model was also developed to identify key factors when all variables in all the pre-said categories were considered simultaneously.Surprisingly,in contrast to expectation the model with alternate fuel use did not provide a good fit.The biophysical model also did not provide a good fit.The economic and composite models were the same with equal level of accuracy of predication.This implies that economic aspects,rather than the availability of alternate fuels,dominate fuelwood consumption levels of rural households.Strategies to increase the exposure of the head of household to outside world needs to formulated to reduce the domestic fuelwood consumption levels.Households nearer to state forests are to be educated about efficient use of fuelwood and be encouraged to intensify use of Liquified Petroleum Gas.The wider implications of study are：the availability of alternate fuels is not a necessary condition to decrease household level domestic fuelwood consumption.Economic factors needs to be considered in designing strategies to reduce fuelwood consumption.Increased employment opportunities would increase the opportunity cost of fuelwood collection and this would reduce its use.